$1.94

I, like many other seminarians, graduated with a boatload of debt. School loans and credit card bills ballooned up like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Since graduating, I have been slowly eliminating our various credit card bills. This would go a lot faster if I didn't have to deal with quarterly taxes, but that's another issue.

So, slowly but surely I'm eliminating our credit card bills. Last month I got the payoff amount for one of those bills. I then authorized a pay-by-phone for the entire amount.

Today I received an invoice from said credit card company for $1.94 -- the amount of accrued interest for last month.

I immediately made a phone call to the company and politely, but firmly, asked, "If I was given a payoff amount, and if I paid that amount that day, why am I being charged interest?"

The response had to do with accrued costs over the open dates of the billing cycle and that payoff amounts are really just an estimate. Uh huh . . .

The good news here is that since credit card companies in general make a bunch more money off many other people, the friendly Account Representative had no problem waiving the Just-Under-Two-Dollar fee.

And the better news is that I now only have one more credit card to go.

**he said not too loudly because it's only a matter of time before my car gets hit by another deer and/or the engine explodes necessitating $1000 repair charge