As you can imagine, the timeline I worked out to have everything turned in time was optimistic at best. We officially closed on our house and we were able to get our money by Monday the 17th. Woo hoo! Unfortunately, we missed Johnny's medical form expiration date on the 15th, and there was no way we would get all the statements and translations submitted by Jackson's medical form expiration date on the 19th, so the boys were back off to the Dr. to get updated medical forms.
Since I love doing everything in a more stressful fashion than necessary, instead of updating my form that expires on the 26th and taking our time, I decided to get everything done and submitted before then!! I'm not sure if you have read the Pet Saga, but if you haven't, we have had some really fun poop and dog-related activities that we have also been working on as well. If you haven't read the S**t Happens poopalypse story I highly recommend it if you need a laugh! I included the link below.
Alright, I know you're here to figure out this bank thing, so here we go! We received the money from the sale of our house on the 17th. It was now time to get the documentation that proved our finances and what the LA consulate required, which proves that we sold our house. The second the money was in the bank, we rushed over to our local Chase Bank to get all of the records. The bank teller was super nice and printed out 3 'months' worth of bank statements on the bank's letterhead, and proof of finances that states how much money we have in our account.
We laughed and chatted about moving to Spain and how he had always dreamed of moving there. This was so easy! Finally, something was....hahaha, that was until we realized that the number on the proof of finances was about $1100. Thankfully I noticed it before we left and asked the banker where the funds were, and he informed us that although we could see the funds online and use the funds, the wire wouldn't show up on the form until the following day...ughghg
We Got This!
Fortunately, Johnny had his last day at work the following Friday and would be able to go back to the bank the next day and get the accurate balance! So much easier than trying to rush after work and get in before everything closes. The mistake was also a blessing in disguise because after I told my lawyer about what had happened, she reminded me the forms needed a bank stamp on them, which we hadn't remembered to do.
Quick tip if you don't have a printer with a scanner, I highly recommend you get one because scanning it by phone pictures takes forever when you have a billion bank statements. Yes, I am aware it is 2021, and who doesn't have a printer with a scanner, and the answer is us...got rid of the one we did have because it wasn't printing, and we didn't think we needed it. With that said, Johnny was off to UPS to scan all of the paperwork, which was only about $20.
Bank Statement Translations?
One question that has come up a lot is, do you need the bank statements translated? And what our lawyer told us was yes! We also needed to provide a tax summary of the last tax year, which needed to be translated as well as the bank letter.
This has honestly been the craziest week, with packing up what little belongings we have, starting the pet visa process, potty training ( Jackson, not me), not to mention trying to book flights (that will be a whole other article). I am so whooped that I literally forgot we got the money 4 days ago! I thought it had been 2 weeks ago and had Johnny, who remembers nothing, haha, had to correct me.
I don't know about the rest of you, but we have been living paycheck to paycheck before selling our house. Honestly, living in California, I have never not worried about finances. Realistically for living in California, the proceeds we got were laughable, but anywhere else, we were rich, haha!
The pro and con of stressing about every penny you make, like, can I afford 2 Walmart shirts kind of stressing is, anytime I spend over $100, I feel physically ill! It's like my body doesn't know how to believe that we will finally be able to live off more than Mac and Cheese and can actually buy new underwear!! Not to mention I will be able to get a new phone and computer. The perk of my nausea is that it will also help keep our spending in check so we can live off our savings for the year before we can change our visas and start working again.
All Soft and Squishy
Right now feels very surreal. We have come so far in the process and are finally ready to get our translations and turn in our application! What's weird, though, is the process has really just only begun! We will actually start planning our life in Spain! Buying plane tickets, finding a temporary BnB to give us time to find the right long-term temporary rental to give us time, to find the permanent house we will eventually buy, getting the dogs ready, becoming homeless, saying goodbye to family and friends, and taking the biggest leap we have ever done in our lives! I honestly can't tell if I want to cry, laugh, or throw up, and I think that's what could be described as Joy? Excitement? Panic-attack? Whatever this mysterious feeling is, it's definitely not boring, and it's definitely going to be life-changing!!
Don't worry. I haven't turned into a hippy yet haha, we still have plenty of ridiculousness to share in our extraordinary episode titled #12 Oh You Thought This Would Be Easy Now HaHaHa, where I will describe the trial of booking our plane tickets and trying to get the damn dogs taken care of which apparently is super easy for everyone but this cursed family. It almost makes me miss my old foe, the Apostille...to think I thought they weren't logical and efficient, stupid, stupid woman, haha. Please stay tuned to get the nail-biting answer. Will the application finally be turned in? Will Tiffany learn to fly to Spain or swim there since that seems easier at this point?
Oh! I'm new to this whole blogger thing, and I have finally upgraded my tech to start vlogging, which is intimidating as hell! I was planning to wait to start making videos until we arrived in Spain and could show all the pretty things. My younger sister informed me that people love videos where everything is going wrong, haha, and I should start filming stuff. So I was thinking that I would love to get your take on whether we should just go for it and start showing you the process or wait until we have the shiny backdrop of Spain to make it cooler? What would be helpful to hear more about from this horse's mouth? Any and all suggestions are welcome!
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Written: 05/21/2021