Is This a Test?

Today I took my car, which has been squeaking and bouncing like an old bed spring, to the shop for an oil change and its 85,000 mile checkup. They just called and said that the struts and shocks need replacing. The cost will be about $500. Thankfully I don’t need to do it right away but it will need to be done in the next few months. I have an uninsured visit to the eye doctor in two weeks. I also need to make an equally uninsured visit to the dentist. Both visits are way overdue. These three expenses come under the category of taking care of what I have in order to save more money later. Then, my son, who is supposed to graduate from college in May, called last night to say he might need to go to Winter Intersession (sort of the winter equivalent of summer school) and take a couple of language classes in order to finish on time. Rates are currently running about $392 a credit hour over at OleMiss. I haven’t entirely recovered my sensibilities after getting the news from my accountant about my 2007 tax stupidity and now I have to assimilate all this somehow.

Sometimes you want to just put your head down and cry! I do have some money in my emergency fund but I really need to find alternate funding for these issues as I’m afraid, based on my 2007 taxes, that I’m going to need a good portion of that money to top up my 2008 tax payments. Although I’m a firm believer in, “It’s never too late to start”, I wish I would have gotten on the ball financially two or three years ago (okay 20 years ago). Life would sure be easier now!