so

I can't change that it's been a rough hard hit on money this month.

I can't change that DH won't contribute a cent and goes straight to a temper tantrum when I try to talk about it.

I can't change that I am in colitis flare and it's bad.

but I can channel as much positive as I can.

I can make lists of what I have to get done, because that puts things in focus, not random panic.

I can choose to react better.

After driving the car for 2 days...

DS2 hears some more crunching noise coming from the back driver's side of his car.

Back we take it to the dealer and they inspect it. Verdict - the rear lower arm control and his happy little bearing is shot.

I am not a happy woman at this point. Didn't we just get this fixed?  Apparently not. Apparently there are both upper and lower control arms for front and back.  I really hate being not smart autowise. I feel like I am at such a disadvantage.

Why didn't this get noticed the first time? I wonder. They were in there messing with the rear upper arms. They can't be that far apart.


I go back to the original statement to see if the Dodge dealer had this on their estimate. If I found it there and then the Toyota dealership didn't fix it, heads were going to roll.

Alas, it was not on their list (wonder how THEY missed it)

So we ask the parts to get ordered in and I ask about the insurance/warrantee policy. "Well we will have to see if they will cover this." is the answer. I am thinking "excuse me??? They covered the front lower arms and they covered the rear upper arms so they sure as heck better be covering the rear lower ones.

She says they will have to ask. I will have to pay the $250 deductible AGAIN (each new policy submission pays) along with the taxes and shop supplies. I request very nicely that all the arms on this stupid car be checked because I am not going to be doing this arm by arm, new deductible by new deductible.

She says "You know if the bill is approximately $399 not counting tax, it really isn't worth it to put it through the policy"

I blinked.

What do you mean, I ask calmly.

Well really the difference that you would 'save' is only about $150 ish so it is not really worth putting it through.

Not worth it for who? I ask. It has to be fixed and $150 saved is a significant number to me.

I think Murphy and I should see different people :-)

Meanwhile on the college front...

....DS2 gets an email from his soon to be college saying they have received his criminal record check and everything looks good.

The only thing they have to wait for are his official high school transcripts after this semester, which will come in July.

But to hold his spot, he needs a deposit of $500, which will stay in his account and then be applied against his tuition come the end of August.

oh goodie. $500


so that had to be taken care of.

So at the dealer...

(sorry for the delay. It was report card week, and my colitis came back in full flare. sigh)

So at the dealer the total came to $2002.30.  The policy covered $1070.60.

I had to pay the balance of $929.70. That covered:

• the deductible of $250
• the taxes
• the struts (apparently it is hard to get a policy to cover struts)
• shop supplies

At least the car was done. and safe. with no more issues....

(mhm, you see where this is going)

So then Monday morning....

I called first thing to DS2's garage to see if they could send me an estimate of what was covered and what was not so I could see the breakdown. Neither DH nor DS could understand my need to see that separate breakdown.

In my head, I am wanting the policy to cover at least to the amount that I paid for it. Don't ever let me do that again, ok? It's been bugging me since I did it.

I asked for a fax to be sent over to my school and I waited (im)patiently for the fax,

Meanwhile, by early afternoon DS2 sends me a text with the total of his adventures down the icy hill. Including the tow, as well as the labour and parts, his bill was $320 USD .  He put it on his BMO US Credit card, which gave us a couple days to figure out the repayment allocation. I am working hard at teaching him to use it sparingly and only if it is something that can get paid off in full at the end of the month.

At 3:30 I made one last trip to the office to see if the fax had come through. It had not.

So off to the dealer I went....

And just as we got home....

....we get a phone call from DS1 in the States....

HIS alternator belt went. We  hadn't even told him that his brother's had gone so we can't even accuse him of being a copy cat.

His belt was completely gone. As in shredded. While he was driving in his little city, which resembles San Francisco, only the hills are glare ice. He managed to get things to stop and turned into a gas station at the base of the hill just before it gets to the freeway (and the river). By this time it's late.

Oh goodie. broken down vehicle. In a different country. In the dark. In 30 below weather.

Fantastic.

So I call CAA to find out how to access AAA where he is. They give me the right number to call down there so we text that to DS so he can get towed. DS would call the number. They would take his Canadian CAA number. Hang up. Call some center to verify his CAA is his and an active account, then call back to make arrangements to come get him.

Problem is the child never took his CAA card with him.  Without it being on his person they can't verify squat.

Super.

So we agree that at this time of night in these temps we have to suck up the cost. So he calls the tow truck. While he waits for them to arrive, we have to decide where to take it. Taking it to his dorm is silly because he will have to get it towed again when we need to take it to garage.

I tell him to call the handful of his teammates who are local to the city and find out what garage is good.  That's all we need is some unscrupulous business taking advantage of the car clueless Canadian.  Turns out that was a good idea I had. His Captain's gf's dad runs a garage in the city. Quick calls were made and the owner said 'yes bring it there right away"

He will drive down to open the big doors and they can put the car inside for the night. The team takes care of their own, he says.

Whew.

At least the car is safe, the kid is safe, and we will get the best deal we can.

So now all we had to do was wait for Monday, and the news from the US garage, and the Canadian one.

And, yes, it was $

After that...

.... DS2 calls after supper saying he believe his alternator belt was being wonky. He is just pulling into town so we head over to my dad's, where they have a heated garage, to take a peek.

It was the alt. A good read from DS. He remembers my last vehicle and how that belt kept freezing up every time when snow got underneath it and how we had to fix it. Dad happened to have a spare at the house. no clue why.

We were able to get that bad boy fixed without an extra cost, which was a good thing because....

And then...

DS2's car has been having issues. Clunking kinda issues. We took it into the local Dodge dealer (that's the make of this car). We bought it used at the local Toyota dealer (just the way it worked out)

The Dodge dealer came back with a scary statement. Struts, a few control arms..and the pieces that go with this plus the labour and it was close to $2800.

Ouch.

The cost for this 'diagnosis' was $169.  sigh

So then we went to the Toyota dealer where I bought it. I had stupidly (STUPIDLY) purchased an extended warranty when I bought it ( I know, I  know.....bad money decision) to see what was covered under this policy. They asked us to bring it in so they could examine it themselves. Thankfully there was no charged for that. They came up with their list of costs and then had to call to see what was covered under the policy....



.....and thus began a weekend waiting game.

So Murphy started with....

....the new kitten needing to be fixed. I mean NEEDING. He was doing that thing you do when you need to get fixed :-)

Our other cat, well she was not impressed, and getting stressed.

So off he went to the vet. When DH dropped him off, he also told them to get his shots, so the grand total of that visit came to $179.

Needed? yes, it was.

But I wasn't planned $wise for it. Bad me.

And so began Murphy's long term visit with me.....

Where the money stands...

...as of March 6th

Debts
Mortgage - $21 612.17

**Total Debt - $21 612.17


Savings/Planned Spending
TFSA/EF - $5100
TFSA in waiting to be added - $765
RESP - $16 780
RRSP - $9 957 
Grad 2015 - $1000

**does not include the LOC

Contract Settled

Well we have been without a contract for a year and a half now. Over the months there were two votes which were not accepted by the majority, so the bodies went to conciliation. It was a whole lot of "we are having meetings" without anything real details coming to us.

 Nothing changed work wise. There was no job action. I appreciated that both parties agreed to media blackouts. I really hate when it gets to each side publicly slamming the other. The whole story never quite seems to be heard that way.

So about two weeks ago, apparently our contract was settled. The two sides felt they had done as much work as they could and it was simply accepted by our governing body. It honestly feels very weird not having a vote.  I am not saying it was good or bad.....just weird.

Our raise is less than 2% each year and will officially appear on our paychecks at the end of March. The raise does not meet currently cost of living estimates for our province. (does anyone's?)  It will be interesting to see what the net is, after deductions. Deductions are approximately 42% of my cheque (taxes, CPP, EI, membership fees, and our money that comes off our cheque to go into our pension plan).

My hope is that the net takes me back up to where I was two years ago, before all the deductions  increased.

As for the backpay, we will get that at the end of April. There is one full school year (10 months) plus the 6 months of this school year. Again, no real clue what that net will be after deductions.

Of course this meant a small windfall was coming into our house. You know what that means.................. Murphy came! (with a vengeance)

To be continued....

Baby showers

So I spent yesterday with these cuties.

They were the ones born a bit premature before Christmas, to my niece. It was the first time I had seen them. I had the flu before/during Christmas and wasn't going to share that with two preemies.

Their baby shower was yesterday. There was a representation of family who were able to make it into the two hour drive to be there, as well as her local friends from the community, work and her older son's preschool.

I never had baby showers when I had my kids. Not really any friends. My sisters each got the boys a something. Very low key.

So these big fancy baby showers blow my mind more than a bit. There were diaper cakes and balloon displays and oh my lord, the presents.

Now I think those little girl outfits are as cute as can be, but really, how many outfits do two little babies need? She doesn't go out a whole lot during the day. Her husband is at work and two babies in their carriers plus a three year old makes it more than a little bit of a challenge for one woman.  It just seems like such a waste for outfits that the girls won't fit in 4 months. and then what?

I know she can resell them on kijiji or the local facebook 'buy and sell' groups. I am SO glad those are in fashion and considered acceptable.

I was more practical....a big case of diapers,  and some babywash and lotions for their sensitive skin. Mine will be needed and then when they are done, there is no clutter to get rid of. Not very fancy, but I am not a fancy person.

What are your thoughts on gifts for baby showers???

PS - I couldn't tell those two apart. I swear I just kept holding the same one over and over LOL