In my last post I shared that the State of Arizona had intercepted our tax refund, thankfully the problem was resolved quickly. The balance remaining ($421) landed in our checking account last Friday, so I did not pursue charging them for fees, interest or penalties.

I had originally planned for our tax refund to pay off my car.  That was before I was done with our taxes.  While putting the numbers into the tax software, it looked like we would be getting back more than $3000. But I had not yet looked to see if we owed estimated taxes. Last year Mr. A's business really struggled and actually went in the hole, which reduced our tax liability.  But this year things are looking up so as I was finishing up our taxes I put in the numbers to see how much money we might owe next year in April and it turned out to be quite a large amount. We decided it would be best to have the IRS keep $2000 of our refund and apply toward estimated taxes.

Our refund from both federal and state came to $1356. The little car cost $1750, and right now the balance on our line of credit is $867.  Once I apply the $421 (which arrived Friday), we will still owe $446.

I have not yet been able to start driving the car!  As soon as I am able, the amount I'm saving in gas can be applied toward the balance due.  The main reason I have not yet begun driving the car is because of the minor problem I mentioned that we discovered while test driving the vehicle.  It had a water leak and Mr. A originally thought it was the water pump, but as it turns out there is a problem with this vehicle in this year and the intake manifold had to be replaced.  Once Mr. A got down into the engine, he couldn't just quickly put it back together as the insides were coated with thick black tar-like sludge.  There were several areas that were just clogged with what looked like mud, while other areas were sealed shut.  He worked on my car when he could find the spare time, and finally he got it all back together.  I am sure it is going to run really great now that it has been so thoroughly cleaned.  We started it up and it runs great.

The second reason is because I wanted to do something about the carpet, which was filthy.  I had found a place online where you can buy brand new carpeting formed to fit the vehicle and it was going to cost around $200 to replace.  I was seriously considering it because the carpet was just disgusting and even though I could cover most of it with floor mats, there was still the stench factor.  I really didn't want to spend more money and Mr. A suggested that we remove the carpet and wash it.  I had not considered that, even though I had such a phenomenal outcome with cleaning my bedroom carpet using Fels Naptha. Here are before and after photos of my bedroom carpet.

When Mr. A suggested cleaning the carpet, I thought that was a really good idea.  I probably wouldn't have been too happy with the new carpet anyway as it would have been off-gassing chemicals.  So we set about removing the carpet, which meant the seats had to be removed. It's quite a huge undertaking.  The next day I started cleaning the carpet, which Mr. A had thrown over a fence.  I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed.  It looks almost brand new, and then we let it dry thoroughly.

It's not back in the car yet though.  I told my employer that I had found a car, and he told me there was no hurry for me to stop driving the van, so that is a relief.

The third reason is because the car is not in my name yet. I stopped by Motor Vehicle to get it switched over because it is one of the few things that must be done in person.  And wouldn't you know it, the computer system for the entire state went down after I'd been there ten minutes.  The lady helping me apologized profusely and gave me a slip of paper that is supposed to get me right to the front of the line when I go in again. I did get insurance coverage already, and that is going to cost around $100 more for six months.

I wanted to post an update to let you know I'm still here and trying to get out of debt one day at a time.  I would like to post more, but my “day” job is sucking time away from me worse than YouTube (you know what a time sucker that site can be?).  Our auditors are due to arrive in about three weeks, and I am going to have to work every single day in an attempt to get caught up.  So I may be missing in action this month of October.  I will try to post at least once a week.

I definitely will share a post showing the before and after photos of the carpet cleaning in the little car, and I'm anxious to see what kind of gas mileage she will get.