Tuesday, February 12, 2008

FAFSA,the OC, and Other Figures.

I have been working on taxes, etc. for two days and I am living inside the proverbial shoebox of papers, receipts, and forms. So far I have filed our federal and state returns. I have completed Amanda's federal and state forms, but she needs to check them over before we file them. I have completed the FAFSA for 2008-2009, except I am waiting for Amanda to call me back and tell me how much money she has in her checking account. This is the last FAFSA I will have to file unless Alex grows up and goes to college. (This is certainly an uncertainty at this point.)
On another note of financial importance, Amanda still owes $300 for this semester. We sent them the full amount we owed, but this month a bill came showing a remaining balance of $300. So here is the explanation from student accounts. Remember the class you signed up for that has a $300 fee? The one we never billed you for? It is billed on a separate account called "Other Charges". And we always apply any payments to the 'OC' account first. So the money you sent to pay off your tuition and room and board was applied to the account your mother never knew you had. The 'OC' account is for parking fines, disciplinary fines, and other nasty things you don't want your parents to know about. (Why an engineering class falls in this 'OC' category, I don't know.) So, today I called the school to make them explain it to me. You know, why you took my money and used it to pay a bill you didn't want me to know existed. And so we agreed that they would send me a statement showing the charges, and then I would pay it. What a novel idea. You send me a bill. I pay the bill. You send me a receipt. Go figure.

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