Happy Spring and Free Iced Coffee Day! But It's Never Really Free

Today is a good day. At least it became a good day after I had my fourth free iced coffee from DD. Yup, one on the way to school, then I stopped by three different branches as I drove home (kind of a roundabout way home, but I did complete a couple of errands too, which provided a good excuse). :-)

Yet I felt chastened for my actions. In fact, things turned a bit sour once I realized a major goof I made. Maybe it was meant as a gentle lesson for me that getting four iced coffees in one day is not the best way to take care of my body. For amidst my caffeine/sugar euphoria, I suddenly realized my credit card bill was due today! I quickly went online to pay it, but alas, after 4 P.M. it posts to the next day! What to do?

Rather frenetically (after all, still high) and frantically I called customer service, and after making my way through multiple menus finally reached a live person (he sounded Indian to me; I bet he was talking from a service center in Bombay or something, though I didn't ask). While he wasn't mean about it, he informed me my only option to avoid the likelihood of a 39 dollar late fee was to cancel my payment, and go online and force a payment to post to my account today. The catch is that forcing the payment to post today, if after 4 P.M., costs a 14.95 service fee. Aaaargh!

So I paid (gulp) the extra fee to get my payment in on time. Better that than a late fee and the possibility of my credit score being damaged. I feel like such a loser about this. After all, I NEVER am late on my payments. I tend to look with disdain upon those who don't make their payments on time, or only pay the minimum balance and pay tremendous amounts of interest. I mean, how idiotic can I be? I once had an economics professor in college who flatly stated that anyone who is stupid enough not to pay the full balance on their credit card each month deserves to roast in hell forever! How's that for putting it bluntly? And now I'm almost in that category by missing the due date on a payment?

Not that I'm worried about the hellfire, but I do feel rather silly. Oh well. It's a lesson. Maybe some reader will learn from my mistake. Now I'm enrolled in auto payments so my forgetfulness will never get the better of me again. Thank goodness for machines that will cover for your stupidity... And I guess those iced coffees turned out not to be free after all. There truly is no such thing as a free lunch (or coffee). If I hadn't gotten them, I very well could have remembered to pay the bill in time.