Recent content by bamboogrrrl

I mailed our paper return at the beginning of the pandemic in March, and have heard nothing about our refund. Crickets. Then I read about those heaps of paper returns being piled in storage units. But I just sent in estimated quarterly taxes for my husband's small business, and the check was...

We had a metal roof ("Galvalum" is the trade name of the material they used) put on our house in 2000.  For a 2,800 sq ft house it cost about 16K.  I hope we never have to worry about the roof again.

Andre: Apparently "breathing" and "having a pulse" are also big no-nos with insurance companies...

Nords, that made me snort out loud at work!

Update: We finally got a reponse from the insurance agent in this debacle.  As a result of CCing the NYS Insurance Department (thanks Brewer!) in our correspondance and their opening a case to check this out further, the insurance agent has written a letter to the carrier urging them to consider...

Outtahere: Yes, we could get a lab to do another test, but the insurance company will not recognize another test done within a 12 month period. It's a totally closed system...

Martha: Nope, he's not chewing the gum, and he's not chewing tobacco. I'm wondering if insurance companies do this to everyone who admits to ever having smoked a cigarette. If half of the "I-used-to-smoke-folks" DON'T dispute the findings, more $$$ for the insurance company... Not that we've...

As an update, I wrote the letter to the insurance company, and cc-ed it to our State Insurance Department, and our esteemed Attorney General. DH thinks it's pretty hopeless to fight an insurance company, even if they're wrong.  My hope is that maybe the response will be interesting... ...

TromboneAl: The business is at our house. I'd hate to have to leave in a hurry because of dh's demise... Brewer: Thanks for the suggestion! I got the address for NY and I will be practicing my letter writing skills shortly...

I'm in the middle of a life insurance quandry, and thought I'd get your collective two cents (or more I hope!).  Dh and I recently took on a larger mortgage to pay for a barn to house his vintage car repair business.  Because of this new responsibility, we decided to get term life insurance, so...

Alternative loans are considered private consumer debt (one of my colleagues in Financial Aid refers to them as "boat loans").  To qualify for them, one must have bulletproof credit: hence the cosigner.  Well I just learned something new.  Technically, it would be up to the courts in bankruptcy...

Your friend's "signature" loan is an alternative loan which usually requires a co-signer.  That's why she can't consolidate it, and it probably carries a high interest rate.  For the Stafford portion of her student loans, her lender (if she hasn't consolidated already) will have several...

I visited my sister last fall in Austin, TX who lives right outside in Hill Country, and was appalled by the amount of traffic! Because so many people have recently moved there, and the highways were built for fewer people, it's a case of constant gridlock. I'm used to metro NYC traffic, and I...

Don't confuse this with whining, but threads like this inspire a little guilt in me ( a good thing?).  DH and I have always been good on defense, but not so great on offense, to refer to the "Millionaire Next Door."  We've been pretty good at LBOM, but not so great at maximizing income.  Several...

One reason for hanging onto the paperwork: When my parents sold the house I grew up in, a lien against the house showed up from 20 years before.  They had refinanced the mortgage, and the bank never filed the paperwork to show that the old mortgage was closed out.  And then the bank was gobbled...