Monday, January 25, 2016

Stupid Tax

Each year my husband and I budget approximately $250 for something we like to call "Stupid Tax."

This is money that we don't want to pay but due to being a part of the human race and because either: (a) we are stupid or someone else is stupid (b) we are forced to pay "Stupid Tax."

Items included in the "Stupid Tax" payment include but are not limited to:

  • Money you pay a locksmith for locking yourself out of your vehicle.
  • Extra money you must pay as a penalty when you forget to pay your bill on time.
  • Money you must pay for items you or your children break due to accidents around your house.
  • Accidentally filling a vehicle up with the wrong type of gasoline.
  • Carelessly leaving your purse or wallet laying around and having it get stolen.
  • Losing your tickets to a play or concert.
You get the idea. I could go on and on and on and on and on and on. There is no limit to what can be filed under the "Stupid Tax" clause. Anything deemed eligible is allowed.

For example. I parked my van in a guest spot in my parent's town home parking lot. I had no idea that since the last time I was here (when Hannah was born) that the town home association enacted a new policy that you need a guest tag hanging in your vehicle despite the fact that you are parked in a guest spot.

In addition, I was not aware that the registration tags on my van had expired two months ago.

So when I walked out for church on Sunday morning with everyone dressed and ready to go and discovered that my van had disappeared I was quite frustrated. I came to find out that they towed my vehicle because it was parked in a guest spot with a tag AND I had expired tags. The combination sent my van to the tow yard.

And the cost to get it out?

$149.99!!!!!

This fits quite easily under the definition of a "Stupid Tax". 

I have $100 more to spend for the year. Since it's only January I need to really work hard or we will go over budget!

2 comments:

Sherrie said...

You're lucky it wasn't more! When we lived in Orlando, my car broke down so Rob let me borrow his for a day. I parked it in my reserved spot - that I paid extra each month for! - and they towed his car since it wasn't the one registered to my spot!! I had to pay over $300 cash to get the car out less than 6 hours after it was towed. On top of that, it happened to be the only time I ever left my phone in my car, and I later discovered that the memory card had been stolen out of it! I called Verizon to make sure there wasn't any personal data saved on the cards that I should be worried about, and they said it was safe, but that people steal those all the time hoping to get dirty pictures. Obviously I was safe there, but I still felt very violated!! The whole experience was very upsetting. I moved out of that complex as soon as I could.

Wendi Kitsteiner said...

Sherrie this actually makes me feel a lot better!!! :)