Can never seem to get ahead.

Since this is the off-topic for non certification, but technology related posts - I'll tie this into technology by stating how this is going to put a significant damper on my study time over the next couple of weeks as well as in the longer term through a lack of money.

I was excited about a significantly larger tax return that was going to help pay off accumulated debt since my salary cut last year as well as get some set aside for some exams. Since I live in a federal disaster area, the education credits I could take were doubled - woo hoo! No sooner than a couple of days after the great news about a large return, my car's engine decides to destroy itself with no warning just the other day. Fortunately I am a bit of a gearhead so I will be plenty capable of the work involved, but the downside is I have to now stick a significant amount of money into a "new" engine as well as eat up the very limited amount of time I have outside of class and two jobs to replacing an engine.

Just had to rant a bit, this sort of things always seems to happen whenever I come into extra money or when I'm trying to get other important things accomplished. Such is life I suppose, all I can really do is get things taken care of and hope the god's of ownage (they don't call me Dr. Ownage at work for no reason) leave me alone for a while.

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Comments

kalebksp

You could also choose to look at it from the perspective of "Good thing I have the extra money in my tax return, otherwise I wouldn't have a car." Additionally, you probably wouldn't be a "gearhead" if you didn't enjoy working on cars, so there's got to be at least a small plus about getting to do a bit of that. I certainly understand the instinct to look at the negative, but I find myself to be much happier when I force myself to look at the positives.

Good luck!

leefdaddy

Car repairs suck sorry about your luck!

msteinhilber

kalebksp wrote: »

You could also choose to look at it from the perspective of "Good thing I have the extra money in my tax return, otherwise I wouldn't have a car." Additionally, you probably wouldn't be a "gearhead" if you didn't enjoy working on cars, so there's got to be at least a small plus about getting to do a bit of that. I certainly understand the instinct to look at the negative, but I find myself to be much happier when I force myself to look at the positives.

Good luck!

Very true, we are thankful for the larger than expected return - we'd be in a really tough spot otherwise. I do enjoy it to an extent which is good - and thankfully Subaru engines are fairy easy to get in and out. Just something about swapping an engine out on a regular old daily driver rather than one of the fun car's isn't as thrilling

rfult001

Same thing happened to me. Got my return, paid off my car, now everything is breaking. Got our work cut out for us eh?

HeroPsycho

I know how you feel. When I switched careers from teaching into IT, I had to set up a temporary apartment in Charlotte, spent every dime I had and then some doing that. Two month later when I was starting to recover, I had to get a complete brake job on my car, new calipers, rotors, pads, the whole shabang, and a new set of tires. Being that I wasn't exactly a car expert, I paid someone to do that.

One month later, I got laid off.

It's been five years now, and I just now paid off all the credit cards racked up from that and other things, some necessities when I didn't have a choice how to pay for them except credit cards, some idiotic purchases for things I didn't need. But the bottom line is I finally did get my head above water.

Some things I learned - don't buy stupid crap you don't need. And most importantly, never be afraid to invest in yourself. As bad as that credit card debt was, a lot of it was to get me into IT by purchasing study material and taking exams. I never would be where I am now without my certifications. I've mentioned in previous threads if anything, I wish I was more aggressive about getting my certs faster even though I would have ran up more debt faster.

The other thing I want to point out is I'm living proof things get better. With no credit card debt, I'm about to embark on a goal of paying both my car loans off in one year (a total of $20K in debt), with one car at 60K miles and the other at 30K, both not expecting any major repairs anytime soon. I have about $10K in my 401K even after the stock market debacle, and I have an okay house, and saving money. That's a far cry from where I was 5 years ago when I went into IT full time, or even 3 years ago.

Paul Boz

Right there with ya Hero. Two years ago I was making so little at my job that I couldn't afford to pay for car insurance so I just prayed I wouldn't get pulled over. My choices were A. Pay car insurance, B. Eat, C. Keep the lights on, and I only had two choices.

Combine that with living in a 600sq/ft slum apartment and having a 1991 MR2 with 500,000 miles and no AC in south Louisiana, with a 30 minute each way commute. There were times where I would leave for work 90 minutes early because I knew that I would have to spend 45 minutes on the side of the road repairing my car to get me all the way to work. I'm decently mechanically inclined (cars and motorcycles are a hobby) but it was stressful. My life was a ticking time bomb. Then I got married and with our combined income (next to nothing) qualified for government assisted bond loans to buy a house. We bought a house in February of last year then I lost my job in April. I thought I was completely screwed. I drained my $14,000 401k and had to live on that until I got a new job in September. In the end I wound up at a job making almost twice what I used to make and I only live 3 miles from my job.

The lesson here is that while life may be hitting you like Tyson on meth, you can always duck and move until you win the fight.

HeroPsycho

Paul Boz wrote: »

Combine that with living in a 600sq/ft slum apartment and having a 1991 MR2 with 500,000 miles and no A C in south Louisiana, with a 30 minute each way commute.

My solution?

Don't live in Louisiana. I'd have had to take a shower once I got to work.

Paul Boz

HeroPsycho wrote: »

My solution?

Don't live in Louisiana. I'd have had to take a shower once I got to work.

You get used to it. It's not a problem after a while.

HeroPsycho

I live in Virginia, and I've never gotten used to the heat here in the summer either. LOL...

remyforbes777

Cut it out guys, you are going to jinx me. Ha.

msteinhilber

Wow... hard to believe that was just over a month ago that this happened. I fired up the replacement engine today and it runs like a champ. Took a lot longer than I would have liked it to since it seemed like I was running into little odds and ends that I had to purchase and/or order in here and there since the engine I was installing came out of another model Subaru. Subaru's are pretty much like LEGO cars that a lot is interchangeable but there was some small differences here and there that caused the delays nonetheless. Wasn't in as much of a hurry either since I was using the wife's car and we just carpooled - that and since I had the fast car last time around, she got the turbo'ed car this time around so I have more fun driving it than my car

Feels great to have things back to normal again though, that's for sure!