Cash windfall!

Basil blogged about our rent increase and I have an update. The night the manager left us the lovely letter about the raise, he said that "if we're going to have a problem with it, to call the owner. She's a really great lady." So I took that as a huge hint that we may be able to talk our way out of the rent increase since we always pay our rent on time and don't threaten the manager, etc. Monday morning 9 a.m. came and I'm not good with confrontation or conflict, so with sweaty palms I dialed her number. After trying to tell her we were on a tight budget with child in college and one starting to drive and taking AP and SAT tests, she still told me that she could get $1500 for our apartment because it was a downstairs unit and in a really good school district. Since we paid a HUGE security deposit of $2700 because neither of us had jobs when we moved here, I asked for a partial refund since we're no longer a high risk. She said she'd look into it and get back to me. The next day I got a message on my cell that she'd left a check with the manager for a $1000 refund. Yippee! I'd like to say that it's all going straight to debt, but Basil's birthday is next week, so some of it may be spent on that....but at this rate I'll still have my car paid off by summer! Note: I wanted to split the refund with Basil, but he insisted I take it since I had put the money up initially when we moved in. Maybe I'll spend it on hats and shoes.