Layout:
Home > Unforced errors, leaky basement and other random occurrences

Unforced errors, leaky basement and other random occurrences

October 4th, 2017 at 05:52 am

Well, I was feeling like things were pretty under control, and then a few things happened.

The first two are more embarrassing than anything, and what I call unforced errors, because they could easily have been avoided. I knew AS got paid pretty promptly by the one college the last couple years, so I went ahead and added it into my spreadsheet. I'd felt good about where our balance was so I set up AS's third-quarter IRA contribution, which I'd delayed for about a month.

The college deposit didn't come in Friday, or Saturday, but I didn't think about what Monday would look like. I had both the neighbors' rent check and AS's payment in my spreadsheet before the mortgage payment. But when I logged in Monday as I always do, I noticed right away that the mortgage payment hadn't hit but the balance wasn't high enough to cover it.

In panic mode, I had AS get the rent check and deposit it, but before she did I saw a $30 returned payment penalty for the mortgage. I called the mortgage company and they said they'd just retry when they got notice the payment didn't go through, and that they didn't charge a penalty fee on their end unless it didn't go through a second time.

Meanwhile, the rent check is still pending, but I'm hoping tomorrow it becomes part of the available balance.

We went to AS's pay stub to try and figure out why the payment was so late, and realized that she'd never switched the info to our credit union when we divested from USBank. Whoops!

So, it was just a comedy of errors, that luckily seems to have only cost us $30 and a bunch of stress (WHY did it have to be the payment on our house that bounced??). It wouldn't have happened if A) I'd decided to hold off on the IRA contribution until the college payment actually hit or B) if I'd had the spreadsheet items for the first of the month in a different order or C) AS had remembered to switch her bank info. But, lessons learned, onward and upward.

Then, we've had a ton of torrential rain here in MN, and a slightly leaky wall in the basement got a lot worse this time around. We mopped up the water but we can see it's coming through the wall in several places, running down between the plaster and the stone. So we're going to have to get someone out to assess the damage and suggest solutions. I'm thinking this is going to eat up some (hopefully not all!) of our hard-saved kitchen reno savings. But it's no good having a nice kitchen if our basement is waterlogged and our foundation is impacted, so we've got to figure out what's going on and what we need to do about it.

A lot of little other expenses are kind of stressing me out because of both of the above. But the college payment is getting straightened out and AS has invoiced or is expecting a few other payments, so I just have to be patient and things will be looking good again soon. But meanwhile I'm keeping an extra close eye on what's coming out of the account to make sure we aren't overdrawn again.

Then, the random stuff happening in my life:
- I gently nudged my boss one more time about my career, and she requested a meeting with HER boss! I'm nervous but excited to see if anything comes of it.
- One of our friends is going to spend the winter in a pipeline protest camp a couple hours away, so we're letting him forward his mail and store some of his stuff here. We may also handle his money while he's gone and possibly be on call to use it to bail him out if need be! (Hopefully not)
- AS was going to be on the radio again, but they mixed up the scheduling and it didn't work out. They felt so bad that they booked her for another discussion, so that'll happen next week.
- But first, we leave Thursday for Wisconsin and two nights of seeing my favorite band! I'm so excited! I've seen them several times this year but their shows always seem to go by so quickly, so it'll be amazing after the first show to know that I get an encore performance the next night.
- File under "huh?": AS and I usually find a couple pennies on our 3-mile morning walk to my job. But today I found like 10 dimes! There were at least 6 scattered around a bus stop, and then a half block away a couple more, and then two blocks further along, I found one more. So weird, but it's always fun to find money!

I think that's all. I've stayed under 130 lbs. for a couple weeks now. Oh, and my work's pedometer challenge started on Sunday, and it proceeded to rain for 2.5 days straight. Still managed to get a good amount of steps in though. Our Wisconsin trip looks like it might be rainy too, but I'm determined. The weekly top stepper each of the four weeks wins $100, so I want to snatch one of those prizes!

5 Responses to “Unforced errors, leaky basement and other random occurrences”

  1. rob62521 Says:
    1507128616

    Oops on the check, but it worked out. But I understand the stress. Yikes!

    Good for you on being at 130 and feeling the competition of the pedometer challenge. Hope you win one of those prizes!

  2. snafu Says:
    1507130317

    Have a wonderful trip.

    It's hard to imagine you having an overage incident. I'm sure it was upsetting. With remodel and basement repair to come, would you consider overdraw protection during this period? Is there a fee for the service if it's not actually used?

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    1507134088

    OMG, I'm really taken aback that I dropped the ball like this, snafu! It turned out that I didn't opt into overdraft protection when I switched banks last year. I don't remember if that was a conscious choice out of cockiness or if I just didn't realize I needed to opt in. I quick did that Monday morning when I realized it, but it was too late.

    My only consolation is that my new credit union has a $30 fee for using overdraft, so it would have ended up costing me the same amount had I had it there. BUT it would have caused much less stress and less scrambling and fewer phone calls. At least it's there for the future.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    1507168403

    ceejay--your quickness handling everything staunched the damage. I hope it doesn't rain on your cheeseland adventure and you can destress a bit.

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1507341757

    We have had to deal with leaky basement issues too. No fun.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]