Thursday, September 16, 2010

Oh bonus, how quickly you disappear

Yesterday was a very ironic money day. 9/15 is the day that both M & I get our yearly bonus, and raises. As you can imagine, our paychecks were *much* larger than usual. Oh, happy day. Except, I couldn't access my Chase account, and had a bunch of things I wanted to do with the money. And, I wasn't sure exactly how much my bonus would be after tax. I finally, finally accessed my money, after 27 attempts on Chase's web site. I'd also like to give a big shout out to Chase for paying 9 of my bills late. Especially the two I initiated on Sunday that as of yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon, were still marked as *pending*. Way to rock it, Chase. You'll be hearing from me if any of my bill recipients charge me late fees.

Once I finally had my eyes on the money & was knee deep in instituting our "9/15 budget plan", as we call it, I get a phone call from M. Something was wrong with my car & he called around for quotes. It was time for a 50,000 mile check up. Fine, fine. The cheapest place gave us a range of $700-900. Good times. We picked up the car yesterday, & the total bill was $924.57. What a fun way to use the bonus money! ;-)

In even better news, the check up revealed that my rear brakes are functioning at 5%, and the front brakes at 10%. They need to be replaced immediately. Quote for brake replacement - $1388.77. M is thinking about ordering the parts & doing it himself, if he feels confident. We shall see. Even if he does it himself, we're looking at a minimum of $600 for parts.

For the record, I've never paid for anything other than a routine oil change for my car, in the almost six years of ownership. It's been a fabulous car & I'm pleased with it overall (although, if I could go back in time & buy something a little less *status-y* & a lot more *kid friendly*, I would certainly do that). I realize that cars need maintenance, but I'm still laughing that part of the bonus was spent before it was lingering in my account for 24 hours. Better luck next year, I suppose. :-)

2 comments:

  1. I bet you drive a Volkswagen or Audi or some other German engineered car. We had a Passat for three yaers until it pratically bankrupted us. I mean $60 for windshield wiper blades? $125 for ONE headlight (BOTH of them quit working at the exact same time). those prices sound like German engineering prices to me. Sorry about that.

    When we had our third kid - we promptly sold our Passat wagon and bought a minivan. Yeah, I sold out but at least it doesn't cost $500 for a freakin' air filter. :)

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  2. Even better (read - more expensive) - a BMW. :-) I bought it as a present when I graduated from grad school. It's a nice car & paid for, but I really wish for something more practical. I'll drive it until it stops working. I know - the prices are NUTS! M just told me he can replace the brakes himself, so that will cut the cost in half.

    Don't jinx me with your comments on having a third kid! :-)

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