That's right, people. Cheap gas has finally come to town!
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Woo-Hoo!
As I was driving home from church this morning, I scared the crap out of my daughters when I screamed, "Woo-hoo!" What could have possibly caused me to make such an exclamation? Only the one good thing to come out of this whole economic crisis.
That's right, people. Cheap gas has finally come to town!
That's right, people. Cheap gas has finally come to town!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Finally
I didn't get a phone call from my bank's OD department yesterday (Tuesday), so I decided to check on my account. It's finally positive again! That's one less thing for me to worry about now. Yay!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Got the Call
They called me. AGAIN. About the overdraft on my account.
Them: We are calling you about the overdraft on your account. Did you know that your account is overdrawn?
Me: Yes. Could you guys please stop calling me about it?
Them: Well, when are you going to bring your account current?
Me: Whenever you guys get around to taking care of it.
Them: Oh, is there a dispute on your account?
Me: Yeah! I've already told you guys this. Now, can you please stop calling me?
Them: Well, it'll take up to two weeks for the fraud dispute to be completed, and we can't stop calling you because the computer automatically calls you as long as your account is this overdrawn. You'll just have to ignore the calls until your account is positive again.
Me: Great! (note the sarcasm here)
So, it looks like I'm in for another week and a half of these phone calls. Oh, joy!
Them: We are calling you about the overdraft on your account. Did you know that your account is overdrawn?
Me: Yes. Could you guys please stop calling me about it?
Them: Well, when are you going to bring your account current?
Me: Whenever you guys get around to taking care of it.
Them: Oh, is there a dispute on your account?
Me: Yeah! I've already told you guys this. Now, can you please stop calling me?
Them: Well, it'll take up to two weeks for the fraud dispute to be completed, and we can't stop calling you because the computer automatically calls you as long as your account is this overdrawn. You'll just have to ignore the calls until your account is positive again.
Me: Great! (note the sarcasm here)
So, it looks like I'm in for another week and a half of these phone calls. Oh, joy!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Much Better
I went to Super Target tonight after dinner. I decided to check their Halloween section to see if they had any less-scary candy pails that would go well with Katie's costume. And this is what I found.
This is SO much better than carrying around a decapitated head. I think Katie's really going to like it.
In other news, I finally got the big, fat check from my medical flexible spending account that I've been waiting for in the mail today. What a relief it was! I figured out a couple of months ago that Sarah's dental office hadn't been billing our insurance company for her orthodontic visits since they hit the maximum orthodontics payout. They figured, "Why bother since they're not going to pay anymore?" So, I told them why they needed to bother. Just because they aren't collecting anymore money from our insurance company, didn't mean that I didn't still need them to file a claim.
You see, the way our FSA works is that once a claim is denied, or partially paid, by our insurance company, the FSA then cuts us a check for the part we had to pay out of pocket. Since Sarah's braces cost WAY more than what the insurance company covered, I still have to pay her dentist about $100 per month. If they don't file a claim for the visit, our insurance company doesn't deny it, and our FSA doesn't reimburse me for what I spent.
So, the billing lady said that she didn't think it would work, but she would try it anyway, just to make me happy. And after a couple of months of waiting for something to happen, and me deciding that it probably was a lost cause, the check came in the mail today. Hallelujah! I will definitely be thanking the big guy upstairs big time tomorrow in church! I should probably thank the billing lady, too. That way she won't give me such a hard time the next time I ask her to do it for me.
This is SO much better than carrying around a decapitated head. I think Katie's really going to like it.
In other news, I finally got the big, fat check from my medical flexible spending account that I've been waiting for in the mail today. What a relief it was! I figured out a couple of months ago that Sarah's dental office hadn't been billing our insurance company for her orthodontic visits since they hit the maximum orthodontics payout. They figured, "Why bother since they're not going to pay anymore?" So, I told them why they needed to bother. Just because they aren't collecting anymore money from our insurance company, didn't mean that I didn't still need them to file a claim.
You see, the way our FSA works is that once a claim is denied, or partially paid, by our insurance company, the FSA then cuts us a check for the part we had to pay out of pocket. Since Sarah's braces cost WAY more than what the insurance company covered, I still have to pay her dentist about $100 per month. If they don't file a claim for the visit, our insurance company doesn't deny it, and our FSA doesn't reimburse me for what I spent.
So, the billing lady said that she didn't think it would work, but she would try it anyway, just to make me happy. And after a couple of months of waiting for something to happen, and me deciding that it probably was a lost cause, the check came in the mail today. Hallelujah! I will definitely be thanking the big guy upstairs big time tomorrow in church! I should probably thank the billing lady, too. That way she won't give me such a hard time the next time I ask her to do it for me.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Guess Who
Guess who called me again today. My bank's overdraft department. Here's how the conversation went.
OD Guy: Your account is overdrawn $707.xx.
Me: Yes, it is.
OD Guy: We were just wondering when you were going to make a deposit to cover your negative balance.
Me: I'm not.
OD Guy: Uh....
Me: Look, dude. Someone fraudulently used my account to make unauthorized charges. I filed a fraud report with you guys yesterday. Once you guys fix everything, my account will no longer be negative.
OD Guy: Oh. ... Well, uh, thank you.
Me: Bye. (click)
If these OD people call me again, I'm really going to mess with them.
OD Guy: Your account is overdrawn $707.xx.
Me: Yes, it is.
OD Guy: We were just wondering when you were going to make a deposit to cover your negative balance.
Me: I'm not.
OD Guy: Uh....
Me: Look, dude. Someone fraudulently used my account to make unauthorized charges. I filed a fraud report with you guys yesterday. Once you guys fix everything, my account will no longer be negative.
OD Guy: Oh. ... Well, uh, thank you.
Me: Bye. (click)
If these OD people call me again, I'm really going to mess with them.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Fraud
I was out of the house all morning for a couple of reasons - 1. Sarah's Ortho appointment, and 2. We had no water, so I went to my mother's house. When I finally returned home this afternoon around four o'clock, I set about doing everything that I normally do in the morning, like checking my email and reading blogs. And since I hadn't been home all day, I also checked my voicemail.
One of the messages was from one of my banks (yes, I keep money in multiple banks). It said that they needed me to call them regarding an urgent matter. I didn't have a clue what it could be about since I am the only person on that account and I haven't used it in a couple of weeks. So, I pulled up my account on the bank's website as I'm calling them back, and what do I see? Negative $700+!
How the hell did that happen?! So, I scroll down the page and find four POS charges on my account that I did not make. How could I have made them when the charges were made in Miami, Key Largo, and Tavernier? I've never even heard of that last one, and I haven't been anywhere near the other two in nearly two years (and I certainly didn't stop and make any purchases when I was driving through there). On top of those fraudulent charges were the insufficient funds charges for each of the four fraudulent charges. All of which left me more than $700 in the hole.
Funny thing is, the bank wasn't calling me to ask me about the fraudulent charges. No, they were calling me about my account being overdrawn. It's nice to know that those four HUGE charges, in three different towns that are at least four hours away from here, made all in one day, didn't set off alarms for their fraud department. Their overdraft department is sure on the ball, though!
So, I had to drive all the way to my bank to file a fraud report so that, hopefully, in ten business days, my account will be back to the $.72 that was there before all of this craziness. That's another thing, too. I only had $.72 in my account. Like I said, I rarely use this account. How did the bank authorize all of those charges, totalling nearly $600, the smallest of which was $50, when I only had $.72 in my account? It's like these banks are TRYING to make you go negative so that they can charge their NSF fees.
I am grateful, though, that this happened to my account that didn't have much money in it and that I wasn't planning to use any time soon. I don't know what I would do if I had to wait two weeks for money that I needed (like for bills or groceries) to finally reappear in my account. I was really lucky in this regard. Thank you, Jesus, for looking out for me and my family.
One of the messages was from one of my banks (yes, I keep money in multiple banks). It said that they needed me to call them regarding an urgent matter. I didn't have a clue what it could be about since I am the only person on that account and I haven't used it in a couple of weeks. So, I pulled up my account on the bank's website as I'm calling them back, and what do I see? Negative $700+!
How the hell did that happen?! So, I scroll down the page and find four POS charges on my account that I did not make. How could I have made them when the charges were made in Miami, Key Largo, and Tavernier? I've never even heard of that last one, and I haven't been anywhere near the other two in nearly two years (and I certainly didn't stop and make any purchases when I was driving through there). On top of those fraudulent charges were the insufficient funds charges for each of the four fraudulent charges. All of which left me more than $700 in the hole.
Funny thing is, the bank wasn't calling me to ask me about the fraudulent charges. No, they were calling me about my account being overdrawn. It's nice to know that those four HUGE charges, in three different towns that are at least four hours away from here, made all in one day, didn't set off alarms for their fraud department. Their overdraft department is sure on the ball, though!
So, I had to drive all the way to my bank to file a fraud report so that, hopefully, in ten business days, my account will be back to the $.72 that was there before all of this craziness. That's another thing, too. I only had $.72 in my account. Like I said, I rarely use this account. How did the bank authorize all of those charges, totalling nearly $600, the smallest of which was $50, when I only had $.72 in my account? It's like these banks are TRYING to make you go negative so that they can charge their NSF fees.
I am grateful, though, that this happened to my account that didn't have much money in it and that I wasn't planning to use any time soon. I don't know what I would do if I had to wait two weeks for money that I needed (like for bills or groceries) to finally reappear in my account. I was really lucky in this regard. Thank you, Jesus, for looking out for me and my family.
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