SIAP - the Elusive FEMA Gen/C-saw Reimbursement

Did you tip your FEMA case handler?

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Money printer go brrrrrrrrr

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Oh don't get me wrong, I would prefer the government don't do any of this shite but they already stole the money out of our paychecks so we might as well try to finagle it back or it will just end up going to an NGO to study transgender rights in Saudi Arabia.

The $500... on our claim we put that we were evacuated and unable to return home (which was true at the time) and we got the $500 about 4 days after we applied. I don't know if putting you evacuated was the ticket or not.

For the generator thing, upload your receipt to your account. My guess is this won't get reimbursed until after you have your inspection (virtual or actual) and FEMA settles up with you.

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damn dude how the frick do you do it

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We paid off our house and our rental property as soon as possible. Our first house was a dump that needed complete renovation but we got it for $70k. I spent 6 days a week for 12 months and $60k in materials renovating it while we lived off our wifes income. So our note was like $545/month. We put away every penny we could for 3-4 years and had it paid off by the time we were ~32. We ended up selling the house for $225k for a net of about $80k and 10 years of mortgage free living.

Now, with no house note we were able to save even more for a couple years for a down payment on a rental property. We then took all the money that the rental property was generating plus any other money we saved and put it back into paying off the rental property. The rental property was then paid off in about 3 - 4 years. The original purchase price was around $165k. So now we owned two houses, both paid off and one income generating.

All the while we never carried a car note because we saved and paid cash for good reliable used cars, never ran up medical debt because we are healthy and eat well, never ran up credit card debt because we paid cash for everything. Never bought anything on credit. Neither of us are shopaholics and we just use and enjoy what we have.

The other thing that saves us money, although we really probably break even on this and it also depends on what you're earning potential is, is I dont have a career/employment. I repair everything we own. Whether it's electronics, our vehicles, our houses, furniture, Etc, we don't pay anybody to do anything for us. I even cut my own hair. So not only is out cost of living really low for fixed costs we also don't have unexpected repair or maintenance bills. If I had a full-time job I wouldn't have the time, energy or desire to do most of those things. Again, it has a lot to do with what your skillset is and your earning potential. If I was an attorney that can make $150 an hour Id probably go to work but my background is construction so my income potential roughly equates to what I save by staying home and quasi-homesteading.

About a year ago we took the entire $225k from the sale of our first house that I renovated plus some more money that we had saved and put it towards a bigger house that we got a good deal on for $300k. We had had two kids in the meantime so we needed more space. The remaining $75k will be paid off in April of next year and we will be 100% debt-free again.

Wife and I are just under 40 years old. I try to encourage other people to set up their life this way but I think a lot of people really enjoy their careers and wouldn't know what to do with themselves if somebody wasn't telling them what to do. You also have to be a self-starter, have a curious mind, think outside the box and be willing to try or do anything in order to save money so you can live off of as little as possible. The wife and I never wanted to be a wage slave so we gamed the rat race, in a way. For some other people, I think they just don't see the possibility. It's such an odd way of living that lot of people just don't think they could do it. They just follow a traditional path in life of learning a trade or going to college and starting a career and working till they're 65.

I think you have to apply for an account at disasterassistance.gov. Wait for your account to be approved (or not) and then you'll have the ability to upload receipts.

So, appears they have denied me. I apparently didn't have any pre-existing medical conditions, too much income, and/or my power wasn't out long enough.

Have to say that page is a clusterfrick to sign into. I ended up having to reset my username, password and pin, and google doesn't seem to want to apply the password correctly (had to open my saved passwords, and copy/paste the new one in).

I still went ahead and uploaded the copy of the receipt for the generator, just for shits and giggles. Did it under Property as a Photograph.

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I uploaded a receipt and will see where it goes. If it's denied I'll give a call.

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They do make it confusing. How, exactly, are you uploading the receipt? I sent mine as a pdf, randomly uploaded as "photograph".

Is there a specific way to upload receipts, and how to label them?