Remember Monopoly? There were those cards called the Community Chest or something like that. Unlike the Chance cards, Community Chests were generally always for the best. They'd include such gems as "Get Out Of Jail Free" can "You Came In Second In A Beauty Pageant!"

Well, the other day I sorta recreated one of my favorite Community Chest Cards: "Bank Error In Your Favor." Now, before anyone starts thinking the bank messed things up, I'll let you all know this isn't so much an error as it was a series of miscommunications.

One of the most important and frustrating parts of college is financial aid. You fill out the FAFSA, file your loans, and basically itemize and numerate every facet of your life. In the end, you recieve a package from the school that lays out your expenses (and what the school will cover) for the following year.

At the time, the plan was still for me to live in the dorms. When that changed, I dropped a significant amount of cost from my overall bill. However, the total financial aid (including scholarships and loans) didn't change. Why this was the case, I don't know. But because scholarships weren't collected until late September, I wasn't able to adjust anything. See, the last time I did that, they ended up canceling too much and left me with a significant amount (about $500) left to pay in.

So this year, I decided to wait until around September to adjust everything. Well apparently I waited too long. Upon going online to balance my checkbook, I was met with an...interesting...surprise. The overage of my loan (to the tune of $1800) had been deposited into my checking account. The fact it was deposited wasn't unusual, as that is always what is done with leftover financial aid money. What's weird is how much overage I actually ended up having. Original estimates I had run when comparing my bill to my aid only left about $500 in overage. So you can guess this was a pretty big surprise.

Whatever the case, I can't keep the money. At this point, all it's going to do is sit in my account and gain interest. However, the interest gained is not going to outweigh the interest on the loan amount. So I have to get in touch with the proper people and fix the problem ASAP. But don't think it hasn't been tempting to go out and enjoy it a little bit. I'm being tested, I don't know by who...but I know it's a test.