Alright, the jury is in. It certainly was a costly little experience with some trojan viruses and their infective little friends. The laptop I got back from the shop first. It was $139 for the purging and some antivirus installation. I had to run the antivirus program several times before the warning popups stopped appearing on a regular basis.
Tuesday night the destop computer totally crashed as well. I tried valiantly to get it into safemode and do something, but it was beyond my abilities. Into the shop it went, although this time, I got it into my regular place rather than staples. I got that back last night to the tune of $89. Chalk full of trojans running amok.
So together for the two computers, my budget took a hit of $228. Money that was nowhere IN the budget line.
Yes yes I have my EF but I really fought dipping into it. That is a reaction I will have to explore a little deeper. Perhaps I need a $500 mini EF tucked away at home for things like this?
so I trimmed from everywhere I could. A bit from fuel, a bit from groceries. spending money went into it and the boys donated their allowance to it as well. They understand that we are not poor, but they also understand, I think, that there isn't this magical pot of free money to dip into.
I will have to do some rejigging of things again at the end of June when my paycheck is short two days of work. I really miss the 'normal' of just a few months ago, financially speaking.
Not Much Working Out Monday
3 hours ago
7 comments:
Just found your blog and can Is ay, I feel your pain. My laptop would not even open because of viruses. Took it to Best Buy and they quoted me $300!!! fortunately I held on, found a local company and only payed a little over a hundred bucks but still VERY painful.
I think it's good to fight dipping into your E-fund to a degree. If you can trim it from your other budget lines than is it really an emergency? But, I also think you have to allow yourself to use it, or what's the point of having it?
I'm like you with the emergency fund...I'll squeeze the money out of somewhere else first if I can! Hope you can figure everything out!
oh no! what a bummer for sure! I love the idea of having a 'mini ef' at home!!! great idea!
Hate those unexpected expenses!! I've read many blogs where they've developed ways of having an emergency cash fund at home for just those sorts of things. They save their change, or save $5.00 bills etc so they don't have to tap into their EF for smaller expenses. Something to think about for sure.
Ugh that's so frustrating. My computer has the tendancy of turning off randomly. I have been pushing off getting it looked at since I know it's going to be expensive and likely unfixable. A new laptop is only around $500, is it really worth paying over $100 to get an old one fixed?
I think it's also good that you didn't have to use your EF and were able to collect funds from elsewhere, nice that the boys helped out too! Hope your computers are good for a LONG time now!
Just blogged about this myself! The unexpected expenses can wreak havoc on any budget! (Thanks for reminding me of what else I may have to spend $$ on! :)!))
You are resourceful and will find a way to make your budget work without touching your EF.
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