I was planning to submit FAFSA sometime yesterday, but I noticed that our mortgage payment and a couple of other big bills haven’t cleared yet. I know the official FAFSA deadline for my son’s schools are Feb-Mar 2 or so, but I wanted to get it in early especially for the UCs. If I submit it later this week or early next week would that be early enough?
My opinion is that checks that you have written and deposited in the U.S. mail (or have actually given to the payee) that have not yet cleared your account can be excluded from your reportable assets.
I thought it was supposed to be a verifiable bank balance on the day we submit FAFSA, not our checkbook balance (which includes uncleared checks)?
According to who? And I didn’t say checkbook balance - that could include checks that you’ve written but that are still sitting on your desk or in an envelope waiting for a stamp. If you’ve made payment - either by presenting a check to the payee or putting it in the mail - you’re done, and the payment should not count as an asset still at your disposable.
I wonder if there is any official word on cleared checks (it came up on another thread as well). My opinion is whatever the bank says is what is reported. So if something isn’t cleared then it’s still in the bank and still an asset. Especially since I print out a statement as backup evidence in case anyone were to ever question the balances I report. I can only print what the bank knows. This is why I make sure to pay all big bills with plenty of time before I submit the FAFSA.
To answer the original question…I have no idea how early is “early enough” but I would imagine that’s plenty early.