Well, I was right. The door will be replaced and doors are far cheaper than I imagined. BUT there is so much labor and materials involved in painting. Unless by some miracle we can find a used door in the same color.

You would think that even a same-colored door would be a little "off" but our mechanic said that if we could find a used door in the same color it should be fine. That being said, all he could find was a red door, and the new doors only come in one color - to be painted.

I told dh when I sent him over that if it was $2500 or less to book an appointment, and if it was more, we would discuss the insurance option.

The quote was about $2400 with a new door - though "only" $2200 with the available used door.

LEaving room for error, I think we are right at the $2500 mark! Figures...

Dh did not book the appointment because mechanic strongly encouraged we go through insurance.

I wasn't so convinced. So I spent the day talking to my financial mentors and gathering info. My feeling is he recommends that because most people expect to pay insurance for these things. We are not "most people."

My original feeling was we do not insure for this kind of stuff. We insure for "catastrophe" or things we can't afford. In insuring for the catastrophe, this kind of stuff is covered - but what are the negative consequences of making a claim on something that we could easily pay with our cash???

I talked to my dad, my financial mentor, and he pretty much said he could flip a coin on the situation. Not much help. My understanding was pretty much we could make one claim with no affect to our insurance, but I still have the nagging feeling we should save that free claim for something more significant. I can't just think about today - what about TOMORROW? What if we get 2 accidents in a short period of time, etc.?

I then did a lot of web searching and saw a Liz Pullman article that recommended against using insurance in this kind of situation.

I had considered meeting with the insurance agent - a nice enough guy - but decided he would tell me anything. I don't really trust the guy farther than I can throw him - because he is an INSURANCE agent.

I was lucky to find online multiple sources on State Farm's policy. Seems you get one free lifetime pass on damage under $750. Seriously???? What in the world would cost less than $750 to fix? Or $1750 (with $1k deductible) for that matter??? The tiny dent on my van from a hit and run a while back, was $1500 to fix.

Secondly, if you had been a customer for 9 years (raises hand) your first accident doesn't affect your premiums. But after that we are looking at 20%+ premiums on our already astronomical insurance (the zip code rating is bad here - our insurance doubled when we moved here. Zip codes can majorly affect premiums!).

The only part of me that wants to take the money and run is the one that wonders how long this little tidbit will last. What if they discontinued the "one free accident" tomorrow. Could it be likely in this economy? But that's really the only doubt I have.

Anyway, we are both quite okay with just paying the bill and leaving the insurance out of it.

Dh went to a dealer-recommended body shop down the street and they quoted a little less for a new door replacement, and offered about a 10% discount for us being new customers and because we are not using insurance. Brings the cost to about $2k. Saw a lot of glowing reviews about the place, and it is very convenient - so we will go with them. Haven't set up an appointment yet.

It will take 3-4 days to do the repair. We can survive a week without a second car. A tad inconvenient, but not a biggie.

Paying the bill won't set us back financially, at all. Which is the prime reason why we don't want to mess with the insurance.

Dh's parents gave us $1k when they traded in their car for some "cash for clunkers" program early in the year. I had kind of earmarked that cash for the Florida trip (which is at MIL's insistence - that we go to Florida this year). BUT, in the end it looks like our Florida expenses will be very few (if any). SO, we decided to treat that as our "insurance." We had a $1k deductible anyway. So $1k out of pocket, and the $1k gift will cover the rest. It's nice that trading in their car will afford us this car repair without touching other savings.

Why did they give us the $1k? Hell if I know.

My hope is this gamble will keep our insurance premiums "low" for a long time. It's more sacrificing a little now for the long-term future.

That's the long and the short of it.

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We have about $8500 in our mid-term savings, and we MAY need to spend $1k to replace the computer in the van. We are not sure yet - it could be something simpler and less expensive. But, IF it is, and we spend $2k to repair the door, we will drain our savings to $5500, which is fine.

Our total cash will still be at least $20k.

This year we are still on track to put $10k into cash savings, and we also have been putting $3k to our medical savings. So if by some miracle we don't use our medical deductible this year, we won't even have to touch any of our other savings.

This is what I mean when I say it won't set us back financially.

Now, in 2006, 2007, or even 2008 it would have been hard to justify an expense like this. But, 2009? Eh. I don't expect it will make much difference in the end. Sure I would LOVE to have more cash for other opportunities, but we will survive.

I will probably gripe while the van is in the shop all week and when I pay the bill. But after that it will be forgotten - life moves on!