January Do-Over

This month has seriously been one of the worst I’ve had in recent history in terms of Murphy’s Law.  Just trying to keep up with all the things that have gone wrong (ie dealing with dead rodents in the heating ducts, the great dryer fire of 2014, and a multitude of car repairs just to name a hand full of things that January dished out) has not left much time or energy to deal with the bigger picture of life and finances.  With a little over a week left until the end of the month and much of the mess from the past weeks cleaned up, I am declaring a New Year’s Do-Over.   I will be popping open a bottle of champagne and singing Auld Lang Syne come midnight next Friday and treating February like the new January!  

Lemons, lemons, and more lemons

It's only 2 weeks into 2014 and I'm already OVER this year!  I know the little saying about what to do when life gives you lemons but I am SICK of lemonade!  Let me just elaborate on what the past 14 days has dished out to me, S and the babies:

• We brought back a washer and dryer from my family when we went to visit them for the holidays (YAY), however the hookups at our rental place, being basically held together with bubble gum and zip ties, all but disintegrated when we tried to uninstall the cruddy old washer and dryer.  We have spent the last two weeks replacing the outflow water line when it failed, mopping up the basement when the incoming water line failed, replacing the dryer outlet pipe when that failed, and last but not least, rewiring the dryer plug when the faulty outflow pipe dripped water onto the wiring and caused the wiring to CATCH ON FIRE!  All said we spent around $300 hauling and hooking up our "Free" washer and dryer.
• There was a blizzard. Not surprising my work did not get closed.  After our street finally got plowed (it's a private street and gets plowed whenever my A-hole landlord decides to call someone to do it), S and I dug out my car.  It wouldn't start.  So then we dug out his car.  I almost got to work before it broke down on the side of the interstate.  Accepted a ride from a stranger, which I would never, ever do under normal circumstances but given that it was 7 degrees out and I had no one else that could pick me up including a tow company since they were all busy dealing with the snow emergency.  Stranger was nice and took me all the way to work.  Finally found a tow truck that came and picked me up and took the car to a shop.  S was able to get my car running but it cost us $300 to get his running (tow plus repair).
• And speaking of cars, it turns out the vehicles we purchased from our families for super cheap have not had basic maintenance performed on them, like, ever.  One of them is 80k overdue for a timing belt replacement.  That's like driving around in a time bomb.  And it's going to cost us around $900 to get it fixed.
• Our dental check ups uncovered quite a bit of dental work that needs to be done... pretty much every one of S' old fillings is failing and must be replaced as well as a cavity for me (thanks a lot soda addiction).  So far $400 spent and not even half way through the list of tooth repairs.
• Something died in our duct work and every time the heat kicks on the sweet, sweet smell of death gets blasted through the house.  Kind of like a the Glade Plug In from Hell.  In the course of trying to figure out where the smell was coming from, S went in the attic and discovered that a family of rodents has been using the insulated duct work for bedding.  All the duct work going to the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs is full of holes with the babies room being almost completely disconnected.  So for who knows how long, we've been pumping a/c and heat into the un-insulated attic.  What a complete waste of energy and $$$!  At least the landlord sent someone over to fix it this a.m.
• And lastly, the most horrible of all, we finally came to terms with our inability to provide for all of our pets (and babies and us) and decided to find a new home for one of our sweet pups.  We had already found great homes for the two lizards and one cat with friends but could not find a home for the high-needs pup.  We decided to use a rescue adoption service and this past weekend was the drop-off.  I am completely heartbroken, even though I know she will find a great home with a family who can give her what she needs.

I really hope things turn around soon because all this stress is really taking it's toll on me (and our finances)