Another Month Down

We have now been at Florida Springs RV three months. Back in January, we thought the four months we'd be here were going to go so slowly. And January did drag. But, ever since then time has sped by. Hard to believe we are in our last month here.

We ended March with a very busy day yesterday. We have decided to change the way we do our monthly finances. Until this month we have been pretty much an all cash transaction couple. We just found it easier and kept us on budget. Well, our bank has been offering a Visa rewards credit card for a few months now and we have just ignored it because we don't use our credit card much. But, last month we sat down and looked at how the rewards would work and decided to try it out.

I have to admit, I'm a bit anxious about doing this. I was raised by parents who did not use credit cards. And I've always tried to stay away from them, too. But, when we calculated the cash back rewards we could get, we felt we'd be silly not to give it a shot. It just means a different way of managing our finances. Of course, you all know how much I like change! Ugh. But, I also like to be a good steward of the resources God has blessed us with, so we're going for it.

So, while Randy was vacuuming and dusting and doing all his “chores,” I was busy redefining our finances and recordkeeping. Everything will now be charged to this Visa card and it will be paid off at the end of the month. With the system I've set up, it should work well. And we'll make a little money doing it. Hopefully.

I also had to plan our menu for the next couple of weeks so we could go to the grocery yesterday afternoon. That's the upside of using the credit card – we didn't have to wait to go to the bank and get cash to go to the grocery! 'Cause that wasn't gonna be able to happen until Tuesday since the first was a Sunday and we both work on Monday.

After the chores were done, we went to WalMart to get our groceries and monthly prescriptions. Of course, nothing is ever easy and using the new card just proved that. UGH!! When paying for the prescriptions, the card was denied!! I had just activated it Friday and had already used it twice that morning!! I started to call customer service when the fraud people from Bank of America called me. They wanted to be sure it was me using the card since it was a Florida transaction and we “live” in South Dakota. I assured him it was fine, told him we are travelers and will always have transactions in different states. He said he'd make a note of that.

Good. The prescriptions were then purchased without a problem and we went about our grocery shopping. About an hour or so later, we are paying for the groceries and, yes, you know what's coming. The card was denied again! I hit the roof!!

No call from the fraud folks this time – but I got customer service on the phone and let them have it. The guy said that it was their fault (DUH!!) and the previous person had put a $150 override on the card which meant our grocery total was flagged. I was very angry and let the guy know that if this was the way they handled the card, they could have it back. We got it to USE IT! He assured me that it would only happen again if there was a large purchase made. I still wasn't happy with that, but there was nothing I could do about it. Let me tell you I am calling Bank of America on Monday and voicing my opinion on this practice. I understand they are trying to avoid fraud and appreciate the reasoning, but if I want to run the card up to its limit, that's my perogative. And I don't want to deal with the card being denied.

We'll see how this goes. Obviously, if this happens again, we'll be back to cash transactions only again!

The busyness continued today. First thing this morning (and I mean, first thing – 6:15am!) I got a ravioli dinner started in the crockpot. Then, of course, we went to church. We had a delicious, even-if-i-do-say-so-myself, ravioli dinner with salad about noon.

At 1pm I went into work. Alicia usually works Sundays, but she attended a baby shower for her daughter, so I offered to work for her. It was very quiet and I was able to get my Bible study lesson done as well as some computer work. We had three rigs come in and at 6pm I was done.

This evening I had rehearsal for the Easter program. I got home about 8:45. It's 9:37 now and I'm just about ready to hit the bed. Tomorrow will be another busy day – work and rehearsal again.

I know this has been a long post. If you're still reading, thanks! If not, that's okay. I sure understand. Hope you all have a great week!

Until the next time . . .