Amex puts Polly in the doghouse

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Having another cash flow problem.  Due to an expensive transmission repair which you can read about here if you're interested, I don't have the cash right now I thought I had to pay for the Poorhouse children's childcare this summer. I'll have it in two weeks when I next get paid. The problem is that there is only one viable option for the last few weeks of summer around here. Last year, we got closed out of the program because we registered too late, and had no child care.

(Remind me to do a rant on child care scheduling sometime. But not today. Today I rant on American Express.)

My American Express card proclaims that I've been a cardmember since 1984. Apparently that and a Diet Coke will give you a caffeine buzz for half an hour.

Two years ago, I was late on my Amex payments, along with all my other payments. I brought them current. American Express lowered my spending limit to $1000. This was a problem, because I used it mostly for business travel, which nearly always costs more than $1000. But I could kinda see their issue. They wanted to make sure they got their money.  So I stopped using the card, because it wasn't helpful to me.

About a year ago I called them and asked them to increase my spending limit. I have a job, and I can pay off my bills now. No, they said, we need at least a 6 month history of on-time bill payments. So I went back to not using it.

Fast forward to this morning, I whipped my card out of the back of my wallet and tried to use it to pay for camp for this summer. Declined. Hmm, I thought, thought I, Perhaps it's that pesky $1000 limit. I tried another transaction, this time, with only a few of the camp weeks charged. Declined.

So I went online to see my account status. Imagine my surprise to discover that my card had been cancelled!

Jason, the American name of a card services rep from India that I got on the phone, told me that they had cancelled the card in January for inactivity. Could they reinstate it?  No, because the reinstatement request was not within 3 months of cancellation. In a plot worthy of Joseph Heller, Jason suggested I apply for a new card. I did. My application was declined.

This nightmare will never ever end, will it? I'm paying off my debt. All of my bills and various payment plans are current. I have a good job. My husband is employed.  We are trying so hard, but we just can't catch a break.

Money and Neighbors and Friends...Oh My!

The worst part of being in financial trouble for me is the local service providers we know personally, and to whom we owe money.

I play the piano. It's actually really important to me. My kids have been taking lessons for a couple of years too. Their piano teacher is a friend of mine. Her kids are in the same class at school as my kids. She's wonderful, talented, friendly, smart, and a terrific teacher.

And now I'm afraid to talk to her.

Her studio policy is that we prepay by the semester. Last year, I didn't have the money up front, so I paid her a few hundred dollars every time I could until we were caught up. She was wonderfully understanding. In the spring, she asked returning students to make a commitment for the fall and pay a deposit. She waived the deposit for us, because, again, I didn't have the $200.

Over the summer as the unemployment situation dragged on, it became obvious to us that there is no money for piano or any other activities this year. I sent an email to the piano teacher apologizing profusely and explaining that we would have to suspend piano lessons. I didn't hear back from her, but that wasn't surprising, because she spends the summers out of the country.

This week, she left a message on our voice mail, wondering where our daughter was during her lesson time. EEK! She never got the email! And now she's got a hole in her schedule for not one slot but TWO students--because of us. Ugh. I feel rotten. But I just don't have the money.

I will call her tomorrow. I will.

We also owe the local dance studio for last semester's fees. The owner, who is our daughter's instructor, is a neighbor of ours. I feel so icky not being able to pay her. For the record, the check that I wrote at the time the payment was due bounced because I wasn't managing my (lack of) cash flow very well. We will pay her, but we need to save the house first.

Sounds Familiar--Business Failure Leads to Personal Finance Problems

The story in this article from ABC news about people having trouble with subprime mortgages reminds me of me. Well, except the subprime part. This is exactly how I got into trouble when my business wasn't generating enough income, I'd rack up the credit card debt. It finally caught up with us.