A while ago, I posted a letter about our issues with American Express and United Airlines. You can read it here. Here is our update...We were kindly contacted by some folks at Amex who put some of their best people on this situation. The agent who helped us was very kind and worked very hard for us. But it boils down to this, airlines are notoriously difficult and not interested in being the best at customer service. They were unable to do anything for us but did compensate us for being good customers.Our issue now has been clarified. United Airlines customer service is atrocious. We initially called when we noticed the problem and after a significant amount of time on the phone, the customer service rep HUNG UP ON ME. Really? That is how you handle customers? When we asked how to resolve our issue they offer us two options: 1. pay hundreds of dollars and rebook tickets OR 2. put it in a type of mediation service that takes a long time and may or may not solve our issue in time to make it to the two weddings. What kind of choice is that? It's a choice by a company that clearly could care LESS about us and our travel situation.Our boycott now lays squarely at the feet of United Airlines. So in addition to our boycott, we recommended to my brother, who will be traveling a significant amount for his new job, to avoid United Airlines and recommend to his colleagues to do the same.
Why American Express Lost Our Business (and United too)
This blog was never a place to just air grievances. And I promise that is not what we have become. As I slip into my new groove, this blog and Kosher, She Eats will get back on track. However, I have found that this is the best way to broadcast a large amount of information. So ... here is the letter my husband sent to American Express and why AmEx lost our business. Names and amounts have been redacted to protect all involved.
To Whom It May Concern:I am writing to inform you that, after spending more than $XXX on my SPG American Express card last year and using it nearly exclusively for many years, I will no longer be using the card. The intention of this letter is to explain why I’ve decided to give all of my business to Visa instead. Over the course of several months, I’ve tried repeatedly to get an answer about a disputed charge and the customer service I’ve received was awful. First, I initiated the dispute over the phone, with nonsensical results. When I called back again, the agent I spoke with suggested that I include a letter explaining the situation. I did just as she suggested and even included supporting documentation. To keep myself organized, I will first incorporate that entire letter sent on 10/11/2013 via fax:To whom it may concern:
I am writing to provide an explanation for a $XX charge from United Airlines that I am contesting as well as supporting documentation. This is actually my second time contesting the charge. On my first attempt, I was told that I would be contacted by American Express before any resolution. Instead I got a resolution letter that doesn’t really address the issue, more on that below. I understand that you only need the last five digits of my account number (xxxxx) in order to link this letter to the contested charge.
My issue is that I do not believe I authorized payment for the flight that United is trying to charge to my card. My wife and I purchased our tickets with the specific purpose of attending two weddings, in two states, in two days. Therefore it was an imperative that our return flight was early, so that we wouldn’t miss the second day’s events. When we booked our ticket, we are absolutely positive that we booked a morning flight. A few weeks before our trip, we received an itinerary change from United that has us booked on an evening return flight. I immediately called United and explained that this must be a mistake, but the agent told me that my claim was a literal impossibility. I found the original email we received from United after booking the ticket, and very atypically, it only showed dates and departure/arrival cities – no flight number, no flight times. We would have noticed this omission right away, but this is the first I’ve heard of a confirmation email not actually confirming a clear flight. And in any case, the information in the email was accurate for the morning flight that we booked. United’s representative told us the following: 1) It was impossible that we received the truncated confirmation email from united (attached to this letter) that we claimed. When we offered to send him the email for review, he refused. 2) Any complaint would have to be submitted online and a resolution would only come weeks later. He said that we may not even get onto the flight we wanted at that point, since the flight may full by then. 3) We would have to spend hundreds of dollars rebooking the flights back to our original choice if we didn’t want to risk the multi-week complaint process. 4) Since I authorized United to charge my card, it doesn’t matter that they gave me the wrong flight and I likely made the mistake anyways. I would have had to make this mistake twice, since my wife’s flight was booked with points in a separate transaction.
United never sent us the incorrect itinerary on the day we purchased the tickets. Had they sent the email, I could have canceled right away without penalty. Also, bear in mind, United refused to fix the problem in time for us to book the replacement flight. We were left with no choice, so we contested the charge and booked another flight on a competing airline. I was doubly confused after I read American Express’ first reply letter which claimed that the charge was not cancelled by United. I am not even sure what that means, especially in light on what I was told over the phone by United’s representative. In any case, we took another flight, I did not authorize United to charge us for an evening flight and I don’t want credit because United had no right to charge me for the wrong flight.
The attachments to this fax are the following:1) United’s original truncated itinerary2) United’s flight change email3) The United agent sent us another email while on the phone, claiming that he had a record showing that we were in fact sent this itinerary the day of the purchase. I do not believe we received this email and, as such, I believe United has no record demonstrating their position.
I would like for American Express to contact me about this issue at my mobile number xxx-xxx-xxxx. I realize my problem is atypical and may benefit from some explanation over the phone.
Thank you for your time, Daniel Haykin
American Express never contacted me as I requested, and over the course of the next few weeks I disputed the charge multiple times with contradictory and irrelevant replies. Additionally, on my Amex statement, where there are usually flight numbers, dates, times, and airport, it was suspiciously blank. My wife and I looked at other flights we purchased with our Amex and those details were always there, except in this case.As mentioned in the original letter, American Express first told me to call United’s customer service to book a replacement flight. This was particularly curious, since United told me I would sacrifice my flight during my original conversation. Even stranger, when I resubmitted the exact same dispute again, your reply changed to “not cancelled and no value status.” Why the change? Did I ask one too many times? I suppose so, because I kept getting similar letters every time I submitted my info. And why would I repeat the same thing over-and-over expecting different results, am I insane? No, but your customer service told me to resubmit my claim each time, making me borderline nuts.After each denial, I called Amex to explain that the central issue was never dealt with. United booked me on the wrong flight, sent me a strange truncated itinerary (taking away my ability to cancel or change my flight without penalty), and told me that my story couldn’t possibly be true. I provided those very emails as proof to American Express, time and again. On occasions, the customer service reps ‘could not see’ any supporting documentation, despite the fact that I faxed it to the number given. They said try again, and so I did. I would call back and pages would be missing again, they said upload them online, and so I did. Sometimes the replies would include an electronic imagine of United’s credit card system, showing that my card was charged for the wrong flight. As if anyone was questioning that they charged my card. That was the whole point! What in the world does that prove? Either way, why will no one address the letter I keep sending you over and over, and why won’t anyone call me back? Maybe I wasn’t talking to the right person. Sometime in December, I asked for a supervisor.I was transferred to XXX (#xxxx) and since then, in fits and starts, I’ve dialogued with her on this issue. The first time we spoke, I spent more than an hour, in total, explaining the situation. When we got disconnected, she called me back to make sure she understood the issue fully. Admittedly, XXX seemed bright, polite and very competent on our call. I was reassured. Finally Amex was going to take care of me; I was a valued customer! She told me, from my best recollection, that she would contact me no later than the following Thursday. That day came and went. I waited a few more days, called the supervisor line again, and through another rep, left XXX a message that I would like her to call me back, as promised. After a few days, XXX did call back and apologized, without giving a reason for not calling. She said she needed more time, and again, gave me a firm date for her reply. That day also came and went with no call-back. Yet again, after a few days, I called the supervisor line. This time I didn’t hide my frustration. I told the rep that I am beginning to feel disrespected.Let’s put aside that the revenue American Express receives from my card is sizable. Isn’t it just rude to waste so much of my time? Does your company actually want my business? The representative expressed regret and said they would pass the message along to XXX and her boss. I heard from XXX a few days later. She apologized that she repeatedly did not call me back, she said she made a mistake and she wanted to buy us dinner with a $50 credit to my card. But she also informed me that my dispute was not valid because of some irrelevant detail of my original conversations with an agent months ago. I was floored, she didn’t actually look into the question of the email/itinerary at all, despite keeping me waiting. At this point, I had been disputing the same charge, with the same question, with all the same documentation for months and still no clear answer. XXX apologize and asked for more time, to which I agreed with a new caveat. I was done calling Amex and wasting my time stuck in your telephonic customer service horror show.I informed XXX that if she was not willing to help me, I would stop using my American Express and start a letter writing campaign to help the company understand why I took this action. She told me that she understood and would call back, and did so a few days later. She had been talking about my issue with her boss. They decided, on an open-ended basis, to reopen my dispute and force United to answer my claims. The dispute would not go away unless one of the two following scenarios was satisfied: 1) United produces an actual email itinerary on the day of purchase as they claimed that they sent, or 2) explain why they are allowed to book me on the wrong flight, not send an itinerary and then not fix their mistake. XXX asked for me to send another piece of documentation, which I did. She promised she would be in contact with me with the resolution. Hallelujah, exactly what I wanted from the beginning. Weeks later I noticed the dispute disappeared from the Amex website and I got a form letter from American Express again, and no surprise, I never heard from XXX. Same letter as countless times before with an addition, United actually provided the email they sent me. This is progress. And you’ll never guess what they sent your company – the exact email they claimed could not exist! Why was that sufficient for you to close the dispute? Doesn’t that prove what I’ve said all along? United circled things on the email and drew arrows, did that confuse you somehow? We may never know.I called the supervisor line yet again, this time to get XXX’s ID number for this letter. The representative I spoke with sounded very concerned when she heard my story, she told me XXX was a longtime employee and asked that I give her some time to contact XXX and her manager. I agreed to wait until Monday (2/24/14), which no surprise, came and went with no call back. Perhaps the perfect final punch line to this awful joke: I just checked my Amex statement, XXX didn’t actually give us the $50 credit for forgetting to call us back like she promised.Having failed through endless calling, I will instead try to get your company’s attention by sending this letter and making it as public as possible. You must understand how much I loved using your card. At every opportunity, I made sure to tell friends and acquaintances alike how much I value my SPG Amex card. With similar fervor, I will publicize why this is no longer the case. My wife is a social media specialist by trade, I’m sure she will help with this effort. To tell you the truth, I do feel disrespected by your company. As I’ve told your ‘supervisor’ line now multiple times, I am willing to reconsider only when your company reaches out to me, but I do not intend on calling you on this subject again. I may not be an important customer to American Express, but I’m sure Visa will like my business.Daniel Haykin
What it doesn't say in this letter is how HORRIBLY we were treated by United Airlines as well. Including but not limited to one of their reps legit hanging up the phone on me after spending an hour trying to fix this. Thus, American Express and United are on our NO GO list from now on.
Update on the No Pants Dance
I was over at my favorite financial advice website, LearnVest, reading an article about this woman's quest for a perfect credit score and I realized... I just stopped my No Pants Dance updates when I got engaged. I mean, to be honest, I was a little bit distracted by my handsome fiancé and our wedding and then our honeymoon and now our adorable puppy BUT that is no excuse.Let's start with a recap. I decided to do the No Pants Dance in May of last year. Read about that here. Then I recapped June, my first full month of No Pants Dancing here. In the middle of month two, July, I wrote this. Then in August, month three, I wrote about our food growing expeditions and teaching my nephew to save and invest.Then I disappeared. Life got busy, the Jewish holidays came, and then... my Sweet Boyfriend proposed. :) My whole life changed, in the best possible way. All this to say... I got busy. So here is your update on the No Pants Dance.Refresher, the goals were:
- I will be out of credit card debt in 9 months
- I will have a significant amount in my retirement account by then
- Once I am out of CC debt, I will put that money towards my car, student loans, and savings
- I will put at least 30% of my income towards bills, loans, or savings every month
In the one year since I began this financial journey I have:
- Gotten myself out of credit card debt (with the help of my husband)
- Put the full amount my employer was matching towards my 401k last year (and so far this year) and transferred old 401ks that were sitting around and doing nothing into an IRA I can manage. I also put the full amount I could away in my new IRA.
- Taken the money saved from the credit card debt and put it towards our wedding. We paid for a significant amount of our wedding and that wiped out all the extra we were saving from not having to make those payments and more. However, we are putting more towards the car than the minimum payment required.
Since we now have two incomes, we are using my husband's for wedding bills and paying down debt and mine for monthly expenses. Again, with our wedding, everything is tight this year. So you could say we are still on a No Pants Dance. Since returning from our honeymoon, we are on a strict budget. No extraneous clothing expenses... no fancy dinners out... that was what the honeymoon was for! The goal is to pay off my car and his small amount of student loans PLUS most of my student loans that are borrowed at 6.5% in the next year. We will then put the rest to savings and tackling the rest of the debt (which at that point isn't much).Our new, fresh goals:
- Pay off car and 6.5% loans in 2014
- Pay off all debt by 2015
- Buy a house with at least 20% down in 2016
- Continue to max out IRA contributions every year
- Live a happy and debt free life
So there you go. My life has radically changed in the last 12 months. Where I used to feel overwhelmed by debt and finances, I am energized and excited about tackling this challenge. I am excited to help my husband build his business as a financial advisor and build our home together with our puppy and in the future, our children. And you know I will continue to coupon and check in with my No Pants Dance!P.S. anyone have any freelance needs? I am taking work to help pay down the debt! Contact me at taliashewrote @ gmail dot com :)
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur... The Important Stuff...
Ok. It's awful. I have been on my No Pants Dance for... how long? I can't remember! Four months? Am I delirious from no shopping? Oh dear.Here's the worst part...Rosh Hashanah in next week. I know! Terrible!What do you mean you don't understand?! Alright, I'll explain it.Rosh Hashanah is one of the Jewish New Years. The name literally mean head (rosh) of the year (hashanah). This is when we change the year (from 5772-5773). It is a happy, celebratory time but also reflective of the year past. We reflect and apologize for our mistakes then go into Yom Kippur and come out in Sukkot with freshly laundered souls. Very spiritual and cool... what the heck does this have to do with my No Pants Dance?I NEED A NEW OUTFIT FOR ROSH HASHANAH SERVICES!!! Everyone knows if you buy a new outfit for something, it's Rosh Hashanah!
I know, I'm crazy but seriously, I have had my eye on this dress at Shabby Apple for AGES and I really want it. For those of you who know me you know that I have a very specific style. I can only call it vintage/retro. Basically, I like to look like I live in the 1950's. There have been two online stores that have fed this addiction - Stop Staring and Shabby Apple. Stop Staring is great for a few pieces but I have just FALLEN IN LOVE with Shabby Apple. I don't think I have seen one dress I wouldn't wear from them!So I have a present for you, my readers... and possibly one for myself. Shabby Apple has given me a great discount code. Take 10% off your order (anything on their site) with this exclusive discount code - favorite10. But here is how it benefits me... if you use the link on the right, you know... right over there --------------------------------------->I get a little something to buy myself a dress... and this blog could even win me one! So click on Shabby Apple, cruise around, find yourself a 'pretty lil thing' for the holidays and get a discount! It's a win win.Wanna see some of my favorites? OK! Here's what's on my shopping list:
OMG I WANT THEM ALL!And stay tuned. I have some No Pants Dance updates and holiday words for you, my dear friends!Shana Tova!
No Pants Dance – Month Three... already?
WOW! This challenge is flying by! And it has become such a part of my life, my spending habits have changed so much already, I am announcing here and now that I am extending it for another three months. That would be a total of six months! My challenge will end at the end of November now. I know... be proud. :)July was pretty easy. Again, I purchased one or two small things, with coupons to satisfy that craving. I really believe if you cut yourself off too cold turkey when it comes to shopping, you are going to suffer. For many women, shopping is a way to perk up their wardrobe AND their emotions. So if you stop spending anything on yourself... you will probably explode after a few weeks or months.Anyway, my biggest annoyance/purchase this month was a plane ticket and rental car. I have a 50th anniversary weekend at my childhood camp in Georgia and I thought... maybe if I keep putting it off I will have the money... yeah, not so much. So that happened... But I did the math for all of my finances and "found" $2000! Aka, I thought I was $2000 MORE in debt that I am! That's awesome. I am still putting more than a third of my income to debt repayment (credit cards, student loans, car payments) but sometimes it feels like I'm not getting anywhere. I wish I could just save more on my housing expense (aka rent) as that is my other big expense per month. Otherwise, I'm not spending much.This month will be hard too as I have to renew my tags and pay six months of car insurance... less than awesome. But I feel good that I am thinking regularly about finance and Sweet Boyfriend and I are making future plans.Meanwhile, we have been growing a lot of our food... I mean, except for protein, fruit, and booze... we have grown everything else we have eaten for at least the past month. Almost 100 pounds of produce from our three gardens. That is a definite money saver. Next year, we plan to grow a lot more and since a lot of the equipment investment happened this year, we will be saving even more! Speaking of which, we made the most AMAZING pickles the other day! Check out my recipe here: Half-Sour Pickles.On another saving note, it was my nephew's 15th birthday and this year, Sweet Boyfriend and I are investing money for him. I will be the 'money manager' and custodian for this account and we will be investing it. He gave us about half of the cash he received on his birthday (pretty good for a teenager) and SB and I will essentially be matching that. I'm hoping he continues to invest and I will be putting money into the account for him for holidays and birthdays. I hope to teach my nephew and my future children how NOT to go into debt!Wish me luck!Goals:
- I will be out of credit card debt in 9 months
- I will have a significant amount in my retirement account by then
- Once I am out of CC debt, I will put that money towards my car, student loans, and savings
- I will put at least 30% of my income towards bills, loans, or savings every month
No Pants Dance - Month Two... How am I coping?
Well, we are nine days into our second month... I've been doing okay but I did make two purchases this month. I know... bad news bears but in all honestly, they weren't that bad AND I am thinking of extending the dance a few more months...How did I fall off the wagon? Well, first off, I use a certain store's credit card that sends me back rebates. I had a rather large chunk of rebate waiting for me and I didn't want it to expire... PLUS I saw a super cute pair of shorts that would be great for work this summer. With the rebate bucks, I ended up only having to pay shipping! Not to bad, just $7 for a brand new pair of shorts that will liven up my wardrobe. The second purchase was less money saving and more necessity... I love a certain type of tanktop/undershirt. It is NOT expensive and from a ... shall we say ... 'teen' retailer? So they aren't a billion dollars to begin with. Well, Sweet Boyfriend and I started to notice that the white ones I wear ALL THE TIME were getting thin, with holes in them, stretching out, etc. I was going to make due but he encouraged me to look into replacing them. Well I went online and saw that they were on sale for $5 a piece. Plus I found an online coupon for $5 off if you spend $30. Well, with $30 of shirts in my cart, I used the coupon and essentially got one of those for free! Now I can dump the old ones and not worry about the holes!One thing that I am really learning through this process is to be much more mindful of how I spend money and what I spend it on. When Sweet Boyfriend and I talk about the future, I realize that I would much rather put my money towards that (and have it gain interest in the meantime) than a new outfit that may not be my favorite.So let me reiterate my goals for you (and for myself):
- I will be out of credit card debt in 9 months
- I will have a significant amount in my retirement account by then
- Once I am out of CC debt, I will put that money towards my car, student loans, and savings
- I will put at least 30% of my income towards bills, loans, or savings every month
It isn't easy but I'm doing it!
No Pants Dance Update - Month One
Okay, I know. I totally suck. I haven't updated you except for the fast, tiny update at the start of the month. I am SO sorry! June was been quite a whirlwind month and I don't think I even had three seconds to do anything! (Including, by the way, shopping!)Part of this craziness was induced by a short notice 10 day trip to Israel. Yes. It was incredible but I was also concerned about breaking my no pants skirt dance. For those of you just joining us, after reading a very inspiring article in May, I decided to put my choices spending (optional stuff, clothing, etc) on hold for three months and see how I do. You can read about that here - No Pants Dance.I promised to blog about it and I horribly failed to do that this first month. But fortunately, that is about the biggest failure from the first month (and I blame it on insane traveling schedules and falling head over heels in love with my sweet boyfriend). My boyfriend and I were playing travel tag. I went on a trip then he went on a trip (we didn't see each other for two weeks solid!) then we were home together for a week and I left for a 10 day trip to Israel. So we were spending every second we had staring into each others eyes and telling each other how awesome and cute we are. It was a lot of work! :)When I came home, I had about a week to get myself together again and then it was his birthday and my sorority's international convention held right here in Denver... a convention that I had been on the committee for and been planning for TWO YEARS! Okay, so seriously, this is my first week back into any sort of normal groove. 
But let's look at how I did on the No Pants Skirt Dance in June:
I spent VERY wisely when I was abroad. I did not go insane and buy the entire state of Israel. I limited myself to one treat (a dress from the shuk) and then got sweet boyfriend a kippah (skullcap), some tea that he enjoys, a cute magnet for our refrigerator collection, and a bunch of spices to play with when we cook. I didn't eat out much but I did get a couple of the fabulous ice cafes that are pretty unique to Israel (it's like a frappachino... with real coffee... you can't get coffee with ice cubes in it in Israel... well you can but it takes some explaining).
I had already purchased Sweet Boyfriend's birthday presents prior to the beginning of the No Pants Skirts Dance. That was very good. I did have to get a bit of packaging for them but it wasn't too bad.
There were some expenses involved in the traveling and the convention that I had not anticipated. It amounted to a couple hundred bucks... that disappointed me but at least I had it because I wasn't spending that money on other non-essentials.
The best part of June was when I came home and Sweet Boyfriend decided that he was going to take the challenge too. Since this is for OUR future, he said, we should do this together. So he is on a No Pants Dance too. He decided he liked polo shirts for the summer but only had two. He had a credit from purchases on ebay plus we are selling some older shirts and thus, getting more useful items while not spending any money! Brilliant!
Oh... one other thing did happen in the middle of this crazy month... I found out that my identity was stolen. Yes. Some jerk decided not live his own life on his own merits and hard work and would rather live on mine. Fortunately, I caught it pretty early. They used one of my existing credit cards and opened another... and tried but failed to open yet another. I went through a fairly intensive process of filing police reports, filing reports with the FTC, sending in fraud alerts, etc. And that was an additional unexpected expense... purchasing protection and monitoring for my credit and identity.
Sweet Boyfriend has been incredibly encouraging and helpful in this whole situation. He is a financial wiz so he is able to give me a realistic view of the future of our finances and frankly... if I keep working hard, it looks pretty good!$$ update:
I am currently putting a third of my income towards paying down my debt. At this rate, I will be clear of all debt, except my car payment and my student loan payments, within 8-9 months. If I can hold out, the No Pants Skirt Dance may last that long. This is all still while contributing to my 401k and putting away savings.
Once those debts are paid off, I will be putting that 33(ish) percent of my income towards the car and savings. I am hoping to build a strong financial base for myself and my future family. I know what it feels like to just scrape by and it is not a good feeling. I don't want my kids to have to deal with that.
For once in my life, I am actually jazzed about finances. It does help to have a smarty pants Sweet Boyfriend around...
No Pants Dance - Starts Today
I have 30 seconds but I wanted to say...No Pants Skirts Dance starts today. No more shopping for three months. Wish me luck.
T-8 Days Until the No Pants Dance
I announced here yesterday that I would be starting a No Pants Skirts Dance on June 1.What does that mean? Well, it means that I won't be buying clothing or knickknacks for three months. I'm cutting my extraneous shopping budget down to zero (just like Captain Planet and pollution... sorry, that song was in my head). I was scared and a bit nervous for several reasons.First, I hate doing these things so 'publicly' (aka on my blog) because I do not like to fail and I like even less when I fail publicly. Well... you don't fail publicly if you don't make it public, am I right? Okay, anyway, I don't like making pronouncements.Next, I made the decision to mention my boyfriend (you remember him, the one who is awesome and incredible?) in my blog. I do not blog about my dating life very much and it especially made me nervous because this relationship is going so well and he is not an internet guy. So I was worried about how he might respond to it.Well... I'm less worried now. Sweet Boyfriend supports me, is my self-proclaimed biggest cheerleader, and even went against his anti-internet presence ways to leave a comment on my blog! WHOA! That's a big deal.I feel so supported by my great friends who commented and DH (as we will now refer to Sweet Boyfriend since that is how he outed himself). I am thankful for this support and am looking forward to seeing how this all turns out!
No Pants Dance...
I recently read the most awesomest article on my new favorite financial planning website. It is called LearnVest and offers tools for women. So I read this article about how this woman started a No Pants Challenge. Here is the article, I highly recommend it... Why I Gave Up Clothes Shopping for Six Months.Her journey really inspired me and this has been something on my mind as of late. My fabulous and incredible boyfriend is phenomenal about money. He doesn't carry debt and doesn't want to... then I realized, if we were to stay together (G-d willing, because did I mention he is fabulous and incredible?) I would be his biggest (and possibly only) debt... UGH! I always knew my financial choices or inability to make good ones were going to bite me in the tush but... wow. To meet someone who has it all going on and realize my credit cards and student loans could be a stumbling block? Wow. Not only a stumbling block but don't I want to model good spending habits for my kids? Yeah, I do. I've gotten better, now to put it to the test.So I am taking Lyz Lenz's challenge. To read more about her journey and how she changed her life, check out No Pants 2012.For the next six three months (I've got to go easy on myself guys... it's my first time) I am doing the No Pants Skirts Dance.No clothing shopping. Unless it's an emergency. What is an emergency defined as? Freak squirrel accident where all my underwear is destroyed. Spontaneous combustion of all cute dresses. All bathing suits magically break. Or, most likely, I feel like I am going to lose it and go off my No Pants Skirts Dance and I get ONE cute thing to appease the demons. This might be hard because there is a lot of camping and fun summer activities in my future and I will NOT be allowed to purchase for them. Though I might go get hiking boots and/or a new pair of sneakers before I start since I do not have a decent pair of walking shoes.BUT this challenge will begin June 1.June 1st. Okay, I can do this... must unsubscribe to all the clothing newsletters... Ideeli, Kosher Casual, Coach, Fab, Gilt, Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Nine West, Nordstrom, Target, JDeal, Groupon, Living Social... you get the idea... Oh dear. Send me words of encouragement please.Ah, I forgot the most important part. The money that does not go to shopping, will now go towards paying off my credit card debt. I am currently scheduled to have it paid off by March of 2013... here's hoping I can do it sooner...Wish me luck.