Are You Sure FICO isn't spelled FYCO?

I think the acronym for FICO should be changed to FYCO, because it sure seems to be sending a clear message that it doesn't think much about me.

(Before I go on my tirade, I bought my FYCO score on myFICO.com with a 30% off coupon, promotion code: SURVEY30. If any of you are looking to get your scores, hope this code works for you as well.)

After my self-congratulatory post last Friday about paying off my cc debt, I admit I was feeling mighty smug that my FYCO score would be darn awesome. (After all, my CreditKarma score is 801!) But instead, I got a cold splash of reality last Friday when I learned my new FYCO score is:

The last time I got my FYCO score in May, it was 723.

Granted, the last FYCO score was based on Equifax's data and this credit score is based on TransUnion's data. But the data is pretty consistent between the two. You could also argue that the difference between 719 and 723 is de minimis, but here are several reasons why I think this whole FYCO scoring system is bogus:

1.) Paying Off My Huge Revolving Credit Card Debt Did Bupkis
One of the negative issues in May was that I was using too much (i.e., 18%) of my available credit limit. I didn't disagree with this negative mark since I had over $11k+ in credit card debt at the time. But as you know, I paid that debt off in October and am now only using 2% of my available credit limit.

Considering the fact that FYCO claims "usage ratio" plays a big factor in its secretive scoring formula, paying off a huge cc debt didn't do me much good. Do you want to know what FYCO is nit-picking about now?

I allegedly have too many accounts (11) with balances. First off, 6 of the 11 accounts are my student loans. The remaining 5 accounts only have balances between $26 to $1,613, which I already paid off in full this month.

In case you were wondering why I have 5 accounts with balances, it's because I'm splitting my cc usage over multiple cards so that I don't get dinged with "inactive" penalties like fees, reduced credit limit or outright cancellation by the cc companies.

Bottomline - - If I don't use my cards, I get penalized with fees and reduced limits by the cc companies, but if I use my cards responsibly, FYCO beats me up for it. Lovely!

2.) FYCO's Infernal (and Eternal) Scarlett Letter
I was always under the belief that a bad credit rating doesn't stick around forever. I believed that negative information (such as late payments) would fall off 7 years from the date the payment was late. Boy was I wrong! Apparently, FYCO still takes that information into consideration. For example:

TransUnion's data on one of my account indicates:

Seven year payment history

30 days late	0 times
60 days late	0 times
90+ days late	0 times

But guess what? It also says:

Worst Delinquency

90 days past due

The Worst Delinquency reports the worst missed payment status that has been documented on this account. Your FICO® score evaluates how recently that missed payment occurred and in general, the more recent, the more impact it has on your score. However, the fact that it occurred is still predictive of future payment risk and could be considered by your FICO® score.

I guess my late payment history WILL haunt me forever and ever. It reminds me of this tasteless joke:

This Scottish farmer walks into the neighborhood pub, and orders a whiskey.

"Ye see that fence over there?" he says to the bartender. "Ah built it with me own two hands! Dug up the holes with me shovel, chopped doon the trees for the posts by me ownself, laid every last rail! But do they call me 'McGregor the Fence-Builder?' No..."

He gulps down the whiskey and orders another. "Ye see that pier on the loch?" He continues, "Ah built it me ownself, too. Swam oot into the loch to lay the foondations, laid doon every single board! But do they call me 'McGregor the Pier-Builder?' No."

"But ye #$&! just ONE lousy sheep ..."

3.) FYCO Simulator is a Joke
Here's a joke: FYCO's simulator claims I can dramatically improve my score to 779 to 819 if I pay off 90% to 100% of my credit card balances! Uhhhhh... Yeah, sure.

Considering that my elimination of $11k in cc debt didn't do me much good, I doubt paying off my current credit card balances of <$2,000 in full every month will dramatically increase my score by about 60 to 100 points. Yeeeahhhhh....

And here's another sick joke: Back in May, FYCO's simulator predicted my score would increase to 723-763 if I paid off my $11k+ credit card debt within 6 months. Ummmm.... it's been 6 months and I paid off that debt. But my FYCO score did a backslide instead. What gives?

I am now pretty discouraged that I will forever have to live with a "below average" credit score. Perhaps I should rename this blog to "Hester Prynne's PF Blog"...

My Credit Card Pay Off Odyssey

After I paid off my credit card debt in October, one commenter asked whether I had any tips on paying off my $30k+ credit card debt. I think everybody’s circumstances are unique, so I’m not sure whether my experience will be useful to anyone. But here’s a recap of my experience:

1. Created A Budget and Monitored My Spending
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. I’m not going to elaborate why or how I created a budget since the PF blogosphere is replete with articles about the beauty of the budget.

My only advice is, don’t try to “wing it.” I tried and was short on funds every month. I now know that I need to know how much I could afford to spend every month AND also be vigilant about my spending. Just paying attention to one or the other never worked.

2. Liquidated My Assets to Pay-Down Debt Immediately
I discovered, during the course of creating my budget, that my monthly expenses exceeded my monthly income. Quelle fromage! (Or was it quelle horreur?) Anyhow, I knew that I needed to pay down my debts significantly to bring it under control.

I initially looked around my apartment to see if I had stuff to sell on eBay or Craig’s List. But I was mortified to discover that I only had cr&p. Serious cr&p. (Makes me wonder - - how could I have been $30k+ in cc debt and have nothing to show for it?)

But… despite my irresponsible spending, I fortunately did some things right. I regularly contributed money into my Roth IRA and I participated in my company’s ESOP program. This allowed me to liquidate $17,000 of my assets (i.e., $1,400 out of my savings, $6,300 of my after-tax contributions to my Roth IRA and $9,300 of company stock) to immediately pay-down my debts.

This was one of the scariest things I did, since it wiped me out financially and emotionally. But…. it did cut my credit card debt by half.

3. Increased My Take-Home Pay
I didn’t say I increased my income since I failed at those attempts. I asked my boss for a merit raise and I got laughed at. I tried getting a second job, but dropped out after a miserable month. (I now know I’m the world’s worst telemarketer.)

Instead of increasing my income, I decided to increase my cashflow. I increased my take-home pay by temporarily halting all contributions to savings, including my 401k. After setting aside some of the increased take-home pay for taxes, I dedicated the rest to paying down debt.

I probably did this for about 5 to 7 months until my monthly expenses finally were less than my take-home pay. At that point, I resumed my regular 401k contributions.

4. Confessed to My Friends and Family
One of the reasons why I kept falling off the financial wagon was because I tried to create the façade of being financially successful. Whenever my budget wouldn't allow me to go out (e.g. shopping, taking vacations and eating out) with my friends and family, I made excuses. I eventually got burnt out by all the lies.

I finally confessed to my friends and family about my crushing debt. Many were surprised, but supportive. They considered my new-found frugality “responsible” vs. “miserly.” I also discovered that other people were buried with debt too. I’d like to think that I inspired some of my friends to change their spend thrifty ways.

5. Snowballed My Debts
I just discovered that outside of the PF blogosphere, most people will suppress a smirk when I say, “You should try snowballing. It's great!”

Ahem. I know there’s a big debate as to which method of debt repayment is the best - - Pay off the debt with the highest interest first or pay off the debt with the lowest balance?

Dave Ramsey says you should pay off your smallest debt first because it will give you momentum and motivation to tackle your remaining debts. Feh. I say you should do this because once your first debt is tackled, it gives you some “breathing room.” When you eliminate one debt, you have the option to ease up on the stringent budget you initially set up for yourself.

Yeah, yeah. I know my budget shouldn’t change since I’m supposed to apply my extinguished debt payments into the next debt. But I think rewarding myself with a little bit after each extinguished debt will keep me motivated to soldier on.

For example, now that I’ve freed up my car loan and credit card payments, I technically have $1,558 that I could apply towards my private student loans. But I’ve decided to reward myself $80/month out of that sum with a monthly massage.

I know, I know – this will extend my pay off date. But do you know by how much? Only 2 months. Feh. I’ll enjoy my monthly massages, thank you very much.

6. I Arbitraged My Credit Card Debt
It’s a long story, but I thought I had a long time to pay off my credit card debt because Chase promised me a 5.99% APR for the life-of-the-loan. But, like many other credit card companies, Chase reneged and did all sorts of nasty things. Out of necessity and frustration, I transferred my credit card debt to a 0% APR card that was good for 8 months. I paid a 3% transfer fee for the favor, but it was worth the cost.

I paid the minimum due amount each month and “paid” additional amounts into my high interest bearing savings account. In order to ensure that I would have enough funds to pay off the credit card before the 0% promotional rate expired, I sold some company stock again. When the promotional rate expired, I withdrew the extra money from my savings account and paid off the balance.

~~~

There’s no two ways about it when paying off debt. You gotta suck it up, make sacrifices and pay, pay, pay. It’s always the hardest when you first start. But the initial hardship eventually wears off and you get used to your new budget and financially responsible lifestyle.

By the way, it took me over 4 years to pay off $30,000 in credit card debt. It's easy to get discouraged every time you come across a set-back, but you just have to keep plowing forward.

I can almost see the end of my debt payment odyssey, but it won’t be any time soon (ETA 4 years). I know that I still have a long ways to go and the hardest challenges may still lie ahead. But I know I’ll fight like hell before I let myself fall back to where I was when I started this odyssey.

Do I Need to Give Gifts to All of My "Assistants"?

Blogger Dog Ate My Finance's recent post about gift giving at the office reminded me that I probably need to get gifts for the admin staff.



Here's the conundrum I face and I'd appreciate your opinion. I work in a VERY small regional office and my employer laid off all admin staff in our office last year. Our office now shares one temp to do clerical stuff like make copies, scanning, filing, mailing, etc. The more technical stuff is spread amongst 6 different people in our home office. Some do more work than others, just based upon what they were assigned to do.

Do I need to get a gift for the temp + all 6 admin staff members? If so, should they all get the same thing? Should the few people who do more stuff for me get more? Or do you think I should just send one big gift basket for the admin staff in the home office to share? What do you think is the appropriate dollar figure for these gifts?

Thanks for your input!

Spoiled by American Retailers

As an American consumer, I am spoiled by the "good will" price guarantees of retailers. I recently bought a gold hoop earring from Jewelry TV for $79.99. Less than 2 weeks later, I discovered that the earrings were being sold for $59.99. Jewelry TV promptly gave me a refund for $20 after I whined.



I've now come to expect retailers to give me refunds if the price of the merchandise goes down within a reasonable amount of time after purchase, which is usually 30 days. But how about 40 days? 45 days?

As I previously reported, I bought a Michael Kors trenchcoat at Nordstrom for $148. I just learned from my sister that my trenchcoat has been discounted to $98. Ouch.

It's been about 46 days since I bought the jacket. I was considering going back to Nordstrom to see whether I could get the $50 difference reimbursed. But it made me wonder -- why do I think I'm entitled to such a refund? I can't think of any other business transaction in which the other party would ever consider reimbursing me for the difference in a subsequent price drop. A car dealer wouldn't. I can't cry for a refund in a stock purchase that goes south. And there are certainly many homeowners who're wishing they could un-do their sales transactions during the bubble.

I've decided not to ask for the refund on my jacket. I'm pretty sure that Nordstrom would've given me a refund, or atleast a store credit, considering how service oriented they are. But the fact of the matter is, I was willing to pay full, retail price since I rarely find clothes in my size in the "sales" racks. The $50, in my mind, was a premium I paid to ensure I would have a jacket that fits.

Would you seek a refund in this situation?

Nobody Should Ever Wish On Their Deathbead That They Spent More Time At Work

A short while back, J. Money posted a cute story about an American Businessman's enlightenment about the balance between work and personal life.



An Anonymous commenter posted: "It seems like the old myth that no one on their death bed ever wished they'd spent more time at the office. The sad truth is that millions have reached the end of their life, locked away in some Dickensian nursing home, thinking to themselves - 'Hum, I really wish I would have tried harder to make something of myself.'"

Interesting, since I've come to the opposite conclusion, especially from my dealings with my dad.

My dad's an "old-school" man, stuck in the custom and culture of the old country. He was never active in my life, other than to provide (i.e. pay for) shelter, food, education and other necessities. When I was an infant, he rarely (if ever) changed my diapers or fed me. When I was a child, he never played with me or took interest in my personal life. I doubt he was ever able to name any of my teachers or my friends. He delegated my entire upbringing to my mom.

Anyhow, my dad was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment several years ago and my parents are emotionally, if not geographically, estranged from each other. Notwithstanding the emotional alienation, my mother still performs basic caregiving functions for my dad such as preparing meals, laundering and cleaning. As a result, mother is suffering from caretaker fatigue and resents my father.

I get stressed and depressed when my dad is around too. My dad claims he is starving for conversation. Yet I have nothing to say to him and he has nothing to say to me, other than to badmouth my mother. Because of his memory impairment, he can't converse about any current events. Even if I blather about nonsense to kill the awkward silence, he doesn't respond with anything meaningful to move the conversation further.

Truth be told, I don't really like spending much time with my dad. I have nothing in common with this man and never did. And since he didn't make any effort to spend any meaningful time with me during my youth, we really can't reminisce about the past either.

Don't get me wrong - - I am grateful to my dad. He gave me life and he supported me. That's why I've resigned myself to care for him when neither he nor my mom can care for himself. I hate to admit this, but he is a burden that I am not wholeheartedly eager to take on.

My father will likely die with no one, not even his daughter, truly missing him. (I am grateful that he is oblivious to this fact.) His monetary support has bought my gratitude, but not my affection or love. I think in the end, I don't think anyone ever thinks about whether they should've spent more time in the office. But I think some may wish they invested more time and effort in their relationships, since no one wants to die unloved.

November 2009 Progress Report

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I spent Thanksgiving with my family and it was a bit stressful. My dad's dementia and memory loss is clearly getting worse. But I had great meals and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. My net worth is up this month too so I guess I really can't complain about my November this year. :-D



MY DEBT

	Starting Debt (6/08)	Last Month	This Month	DIFFERENCE
Private SL	$49,528.99	$43,926.89	$43,557.31	$(369.58)
Fed'l SL	$55,852.68	$53,828.16	$53,717.32	$(110.84)
Car Loan	$9,779.33	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
CC	$13,610.75	$0.00	$0.00	$(0.00)
TOTAL	$128,771.75	$97,755.05	$97,274.63	$(480.42)

November was a ho-hum month in terms of debt reduction. With my cc paid off, I could've started snowballing my remaining debt, but I decided to take a break. So I guess November was a spendy month. Either way, my debt's still down and I consider that a "win."


MY SAVINGS

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$8,265.57	$8,372.41	+$106.84

The savings that is reflected here is my "emergency fund" that I am not supposed to touch unless there is an absolute true emergency. I try to save about $100/month or so into my EF.

MY EARMARKS

I have an additional $5,000.00 or so set aside for "earmarked" spending for such things as car maintenance, Christmas, etc. I don't report my earmarks since it's not a true measure of savings because I intend to spend it. I also hate seeing my numbers go down.

But since someone once asked about the specifics, I'll report it this month. My accounting is a bit insane and some of my categories may not make much sense. (Oh, who am I kidding? It's ginormously crazy.) But here goes:

Earmark	Amount
Survey Snowflake1	$82.00
Mom and Dad (emergency, gifts, etc.)	$525.00
Car Fund (registration, maintenance)	$573.00
Christmas Fund	$833.00
2009 Tax	$204.00
Insurance and COLA	$942.00
Extra Paycheck2	$976.00
Vacation	$170.00
CD Ladder3	$303.00
Roth3	$300.00
Misc.	$116.00
TOTAL:	$5,024.00

1 -- I am snowflaking the money I get from completing online surveys. Once I hit $100, I think I will start converting these funds into either my EF or other investments like I-Bonds.
2 -- 2 months out of the year, I receive 3 paychecks. I deposit the 3rd paycheck into my savings and distribute 1/6 to myself every month to pay bills. I eventually hope to be able to bank my entire 3rd paycheck without having to spend it.
3 -- My CD Ladder and Roth funds are not "spending items" per se. I created these earmarks to see if I can get into the habit of saving for these items regularly. I was hoping to have $1,000 each in these funds, but as you can see, I'm way short.


MY NET WORTH

LAST MONTH	THIS MONTH	DIFFERENCE
$40,389.45	$47,358.27	+$6,968.82

I guess the market was really good in November. The big spike in my numbers appear to be because of my 401k. It's incredible to think that my networth was -$21,975.91 just a year ago. In just one year, my net worth increased by $69,334.18! But... I realize that this number is exaggerated because of the market crash last year. My 401k is still down -7.18% from 12/31/08. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to start focusing on my debt reduction again.

The breakdown and the history of my net worth can be seen here.

An Annoying Expense

No, I'm not talking about car repairs or Swiffer refills. I'm talking about having to replace my "fat" (not phat) jeans. My one and only pair of jeans that fit me, has given up its ghost. I now need to replace it.

About a couple of years ago, I was invited to an old college friend's wedding. He happens to be a childhood buddy of my ex, so I knew the ex would be at the wedding. I dreaded seeing my ex, not because we had a horrible break-up, but because I had gained 25 lbs since our break-up.

Now mind you, I'm not fat. I'm relatively slender, compared to the average American woman. I was also extremely skinny while I was dating my ex during college (approx. 95 lbs).

Although I didn't have any residual feelings for my ex, my vanity couldn't allow him to see me 25 lbs heavier. I started exercising regularly and went on a strict diet. I managed to bring my weight down by 15 lbs. I was pretty happy being 105 lbs and I thought I looked pretty good! I was pretty certain that I could maintain this weight and got rid of a lot of my "fat" clothes.

As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men. Now that the wedding has come and gone, I lost motivation to keep exercising. (See the "exercise jar" on the right sidebar?) I've also started "emotional eating". And guess what? I'm back to my pre-wedding weight. **Sigh**

I guess I could try to squeeze myself into my "skinny" jeans. But I'm afraid of creating an unsightly muffin top. Or worse yet, a cracked muffin top.


I guess I have 2 options: (1) buy a replacement "fat" jeans, or, (2) lose weight.

I'm just not sure which route to take...