Vent: As I sit here crying...

[luckymom4]

I'm not a big whiner, but the past twenty-four hours is wearing on me right now. I'm being audited by my college for financial aid purposes. My business (which is run by family) listed me as an independant contractor. Not only did this screw me in that I had to pay more taxes, but it may cause me to miss my deadline to receive financial aid due to the audit. I have worked extremely hard as far as school goes. I work full time, have four children, and am taking four classes per quarter. I have a 4.0 GPA. So this is really upsetting. On top of that, I tried to make my car payment online yesterday but had to call customer service due to problems with the website. While we were on the phone, they informed me that they had only received an $8.00 car payment from me for March!!! I actually paid $308.00 in March, but they weren't showing that. At the end of March I moved into my new home, and apparently have misplaced my receipt for that month. Murhpy's law maybe? It took me quite a while to rebuild my credit after a bad divorce, and I have actually paid a little over the due amount each month, so for them to inform me now that I owe them an extra $300 since March is a shock and kind of heartbreaking. Ok, I'm done being a crybaby. Going to find my big girl panties so I can deal with all of this! (and if I posted this twice I apologize, my pc is nuts this morning!)

 

[olena]

Oh dear. Is there any way an amended return can be filed? My MIL does taxes and teaches classes and I hear her talk about doing these all the time for businesses.....or maybe I'm thinking of extensions....or both.

I hope it works out.

 

[JPN4265]

First, take a real deep breath and have a seat. The end of the world is not at your door step. Now, start at the beginning, and solve one problem at a time. You can do this. Don't think your in this alone, ask for help. Try to talk to as many people as possible face to face. Remember, it's not legal for any one to shoot you or eat you. Good Luck.

 

[happygirl]

I'm not a big whiner, but the past twenty-four hours is wearing on me right now. I'm being audited by my college for financial aid purposes. My business (which is run by family) listed me as an independant contractor. Not only did this screw me in that I had to pay more taxes, but it may cause me to miss my deadline to receive financial aid due to the audit. I have worked extremely hard as far as school goes. I work full time, have four children, and am taking four classes per quarter. I have a 4.0 GPA. So this is really upsetting. On top of that, I tried to make my car payment online yesterday but had to call customer service due to problems with the website. While we were on the phone, they informed me that they had only received an $8.00 car payment from me for March!!! I actually paid $308.00 in March, but they weren't showing that. At the end of March I moved into my new home, and apparently have misplaced my receipt for that month. Murhpy's law maybe? It took me quite a while to rebuild my credit after a bad divorce, and I have actually paid a little over the due amount each month, so for them to inform me now that I owe them an extra $300 since March is a shock and kind of heartbreaking. Ok, I'm done being a crybaby. Going to find my big girl panties so I can deal with all of this! (and if I posted this twice I apologize, my pc is nuts this morning!)

Did you pay your car payment online?? You credit card agency should have a copy of the payment.

 

[MoniqueU]

That would be enough to make me cry. IT sounds like you are doing more then most people to get ahead and aren't catching any breaks. I hope you have a better day.

 

[luckymom4]

Thank you guys so much! I needed a laugh and a little support. A friend just asked me how my family was, which reminded me that no matter how bad things seem, I have a LOT to be thankful for.

 

[4nana]

Sending big 's, , and that everything works out sweetie. Sounds as tho you have a lot on your plate all at once, but usually there is always light at the end of the tunnel if we stay strong, keep the faith and try not to let it get us down. Hopefully your bank statement will be car payment proof.

 

[wvjules]

You didn't notice an extra $300 due (or past due) on April, May or June car payment statements?

 

[SCHBR'smom]

Your bank statement should show the amount you paid and prove you paid in full. That happened to us one time with a medical bill, it was recorded incorrectly. Once I showed them the statement, we were fine.

Good luck! I'm sure things will get better.

 

[tiggger1]

You didn't notice an extra $300 due (or past due) on April, May or June car payment statements?

It might have been an error on their part. I payed the bills for my husbands old Dialup business. We only used the office to store the servers so I only went into the offices once or week or less( it was about 30 minutes away) One day we find out that the internet is down and I went into the office to reboot. Turns out the power was shut off. I called the electric company to complain and they say I didnt pay last month or this month bill. Well according to my checkbook I wrote out a check for $800 for both months ( I prepay every other month because we are not in to office often and I didnt want to miss a bill) I called the bank and found out they cashed the check. so I went to the bank and got a copy of the cleared check and brought it to the Electric company ( thankfully they were all in walking distance from the office. The EC still had the nerve to say that I hadnt paid and would look into to and turn the power on (for a fee of course, sometime next week!) I was livid. Thankfully the owner overheard me yelling, and found out the problem Apparently they put the check into someone else's account. He fixed it and had the power back on before I could walk back to the office

 

[agnes!]

If you paid by check, the bank will have an electronic copy of the check.
If you paid by credit card, the credit card company will have a copy of the payment in its records. You should be able to look that up your self or you can call the cc co.

If you paid by check & do not have online banking then take the time to GO to your bank and get this straightened out. DO NOT TRY TO TAKE CARE OF THIS OVER THE PHONE. *Seriously*, it will take less time if you walk into a branch and get some help in person.

If you can talk to a real person in-person at your college about your financial aid, I would suggest doing that as well. I must confess, I don't understand why *their* audit should make you miss THEIR deadline and thereby screw your aid package up!!

And

CONGRATULATIONS​

on those great grades, being employed and having a wonderful family.​

 

[luckymom4]

*sigh* I made my payment that month with a money order. I opened my own checking account in April, and have paid from there ever since. And it's killing me that I can't find the receipt, because I keep all my receipts for book keeping reasons. So I dropped the ball on this one. Not their fault. Well, they can't find the payment, but it's up to me to keep receipts. So don't think I'm bashing them, I'm more disappointed in myself!

 

[paintnolish]

Hey! Full-time student, mom to two, and newly married here...I know how it goes! Anyway, I was audited for financial aid last semester. It wasn't a big thing and was told it was random. All I had to do was provide a copy of my tax return. I never received any more request and got my aid on time. Good luck to you!

 

[agnes!]

*sigh* I made my payment that month with a money order. I opened my own checking account in April, and have paid from there ever since. And it's killing me that I can't find the receipt, because I keep all my receipts for book keeping reasons. So I dropped the ball on this one. Not their fault. Well, they can't find the payment, but it's up to me to keep receipts. So don't think I'm bashing them, I'm more disappointed in myself!

Oh man, that sucks. You probably paid cash for the money order and what you're missing is the money order receipt? From the standpoint of the car company, it is possible that the money order people printed out the wrong amount even though you paid them the right amount (and at this point it's probably too late to walk in and tell them their drawer was probably off by $300 that day). Sometimes when I'm in a rush, I don't pay attention to the nuts & bolts of daily life...

If the money is gone, it's gone. That stuff happens and it sucks when it does. At least you know the payment is missing, you'll have to start making it up if you can't find that darn piece of paper...the sooner the better and then you'll have less financial charges.

And you still have a wonderful family .

agnes!
PS - I don't suppose it's possible that the car financing company keeps any sort of copy of payment instruments (check, money order, etc) as they pass through their system?...

 

[Pea-n-Me]

No advice, just a

 

[Handbag Lady]

Everyone here has great advice.

Keep looking for that receipt. I'm sure you didn't toss it out.

It helps me when I'm stressed like this to break down things into little increments. Never think about the college issue and the car payment issue together.

Deal with one first. Which is easier to solve? The car payment. Trace back your steps when you paid the bill. Where were you? How did you pay it? What were you doing that day?

 

[claudia]

*sigh* I made my payment that month with a money order. I opened my own checking account in April, and have paid from there ever since. And it's killing me that I can't find the receipt, because I keep all my receipts for book keeping reasons. So I dropped the ball on this one. Not their fault. Well, they can't find the payment, but it's up to me to keep receipts. So don't think I'm bashing them, I'm more disappointed in myself!

Did you get the money order at the bank? Maybe if you have the date you got the MO they might be able to find a record of it?

 

[mommagoof]

Could you ask the car company to show you a copy of the m.o they recieved from you? They should at least have documentation of the type of m.o and the number on the top(all the m.o I have gotten have a number on them kind of like a check number.) I have also been audit for finacial aid and it was fine as well, also told that it was a random thing.

 

[luckymom4]

My finance co. claims that they have no record of how the payment was made, although they do know that my last two have been from my debit card. So I'm taking care of the audit while things are slow at work and hunting the receipt while at home. I'm just going to pay the payment again until I find the receipt to make sure there's no further damage to my credit, and when I find the receipt they will credit my account. And if my audit isn't done by the first day of the quarter (next wednesday) I'll pay for tuition and if I am awarded financial aid they will reimburse me. Thanks so much to everyone who was helpful and supportive. The best people I've met on the internet have been on the Dis!

 

[happygirl]

If you remember where you got the money order. They can look it up for you by the day you bought it. It a PIA for them but it would save you 300 dollars.