Friday, November 14, 2008

Out of the Ashes

Wow!

Not that I recommend burning down one's garage as a way to make money (and such an action might provoke a pesky arson charge!) but. . .

I came home to a huge stack of mail. Midway through it was a statement from my insurance company AND a check. Now, understand that the company that rehabbed my garage also did an inventory, as best they could, of all the burned items they tossed in the dumpster. They got everything I could remember and a lot that I had forgotten. I was asked to price the items, which I did for those things I had either recently purchased or could remember. But with so much of it, like my deceased parents' 70's era furniture, I had no clue. So the company told me to leave those items blank and they would figure it out.

Boy, did they!

While I would happily have accepted a couple thousand dollars for everything, they paid me replacement (as opposed to actual cash value) costs, which came to an amazing $9000.

Again, WOW!

After I recovered from my shock, and got that baby deposited, I figured out where it was all going:

$2000 to two of my daughters who lost their items.
(That should teach them NOT to store their stuff at
Mommy's house);

$800 to bring my "baby steps" emergency fund up to
$1000, where it has not been since April;

$1600 to pay the property taxes on my rental house
at the coast; This will be the first time in years
that I am current on those taxes and will get the 3%
discount for paying it all off in a timely manner;

$2000 for Christmas. This is a large amount, but
I am the chief provider of presents for five daughters,
six grandchildren, two spouses and one sister, as well
as the one who buys the Christmas dinner, lights, trees,
etc.; and

$600 for heating oil--I am determined that this will be
the year I do NOT run the tank dry and incur repair
charges for clogging the lines.

So that leaves me $2000 to apply to debt.

Not to mention that my neighbor is now renting my garage from me, and providing me with an additional $250 a month in income.

Pretty good, huh?

Umm--I think you should put those matches down, NOW!

6 comments:

Petunia 100 said...

WOW!! Who knew that what started out as a negative could end up on such a high note?

Congrats on your windfall.

Sharon said...

That's awesome...do you have to rebuild your garage? I'm budgeting $2500.00 for Christmas...seems high to most, but I averaged about $6000 with everything at Christmas, and I know that was absurd! I'm so glad you received a great windfall! And so close to Christmas!

Grace. said...

Insurance also rebuilt the garage. Fortunately the outer walls and the roof were in good shape. But on the interior, everything was scraped down to the studs and rebuilt. It cost right around $10,000 and included rewiring and a new garage door with opener. Amazing how well all this worked out.

Sunflowers said...

Wow, that's awesome! :) Nice to hear about an insurance company not screwing over someone!

Bouncing Back said...

Hey, glad to hear your trip went well (I'm soo jealous) and that you came home to a nice fiscal treat! Great for you to be able to meet some goals and be able to "do" Christmas without breaking the bank.

Welcome home!

Jerry said...

What a lovely surprise from your insurance company. That's a pain that you had to go through all that but look at what you got out of it. That's great. Who knew what kinds of treasure would lead from the ashes.

Jerry
www.leads4insurance.com