Consumer proposal for debt and bank account change

I have been swimming in debt for a while. It felt like I wasn't progressing with the high interest that I was paying on my credit cards and loans.

I decided to get help. I'm currently in the process of getting a consumer proposal. It's a government program that involves repaying a portion of your debt. A licensed Insolvency Trustee negotiates with creditors on how much you need to repay.

This proposal consolidates the debt into manageable payments. It freezes debt interest charges. It also reduces stress.

The catch is that I needed to change banks. I can't have a credit card that is a part of this proposal with a bank account that gets my pay directly deposited. When this proposal is approved, sometimes credit card companies will take money from your chequing account to pay off the credit card before it is communicated that the proposal is official.

I had to change where my paycheque would be directly deposited. The change was straightforward through our Dayforce site. 

I was a bit stressed out that I did this change on Thanksgiving Day and it was immediately approved. I didn't know when the change would kick in. Would it be seamless or would I get a cheque mailed to me?

Well, all that stress went away. My pay was deposited last night, which was early. My payday is officially on Thursday. Bi-weekly.

I'm relieved!

I asked about how long it will take for my consumer proposal to be official. I got 1.5 weeks at least. I'm approaching one week on Friday. We had Thanksgiving Day, so I need to take that day out in my calculation.

Dental appointment

It has been a year since I visited my dentist. I finally go in for my appointment in a few hours.

Things will be different. In the past, the dental office filed my claims on my behalf. With the pandemic, I have to pay upfront and file it myself.

The downside is that paying upfront isn't cheap. However, my insurance does have a quick payment turnaround. Funds from any claim that I file directly goes into my chequing account.

I have to call the office from the parking lot. I also have to wear shoe covers that the dental office will provide.

It's definitely a change going to the dentist's office.

Bonus pay coming soon to my chequing account

On Monday, it was confirmed that my bonus pay will be deposited at the end of the month. I am excited!

I have a loan that will be completely paid off at either the end of May or early June. I am putting this bonus pay towards paying off a credit card. I will be in decent financial shape come the summer.

It's nice to look ahead and see how bright my financial situation will be. Yay!

Banking changes - what is old is new again

I have been with my current bank for over two decades. Back then, I had made the switch from one bank to this one due to a change in credit card (the bank changed from Visa to MasterCard) at the former.

To make a long story short, I had made a payment to the new credit card and the transaction got lost electronically. I didn't like the response that I got from that bank -- that nothing could be done. Instead, I cancelled all my accounts with this bank and moved my accounts over to a different one.

Two decades later, I am in the same predicament. Within the last month, my bank has made a couple of atrocious withdrawals from my account, which has caused a lot of stress. The latest one involved a transaction that came out of my account a week early and messed up my payment plans. I was livid and it happened during the Thanksgiving long weekend.

Ever since these two recent incidents, I have decided to change banks yet again. The funny thing is that my new bank isn't really new. I have always had a no-fee chequing account with this bank. I never bothered to use it until now.

I made the bold step the other day by changing my banking information with payroll. Once I see my pay get deposited to my newish chequing account next week, I will continue moving my various accounts over.

It's exciting to make such a change. I will also be saving on monthly fees. I don't know why I didn't make the switch sooner, but it's definitely better to do it now than to continue down this horrible fee path.