Almost There

Our federal income tax refund arrived yesterday, and the first thing we did was pay the remainder of the legal fees for our bankruptcy. It was a good feeling. I have also sent most of the required documents to the lawyer and hope to get the rest finished up this weekend. That would mean that our case could actually be filed within a week.

Think what you will about bankruptcy, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's a great feeling! A renewed sense of financial freedom is just around the corner.

My wife is concerned how her parents will react if they read the notice in the paper (think Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond). I sympathize with her, but I also feel that it's more important for us to get back on our feet and raise our family in a home of our own than worry about my wife's judgmental parents.

In the end, all will work out, and life will be much fuller for us.

Income Tax Refund

I did our Federal and state taxes today using one of the online free tax preparation tools recommended at IRS.gov. To my utter amazement, according to the final 1040A form completed online, we'll be getting a Federal refund of $3,422!!! Wow!

That will pay off the rest of our bankruptcy legal fees and get this thing resolved and behind us once and for all. It will allow us to buy a new bed to replace the twenty year old bed we've been sleeping on for years, and possibly upgrade our nine year old computer, which still runs on Windows 98.

In the process of completing our taxes, I discovered that I apparently made an error in our 2005 taxes. Instead of the $23 refund we received last year, we should have received more than $1,900. Needless to say, I'll be filing an amended tax form for 2005.

It's nice when things seem to go your way for a change.

Insurance Jam

I mentioned recently that my car insurance company (Progressive) notified me of a huge rate increase in my premium, and that I planned to change insurance companies.

First I called GEICO, which gave me a quote that was even higher than the increased premium Progressive was demanding. I then called Safe Auto and recevied a quote that would be $20 less than Progressive for the initial payment and $25 less each month thereafter. It sounded like the best deal I was going to get.

My Progressive policy was set to expire tomorrow night at midnight. So I called Safe Auto back today to start the new policy. Curious if the rate would be better with my wife listed as the policy owner instead of myself, I first asked for a new quote. The result was $10 more to start than Progressive wanted, and $5 more each month thereafter. The Safe Auto rep tried to tell me that it was different because of my accident last August, but I provided her with all of the same information I had provided for the first quote.

To top it all off, this Safe Auto rep was rude. Minimum coverage, maybe. Minimum customer service, definitely. I would not recommend Safe Auto Insurance to anyone.

Needless to say, I called Progressive today and renewed our policy at the increased rate, which was still lower than the competition.