The Hustle of Sistah Ant

From Tuesday, Feb. 19th - I never was able to post this, the weak signal died. 

Through some small miracle, I have a very weak signal coming into my living room, so I figure I’ll try to post this blog entry.

Folks, it’s been a bumpy road, starting with losing my regular internet connection.  Most of my bills are sent via e-mail.  All of my bill payments are usually done online.  I don’t even have pre-addressed payment envelopes coming to my home, so I had to get on the phone to contact the companies I have business relationships with.  I’m working a lot, so doing this was hard during business hours.  That started at around the beginning of this month.

Then good news came - my project was approved for overtime.  I get paid hourly on this assignment, and I can bill enough each week to earn about $1,400 extra each month for the rest of the duration of the project.  So between billable hours, lunch, and my short commute, I’m putting in about 11 or 11 and 1/2 hours in every business day.  Because I’m saving for a house and my working overhead is very low, it’s totally worth it, financially.

But this is where the bumps in the road come in: Saturday before last, I was headed outdoors to get someone from the train station.  On the way to the car, I noticed trash all over the street.  Something said, "Check it out and make sure it’s not yours."  But when I picked up the paper that was right by my foot, to my horror, I saw Mister Ant’s name.  A quick scan in both directions revealed that our mail was all up and down the block I was on and the next block up.  In the twilight, I walked up and down those blocks, salvaging every scrap of torn up mail that I could, including the envelope that used to house the paystub from my employer that had my checking routing and account number and the last four digits of my social security number, along with my name and address and the name and address of my employer.  They probably saw something that looked like a paycheck sticking out and just grabbed it and all our other mail.  Who knew what else they got from my mailbox that I didn’t know about?  Hopefully not one of those access checks that would charge to a credit card (that I meant to tell the credit cards to stop sending but didn’t in time for this)!

I didn’t waste any time.  I called Mister Ant, who was at a friends house and told him to investigate credit freezes online.  Then I called all my credit card companies.  Luckily it was Saturday night and I found the stuff less than two hours after it was stolen.  I had all my account numbers changed.  I filed a police report.  It was a long weekend - I had to wait until Monday morning to change my credit union account number.  I also called the credit reporting bureaus that morning and but a 90-day watch on my reports so that anyone trying to open an account with my information would have a hard time trying.  It was all made easier by the fact that I have all my creditors’ number saved in my cell phone’s phonebook, and all made harder by my work schedule, and my extremely limited access to the internet.  With all my account numbers in flux, paying bills was hard - I had to cancel automatic debits (and my direct deposit) and find alternate ways to pay my bills.  As I type this, my car insurance payment is days late because despite my effort to try online and phone payments, I have to actually visit my agent to pay the bill since they had me in the system as an automatic debit client when my bill was generated.  It’s been a journey.  Last week, when I was paid, I had to use my entire lunch to go pick up my check from my agency, cash it on the bank it was drawn on (for a five dollar fee), and deposit the cash in my credit union to keep from having the same problem I had last time with my money being held for a week.  I can’t even provide my employer with a voided check to reinstate my direct deposit (and avoid walking all over Philly at lunch) until I get the new checks for my new account number.  It’s a trip!

But after all of that, here is the good news.  First, and most importantly, there is no evidence to date that any of my accounts have been compromised or that any of my money has been misappropriated.  I am not in bad standing with any of my business relationships - to the extent my car insurance is late, I have a grace period, and it’ll be paid on Wednesday.  Also, I have secure mail now - we’ve abandoned the unsecure mailbox for the door slot (which was inoperable and has now been fixed).  I have all my new account numbers and cards now.  The checks are on the way.  We’re getting our own internet connection on Wednesday.  And the biggest news of all -

I PAID OFF EVERY LAST PENNY OF MY OLD CREDIT CARD DEBT, JUST IN TIME FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!

So that’s how I’m doing!  Sorry I haven’t been to visit anyone lately.  But my month in financial purgatory is winding down - the sun is coming out!