Wow...that was easier than I thought it would be!

I finally got over my fear and contacted all my credit card companies today...and you know what? The process wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!

Citibank
My previous APR for this account was a whopping 18.9%! It used to be considerably lower than this, but I received a letter in the mail explaining that they were raising the APR. Of course, I used this to my advantage. I was slightly nervous, as this was my first call. As I listened to the hold music, I must have re-read all the information on "how to lower your APR" 3 times! When i finally spoke to them, I explained that I was trying to pay off the balance on my account and noticed that the APR had gone up. I told the representative that I had been offered a desirable APR to transfer my account to another company, but would prefer to stay with Citibank if it was at all possible. She checked my account, informed me that I was in good standing with them and lowered my APR to 15.4%. Not as low as I would have liked it to be, but hey it's a start!

American Express
Spoke to someone there, gave them the same story. Looked at my account, lowered it from 14.99% to 12.99%. Sweet.

Nordstrom
I decided that I was totally brave and contacted Nordies. Being that I had the store credit card, and not the Visa, I felt that it might be a lost cause. Store credit card APRs are notoriously high. But I figured that I would try. The worst they'd say was NO, right? And I wouldn't be worse off. Besides, after my Nordies Anniversary sale binge over the past weekend, I needed to do what I could to lower costs! Turns out that calling Nordies was the best decision ever. They lowered my 21.9% APR to 11.99%! Woohoo!

Best Buy
After the longest time spent holding (over 20 mins), I was politely informed that they were not negotiating APRs for any customers at this time. Oh well!

Wells Fargo
Turns out my APR was lower than I thought it was (11.99%). I was on the fence about calling them (how much lower would they be willing to go?) However, they did lower it to 7.9%! AND they informed me that I was eligible for an credit increase ($3000ish more than my previous limit). Don't worry though, i don't intend on taking advantage of it. It's just to keep my balance to limit ratio somewhat low!

I feel super accomplished today. Tomorrow I'll try tackling my Chevron card (actually it's a joit account with my Dad. To be honest, I'd like to take my name off that account, as I don't ever use the card and don't want the debt to be associated with me. How would that affect my credit score?).