No sooner do we close the books on '08 and all of the unexpected expenditures that we faced, do we find ourselves faced with our first of '09. We're starting 2009 off with a bang - or rather a crash. Last week, while traveling to visit family, we were in a car accident.

Everyone is ok, and we know that is the most important thing. Our truck, on the other hand, bore the burden of the blow. The damage was far less than any of us expected, and yet word from the body shop is that insurance may total it out!

The crazy thing is - it's drivable! After the accident, we drove it quite a ways with no issue. Inspections have yielded no mechanical problems. So with what seems like superficial problems, the question is, will they salvage the title?

We're waiting to hear back from the insurance company, but our options appear to be:

1. Fix it. If they give us the nod, then we certainly won't complain. We're not expecting this one to pan out.
2. Kinda fix it. We may have to settle for only having certain parts fixed, leaving others as is.
3. Transplant. If the body shop hasn't already accounted for it, we may need to authorize the use of used parts to keep the total cost of repairs below the ins. company's threshold.
4. Total it. If nothing else works, we may have to allow them to total the vehicle. If that is the case, then we'll then have to negotiate the pay out and then attempt to purchase another at that price or less.
   

We should be hearing back today or tomorrow. I guess the Mrs. was right, when she said that we need to 'aggressively start saving to replace a vehicle'. We're really hoping that it is not totaled