Car repairs...and $$$$!

I think I've mentioned before that my car has one main issue...which makes me sometimes hate it. Normally...I adore my car. I got it for a great price...paid it off early...and now get to drive around and not worry about a car payment. Sweet, eh? Yes...except when I am hating it. My car's main issue is the security system. It sometimes thinks I am an intruder and trying to steal it. Really...it does. It doesn't recognize the chip in my key and therefore will not start. I have to leave the key in the "on" position for 10 minutes for the system to restart and then it will start.

All of this started as a mild inconvenience...having to hang around 10 minutes every ONCE in a while. It didn't happen often though. And then it started happening more frequently...once a week at least. And then it started happening almost daily. I had a day a week or so ago...where it happened 3 times...in ONE day. Aurghh!!!

As I mentioned before, I brought my car to the local dealership to get an estimate to get it fixed. After a lot of drama and rudeness....I got an $800 estimate to get it fixed. I decided to look around for better options. I want it fixed, but not for that price tag. My dad and I looked around and made some calls. Well, my daddio ended up finding a dealership in Vermont who had dealt with the problem before and said he had never heard of it being an $800 fix. So...yesterday....my dad brought my car over to cute, little, honest, friendly Vermont and got the repair for just a little over $300. Whoo hoo! One, I am SO happy to have the problem fixed...so I don't have to cross my fingers and HOPE that my car starts when I jump in. And TWO, Whoo Hoo...for the repair being reasonably priced.

This whole repair got me thinking....about how I have had a lot of little and not so little expenses lately. I had my car repair ($300), my registration renewal ($80), my driver's license renewal ($50), my new cell phone ($50)...and a few more things I am not remembering right now. It's left me in a little bit of a money pinch this month...but definitely dealable. I started to think about the economy and the consistent downturn it is taking...and how many people's budgets would have been devastated with all those little things in a row. Luckily, I have a savings acct...and one particularly for my car and repairs, but without it...I'd be eating ramen and cheese sandwiches for the month.