A Few Steps Forward, A Few Steps Back

My mother always said that every time she and my father got a little extra money, some emergency -- household, automotive, or otherwise -- would happen and scoop it all up. She probably didn't phrase it exactly that way, but that was the gist. I don't agree with a lot of her sayings ("no good deed goes unpunished," etc.), but I have to say she may have been right on the money one. I have been working like a maniac so I could pay for my family vacation in advance. Last week I had nearly three hundred dollars of work done on my car (and that was a better price than I would have paid most places). Today as I drove home from Winter Park, a much smoother ride than the one there for the most part, my "no battery charge" light came on. I could see my battery charge drop lower and lower, then come back up, then drop again. My guess was that it was the alternator. I was right, and I was lucky to get home.

My son and ex-husband returned to Jacksonville a few hours behind me and the girls, and I told them what had happened. The first thing they said was, "It sounds like a bad alternator." I said, "Yeah, that's what I thought." My ex went out and took a look and said, "The alternator is an easy fix on your car." I'm pretty sure he regretted those words the minute they were out of his mouth; I said there was an auto parts store right around the corner and that maybe he and our son could fix the car. Even with their doing the work -- which I'm not sure they will complete, as they're working on it now -- it's cost me over two hundred dollars. I appreciate that I saved money on labor (again, assuming I do), but all these repairs are eating away at the money I earned and saved over the past few months. It makes me mad!

I'm trying to keep everything in perspective. The car will be in good shape for our trip to the Gulf, and if I get some finance charges on my credit card, I'll pay them off next month. I have plenty more work scheduled after vacation! What's important is that we're all together for the short period of time we can work it out. That will be my mantra, no matter what other money-eaters come up this week. I can always make more money, but I can't always make more time.