Thanks so much for all of the supportive words this week! You all are the best!! The break-in put me in a total funk, but thanks to that emergency fund and several phone calls, I've sorted most everything out.
So, I’ve broken down the costs of my hair , face, pet, tree, and transportation... why not look at what that pesky car break-in ended up costing me? I know, I must like making myself suffer or something... ;)
Imagine: You've just run 13 miles, it's 38 degrees outside, drizzling, and you get back to the parking lot to find your car with a broken window...
New car window:
With the temperatures in the 40's and drizzly, I was not excited about driving around with a gaping hole in my car. I wanted to get the window taken car of asap so I called the dealership first. They must have the supplies on hand, right? At $350 and an estimate of three days to get the window in stock, I wasn't sold. The next place I called (Glass Doctor) not only had the window, but also said that they could come to my house and replace it in the next hour!
$235
Thrifty tip: Prevent your car from being broken into by keeping it as neat and tidy as possible. I thought the bags, towels, and tennis rackets would convince a thief that the lump under my jacket was just more mess, but they took the risk anyways. Think about how upsetting it would be if someone broke your window just because they thought your purse was somewhere in your mess.
New locks for house:
Someone had my home address (driver's license) and house keys... the cost of new locks was worth the feeling of security.
$80 (I might return one $25 lock later)
Cash:
I'm so glad that I don't carry cash!
$0
Replacements:
*Driver's license~
$10
*Wallet~
$15
*Coupon organizer~
$5
Is it sad that this is one of the first two things I was upset about losing was
my brand new organizer? Nate thought about it too, "our Subway 2-for-1 coupons were in there!" After borrowing a little cash from Nate, I ran over to Marshall's and snagged a new one.
I just might like this one more!
Yep, labeled and ready to go. No thief is going to keep me down!!
*Gift card~
$0 Thanks to the great people at Rogue (local running store), my stolen $100 gift card will be canceled and replaced without a problem!
Thrifty tip: If you lose a gift card, call to see if you can replace it by scanning the credit card it was purchased with.
*Credit cards, checkbook, debit card~
$0 I might have to wait 5-7 business days for the replacements to come in, but I'll be happily live off of Nate until then :).
Grand total: $345 (ouch!)
The $$$ total doesn't tell the entire story; there are a few losses I'm taking as a result of the break-in. The things I won't be replacing are:
Camera~ $270 (Nate is letting me use his point and shoot)
Purse~ $30 That's what backups are for, right?
Cell phone~ $0 Thanks to my old
backup and a new SIM card, I'm set.
Thrifty Tip: Don't forget to freeze your phone account! People love placing international calls on stolen phones!!
Misc. pens, chapstick, etc~ I have plenty of these things as well.
Jewelry~ $40 *Sigh* I'll miss that necklace :(.
What did the thieves get out of this? There wasn't any cash in the wallet, but they did get away with charging about $80 on two different credit cards. Oh, and there was that
$50 L.L. Bean gift card (if they're into that kind of thing) {Edit: the card was in a different purse!}. My camera was inside the purse, but the charger wasn't so they'll have to buy one if they want to use it and pawning it will be really risky considering I've submitted a police report. Really, unless they love coupon organizing or my taste in purses, the total amount they've walked away with is less than the price I paid to get a new window!
Honestly, why not just go into the window business instead??
So, here's where I usually ask how much your break-in cost, but really who (other than me?) wants to relive that sort of thing? Instead, this might be a good moment to look at what you carry in your purse daily. So, how much would you lose if your purse was stolen?
Edit: I forgot to mention another thrifty tip on purse theft... always check the surrounding streets, bushes, trash cans, etc for your belongings. Often, people just go for the money and toss the rest as they leave the scene. (I wasn't so lucky this time.)