Pity Party

Tuesday went from wonderful to horrible in no time flat. What started as a beautiful day at the park with friends turned into my purse being stolen out of my car and the aftermath of said violation. So I'm throwing myself a pity party and imparting some hard lessons learned with you.

What saved our bank account: text alerts. We bank with Chase and have it set up to notify us whenever our balance is under $50 (but you can set the amount to whatever you want) when Brian got the alert we were overdrawn $150 he checked what purchase went through and asked me if I had gone to a gas station near the park the girls and I were at. And then we promptly called the bank to file a fraudulent claim. 

We also froze our accounts just in case and will be reopening new ones once my new Drivers License comes in the mail.

Dealing with the DMV: I get palpitations just thinking about the DMV but there's a branch right down the street from our house and going 15 minutes before closing was perfect timing, low lines and prompt service. Try it next time and bypass the appointment hassle.

Freezing Credit: Thankfully I only have one credit card and my friend who was with me at the park and lent awesome moral support right after the incident suggested contacting Experian to freeze my credit just in case they tried opening new lines of credit. 

I also contacted my credit card provider and they closed my old account and was refunded the three, $1 purchases from the same gas station they extracted money from the debit card.

I also had my health benefits cards in my planner and Brian had to contact our Insurance Company to have new cards made and report possible fraud. This really worried me but I'm pretty sure the perp was young and was only thinking about cash.

My tips:

• Don't leave valuables in the car (duh right? But you get comfortable and don't realize how vulnerable this makes you until something bad happens)
• Act fast and cover all your bases even if you don't know for sure what was stolen. I had a huge panic when I thought my SS card was in my planner and started looking up identity theft but thankfully it was in the file cabinet, whew. 
• Utilize the Police. I am filing a report just to have it on record and if on the slim chance my purse is recovered, I can get it back.

I'm super bummed and upset to have lost my purse (a Christmas gift from Brian and Kinsey) and my Day Planner I've had since high school, not to mention a hand full of gift cards and a high school ID of Brian but then I remind myself those are just things and can be replaced. The important things I had with me, my girls and my phone ;)

Everyone I have dealt with in regards to this ordeal has been super nice, understanding and accommodating. Definitely making a horrible experience less traumatic.  

Linking up with Annie and Vanessa