The Car Saga Closes…

Approximately 6 hours after my last post, I was handed yet another bump in the road: car issues. This is why I haven’t posted in 2 weeks. I apologize for not being blogger-extraordinaire.

I’m hard pressed to think of anything more frustrating than car troubles. It doesn’t merely represent a financial burden or an inconvenience. There is a sense of loss of my independence. That with no car to get me around an incredibly inconvenient town, I am stuck. Having a broken down car also means that I have to (yet again!) take care of myself. I was already having a high-low day: some incredibly nice and random person bought my coffee that afternoon, it was pretty outside, yet I was feeling lonely and out of control. I had yet to hear about nursing school and my 30th birthday 2 months away was impending doom rather than an end of an era. So, I now have to take care of a machine that I know little about.

An Adult First….

So, after my last post about my newest Jeep obsession, I thought about things a bit. I went about my days at school and work, which was rather busy…whew! Now that Spring Break is over, all of my students are back from their travels or health-induced absences. My Thursday is back to its old self!  On Friday, I get to my Home Aid job and hit the ground running. My boss had a temp and possible infection this week, so there has been extra laundry and cleaning to do. I got through most everything with enough time to be let go early. Since I had about 1 1/2 hours before I needed to be at the Akathist service, I decided to test drive the Jeep that has been catching my eye every day.

Major Purchase or Major Pain

I would never say that I have practice utmost financial wisdom in my life. In the midst of my non-planning, I still have (mostly) maintained several principles:

1. Save and pay cash for major purchases – electronics, appliances, instruments, curtains, etc.
2. Avoid debt, even if it could be considered “good” or “acceptable” (i.e. school loans, car loans, etc.)

My first bachelor’s degree was funded by some major scholarships, thus I was able to graduate debt-free from the University of Kansas. Thankfully, I was warned that the poorest I would ever feel in my new professional life was from the first day of in-service until I received my first paycheck. (Jean, you were right!) Yet, never having been seriously in debt, I never seriously made a plan. I kind of saved, but mostly I would pay the bills then buy what I wanted until my checking account dipped below my “set point” then not spend until the next paycheck.

Not exactly the way to win.