So This Is What Happens When…
We were warned when we started FPU , set up our emergency fund and started really sticking to a budget that bad things were going to happen. We heard stories of people finally having $1000 in the bank for emergencies and then BAM! something unexpected and inconvenient happened( i.e fridge broke, boiler stopped working etc) where they ended up needing to use some of their emergency fund. But thankfully, they had said emergency fund for that very reason! So they didn’t have to rely on a credit card to pay for it. Mike and I took these stories in but didn’t think too much of it since everything we have right now is fairly new and in good shape or has already broken and been fixed. I also thought to myself that I’d be super careful now with everything to make sure I didn’t accidentaly ruin or break something expensive.
I was wrong. Our “bad thing” happened three fold and it involved all three of our vehicles the past two weeks.
::Bad thing #1:
Some #$$%^^&* must have backed into me at Wal-Mart and left this nice dent in the front of my once pristine Odyssey. I didn’t notice it until I got home later that day. Or I should say, Mike noticed it and asked me about it! Of course they didn’t leave a note or their insurance information.
The reasons I think this happened at Wal-Mart are:
a)On the day I noticed the huge dent, the only place I was parked with my nose out was at Wal-Mart.
b) I didn’t hit anything that day. You’d think with a dent that size I might have heard or felt me hit something.
We have a $1000 deductible on our car insurance. Since we don’t have anyone else to blame we have to pay for this out of pocket.
We haven’t done that yet. I’m still driving around with the lovely dent in the front.
It’s a good thing we didn’t go ahead and have that fixed because of….
::Bad thing #2:
Last Wednesday (not yesterday) Mike calls me as I’m leaving to meet up with him to take Katelyn to Awana to tell me his car broke down and he’s at a gas station close by. I need to come and get him and wait for a tow truck to come.
So, we waited. And waited. And waited. Finally an hour and fifteen minutes later the tow truck finally came.
Come to find out the gas gauge was broken, Mike had run out of gas and ruined the fuel whatever and it needed to be replaced.
The total to have it replaced was $725 .
Thankfully God provided for us in that area so we didn’t end up needing to use our emergency fund to pay for it. We certainly couldn’t use a credit card because we have no more credit cards!
Bad thing #3:
Last Saturday as I’m on my way to the Easter egg hunt Mike calls me all shaken up because he’s just been in accident with his truck. He had to stop short, his breaks didn’t respond correctly and he rear ended the car in front of him. His air bag deployed and the front of his truck is crushed.
We had just gotten his truck “back” several weeks ago. Mike’s brother told us that instead of us selling it, as a Christmas gift, he wanted to pay for a new engine to be put in so Mike could keep his beloved truck and drive it a while longer. Since we hadn’t been using the truck we hadn’t gotten around to getting collision coverage on it. Because of the way he hit the tires are kind of bent and it’s not really drivable.
Thankfully everybody was ok and nobody was hurt. Mike said an ambulance, fire truck and police cars all showed up and that he was asked about ten times if he wanted to go to the hospital. Mike got some bruising on his chest from the airbag but that’s about it.
As of yet we don’t know what the monetary damage is going to be. While the tow truck operator was lifting the truck onto the tow truck he noticed break fluid everywhere. He asked Mike if he knew that his breaks were leaking and that he should mention that in the report. He could be found “not at fault” because of faulty breaks. The officer Mike spoke to said the same thing. We did have to pay over a hundred bucks for the tow truck since the town called it and we didn’t get to use our AAA service. Thankfully AAA will reimburse us for that.
Mike has given his truck back to his brother in the hopes that he can sell of whatever he can and try to recoup some of the money he put into it as a Christmas gift.
All I can say is “wow”. We really feel like the Enemy was attacking us in the area of our finances because we have been trying to do so well with them. Yes, this class and this new way of life for us has caused a lot of fights and late nights but it has also strengthened us. We are starting to feel like a burden has been lifted off our shoulders and that we are actually controlling our finances rather than our finances controlling us. We have started saving for all areas of our life rather than using the credit card or scrambling at the last minute for yearly fees, bills, birthdays or trips to Texas. We’ve been faithful in our giving and even have our daughter’s giving out of their commission. I don’t think Satan likes that. He liked how our finances were a burden rather than a blessing before.
I could be wrong but that’s what it feels like.
Don’t get me wrong, I still highly recommend FPU but if you start taking the class…
Beware!!!
