3 posts tagged “money”

When I started recapping my trip, I had the idea of posting a day per week. And yet, that has not happened. You see, some combination of Comcast internet freaking out and my computer being really old has prohibited me from being online for the last couple of weeks. And then this weekend, my weekend to relax, my three day weekend of awesome? Well, it was ruined because on Thursday, I got home from work and found a "hey, your lease is up!" notice on my door. This is pretty standard. What isn't standard is that they're increasing my rent 30% and that if I want to stay in the complex, I have to move to a renovated unit. At my own expense. And by "renovated" I mean that it has new cabinets, but it's the same square footage and has the same layout and everything. And since that is crazy talk, I've been spending the last couple of days trying to find someplace to live. And, oh, did I mention that Joe is out of town and I have Westely and he's sick -- a very sick, sad dog?

Yeah. Updates are going to be few and far between until I figure out this whole moving thing. Stay tuned, y'all.

And by that, I mean there is nothing left in my bank account, yo.  For today, I bought a car.

Yes, this is a very grownup thing for me to do and I thought I was going to barf all over the table, contracts, swiveling chairs and especially the check, when I wrote it out, with the many numbers and the zeros and the, for real, do you know how many months' rent are now going into these four wheels that are parked outside of my house?

I think I love my new car, though, so it's okay.  I better love it, because I'm going to be paying it off, little by little, for the next twenty four months.  That's two years.  That's, like, the bank owns part of me until I'm 26.  Twenty six!  That's a long time! 

(Side note: They're making chickpea fries on Iron Chef.  Why can't I make those?  They look delicious and probably taste like fried hummus delicious.  Oh, and now I want hummus, too.  Crap.)

So, yeah, I bought a car.  I can't stop saying it.  "I bought a car."  She's a cute little car - yes, she's a girl - though I haven't fully decided on her name yet.  Perhaps one day I'll get my shit together and even post a picture of her cute self.  Or you could come over and see her.  She's right outside, being cute, just waiting for new friends.

(Okay, now they are blending chickpeas with squid ink.  That is not as appetizing.  Blech.)

Tonight, my car and I will venture downtown and I will attempt to parallel park her in NW Portland on a Saturday night.  That's a real test of love there.  And tomorrow, we're going to the grocery store and perhaps to a quilting party and maybe out Frischmas shopping with Patti, though, um, I don't know if I have any money for Frischmas presents.  Who wants some used DVDs and old Gap sweaters for Frischmas?  Anyone?  Hello?

Yeah.  That's what I thought.

I bought a car.  I think I might need to throw up now.

Ah, and then it all comes tumbling down.

This summer has been The Summer Of Surprise Expenses.  I thought it was bad enough that I'm shelling out almost $400 on the wedding I'm in in September for a dress that I will never, ever wear again and that I will never, ever be able to get decent money for at resale.

And then I thought it really sucked that the IRS lost my tax refund and are now saying I'm probably not going to see any money until October.

And then, then my car decided to take it up a notch.  That notch being that the auxilary fan and resistor in the engine?  Done.  Shorting out fuses left and right and subsequently overheating my engine whenever I turn on the air conditioning.  And because my car isn't, say, a Honda or a Toyota, but is in fact a really old BMW, replacing these parts cost more than a month's rent.  In fact, it costs a month's rent plus my power, phone and cable bills.  And did I mention that they charged me $100 to diagnose and inform me of this problem?  So in total, it costs more than I spend on living in my home every month.

You see, here is when things become problematic.  I don't have debt.  I don't believe in acquiring debt that I can't forsee paying off in the near future and what with me working at a nonprofit and all, there aren't going to be any big paychecks coming my way for a long time.

So the decision is: Canada or working car.  I think we all know what the priority is and, sadly, the priority is not the home of Douglas Coupland and Club Monaco.

There is one last chance that I will hear about tomorrow, but as of right now I am not hopeful.

And did I mention that I was up at 5:45am this morning to work out before an early meeting and some dumb bitch was on my treadmill?

Today was clearly not my day.  Thankfully, Joe picked me up and supplied me with taco salad and two buck chuck.  So I am coping.  And drinking until I'm sleepy enough to pass out until tomorrow.