I've made it!!

Just picture my name there...I'm not sure how A.L. Taylor gets to be so lucky.

I’ve officially made it in the world!!  Yesterday I got my first invitation to be a Black Card holder!!!!!  What, you may ask, is a Black Card??  Let me fill you in on this wonderfulness:

1)      Limited Membership

2)      24-Hour Concierge Service

3)      Exclusive Rewards Program

4)      VIP Airport Lounge Access

5)      Luxury Gifts

6)      Patent Pending Carbon Card – my husband would get a kick out of this

7)      $495 Annual Fee – I’m sorry, whhhaa????

Jon got his invitation to be a Black Card holder a couple months ago and I was pissed!!!!!!  Of course, he didn’t sign up for it, and neither will I, but the fact that he got an invite, and I didn’t just un-nerved me.  And I know exactly why.

When I was much younger, say oh, back in high school and college, I was dumb.  Not just dumb, phenomenally stupid.  Catastrophically unintelligent.   I got my first credit card back then; I think it was a Capital One card (what’s in your wallet??? Free money!!!!)  I also got a bunch of store credit cards: Sears, Kohl’s, Victoria’s Secret (uber dangerous!!), Old Navy, Target – you name it.  Did I have a job?  No, not really.  I had harp gigs on the side that paid very well, but it’s not like I was booked every weekend.  At $250/hour it paid very well…much like a high-priced call girl...but without the “activities”.  (Yes, I played the harp for 11 years….actually went to college on full scholarship for Harp Performance because I was *that good*, but stopped after two years because of a badly broken finger…that’s another story for another time).  Needless to say, I was fiscally irresponsible.  To the point where my credit rating was in the toilet.  And not just any toilet: the “I just had bad Mexican food, and I’m feeling a touch of the stomach flu coming on” toilet.  You’re welcome for that mental picture.  

When I married Jon, he took me, my debt, and my bad spending habits under his wing and coached me to become more financially responsible.  TRANSLATION: he verbally kicked me in the @$$, completely took over the finances, put me on a budget, and worked out a way to pay my debt off.  God bless that man for putting up with me.  

Now, for those of you who have made financial mistakes in the past, you know how painstakingly hard it is to raise your credit score.  It takes time, effort, more time, paying your bills on time, more effort, and then your score will go up 2 points.  I’m proud to say that my score is now better than it has ever been.  I don’t know what it is exactly, but I know it’s pretty awesome because I got the Black Card invitation.  And because I’ve been getting invitations for every other credit card on the planet on a tri-weekly basis.  You have no idea how much joy it gives me to rip up all those credit card offers.  It used to piss Jon off that he would have to constantly rip up the credit card offers that he was getting.  I remember going off on him one time “Do you have any idea how f’n lucky you are??  I would kill to be getting credit card offers all day long!!  Some people aren’t lucky like that!  Some people have terrible credit, and can’t get their credit rating up!!” It went on and on and on…quite similar to my mother’s rant of “You better eat all the food on your plate!!  There are starving children in China who would kill for a meal like this!!!”

So yes.  Make fun of my Black Card all you want.  But it’s been the highlight of my week…even though I would never in a million years sign up for it.  I mean, who on earth can afford a $495 annual fee??