You are broke like the rest of us

Excuse me! Here’s a situation for you which really happened. Several years ago we had a “significant” amount of “live” money in our checking account and were headed to Vegas to purchase a piece of real estate. We stop along the way at a local gas station to top off the tank, and go to swipe the ATM/Credit Card. We were denied. Not once but three times– twice at the pump and once inside the station. We even ask the cashier if she is sure their credit card system is working, which we were assured it was. Now with the amount of cash in the bank that should be covering this poultry purchase a moderate amount of panic sets in– with the husband and I looking at one another going “WTF?” And uttering other obscenities at one another that are only reserved for days when the other has made a major screw up in the revenue stream.

Thank God it was during daylight hours. So I call our friendly personal banking manager directly. We ask Ms. Bank Manager to check on our account AND relay what has just happened. (She was the one who’d approved the large deposit several days prior.) She taps on the computer in the background and informs us: 1. The funds are all in the bank and 2. No gas station has even attempted to authorize our cards in the past 15-20 minutes. She suggests we try another gas station down the street– and if there is any more problems to call her back asap! So we do… WITH ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEMS… we call to let her know, and check the account. Everything was fine (again.) So we go on our way… Turns out we find out, that that specific gas station had their entire credit card system down for over 12 hours and no one had told the employees! (duh)

So as for everyone being a deadbeat– it’s not always what you think. Oh BTW the husband is a pharmacist and no we’re not carrying those obscene loans you’re carrying as a new pharmacist.

I know, I know…there’s an exception to every rule…

But they always seem to ring out the Rx in the pharmacy, get on the phone and call the bank or CC comp, then stumble away never to be seen again….

Hehe, I’m not super new, I’m just not killing myself to pay them back. I’m starting to getsettled and going to start hitting them hard very soon.

First things first. Decide whether the ‘cost’ of the credit card(s) is more expensive than paying back a loan. Then, decide to do one or the other. Cut up all of the other credit cards if using one for a line of credit. Credit is money that one does not possess. When I first started pharmacy school many, many years ago–I could get a Pell grant, do work-study and live on campus, and I qualified for free in-state tuition. Now, the school system is set up for students to have to borrow money, plus NOT be able to work during the school year or vacations. No wonder graduating pharmacy students feel ‘entitled’ to the BIG wages. I’ve read in the journals that their is possibility for loan forgiveness like for MDs by working in government programs or in underserved areas of the country. (Maybe shift government-sponsored ‘residencies’ e.g. working for Public Health, BIA or VA to’ loan forgiveness programs’?)

I always frosts me when some doofus is ahead of me in line and tying up a cashier and the supervisor while they try and get a charge through for 97% of his sale while I silently stand there fuming with the cash money in my hand for 100% of sale immediately.

{blush}
I was in this predicament recently myself. Went to the Circle K and wife had “borrowed” my cash so I used my debit card, which was promptly denied.

The funny (?) part about it was that we actually had $16,000 in the account because our house burned down in November. That money was our reimbursement for the cars that burned.

Since I was pretty ratty looking, driving a decrepit beater someone had lent us to get by, and still wearing donated clothing and old shoes that didn’t fit, I got the combination eyebrow-raise/eyeroll. If I had told them how much money was actually in the account they would have laughed in my face! ;-D

Anyway, it turns out the bank had placed a hold on my card because we had recently made some large purchases (beyond what our normal usage would be). Uh …. YEAH …. when you have to replace an entire household, you tend to make several large purchases.

At the time, though, all I could do was the embarrassed shuffle out the door.

;-) lol

LSU - I really hope things turn around for you.

Hey, it’s life man. If everything ever went smoothly and perfectly for us, I’d think something was horribly wrong. ;-)

My mantra:

“The unexpected has happened so continually in my life that it has ceased to deserve the name.”
— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

That’s pretty much how I see it, too.

P.S. What happened to your Hate List?
I rather enjoyed it. >:-)