The Insurance Saga Continues - Sort of

As my regular readers know, we recently had some issues with our insurance company.  They threatened to drop us if we didn't get our roof replaced.  When we couldn't get it done by their deadline (which was unreasonable mind you), they did in fact drop us.  I submitted proof of the replacement on the same day they sent us a refund check which meant I then had to send them payment for the rest of our policy year in order to get reinstated.  I'd even gotten a notice saying that our policy was reinstated a couple weeks ago. 

To my horror, when I got the mail today there was a refund check from the insurance company.  My first thought, "Oh no!  They dropped us for good this time."  As soon as I got inside, I called the insurance company and found out that not only had I paid for my insurance policy, so had my mortgage company so the refund was valid.

But.... that meant that my escrow is probably low, so rather than wait for the bank to call me, I gave them a quick call to see how quickly I needed to deposit the check and then send them their payment.  Much to my surprise, I was informed that only a portion of the amount of the refund check needs to be sent to the mortgage company to cover the shortage. It turned out to be only 16.5% of the check in fact.

This particular snafu, meant that rather than my insurance company refunding me the overage in my escrow come March, I got it today.  Wahoo!  Oh, and I also found out my mortgage payment will be going down soon (although only slightly), because our new insurance premium is going down as a result of the new roof.

Sometimes the thing in the mail that you think is scary isn't.  Sometimes it's God helping you out when you need it. 

The Joy of Homeownership

Have you ever heard a story of something that happened to someone and say to yourself, "What?  I've never heard of such a thing."?  I have, but I didn't think it would ever happen to ME.

A couple weeks ago we were contacted by our homeowners insurance company.  They stated that they needed to send someone out to do a 4.1 inspection on our house.  This inspection is pretty common in Florida and is required for all homes over a certain age when you first get your policy.  For those not aware, this inspection looks at the main (aka. expensive) components of the house: the air conditioner / heater, plumbing, electrical, and the roof. 

Although our house was originally built in 1970, there were many updates to the house before we moved in.  We knew the electrical and plumbing had been updated in the 90's and the roof was updated around the same time.  We knew the roof was getting old but were told when we bought the house a couple years ago that we had maybe 5 years left.  So our big concern was the air conditioner.  Hubby has fixed it to help limp it along for a while and we were worried the inspector would say it's too old.  When he didn't even look at the air handler (the thing hubby fixed), I thought we were in the clear. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case.  The middle of last week we were informed that if we don't repair 3 things, our insurance will be dropped.  The first thing mentioned was that we needed to power wash the outside of the house.  Say WHAT?!?!?  Yep, they will cancel our policy if we don't power wash our house.  And yes, every time I think about that my mouth drops. 

The second thing is that we have 2 very large trees in front of our house and some of the larger branches reach over the house.  That one's legit.  In fact, we started work on it last fall but haven't finished.  So now we have the incentive to finish sooner rather than later I suppose. 

The third and final thing is that we have to replace the shingles on our roof.  Like I said before, we knew it was coming.  We just thought we had a few more years.  So when I was informed last week that we had till Aug 2 to get everything done, my heart skipped a beat (or three).  You see, with hubby being without work for a while, we had to dig into our savings and we haven't been able to replenish it back to the point where we could redo the roof and still have money left in savings.  That means we have to get a home equity loan of some sort.  Those take time.  I've been told it could take up to a month to get approval.  Umm... that takes us beyond Aug 2 right there!  So I explained to the lovely people at the insurance company that there is no way we can get it done that quickly.  They were SO generous (insert sarcasm here) and extended the repair date to Sept 9.

Needless to say, I've been on the phone a lot the last few days.  Scheduling contractors for bids.  Contacting the county to see about whether we want to do it ourselves.  Contacting the bank to get the home equity stuff rolling. 

Contractors start coming today, so hopefully we will know how much it will cost soon.  First thing on the list is working on the branches (that way if they damage the roof, at least it wasn't the NEW roof).  We can do this ourselves while we wait for the home equity approval too.  Then we deal with the roof.  And after all the roof work is done, we can power wash the house (I'm sure the roofing will add some dirt and grime so might as well clean that off at the end).

Now I'm off to have a little lunch before the first contractor of the day shows up.  Wish us luck!

In His Time

... all things are beautiful, in His time.

The last few weeks, this chorus has been going through my head quite regularly.  That and the Bible verse that says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11)

When I first started college, I was required to take a test that was supposed to help me find the perfect career.  This was done by asking a bunch of (strange) questions about my personal and working preferences.  When it was all said and done the computer spit out a result that said I should be an entrepreneur.  It shouldn't be any surprise that I ended up getting a business administration degree.  After all, what better way to be prepared to run my own business some day.

I've had numerous jobs over the years that ranged from shipping, project management, training, to bookkeeping.  In fact, I've been doing the bookkeeping for my husband's business for 8 years.  Until I became a Realtor, the closest I've come to running my own business is selling jewelry as an independent distributor. 

As I've been watching our savings account get smaller and smaller, I've had a few thoughts.  The first is that I'm so thankful that we had been able to save up some money for the proverbial rainy day.  The second thought is that I wish we could have saved up more.

The third thought is that it is only because of God that it hasn't dried up before now.  Every time we seem to need money something comes along.  Maybe not enough to cover all the bills but enough to help our savings account last a little bit longer.  For example, this week we got the deposit check back from the rental house.  I also closed on my first house.  Now I know I have enough in the checking account to cover our bills for October without dipping into the savings account.

Anyone who knows me, knows I believe God will provide.  Do I wish we would have money sooner so I can breathe a little easier... sure.  But you know what.  If I were in that position, I wouldn't be depending on Him to provide for my needs.  I would be thinking I could do it all on my own.  If it means I can be a witness for His provision and love, I will happily wait for His timing.

Living the Dream

So last night I had a dream... maybe nightmare is more accurate.  I dreamed that the kids I and went out to run a few errands.  One of the errands was just to drop something off, so I left my purse in the car.  Apparently, I had not locked the car, because when I got back, my wallet had been pilfered.  I mean, cash, credit cards, and debit cards had all been removed.

To add to the anxiety of this dream nightmare, I was on my way to the dentist and of course knew that I would not make it because cancelling my cards was more important than going to the dentist.  For some reason I didn't have the dentist's phone number, so I also knew I would be charged a no-show fee.  Joy!  Stolen debit card and a no-show fee at the dentist!  What a day right?

This kind of dream hits close to home with me because last month I found out that someone had used my credit card to purchase $100 worth of stuff.  Luckily my credit card company credited me for the charge.  Based on a call to the company who received my credit card information, we know the thief had my credit card number, the secret code on the back, my name and my address.  That's almost everything they need to get a bogus credit card in my name, so I had to contact all the credit agencies to make sure no new credit is issued in my name.  I also filed a complaint with the local police.  I figure not everyone will be as lucky as I was so I'm doing this to help prevent others from being hurt by this person(s).

I have also found that I can be distracted on occasion.  You see, when I was about 12, I left my purse at a McDonalds.  We went back pretty quickly, but when we got there, the cash had been removed from my wallet.  I've also been in such a hurry to get to a meeting that I left my iPad and digital camera on top of the car and drove away.  Luckily I saw them slide down the back of the car and went back and got them before someone ran over them (The iPad had cover damage, but that's it.  The camera doesn't zoom correctly anymore.).

Well, today I had some errands to run, so guess what I did before leaving the house?  I removed all the gift cards and the debit card from my wallet (since I knew I wouldn't need either of them).  Don't think for a second that my dream was the only reason I did this because it's not.  I've actually been thinking about it for a while (see previous 2 paragraphs).  I guess the dream is what convinced me to do it now.  After all, the dream was bad enough.  I don't want to deal with it in reality.

Great news!  I didn't leave my purse anywhere (including on top of my car), nor did anyone try to take my purse from me.  Even if they had, I wouldn't have been too stressed about it because I'd left all the scary-if-they-got-it stuff at home.