Dodging a Bullet

I think I’ve figured out where the little gremlins in my head are directing their mischief.  The little bastards have aimed at my credit card.

I’ve been VERY reluctant to use my card while this whole house buying process has been going on.  With my credit rating under the financial microscope, I’ve been given the usual warnings of “don’t buy anything unusual on credit,” to “Don’t buy ANYTHING for the house until you have the keys,” finishing with “Don’t transfer money between your checking and savings without letting us know.”

Yea, I get the reasons why.  The bank can pull your credit scores right up to the morning of the scheduled closing.  If those numbers shift, they can deny the mortgage until the minute you’re sitting at the table and signing documents.  They base your ability to pay for the metric shit-ton of money they’re lending you on how much you earn AND how much you already owe other banks like themselves.

I’ve heard the horror stories about people who’ve bought new cars (we’ll have a garage to fill) and new boats (lakefront property and all that) and that high-end furniture set (but the stuff in our apartment is OLD…) days before closing on the house, thus rending their credit incapable of supporting the bank’s formula on debt-ratios.  Closings didn’t happen in each of these cases.

I will not be yet another horror story!

Well, the gremlins are chomping at the bit to go out and spend like wild things.  It doesn’t help that I’ve been ‘researching’ for months, and have composed a huge list of things I’m gonna need to properly set up house in the house.  It also doesn’t help that my credit card has been in time out status for those months, and it REALLY doesn’t help that Mom’s IRA disbursement deposited the beginning of July and remains secure in my savings account, waiting to be spent on the house.

Finally, it doesn’t help that Amazon is running their Prime Day promotion today, and they’ve taken a third of the cost away from a new Kindle.

I need some sort of internet connected device in Chainmaille Central.  Research, Etsy listings, supply purchases, music, etc…all have to be accessible in that room, but don’t really need a fully functional computer.  Having a Kindle down there, paired with a bluetooth keyboard, is the perfect compromise.

I almost hit the ‘buy’ button today…

As I hovered the mouse over the pretty orange button, I could hear the gremlins celebrating.  There were high-fives going on all across the landscape of my brain, and I think I heard the popping of a cork and glasses clinking together.  I was saved at the absolute last minute by a couple of things.

…

1. I JUST got a replacement card in the mail and activated it on Saturday (they must have changed out the little chip in the card or something?) so before completing a purchase on Amazon I’d have to update my CC info, which is kinda a pain in the ass.
2. A cool voice of reason chimed in.  How it was heard over the clamor, I’ll never know, but I’m very happy to have heard it say “Is saving fifty bucks worth jeopardizing the house, moron?”

I’ve never been happier to call myself a moron in my life 😀

I’m at 11 days to the closing!