Suck it, State of New York

The State of New York Department of Taxation can kiss my ass.

Remember the tax levy debacle back in November? When the State of New York decided I owed them $1700 from 2007, and without one letter or word or warning, dipped their hand into my bank account and subtracted most of my emergency fund? (They claim they'd been sending letters to my old address in California for two years; but I hadn't lived in California for two years; and my phone number and email have not changed since I lived in New York; and they had no trouble getting my current bank account information when they wanted it.) I smelled a great big possibly illegal, definitely sloppily handled rat at the time, but I couldn't do anything about it except grind my teeth.

Yesterday they issued another levy on my bank account. AFTER TAKING THE FULL AMOUNT IN NOVEMBER.

Long story short: They fucked up. Badly. They got a bunch of checks in at the same time, applied the wrong check to my account, and then six months later realized they showed a balance due on my account and dipped their hands back in the till for their money.

I called in a screaming panic--let's not forget my husband is unemployed, and we're on starvation rations--only to discover that the check my bank sent and the check they had credited to my account were not even the same check.

Naturally the burden of proof fell to me--I had to get a copy of the bank's check, fax it to them at my own expense (God forbid they be able to receive an email), and call six different times to make sure that a) the levy was on hold, b) the correct check was being credited, c) my account would eventually show a zero balance.

Which leads me to this fairly obvious question: IF THEY THOUGHT I STILL OWED MONEY, WHY DID I NOT RECEIVE A BILL?

They have my correct address. I never received a letter or bill from them. Also, if you issue a levy, and you still show a balance due at the end of the levy, doesn't that clearly signify that someone fucked up somewhere? The whole point of a levy is to collect ALL the money you're owed, by force.

Also, I'm extremely pissed that my meager bank account is now somehow the State of New York's own personal ATM.

Also, I find it suspicious that the first levy was issued over a holiday weekend, when I couldn't do anything about it, and this second levy was issued OVER THE NEXT HOLIDAY WEEKEND. When I couldn't do anything about it.

Really, New York? Really?

Suffice it to say that the State of New York Department of Taxation is never getting one additional penny of my money.

Send money and beer

Well, that's it, folks. At 4:08 pm yesterday, hubby's entire company was laid off. He's now officially unemployed.

The videogame industry is spectacularly volatile, but even so, there were very few indications that the company was that unstable. Based on what hubby has told me, I place all the blame squarely at the feet of the Rhode Island government. I have no doubt that the current governor, for whatever reason, essentially forced the company to close; and he's now forcing everyone who voted for the deal in the first place to resign. It makes no sense--the only way the taxpayers would be on the hook for the loan guarantees is if the company failed, and he forced it to fail, despite the fact that is in no one's financial interest. Now he's got 300 more people collecting unemployment and food stamps, in a state that already has 11% unemployment.

So, you know what? Fuck you, Rhode Island. I have never been in a state that was so hostile to outsiders. Oh, the people of Providence have been lovely. Really nice. But the government is breathtakingly incompetent, inefficient, hostile to outsiders, and now it looks like childish, on top of that. Even if hubs does get another job in the area, he really wants to move back across the border, into Massachusetts, just to avoid paying RI another cent in taxes. I can't say I blame him.

He's filing for unemployment as we speak, so between that and my increased earnings, we may just be able to squeak by--his ex has graciously agreed not to cash her child support checks from us for the time being. I'm having a huge yard sale next weekend, and at some point, hubs' defunct company will have to pay us his missing paycheck plus time worked. All that money can be set aside for future bill paying/possible moving expenses. I'll look into getting the student loans into forbearance, too. And I hate to say it, but we've got over $20,000 in credit we can tap if things get desperate.

The good news is that the videogame industry is rallying to find all everyone a job. So hopefully hubs will have a new, better, better-paying position posthaste.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that a) we don't have to move cross-country in two weeks again, b) that if we do, it's to a cool city where I can work in an amazing restaurant, c) that we don't have to go further into debt than we already are, d) that since we are officially without health insurance now, that no one gets sick or gets hit by a bus.

In the meantime, send money and beer.

And consider this blog The Unemployment Chronicles.

Oh, the fun continues

Financial crisis update #1: as of tomorrow night, we no longer have health insurance. They're cutting it off completely. No COBRA, no carryover, just gone.

So obviously we still haven't gotten our missing paycheck, but the company also has not declared everyone on unpaid furlough. At least if hubby were on furlough, we could collect unemployment and maybe get some food stamps. Right now, we don't even have that meager comfort.

I'm going to start collecting things for a yard sale, and will also start posting stuff for sale on craigslist. If anyone needs anything (furniture, yard stuff, household stuff), let me know.

Happy anniversary to me! x 2

Today is both my two-year wedding anniversary, and the ten-year anniversary of my graduation from Columbia.

So, on the one hand, hooray for being married for two years, but on the other, what the f*ck have I done with my life?!

I'm told this sentiment comes naturally to anyone who's had a degree for ten years, but still. I'm feeling particularly morose today, since we're riding the razor's edge of financial doom; still no paycheck, and no word of when we might see one. So no celebrating either anniversary. And it's at times like these when you most wonder, "What dumb-ass decisions have I made to get me to this point, where I have no money?"

(I realize the answer is "None," since none of this crisis is our doing. This is purely the universe bitch-slapping us. But I miss my friends from grad school, and I haven't really used my degree since I got it, and the student loan payments on that degree will stretch on and on into infinity, and it's raining, and blah blah blah.)

So, if any of my fellow grads are reading this, let's have a reunion soon! Preferably at someone's apartment, so I don't have to pay for drinks at a bar.

If it's not one thing, it's another

It's been a financially and emotionally trying week.

It's a long story, and I can't get into the details yet, but my husband's company couldn't make payroll last week. Hubby remains optimistic that this is a problem of cash flow, which will be resolved shortly; things look slightly better today than they did over various points in the weekend, but I'm still somewhere between "really nervous" and "freaking out."

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this situation resolves itself, that we can replenish everything we had to take out of the emergency fund to pay bills (which was everything), that we continue to get paychecks on a regular basis and that we don't have to sell everything we own and move again, to a new city/new jobs. Please God don't let us have to move again.

At least I had a rewarding week at work. I've been told by various managers that my sales are spectacular, that I'm doing a fantastic job. I've also been told that due to various people leaving, I'll be both working a lot more and taking home a lot more money. If we'll be earning two paychecks in the near future, that's great news, we'll be able to sock away all that extra money in the emergency fund to shore it up against future cash flow problems. If we're going to have to try to live off my paycheck...well, some bills are not going to get paid. There isn't any way around that. I hope it doesn't come to that.

In the meantime, I'm going to be making doctors' appointments for both of us, to get us caught up on basic check-ups in case something happens with the health insurance, and start making a list of everything we could sell to bring in some quick cash. Memorial Day yard sale, anyone?

Mother's Day weekend

My parents came to visit this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. We had dinner Friday night at my restaurant, where my husband informed me they had now ruined him for all other burgers. (They do have a really good burger.) Saturday night we had dinner at my old restaurant, in Providence. In between was mostly just a lot of hanging out.

Which was fine, because I had to work a double on Sunday, which meant I didn't see my parents again between the time they went to bed Saturday night and they left Monday morning.

But the dinners were delicious.

In other news: someone backed into my car in the parking lot at Stop & Shop and left a sizable dent in the rear bumper. I was literally gone for two minutes, and when I came back out: boom. Thanks, asshat. Whoever you are. I'll have to deal with getting that fixed this week.

The folks, marital discord, and work successes

Not my marital discord, don't worry. But a very dear friend of mine called the other day to discuss hers, and I may need to carve some time out of my schedule to go visit her. I need some girl time anyway.

My folks are visiting this weekend--I'm excited about taking them to dinner at my new restaurant, and my old one, and generally spending time with them.

In other news, my job is going better than I expected. I was told the other night that I had the second-highest sales of anyone last month, despite being new. In fact, the words the general manager used were, "freakishly high." Then I went on to have $3,500 in sales that night, including a $225 bottle of '98 Beaucastel, and brought in over $800 in tips. On a Tuesday night. So that was pretty awesome.

(I won't actually take home $800 in tips; it goes into the general fund and then gets divided out again according to an algorithm. But still.)

Adventures with coupons

Yes, this is how exciting I am these days. I get all worked up about coupons.

I discovered another perk to working in the restaurant on Sundays (in addition to the free leftover food). I usually work doubles on Sundays, brunch plus dinner. For brunch, they bring in a selection of newspapers for people to peruse, including the New York Times and the Boston Globe. They throw away the inserts, so I helped myself to the coupons and the sales flyers.

 Between the coupons and some judicious shopping at CVS, making full use of the ExtraBucks program, I scored $120 worth of stuff for $45. So you can bet I'll be snagging the coupons from now on.

 (Disclaimer: I don't usually shop with coupons, because generally coupons are for over-processed name-brand crap food; the kind of stuff I don't buy. But, if you can combine a coupon with a store sale, and/or some other sort of store promotion, like Double Coupon Day or CVS' ExtraBucks, you can walk away with some amazing deals. So I'll start using coupons and watching sales for things I'll buy anyway, like shampoo and toothpaste.)

I felt all frugal and crafty, especially since I was combining restaurant leftovers into dinner last night.