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Apr 9, 2007    |       10 comments

A Few Updates

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I was concerned whether my health insurance would cover my visit to the doctor for my miscarriage. Since my policy does not cover prenatal care, I wasn’t sure what to think. Would they consider the miscarriage something that was prenatal? I tried asking the hospital when I would get the bill (because I am very anxious to know), but they couldn’t give me an answer. They told me to wait for the mail.

Well, I received an email from my health insurance stating that I have an explanation of benefits available to view. I logged in so fast to find out. The explanation was only for some lab work that was done (the ultrasound and a tissue culture) but they covered it. In fact, I only have to pay $22.50 for those things. That was very good news. Now, it’s a matter of waiting for the doctor visit, my RHOGAM shot and my blood work.

I finished our federal taxes and we will owe a little more than $800. Ouch. This morning I initiated a transfer from our savings account to cover the payment. As for the state taxes, I haven’t finished it yet but it appears we will owe about $60. I know some people think that it’s better to pay less into taxes and having to owe than to have a refund. I’d much rather not have to scrounge up the money to pay for taxes that we owe. Taking from our savings account hurts. If you look to the right, our savings is only a little over $1,000 since I had to withdraw $1,000.

I’ve been dragging my feet on completing the other thing that will add to our debt. I have to revise our 2005 taxes due to a costly error. I could play the audit game, but I don’t want to go there. It’s already a year of interest we owe and I don’t want to owe any more. For this payment, we do not have enough money in our savings to cover that and we will likely have to enter a payment plan with the IRS or I may decide to use a credit card check to pay the bill. I’m not sure what to do yet. Having debt with the IRS scares me because they have the power to seize accounts. If something bad should happen, I would rather owe money that we can’t pay to the credit cards.

Savings going down…debt going up. Not good, but there isn’t much I can do about it but face it and get over with it and move on.

Apr 9, 2007    |       3 comments

Documentary – In Debt We Trust

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There’s a documentary out right now showing in select theaters that takes a deep look into the credit card culture. Danny Schechter, a former ABC News and CNN producer decided to to investigate the problem of debt in our society.

From the “In Debt We Trust” website, a statement from the filmmaker:

“This is a problem involving millions of people and billions of dollars yet it is downplayed and rarely discussed in all of its disastrous dimensions. It’s about a growing inequality that some experts fear will lead to a new 21st century serfdom. It’s about the transfer of wealth from working people into the vaults and accounts of a relatively small number of financial institutions and real estate interests. The lenders are profiting by charging usurious rates and doing so legally, in part, because they have mastered the art and science of marketing products and then manipulating media, politicians, and political institutions.” [via InDebtWeTrust.com]

Looking a little further into Danny Schecter, I found an interview that he did with Bankrate.com where he discussed debt. Here’s an excerpt that I found very interesting:

“Bankrate: Declaring bankruptcy or getting in too deep with payday lenders, as the soldiers in your film do, is one of the last dirty little secrets in American life.

Schechter: Yeah, you don’t trade notes with other people. It’s like, you fouled-up, basically. Like my filmmaker friend who went into bankruptcy. It could never happen to him. This guy had all the angles played. He was cocky, he was sure, he was certain, and then he got nailed big-time basically because of a confluence of things including a divorce where he had to disclose all his finances. Suddenly what seemed like a very secure lifestyle became a very insecure lifestyle.” [via Bankrate.com]

When I started this blog, I had no idea that debt was such a common problem. There are many of us out there dealing with debt and it is so encouraging that the media is bringing these struggles to light.

It does help greatly knowing that you are not alone.

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