Ok I'm not entirely sure whats going on with my checking account so I used a big portion of my 8k to straighten it out.

I paid my COBRA in September, and yesterday I received a notice in the mail from my bank saying it bounced. I wasn't too surprised as we have been operating so lean that a few dollars off would mean a bounced check.

I checked my online account and the check had not been cashed, no overdraft fees were applied yet.

I called COBRA and they said they had not been notified by the bank yet, as far as their system was concerned it was ok right now.

So I told her the check was going to bounce, and asked if I could send another check right away to not interrupt my healthcare. She said to send it in and I would get a separate bill asking for returned check fees.

When the $8k arrived yesterday, I decided to pay 2 months of COBRA just to ensure no lapse in coverage while I had a baby. And I wanted to redeem myself to the COBRA accounting staff to show I was really sorry and please do not lapse my coverage. Off in the mail the check went. Off in the bank the money went.

When I got home I checked my online account again to ensure the money had been deposited.

My COBRA check was now listed on my account and it had cleared!?

Which was confusing, why did the bank alert me it was unpaid?

Anyways, the good news is that I have my COBRA covered for the next 3 months (Oct/Nov/Dec) and that is $1530/month I don't need to worry about.

The less good news is that now my account is $1530 less than I thought because a payment I thought would bounce has cleared. So I need to re-arrange my October bill paying priorities. Short term pain because come November I wont have our largest expense of COBRA to worry about!