Heads up, Savers/Value Village has 50% off all clothing this Wednesday for Veteran's Day.

Hello there. My first time posting to this community and I'm hoping all you knowledgeable people could help me.

My friend had her car repossessed at work today. She had fallen behind on payments after breaking up with her fiancée almost two years ago. She was left to pay everything and, not having enough to pay for all the bills, she chose to cut back on the car. So over the last two years, it's been late payments, half payments, and no payments at all. She's been talking with the people after her car for a while. She hasn't been ignoring them or anything. She's been really trying to work it out with them, but I guess they had enough.

She called them after the car was taken and was told she needed to pay $3100 to get it back, title included. She was also told that the car was worth $3700 so it would go to auction it if she can't pay. I believe that she owed a little over $4000 before they took it, so I'm not sure if she would be responsible for the difference. I keep reading that she could be, but I'm not sure if that might vary from state to state. She lives in Washington state but got this car in Nevada (not sure if that helps).

She's currently pregnant with her first child. She's a high risk pregnancy because she's so small, so she's not allowed to work a certain number of hours per day/week.

I don't know anything about dealing with repo, so I don't know what other information would help. I'm hoping there might be some secret state or federal law to help her out, because it seems like a lot of bad things are happening all at once to her.

I'm not entirely sure this is the best community, but i've seen similar things posted here, and I really have no idea where to turn.

So I had a crazy situation about a year ago that caused me to fall behind on my credit cards. Most of them were gracious enough to let me make up payment plans and such. I had a $2000 Capitol One card that was not. I sent them what I could each month and constantly called for payment plans but we never reached an agreement. It charged off a few months ago. I'm on very very thin ice with my finances still, completely paycheck to paycheck, but I can afford to pay something. I got a letter from a law office stating they were taking me to court for $2200 plus a few more potential fees. I googled the company and half of the entries said this company was a scam. Half said it was a legal debt collector who had garnished their checking account. I really need to prevent the latter from happening as it will send my finances spiraling down a hole and I'll be thrown off all the other credit card payment plans when all my money gets sucked away.

Any ideas where to start or go from here? Do I contact the company and offer a payment plan? I don't want to "throw away" money if they are a scam. How do I tell the difference between a valid law office and a lying collection agency?

Xposted...sorry

First, we're renting. Since we don't own this place so I can't do major renovations or anything.

There are these...vents around the trailer. There are 4 of them total. Each of are dug out and has a metal boarder around it and they each have a board standing up in them. (see pics)

1) What are they for?

2) It's COLD!! Can I put a piece of insulation down there to keep cold air from coming up under the house or is that going to cause a problem with ventilation?

So I need to live on a max of AU$30-50 a week on food for the next few months (this includes snacks and all!).
Unfortunately I'm quite picky when it comes to food. Mostly the fact that I HATE leftovers or reheating food (I have this weird phobia about it). I don't mind freezing/defrosting meat though.

So far I've been living on cereal, pasta, 2-minute noodles, salads and sandwiches.

But does anyone have any more recipes for 1 that's a bit more exciting?

sixwordstories
Whether you're in the mood for a creative challenge or you're short on time or attention span, this semi-addictive community is perfect for those who find flash fiction way long. Once you get the hang of it, you won't be able to stop. The prince turned into a frog. The girl ran home to mother. Tough to write. Easy to read. It's a double threesome of fun.

dailyfoodie
Delicious, ambitious, and occasionally nutritious dishes make for an eclectic, all-you-can-eat feast. Whether you're searching for recipes for your next dinner party or you're jonesing for a late-night brownie fix, your cravings are sure to be well sated. A warm and inclusive community that welcomes all orientations, from carnivores to vegans, from gourmands to junk-food junkies. Guaranteed bias-free, food-positive, and pan-epicurian.

I am requesting a toaster oven from my son for my birthday but I want one which will last a while. I also don't want him to spend too much money on it.
So I need some recommendations from any of you who have toaster ovens on the best one to get that hopefully doesn't cost over $50.
I've looked online for a few but well I am still not sure.
I think I want a large one but I guess I will settle for a smaller one.
I really wouldn't use it for toast but more for cooking things like breaded shrimp or pizza. Mostly cooking frozen stuff or reheating leftovers. But it might be nice to broil a small steak or something now and then.
Thanks for your recommendations. Oh - I would also like to know what store you bought yours from. Thanks- BB

Okay, so, first of all I live in BC, Canada. I'm not really sure how to go about this, but I don't know what to do right now and I'm really worried about how the next month is going to go.

I turned 18 in February, applied for college, got accepted, and moved away to be on my own during the summer. I applied for student loans and I was approved for $7000 this semester. I thought this was pretty cool, and most likely enough to live on after I paid my tuition (Which was only $3800 this semester). On top of that, my boyfriend was moving in with me and planning on getting a job to help support me while I attend school.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances, $2000 of my left-over 'living' student loan money was stolen/loaned, and the person only paid back $1000, claiming that was all they took. This person is a family member - really the only family member I have, and they're currently paying for my hydro and internet until I can afford it - so I can't bring myself to do anything about it, or even fight with them over how much they took. The worst part is what they spent it on, but I don't want to divulge that. On top of that my boyfriend, who is currently 20, left his job of his own accord with the intention of moving with me, so he doesn't qualify for Unemployment Insurance. We've been checking all the websites, gone out on numerous occasions to every store that would take a resume handing them out, and emailed quite a few possible employers, but so far we haven't heard back. His resume shouldn't be the problem, since it was done professionally, but we've still tried editing it now and then to get it to sound even better. Still, he can't seem to get a job, and we've been looking for two months (since he moved here).

The problem with this is I've had to pay all the rent ($600 a month) and I'm out of student loans. We're currently $5.00 in the red, and the only reason we have food is because my college has special bursaries set aside for people in financial crisis, so they've given me Superstore gift cards so we can buy food. Unfortunately this doesn't help with my biggest problem right now, and that's December rent.

So, my biggest question right now is... What can we do? I've been so stressed about this that I haven't been able to concentrate on my work (art school, it's kind of hard for me to paint when I'm this stressed) and I'm starting to fail my classes, which would make this entire endeavor a complete failure. What are our options? I'm going to see a school councilor Monday about some options, but I want to know if anyone here knows anything that could help.

Sorry about all this, I didn't know where or who to ask...

I live in Maryland (so if anyone knows specific laws, that'd be rad too!). For clarification person without details we will call Neighbor A & B the married neighbors and neighbor C the sweet neighbor.

A & B Live next door to me (we have townhomes). A&B got into a fight. They have 4 children. A is drunk as hell (like always) and pulls out his gun and points it at his wife. B grabs her kids and runs to Neighbor C's house. She's not in shock. She's calm and collective - but she says she needs help, and so C of course helps. A (in his drunken stage) pounds and threatens to bust in neighbor C's door if they don't let him in. Neighbor C calls the cops because A claims he is going to shoot them with his gun. The 911 dispatcher asks B(The wife) if her husband (A) has a gun - and she says not a handgun, but yes a shotgun.

45 minutes later we hear a gunshot. REALLY FREAKING CLOSE. Then another... by the end there are 4 gunshots. A&B live right next door to us...2 of the shots were IN THERE HOUSE and the other 2 were on our street because A went psycho in his drunken stage and shot neighbor C's car in. The cops came - helicopters came. It was a freaking madhouse.

Regardless - Because no one actually SAW Neighbor A do what he did and now his wife (because we all know how unfortunate domestic situations can be for woman) won't admit that her husband has a gun (because he just got released from prison, can't legally posses a gun - so he could go back to prison for having possession of a gun as well as the damage he created) - the cops can't really do anything (at least at this point...).

Do I have ANY right to tell my leasing office they either need to evict the crazy man or let me out of my lease? I have 2 young children that there room shares the wall with A&B's house. I'm scared. Shots were fired. This is crazy, ridiculus, and obviously not a safe haven... But I can't really afford for a broken lease to be on my credit report (but if it has to be, I will do it - my children's safety is obviously more important). Anyhow, do I have any legal rights?

I'm looking to buy a Wii since my bf never has money to go anywhere anymore, and I can't always afford to pay for him. So I figured it might be something fun we could do while not having to go anywhere. Watching movies all the time gets boring :P Anyway, a guy in the town I work in is selling one plus the remotes, wires, and 2 games for $190. But I'm so scared of buying it and it being a POS. Any advice for me? He listed it in excellent condition and when I asked why he was selling it is he said he just doesn't use it and wants the money to buy an xbox.

I am 20 weeks pregnant with our first kid and we are very excited!

I have a job that pays some bills and gives me health insurance, but quite honestly if I wasn't pregnant, I would have quit at least two months ago. Basically, regardless of when I do end up leaving to have the baby I have no plans of returning. Maybe to a different department in the same company, but I'm not entirely sure about that.

I am a high risk mama and I literally have twice as many appointments (at least) as the average pregnant lady. I am overweight and have high blood pressure. I'm being monitored by two doctors and everything has been okay so far with the baby and his/her growth and my blood pressure has been well controlled by medication.

I have been having a rough time with morning sickness and getting knocked down by a stomach bug for a couple of weeks and have missed a fair amount of work. My bosses are not pleased with this and think I need to toughen up. That may be the case, and I may look back and think I was being a giant wuss, but right now in the moment I'm just doing the best that I can. I have not worked here long enough to qualify for FMLA but I can take a medical leave of absence or personal leave. With that, I would technically be an employee for up to 38 weeks and would have no changes to health insurance for the first 12 weeks. After that, the health insurance would go away unless I paid into COBRA.

If I'm counting right, I'm one missed day of work away from being fired. As far as I know, I would qualify for unemployment because I have a health condition that would have led me to being fired. We would definitely qualify for food stamps then and although I'm not sure about Medicaid, I would qualify for CHIPS insurance for the rest of my pregnancy so at least prenatal care and delivery would be covered and the baby would be after that.

My question is, do you think it would be better to get fired or to go on medical leave now? I'm due in March, so my insurance would not last until the birth of my baby, but it would get me through the next few months at least. Is having health insurance through my company more important than trying to collect unemployment?

Any thoughts are helpful! Thanks for your time, I totally love this community.

I have never been a fan of Aldi's... Anyone have some insight on Save-A-Lot? I imagine it's about the same, crappy quality... 

I have a roach problem.  Personally, I think they are coming in from the drains.  We put down boric acid and traps/poison etc. and I can swear it's gotten worse.  I am at wits end.  I don't know what to do.

I'm not 100% sure if I should ask this question here, but I'm going to anyway and if it isn't something that is relevant, it can be ignored or deleted.

A year and a half ago, my aunt had gastric bypass surgery in order to lose a large amount of weight. Her medicare gap insurance fully paid for the procedure because it was deemed medically necessary since she had been trying to lose the weight for many years with minimal success due to other medical problems she has had for awhile.

A year after the surgery and nearly 200 lbs lighter, she was approved again to have both of her knees replaced so that she could walk without the aid of a cane or wheelchair for the first time in a very long time. Now that she's lost all the weight, her skin doesn't have enough elastic left in it to shrink up, so she's carrying a lot of extra weight in skin and it's pulling on her knees, back, hips and other areas still making it difficult for her to walk without the aid of a cane.

All of her doctors agree and have written letters saying that the skin removal surgery is a necessity and it would greatly improve her quality of life. The insurance company refuses to believe it is anything but vanity, since it's a cosmetic procedure, and has refused to pay for any part of it. My aunt wants to appeal the decision and I'm trying to help her write a letter of appeal.

My question is...how do we go about doing this properly? I've done research and so has she, but none of it seems to actually be pointing how to actually phrase the letter and how to make it the most compelling it can be. Even with so many doctors to back her up, she still wants her side of the appeal to be compelling.

Has anyone had experience with this type of thing? I would appreciate any guidance in the matter. She has 30 days left to appeal and really no idea where to begin. All the websites I've found that say they do a guide to writing a letter seem to be too generic. Is too much detail a bad thing? I really have no clue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Five months ago I started the dental braces process. I am paying $5700 out of pocket for braces, since my insurance does not cover them. I paid $570 down (I think, or an amount close to that) and now pay $160 a month till its paid off. I started about 8 months ago. A co-worker mentioned since its a medical expense, I might get extra money back for taxes? Anyone know anything about this? I usually just do my taxes on TurboTax. This is costing me a fortune and if I could get extra money back on my refund, that would be amazing. I live in NY if that counts for anything.

Hey poor_skills!
I recently went to an AmeriCorps conference and took a workshop on living on a budget. I thought it was a great training and want to share what I learned with you. Check out the blog post I wrote about the workshop: http://servingandsurviving.blogspot.com/2009/11/surviving-on-serving-budget.html

The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
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