I’ve spent a lot of money in the last ten months.
- A new comfy mattress – planned
- A sick cat, lots of trips to the vet, canned food, holistic supplements – unplanned
- A sore foot due to plantar fasciitis, which meant new shoes, inserts, trips to the chiropractor, doctor and massage therapist – unplanned
- New tires for the SUV – required for Wisconsin winters and the faux spring of 2018
- New eyeglasses – cuz everything looked this small with the old ones
I’m not telling you this to garner sympathy or raise a charitable donation for the GoMary Fund.
This is common life for everyone. No matter your age, gender, ethnicity, financial status, or favorite flavor of ice cream, we all find ourselves in a monetary situation from time to time. We can monitor our monthly expenditures until we’re blue in the face, but that will not save anyone from the unplanned and unexpected.
It feels like a lot of monkey business when we’re in the midst, but it’s never anything that a little worrying, praying and adult refreshment won’t remedy.
Oh, and going to work helps too.
Today, I’m almost caught up (knock on wood) with the expenses. A few more months and both the mattress and tires will be totally mine. The eyeglasses are almost mine. The cat and my foot are definitely mine and had better stay that way.
No demon expenses the rest of 2018 and all of 2019, okay?
Nothing breaks or requires medical attention.
No summoning of the evil money grifters.
No lemons.
Stream of Consciousness Saturday is the brainchild of author Linda G. Hill. Every Friday, Linda provides her followers with an inspiring blogger’s prompt. It can be a word or words and sometimes bonus points are involved (my favorite). Linda asks us to write without editing, other than correcting spelling errors.
Just go with the flow.
Like a babbling brook, ambling stream or running river. Click HERE if this type of writing floats your boat or helps with your decision-making.
Mary J Melange 
Ah, yes, the money demons . . lurking and skulking in odd random corners . .
Ready to pounce, like a hungry gray cat…
Or like scampering mice that nibble the corners off all your dollars
I thought that chocolate ice cream was a barrier to unexpected expenses. I guess I’ve been going about this all wrong. We have replacement appliances in our future. Sorta expected, but no fun. I hope your new tires are rolling you and your bike to some green trails, soon.
Chocolate ice cream works both way, Dan. Keep doing what you’re doing.
As for the green trails, we are having another weather event that started yesterday. Rain, freezing rain, ice, snow, high winds. Guess this saves me gas money from driving the bike around…
I think I saw your bike post an ad on Craigslist – “wanted, rider in a warm state”
Ha! Yes! 🙂
If you say so, M-J. [grin]
For myself, it’s living on the age pension while having to save up several thousand for forthcoming cataract surgery. Probably ahead of you too, you know …
Ah yes, the medical expenses can be killer. I will have health insurance after I retire, but not sure what kind of co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses I’ll have by then. We seem to pay more and more each year out of our own stash.
As mom and dad both developed macular degeneration and I’m already blind as a bat without my glasses, I’m sure there’s some kind of eye issue for me in the future. All I can do is take care of myself and hope for the best. And I hope you get your coins saved up so you can get that nasty cataract removed.
But…you’re sleeping better aren’t you? On the mattress, when you’re not worrying about the cost of it! 😉 Happy Saturday, Mary! Great post!
Happy snowy Saturday, Shelley! How bad is the weather in your neck of the woods? I’m staying in this weekend and hope to take a nap or two on that nice comfy mattress.
Sorry to hear all your woes, Mary. Your foot thing sounds really nasty. Poor puss cat, too. Hope all your troubles are now over!
Gibbs the cat is currently healthy, happy and being his usual crazy self. My foot is about 90 to 95% healed, but not as painful as it first was. I’ve been able to take walks when the weather cooperates, which is something I couldn’t do last summer and fall. Life is good! 🙂
Good to hear! 😊
Wishing you the best. I can attest to the unexpected and the benefits of adult beverage(s). Hurricane Harvey did his best but failed to break me.
Hurricane Harvey was devastating to so many people and I imagine it will take a long time to clean up from its effects. I’m glad it didn’t break you, John, and hope that life is mostly normal for you.
Thank you, Mary. Yes we now have a new normal but normal none the less. 😀
As usual your post hits home and gets me thinking. Wishing you and your fur son good health and flush savings throughout the rest of 2018.
Thank you so much! I can use your good thoughts and will send the same back to you!
I enjoyed this humorous open-eyed look at the money situations we all wander into and, with luck, back out of. And I agree; going to work always helps.
I don’t think anyone gets out of financial issues unscathed. It’s fact of life, so may as well make light of it.
So true. It’s all relative, too.I forget what month it was, sometime over the winter, the gas leak, maybe December. That was the first thing in a series of costly events. I remember being glad I was working, but it felt like it would never end. Sometimes, and I do mean sometimes, it can be a catalyst for shifting priorities. I often find myself thinking about how I hate my refrigerator while simultaneously thanking God it still runs 🙂
Really glad you’ve got good tires, vision, and a comfy bed. Certainly glad your kitties are in good health. Pity about the foot though. I’ve had that, although it sounds like you had it BAD!
I felt the same, thinking it would never end. But there always seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel even though I worry about money way too much.
Yup, the foot was bad and I hope it never gets that way again. I also hope your fridge keeps going.
Me too, and thank you.
These are all good investments. If it’s any consolation, my plantar fasciitis is much better than it was a decade ago. I think the flexing exercises helped along with TLC. I can’t go barefoot like I used to and I need to make sure I have lots of cushion in my shoes, but my feet feel much better. Knock on wood. I hope yours will too.
Same thing here, JoAnna. I wear good shoes, stretch and never go barefoot. The latter was the hardest because I always went barefoot in the house, even in the winter.
Yep. I go barefoot on the beach sometimes, but have learned to take gentle steps on soft sand.
From your mouth to God’s ear!
Right Marian? My favorite Mother Teresa quote goes something like, “God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle. I just wish he wouldn’t trust me so much.”
It’s been much the same for me, new mattress required, door fell off the fridge freezer so a new one is needed, my Sigma camera packed up, and I have plantar fasciitis (I blame modern shoes, most have no support) so need to see a podiatrist. But I’m not complaining, life is good, and my two lovely cats cheer me up everyday.
You’re correct…most shoes have horrible arch support. So many have the gel inserts or padding, but that doesn’t help with the arches and that’s where the trouble lies. I’ve spent a few hundred dollars on buying good shoes (the expensive ones) that my feet will tolerate. That will be the case for the rest of my life if I don’t want this to keep reoccurring. Good luck with your feet, I hope they feel better soon.
Ah, yes. I can relate to this one. It seems we’ve been hemorrhaging money for a few months now and sadly, I look around and see more in the foreseeable future 😖
Like you say, the planned ones are bad enough, but it’s the unexpected gotchas that really hurt.
I hope the worst is now behind you and you experience more of the incoming green rather than the outgoing green 🙂
Me too, Joanne, and I hope that your output doesn’t get out of control. Maybe we need to buy a lottery ticket. 😏
… and a crystal ball to help us predict the winning numbers.
Right! LOL!
Sigh, it never fails that the unexpected expenses come along with the planned ones. It sounds like you are plugging along though.
How is the Plantar Fasciitis? I’ve been fortunate to escape that but many of my patients have struggled with it
My foot is not 100% yet, but I keep working at it. The good news is that I’ve been able to take walks or go shopping on the weekend without it firing up. My chiro was a big help with Graston.