Today I did some much needed shredding of old credit card statements. I usually keep them a year (in my mind anyway), but unfortunately, I hadn't cleaned out the file for over a year or so....okay, okay, I actually was shredding bills from 2001 if you must know. I also ordered a copy of my free credit report from Transunion since I had ordered my last one over a year ago in September 2005. I had had a problem with Discover when I moved last year and notified them of my new address. I rarely used the card except at Christmas time, and so wasn't aware that I hadn't received a bill until March or April when I got a nasty letter from them (to my NEW address) telling me that I was behind in my payments and they were going to send the bill to a collection agency. The bill was only $250 and I would have paid it in full had I received it, only now they had tacked on three months of late charges. I paid the bill (the $250 part) and after two months and 6 phone calls I got them to take off the late fees and the black marks on my credit rating. The kicker is that they still cancelled my card even though it was their fault. Now I don't really need a Discover card, but it was the first one I'd gotten while in college, so it's long history looked good on my credit rating. The nice customer service people said that I could open up a new account, but that wasn't the point. Anyway, the credit report looked good and there were no negative marks on it. I didn't pay the $8 to see what my credit score was, as I'm not currently looking to buy a house or anything, and my rating last year was 820, so I can't imagine it went down that much. I'll save that $8 for my next car payment.
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