How To Deal With Unexpected Expenses

Thank GOD that Tropical Storm Fay didn't gather enough strength to become a Hurricane!

That's the good news! Thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts!

The Hurricane Season of 2004 destroyed the marriages of many couples in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas.

This year, during Tropical Storm Fay we we're blessed. We lost power for a few hours - no worries. We were also blessed to have wireless access. We forgot batteries, but the kids pitched in and let us borrow some from their toys. So all in all, we were blessed. Thanks to WFTV and Meteorologist Tom Terry for great storm tracking and prediction.

Now the bad news. As you can see from the photo [below] in addition to power we lost a Windshield - a totally unexpected situation and expense. We all have unexpected expenses from time to time.

In this post I'll share how to deal with Unexpected Expenses.

1. Don't Panic. A common side effect of unexpected events is a sense of panic. Panic often results in fleeing. Fleeing is the 'flight' in the "fight or flight" response. Eckhart Toll in his thought provoking book The Power of Now coached me on how to live in the 'NOW'. I've never been one to panic. To me Panic is an overreaction to a threat. How do you stop yourself from becoming a victim of panic?

2. Get on with it! In the 'Eye' of every Tropical Storm or Hurricane Meteorologists, find calm. Inside a force that contains up to 135 mile an hour winds, lightning, and tornado's exist calm. Going deeper into the event that caused the unexpected expense will help you find calm.

To get into the calm of your unexpected expense take a second and ask yourself the following questions;

• What options do I have?
  
• What resources do I have (friends, money, etc)
• What outcome do I desire?

3. Put yourself in the picture. Part of our flight response is to take ourselves out of the picture. Modern society is hooked on ease. We pay for everything because it makes life easier. Most people can replace their own oil, but we don't. Most people can make a better meal than any restaurant but that doesn't us from eating out.

Americans [in general] pay for stuff that we can do for ourselves. There's nothing wrong with it. But many Americans don't bother to see if it's something they can do for themselves - like debt settlement and credit repair. Anyway. My point is, that by putting yourself directly in the center of the problem, by going into the eye of the storm, you step into a comfort zone and find the calm.

As you begin asking yourself the 4 questions above, you'll start as a novice and over-time you'll become an expert [if you choose].
Back to the broken windshield. Here's where we are so far. We immediately called our insurance company. They gave us some options. Next we teamed up and started shopping around for Auto Glass replacement quotes. Some of the quotes were as expensive and offensive at $500. Don't be afraid or ashamed to negotiate and always be willing to walk away from any price gouging predator.

Of course we looked the option of replacing the windshield ourselves. We seriously considered it. While in college I replaced my windshield in the dead of the Michigan Winter. We know we could replace it ourselves. Ultimately we decided that we'd go with a local company for $175 (if we drive the car in for the replacement).

Based on the our options, resources, and desired outcome, we decided to make our lives easier and pay for the replacement. But you can bet if I couldn't find any reasonable quotes for the repair, I'd be out in the rain replacing the Windshield - myself, during Tropical Storm Fay.

Hunker down, be blessed, safe and check back here for sustainability tips and resources for dealing with unexpected expenses as a result of a natural disaster.

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