Yesterday I took my prescriptions, and my mother in law's prescriptions, and headed for the strip mall up the highway. First I went to the pharmacy in WinnDixie. When I asked how long of a wait, I was told they didn't know. Computer was down. Then I took my prescriptions to Eckerd Drugs, and their computer was down. So I then went to Family Dollar to kill some time. While there the mgr told me their computers had been down since yesterday...they could still transact business with the cash registers but not their inventory and other things. Last week the banks computers were down. I suspect that there are going to be more days like this than not, after the New Years. The more things you can do to avoid having to deal with computers, the less hassles you are going to have and the more energy left to deal with survival. If your taxes, your insurance, your credit cards, your car and mortgage payments are all screwed up, life is going to be hell. Our property tax bill comes in November and our annual home owners is due in November and our semi annual auto insurance is due in November. You can bet that I will get them paid the day they come due. And it won't be via the mail. I will go and pay in person and get receipt made out that day. I also intend to do away with the one remaining credit card that I have, about the first of October. I am going to request a letter that the account is paid in full and closed. I am going to do everything I can to shield us from the bureacracy. I think it will be terribly hard for persons that are not prepared, and are just trying to hold it together and get some food into the kids stomach, to have to deal with screwed up bills. Take care of as much as you can right now.

Taz...who just wants to hunker down and disconnect the phone.

-- Taz (Tassie@aol.com), August 26, 1999

Answers

Excellent forward thinking. Unfortunately, people with mortgages don't have any control over when their taxes and insurance are paid. However, I plan to pay the September and October house payments on the first, November on October 1, etc., so that on December 1 I won't have to worry about problems until February 1. This is not to say there won't BE any problems, just that I won't have to worry about them for a while--I may be too busy worrying about other things in the meantime. The fewer things to worry about on rollover, the better off we'll be.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 26, 1999.

I had to be in the bank recently - a woman huffed in ready to do battle. She said her DH had tried to use their debit card at the Publix grocery for $50 worth of goods the day before and it was refused by the computer because it came up with no balance -. The bank officer checked the balance - over $5000 in their account. She then called the manager at Publix who told her their system had been having trouble on the previous day but that she wasn't aware of any trouble on the day in question. No apologies, no explanations. I wanted to go over to the lady and pat her on the back and tell her - "You know, they have promised us the safest place for our money is in the bank, they just fail to mention that we can't get to it! Welcome to y2k!

-- April (Alwzapril@home.com), August 26, 1999.

Taz, I'm taking the same approach. Fortunately I have no mortgage. My utility bills are all direct payment (not guaranteed, but fewer steps to mess up). My Sunday paper and internet charge go on my credit card (nominal, so I plan to pay ahead a few months). I'll have receipts for full payment of all insurance policies and current real estate taxes before the rollover. Seems like a good idea to have some extra pocket money tucked away in various locations (work, car) in the meantime in case the debit or credit cards don't work. In fact, I'm preparing to not have to go into a store (other than a gas station) after Thanksgiving. Fresh eggs, milk and bread will be a luxury, but not a necessity.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), August 26, 1999.

Old Git,

We have a mortgage, too, but will probably not be able to pre-pay. However, I have read a lot of threads around here of the 'best way to handle mortgages' variety. I recall one person making a point that if pre-paying, sometimes the mortgage co. only treats it as extra payments, not necessarily paying ahead. Thus they still may expect the usual payment each month.

I don't know whether or not this is true. I'm guessing the important thing here is for everyone to check with their mortgage co. to find out the specific policies/procedures. Each one is probably a little different. And then get it in writing-- not just the policy/procedure but also that you are making these arrangements.

I've read many of your posts and appreciate them. Probably didn't even need to mention this to you. But maybe will be of help to someone here.

-- winter wondering (winterwondering@yahoo.com), August 26, 1999.