Cleared

[vaneramos]

As of this morning, my credit cards are paid off.

The past week of the process has been exasperating. Dad deposited a bank draft into my account last Tuesday. The bank immediately placed a hold on the funds.

Thursday morning I took a copy of the receipt to my CIBC branch, pointed out the nature of the deposit, and asked whether it would be possible to expedite clearing the funds. The bank guy talked to a manager, came back and apoliogized profusely. Since it was a bank draft, a hold should not have been placed. He promised to make a few calls to try to clear it and contact me later the same day.

I never heard from him again. I could not afford to take any more time off work, so I decided to wait it out. I believe the normal period of time for a hold is three business days, but yesterday the situation still had not changed.

This morning the funds had cleared, presumably at midnight. A whole week? If it were a simple matter to switch banks, I would.

So I paid off Visa this morning (the other card had already been paid from the $1,000 the bank cleared immediately). I've lived under the cloud of unmanageable debt for so long, this should have been a relief, but I felt nothing. I guess the big relief came a few weeks ago, when I worked out these plans.

The reality is, whenever I'm tempted to celebrate in style the way I used to (a nice dinner, a bottle of wine or a couple movie DVDs), which might be exciting at the moment but lead me back down that slippery slope, I must switch off the voice of self-sabotage and go do something else.

Comments

[hickbear.livejournal.com]

Yaaaaaaaaay!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yippee!

[bellakara.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks again!

[paulintoronto.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, Van.

As for, "I've lived under the cloud of unmanageable debt for so long, this should have been a relief, but I felt nothing", I wonder if you know the Kantor and Ebb song from Flora the Red Menace called "A Quiet Thing"? It's all about how "happiness comes in on tiptoes" and pleasure is more of a quiet thing than a ringing of bells and whistles. Unfortunately, the only version I can find of Liza singing it is from the Muppet Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t2Xunpas2s&feature=PlayList&p=FB92E2B6B6D8FD44&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=10

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That's okay. I'm a big Muppet Show fan, but I've never seen that episode. Loved it. Actually it made me think of Danny more than anything else.

[djjo.livejournal.com]

Adding to the Chorus - Yay!

Phew. Glad it cleared and that this part is past. Now you can concentrate on the better habits you are gathering.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all your support. Hugs!

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

That was the kind of shit that made me switch from Scotiabank to a credit union.

Sympathies for the hassle. Banks in Canada just bite, but my credit union has been really good to me. (They are also taking over my life--my renter's insurance and investments are all with their partner companies.)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Has the credit union been an improvement? Somebody said that switching banks would affect my credit rating, which is also going to be affected when I reduce my credit card limit. But maybe it's worth it.

[noveldevice.livejournal.com]

Yes. They are very nice to me and a lot saner about fees and such.

I don't know, to be honest. I'm not all that worried about my credit rating in Canada, since I'm not going to be here forever, and I moved here with no credit (they don't count my US credit). I switched from Scotia to Vancity pretty quickly; hadn't even been here a month.

[lupinebear.livejournal.com]

...this should have been a relief, but I felt nothing.

I wouldn't be surprised if you feel it in a day or three.

Congrats!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Now I'm panicking about the trip, because needless to say it does not fit in my budget. The extra hours I'm working on the yard will help, but it doesn't compensate for the seven days of work I'm missing.

The connection between money and anxiety is strong.

We need to chat when I can clear some time.

[changeling72.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you've got it sorted at last.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yup, thanks!

[eloquentwthrage.livejournal.com]

It's worth following up with a letter (or email) to the branch manager or even the home office of the bank to indicate your displeasure, and why you're displeased. It's not worth it to go in there and make a fuss (you'd probably be very stressed about something like that anyway), but if it happened to you, it's likely to happen to someone else.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

That is a very good suggestion, and it would give me some satisfaction at least.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

how annoying that they made you wait so long. but hooray for paying off the debt! i'm glad for you.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[danthered.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

"As of this morning, my credit cards are paid off."

congratulations. this is a serious, life-altering deal, one that must take a huge weight off of your shoulders.

recognizing the need to change your habits, regardless of how celebratory a moment this is, is another very healthy sign of growth. pat yourself on the back, raise a glass of water in a toast to yourself and your dad and carry on.

...

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

this is a serious, life-altering deal

Thanks for saying that. I can't really say that I've felt the weight lift yet. I guess I'm so used to feeling it. But my habits have changed and I can see the difference. It's just going to take a while for it to sink it.

[fivecats.livejournal.com]

my further 2¢: feeling a weight lifted is far, far less important than the change in habits that you have affected in your life. there will always be other, newer weights to shoulder, but a change in habit changes your life and, to some extent, the world around you.

...