Just Can't Catch a Break

Image via WikipediaWhen I was younger and single, I used to be quick to buy things for myself.  I always had the latest technology.  As I have gotten older and have other priorities like a wife, son, and mortgage; I have gotten a lot more discriminating in my expenditures for myself.  Even necessities like clothes have taken a back seat to other more pressing needs.

Part of my reticence in buying things for myself is that money for us, like most of us, is particularly tight.  Due to my son's special needs, my wife has not been able to work for the past few years. Now that he is away at school, she is hoping to begin substitute teaching again when the new school year starts. 

Even when I do have a little extra money around I hesitate to spend things on me because I am afraid something will go wrong and we will have an emergency expenditure that we had not planned on.  It is one of the reasons that I waited so long before buying my Kindle.  I debated for well over a year before finally taking the plunge back in February.

Things had been going fairly smoothly money wise most of the year.  I had a few extra dollars in the bank and we were doing fairly well sticking with our budget.  Things had been going so well that I even decided to splurge and get myself an early Father's Day present last month.  Verizon had a really good deal on the Samsung Galaxy Tablet, only $200 with a data plan, so I purchased one.

Needless to say, my little bit of self indulgence has ended up biting me in the ass.  I alluded to one particular unexpected expenditure two weeks ago when I posted about Weiner's Weiner.  The day he announced that he was a liar and a pervert, my fuel pump went out on my car on the way to work.  It was quite a bit more expensive than the tablet.

One week later, I was on the way to work and the air conditioner in my car stopped blowing air.  The weather wasn't too bad last week, so I decided to wait until the weekend to drop my car off at my mechanic's shop.  He wasn't able to get to the car until Monday, so I dropped it off then.  He called me later that morning to tell me the car needed a blower motor and resistor.

Anyway, over the past two weeks, I have had to drop over a grand on the car.  It really isn't that old of a vehicle; a 2003 with just over 75000 miles on it.  Hopefully this will be the last of any major expenditures for a while.  I just can't afford to have any more months like this one.