"Judith's thought-provoking soul-searching journal" - 5 new articles

As soon as I bought my house, I started piling on debt. Before the purchase, I paid off credit cards every month. I had no debt. Even my car was (and is) paid off.  However, I am no stranger to being in debt. I was there for years and years, struggling to get hold of it. It was really only when I sold my house in California that I was able to manage my money and my debt.  I became addicted to watching my money grow in CDs and other means (I never did well with stocks and bonds). I became more cautious about spending, even as I actually spent more comfortably than before. 

With the house purchase came the need for some new appliances, repairs, and improvements. Suddenly I was many thousands in debt and could no longer pay off each card every month. We all know that interest rates on credit cards, even for those with excellent credit, can be horrific. Speaking of which, my credit score was excellent — until I bought a house. It isn't any more.

I believe I can get past this. I decided to stop putting anything on a card, with a few exceptions. I planned to pay off the cards by focusing on one at a time to pay more on each month, gradually knocking them down. I know how to do it and I know I can do it. So I was not panicked, even though I felt a little sad about my new normal.

Now to the story. About a month ago I got a call from Bank of America. The caller suspected that my card had been used fraudulently by someone in Ohio. I said that must be so, because I am not in Ohio.  Normally, the company closes the card and sends a new one and cancels that transaction and that's the end of it. But not this time. 

This time the caller forwarded me to another company, one I later learned was a call center. This call center determines if a person can qualify for a debt relief program. He asked me about my debt and told me that I qualified for a program that could cut my payments way down and reduce my total debt. Well, that's nice but I wasn't actually in the market for such a program. I felt that I had honestly accumulated that debt in a very short time and that I owed it.  He explained that I would have to stop paying on four specific cards for six months, after which the program would negotiate with my creditors for a settlement, which would likely be 60% of the original debt, more or less. 

I kept asking why are you telling me all this? Why can't you explain it in an email? I hate phone calls. They make me nervous, because 1) I have no record of what is said, and 2) I don't always hear everything.  He kept me on the line, explaining that when I talk to the company representative I should not mention anything about the Bank of America call, just say I am looking for relief. Or words to that effect — I don't have a transcript. This alone seemed shifty to me. Why should I not explain what got me there? For whatever reason, I kept writing down all the names and numbers he was giving me and I stayed on the line.

I was forwarded to Freedom Debt Relief. I spoke to a woman. Against that other guy's instructions, I told her everything and I asked what is going on here? She explained how it works. Yes, they usually can negotiate the debt down, but then they take a nice hefty slice for themselves, up to 25% of the original debt. So the total that you pay may not be that far off from the original. She was honest and very helpful. So I will say that about Freedom Debt Relief, that they did not try to mislead me. Or she didn't, anyway. They have high ratings from the Better Business Bureau, but they also have had a ton of complaints (to which they responded, which I think is how they maintain the high rating).  See also NerdWallet's review of Freedom Debt Relief.

I was not going to agree to anything by phone so I said I'd think about it and hung up. I never called back and I did not answer when she called back. I thought that was the end of it. Until yesterday.

I got a call from Citibank. I saw the name on my phone (as I had Bank of America) so I answered. I thought maybe a payment was past due (although I have all of my accounts signed up for automatic payments). No, it wasn't a past-due call.  The woman said that they had been contacted by Freedom Debt Relief on my behalf. By law, they are no longer allowed to bug me for payments on my card. I was confused. Why can't they bill me? Because the law says so.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act, to be specific. Go ahead, look it up, try to make sense of this.  I tried but didn't have the patience. I asked the woman what if I want to make a payment? She said she can't make me. Which is no answer.

I said that I had not agreed to the Freedom Debt Relief program so I was surprised about this call.  She said to talk to a representative of Freedom Debt Relief. Specifically Susan Hess. She said she would forward me.

Oh, meanwhile, I was doing a reverse number lookup for the Citibank number and found that it was, indeed Citibank. However, the information said that that branch may be closed. I decided I would go over there later to check — the number was here in Las Vegas.

Before forwarding me, the Citibank woman said that Susan Hess may be able to help me. She pointed out that FDR has a 4.5 rating with the BBB. I said I do not need or want their help.

So I finally spoke to Susan Hess. I told her that I had not agreed to this program and that I did not want it. She kept trying to "help" me but I finally closed it off, said no thank you. Again, no transcript, dang it. 

After I hung up I went to the Citibank website and made a payment. I noticed that the "amount due" was $0, even though my balance was a few thousand. So I guess they were complying with that law. They let me pay, though. Then I drove to the Citibank branch with that phone number. They are alive and well. Not closed. So the call, presumably, was legit.

I wrote to Freedom Debt Relief, saying in no uncertain terms, lay off, stop it, quit. Leave me alone. I hope they get the message. I do have a copy of that email. 

Here is the question I want answered: why did these two banks bend over backwards to get me enrolled or encourage me to enroll in a debt relief program? Why did they bring it up at all? I certainly didn't. I have not asked for help nor do I need it. I make my payments on time, I have a decent income.  I am mystified why two banks would act as shills for Freedom Debt Relief. I suspect there is something in that law that explains it. 

Years ago, when I was a really broke student, I got into debt. It was a pretty tiny debt by comparison but my income was tiny also. I enrolled in a relief program of sorts, where I made one payment each month and the nonprofit that managed the program paid off my creditors and negotiated settlements. This worked okay for me. I learned that the nonprofit was supported by donations from the credit card companies. They wanted what money they could get from me, and were happy to avoid bankruptcy. I wonder if this current situation is something like that. 

Another question is why has all of this been by telephone? I have yet to get anything from Freedom Debt Relief by snail mail or email or any other solid form of communication.  Not even a text.  Why?

   

I've gotten behind. I'm trying to get it all down, just in case I need to remember something later.

So December 9 was the moving day. I had chosen it to allow a few days for cleanup of the apartment. I scheduled my house cleaners to do a final cleanup on December 12.  December 9 was just a few days after the second flood incident (see previous post), so there were still fans and dehumidifier and holes in walls that had to be avoided. But we'll get to that later.

In the past I have had to do almost everything myself or with the help of family and friends. The days of hired U-Hauls, though, are over for me. 

They aren't over for some moving companies, however. The company I hired rented a U-Haul truck for my move.  I don't judge. It's a small company among many small competitive moving companies.

In the month prior to the big move, I tried to deal with problems and renovations. I learned quickly that yes, there is a labor shortage, and yes, there is demand for the services I needed.  I did get some things done nevertheless. The first was a sewer inspection. I hired one of those teams that sends a camera through the lines. The home inspector had noted that the drains in some places were sluggish and recommended this company.  

Honestly, I had been fretting about the sewer. What if they found major blockage? How much would it cost to fix that? How much money would I have left for anything else?

As it was a foreclosure, the bank was not about to spend any more money than it had to.

The sewer guys came and one of the first things they said was "We were surprised that you scheduled us for after closing." I had not realized that I could have hired them before, and if anything were found I could back out of the deal. My ignorance in these things has turned out to be almost boundless.

Fortunately, the drain lines were clear. No roots, nothing unusual. I have the videotape (thumb drive) of the inspection in case I ever want to settle down with some popcorn and view it.

Oh, did I mention the piano? The piano movers moved the piano to my new house not long after escrow closed, weeks before I actually moved in. They did a great job. Everything went smoothly and the piano looks wonderful in its new space. In fact, I have been playing it a lot more since I moved. The movers also recommended a piano tuner, who in turn recommended a specialist who works with older large pianos like mine. Some strings need to be replaced, but I was able to get it tuned about two weeks after it was moved. 

Next came the repair of the garage doors. I have a three-car garage with two garage doors. Not only did the openers not work but also I had no keys to the doors, so I could not open them by hand. I found a garage door company and they replaced not only the openers but also the larger door itself.  This was a pricey operation. 

Next there were window issues. One of the front windows had condensation between the two layers of glass.  And one of the windows in my soon-to-be office was gone entirely. This explained why the house was so cold when I first viewed it.   I called a trusty window company (yes, really, my daughter recommended them and so did the inspector). They were able to arrange to replace the front window soon but not the office window. Turned out the whole frame had to be replaced, and that meant a delay of several weeks. During which time I kept that door closed but I didn't do anything else to stop the heat from escaping and therefore to prevent the gas bill from mounting. 

I was meeting people at the house and elsewhere not only for repairs, but also for possible renovations.  The kitchen had tile counters and floor, which I badly wanted to get rid of.  Both bathrooms had tubs with showers, as old as the house and not great for someone with mobility issues. So I met with Georgia at Lowe's about the counter, I met with someone at my house from Reborn Cabinet Refacing , I met with a man from Rebath about replacing the tub with a shower in the master bath. Then I let in a man to measure counters, another to measure the floor, and of course the window people to measure the windows. Did I mention the irrigation? My daughter referred her landscape person to me to look at the irrigation system, which was not working.  So I was letting Miguel in to replace the system, and to seek out and fix leaks.

And there were leaks aplenty. At one point, after a rain, I found the yard on one side of the house soaking wet. It appeared that it was not draining right. It stayed wet for several days, until Miguel could get to it to assess what was going on. Turned out to be a large leak in a pipe back there. Water was pouring out into the yard and I was paying for it. Or would be soon enough.

As the time came closer for the actual move, I was told that my new refrigerator had been delayed. Oddly, I had been notified that the fridge was on a truck and on its way to me, scheduled to be delivered the same day as the washer, December 7. The second washer, the replacement washer.  But the fridge never showed up and Lowe's was never able to explain why they had said it was on its way. When I called to ask where it was, the man answered, "Samsung", as if that explained it. Another representative later told me that Samsung refrigerators come directly from Korea so it was probably on a boat somewhere. How it was on a truck headed my way one day and then back on a boat was never adequately explained.

Meanwhile I headed for Facebook Marketplace and found a minifridge at a good price. I met the owner at a storage place and took home a decent little fridge with a freezer and even a little veg drawer. This would be my refrigerator until the real thing came along. 

About that. I had ordered a Samsung that had features I liked at a price I felt was fair. The handyman who had been doing a lot of odd jobs for me mentioned that he had had a Samsung fridge that had a lot of issues with ice. In fact, he had it repaired twice within the warranty period and then it broke immediately after the warranty expired. He ended up replacing it with a non-Samsung. Diplomatically, he said, "but maybe they've fixed the ice makers by now". I decided to look into it. What do you know- his experience was typical. Samsung refrigerators came out on the bottom of a Consumer Reports study, particularly because of the ice makers.

The delay in delivery gave me another option: cancel that order and get something else. Which is what I did. And lo! My new LG refrigerator was delivered the very next day!

   

On November 30 a pedestal was delivered for my dryer. I was happy to see it in my utility room, waiting for the dryer itself.  

Meanwhile, the flooring people arrived on December 4. The replacement of my tile floor with a light wood-like laminate went smoothly. They were done in about three hours and it looks great.

On December 7 my new washer and dryer were delivered. I was so excited! Finally I would start washing the tons of clothes and towels and sheets I had been accumulating. I had not moved in yet, and I was consumed with trying to sort stuff and get some packing done. Laundry fell to the bottom of my list.

However. First I learned that the pedestal I ordered would not fit the dryer. It was an LG pedestal and the dryer a Maytag. I thought because it said "universal" that it would fit all dryers. No, just all LG dryers. I would have to find a replacement and return the other.

I quickly discovered another rookie mistake on my part: it is an electric dryer.  I had gas but no 240 outlet for an electric dryer. The sensible person would likely have said, take it back, bring me a gas dryer. But me? No. I have become aware of the indoor air pollution caused by gas appliances — I can see what happens to my HEPA filter when I use my gas oven or stove — so I decided I'd go electric (I am also thinking of future solar). This meant finding a reliable electrician and getting that 240 W outlet installed. This would turn out to be the least of the issues brought on by this delivery, however.

The installer connected the washer and turned it on. I signed his tablet, certifying that the delivery had been made, and he was off.

When I went to check on the washer I found a flood! The floor of the utility room plus a part of the adjacent carpet were flooded. I looked at the faucets and hoses and saw that they were dry. I threw towels onto the water and called Lowe's.  The dispatcher sent the installers back to my house to determine what went wrong.

It appeared that the machine was at fault. So they unhooked it and took it with them. The installer said Lowe's would call and that I needed to emphasize the carpet damage. Oh, he was right about that.  When I spoke to a manager at Lowe's he said to call Stanley Steemer or some other carpet cleaning company. I knew that this flood was beyond a carpet cleaner. He offered $150, then $250. I knew that was not going to do the job.  I repeated that this would likely require professional water damage repair.  He said he was not authorized to hire anyone for this situation, that I would have to find someone to fix it and then we'd talk.  But he was still talking about a carpet cleaning company.

Doesn't this seem odd? Lowe's farms everything out. Why couldn't they farm this one out? Call a remediation company right away and possibly limit the extent of the damage. But no. They weren't into that. 

Although my daughter did a great job sucking up water with my Little Green carpet cleaner, I thought it wise to find out if that would be sufficient. I called a remediation company and they sent someone out to test.  The guy came out with his little meter and saw that the carpet and the adjacent wall were 100% wet.  Mildew would soon be growing.  He said the company would be sending an agreement I could sign by doc-u-sign and they could begin work.

The agreement required a claim number and claims adjuster name from my insurance company.  So I had to file a claim. 

I had owned this house less than a month and had not even moved in and already I was using the homeowners' insurance. 

The next day the remediation team showed up with fans, a monster dehumidifier, and lots of plastic. They cut the drywall, removed baseboards, laid down plastic, set up the equipment, turned it on, and took off. I lived with 24/7 blowing and sucking and plastic for three days, at which point someone came in to test and took away all of the tools. The remediation company doesn't do drywall repair or any of that final cleanup so I had to find someone else for that part.

An interesting wrinkle. My policy requires a $2500 deductible on every claim.  The insurance adjuster said they usually will pay for the remediation damage but then the repair work consumes my deductible. In other words, the replacement of the drywall, repainting, replacement of carpet where necessary, all were to be completed by others. 

On December 9, while the remediation was going on I was moving in. The moving company plus the organizers I had hired had to work around the equipment to get my stuff in. I don't know if this was part of the reason the moving company left a lot of boxes in the garage rather than bring them to their assigned rooms. That mystery may never be solved.

   

I watch LifeTime movies from time to time, mostly for laughs. One of the things I laugh at is the portrayal of a person or couple moving. Many of these movies start out with a woman in her new house, pointing out where to place the couch. And voila! She's moved in! 

Some people might have that experience but I never have. 

Later in these movies we find out that the next-door neighbor is a serial killer or a new friend is not really a friend but an obsessed stalker or the nice lady's husband is moonlighting as a mobster.  None of these scenarios would phase me at all, now that I have had my latest moving experience.  There are more disturbing things than mere serial killers.

I bought a house. Escrow closed in 30 days but my lease agreement said I had to give two months' notice. I saw this as a bonus because I could get some things repaired or remodeled in that extra time before I actually moved in.  The house I bought was a foreclosure, which meant that the bank was not going to foot any bills for repairs. It was a bit of a risk but I was willing. 

I decided to deal with a lot of items that were on the home inspector's list (there were over 100). First was the garage doors. The house has a three-car garage with two garage doors. Neither door opened. Keys to the doors were also not available.  I called a highly-rated garage door repair company and someone was out that same day.  Upshot: one door had to be replaced and both openers had to be replaced. It was expensive but I have since come to appreciate that I went through with it.

I had a drain inspection company inspect the drains with cameras. I have the evidence on a thumb drive that it's clear! No roots, no clogs. Next I brought in a plumber who came highly recommended by the nice lady I was talking to at Lowe's about counter tops.  Fortunately, my landscape guy had fixed the irrigation leaks and replaced a pipe thing in the front, so the plumber didn't have to do any of that. He replaced the pressure regulator and the washer faucets and replaced the anode rod in the water heater after draining it.  Spencer the Plumber took careful notes and many photographs of everything he did. He's a meticulous plumber, for which I have cause to be grateful (more on that in another episode!). 

I was also having conversations about some remodeling I wanted. I wanted to replace my bathroom tub with a nice walk-in shower. I wanted to get rid of all the tile in the kitchen and replace counters with quartz. I also wanted my kitchen cabinets refreshed with new doors, all white.  And the tile floor replaced with laminate.  So I was talking to Georgia at Lowes about counters, with Rebath (through Lowe's) about that shower, with Reborn (through Costco) about the cabinets, and Cosentino (through Costco) about those countertops.  

I was sold on the Rebath shower and signed that contract in spite of a price well beyond what I had imagined (it will be SO nice, though!).  I had several meetings with Georgia at Lowe's about the countertops. She also steered me to the flooring department and gave me a recommendation for a plumber (see above) whose kitchen counters she had designed.  I met with Reborn about the cabinets and signed a contract with them but when my daughters gasped at the amount I retracted. I had those three days to change my mind and that is what I did. Instead, daughter Elaine and I plan to use a special cabinet refinishing paint and just paint them, add new hinges and handles. 

I had gotten remarkably different price quotations from Lowe's and Costco for the countertops. I decided to get one more: this time from someone recommended by the realtor who sold me my house. His price was less than half the lower price quoted by the Big Guys and I had photos of his work so I signed up with him.

Look. I know how boring this is. I promise it will get better, although not necessarily in this episode. I am trying to document everything I can remember. In my experience this can be helpful down the line. 

While I was having all these appointments I was also looking at how I would survive the move. I have more stuff than a normal person does, which is why I have never had the LifeTime experience. Or at least part of the reason.  I am also not very organized. I think I have the makings of an organized mind but I have not used it enough to train it. I also have such bad habits. I'll start a thing, then toss it aside, not necessarily where it should go. Often there isn't a place for it, which makes it worse.

Enter Natalie. Natalie is a professional organizer who specializes in packing and unpacking. The unpacking is where, I presume, the magic happens. She finds that place for that thing and designates it.  Natalie and her helper, Jesse, arrived to pack up my house. Everything except the furniture. It took a LONG time. I couldn't handle eight hours at a time so we did four. Even with that, though, I was constantly being called out for appointments so I was not there much of the time when they were packing. 

I can't say I recommend this way of working. If I had been there all the time I would have been better able to cull as they packed, reducing the totals, and I would have known where things were. As it is right now, there are many boxes in my house and garage and I do not know where things are that I want to have now. For example, my water flosser, my cat Lily's medicine, my little air fryer, and up until last night, this computer.  

I also hired local movers who were highly rated.  Two days before my scheduled move my washer and dryer were delivered. December 7 has a new meaning for me now.

Stay tuned for Episode 2! When the fun really begins.

   

On November 8 escrow closed on a house I bought. I was shocked by the closing costs but I shouldn't have been. That was an indication of how much I did not know or think to ask when I got into this. The only homes I had purchased before were mobile homes. They are different. Different challenges, different methods, and closing costs were a lot lower. 

Since then I have been making appointments for various repairs and improvements. Turns out almost everything is getting done a month or more down the line. Fortunately, the landscape guy and the plumber were able to come by and get stuff done soon.  I can't remember when I was last as busy as I am these days. I don't like it, honestly. I am a couch potato by nature. It is a struggle to get up and do exercises, which I need, and going into stores and talking about kitchen and bath remodels isn't the fun I had hoped.  Well, look at the cost. 

I have also been "entertaining", although not in the way most people do, I expect. Friend Laurie came to visit on November 4 and left November 20. She stayed in my apartment with me and we spent a lot of time knitting hats on looms! A first for me. She knits and crochets but had too much pain in her hand to knit normally, so she found these round looms. And the rest is history. She knitted about 25 hats while here, while I made six, as I recall. She has a gift for staying the course while I had to keep getting up and doing other things.  Or going to appointments.

On the same day as Laurie left, daughter Mary and family arrived. They stayed at the new house. It is not ready for prime time and they knew it. No fridge, washer, or dryer, and very little furniture.

They slept on an air mattress (Joey slept on a fold-down futon thing, courtesy of my son-in-law Ed). We all struggled with installing curtain rods for the bathtubs, and the day before they left Mary and husband Phil managed to get them up correctly. 

Because the visitors overlapped, we were all able to go to the Bellagio Conservatory to see the decorations for fall. This trip was not as easy as it has been in other years, because all of the infrastructure for the Formula 1 race on the strip (read about it if you haven't) had to be taken down. This led to incredible traffic delays. It took us over 45 minutes to go one mile. We were SO CLOSE we could have walked if we only could have left the car behind. But we kept our spirits up joking about it and enjoying my granddaughter Nelly's take on the situation.  She had learned the term "traffic jam" while riding on an electric bike to school with her mom and watching the cars jammed on the street. 

We did finally get inside. Fortunately, it was not far from the car to the conservatory. 

After viewing the flowery decorations, we went to the sweet shop nearby, and Mary bought Nelly a fancy pudding, most of which she did not eat (too sweet, she said; this child loves fruit more, I think). 

On Thanksgiving Day we all (except Joey, who had to work in Colorado) went to the Las Vegas Turkey Trot. Elaine, Ed, Phil, Mary, and Nelly all did the 5K while I did the One-Mile Stroll. We had quite a bit of walking to do from cars to shuttle, from shuttle to start line, from finish line back to shuttle.  So I did two miles instead of one, and was very happy to have managed it. I did use a cane because I knew my back pain would kick in if I did not.

On the cancer front: I met with the PA, Sara, by Zoom on November 6, early in the morning. She reviewed blood tests, which were encouraging, and Mary joined from Colorado and pointed out the back pain I have been having that was accelerated by my hip surgery. Sara said she would arrange for an MRI. 

My next cancer appointment is December 18 in Phoenix, with the oncologist. I will get blood work again, plus a CT scan to see if any cancer is showing up again.  I am still having no symptoms of cancer and hope to stay that way. 

A matter that may gum up the works is related to the drug I am taking. Astra Zeneca sent me a letter saying they would not assist with paying for the drug next year. My income is too high. The last time I calculated what my copayment would be (copayment, mind, and that with medicare limits) it was about $12K per year. Fortunately, some changes have been made in Medicare and I may be liable for about $3500 for the first month, then 0 after. I have been trying to confirm this through my drug plan but they have not answered yet.  Stay tuned for more of that story, which is hitting thousands of people in the U.S.