Wednesday, March 24, 2010

When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead

I HAVE to have a budget and stick to it. If I don't I tend to go out of control buying silly things and forget about bills due; I also lose track of what I really want and end up buying things I randomly like. Lets just say that recently I've had a little extra income and I can't even backup enough to figure out where I should be on my budget this month. I gave up in March because of the extra income I blew; I did not keep track of it at all. THEN my car went down for the count. Well Kick Ass. I have NO savings. I am a recent-ish college graduate working on paying off student loans, credit cards, and a wedding...not to mention random bills. No Savings.
The past couple weeks I've been on the search for a car. I had no clue what type of car, all I knew is I could afford $300 a month in payments max. I've liked Beetles since I was a kid, but the word on the street was that I didn't want to buy that. Not good cars for what I need. Fun, but not for me. I drove through the used dealerships just writing down cars I liked, and after some eliminations I decided a Nissan Altima was perfect. The word on the street was that they don't die and any repairs would be on the cheaper side. In the end I drove away in a 2005 Nissan Altima for $6800. I, of course, had to have it financed so now I'm more in debt for the next couple years. They wanted $10000 for the car so I feel pretty good with it. It's a really nice car.
I watched the junk yard take my Pontiac Sunfire away today. It was almost tragic. It was like abandoning an old friend. Then I drove to the junk yard to pick up the money for it and I seen it sitting among heaps of scrap metal...all I could think was "you don't belong here my friend." I actually was a little heartbroken with that image. It sounds so crazy, but I didn't want to leave it there among junk! It was on it's last legs, and I know that, but it was the nicest car I've had until this new Altima. The poor sunfire. Had a huge dent in the front, one speaker worked, engine was going to blow, very dirty, chairs didn't move well, window hand roller was broken, air conditioning didn't work, back window heater things didn't work....but it was the nicest car I've had. Goodbye sweet friend.

So I had to redo my budget quite a bit. I have to pawn of the cable bill to the fiance, because I can't afford it now. Saying goodbye to the gym membership. Paying off my target card this month and viola! New budget that doesn't sacrifice my wedding fund or 100 extra dollars for myself. This is what it looks like:

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