Not quite done yet...

I was so excited to have paid off my credit cards, I forgot about the residual interest monster. Creeping in to ruin my perfect zero balances. Arriving in light-as-air envelopes. There's no way to escape them. They come in small one and two digit numbers. But they'll make you whip out a check of log in once more to the card site after you thought you were all done.

So far today, I've called three companies and had the best luck with Capital One. $20-something: poof! Gone! It appears I perform better earlier in the day with women rather than later in the day with men. Some of them are so matter-of-fact: "That's legitimate interest... you're supposed to pay that." I'm doing my best to act dumb to get out of these little inconveniences. I know it may still be my responsibility, but I am willing to keep calling. To reach a woman. Earlier in the day. Who will erase them. Forever.

In other news, I was alerted by Mint that I had a $99 annual fee on a completely different card. Interesting. I don't pay annual fees. Especially on cards without points or miles or doodads. What's the point? Again, I reached a man (a gruff man, at that) who proclaimed that I was sent a notice back in October to the effect of this change. After confirming my address with me, he insisted that I must have received it. I demanded that I heard nothing of the sort. In all honesty, the mail he's talking about probably got shuffled away with all of those resumes and job offers. I had bigger fish to fry at that time.

So I will have to pay off and close that account. Bummer. I will try to call tomorrow and reach a woman or a manager and wave my long credit history in their faces. The only caveat is this card used to be with my bank and then it was sold to another creditor. So they don't know of my long history and clout with the bank. This could get ugly.