Budget, budgets and more budgets

So yesterday Jeff and I were feeling pretty darn smug that we were starting to get the money situation under control. I got my third paycheck from my new job and I was checking off all the bills I could pay and how much I could contribute to the mortgage. AND I got a Christmas present for Jeff. Life is good, right?

Well.. I don't know what signal I sent out to the universe but BOTH our cars needed car repairs this weekend. BOTH OF THEM! GAH! My car, Liberty Jeep that used to be Jeff's was making this HORRIBLE whining noise whenever I turned. It started on Wednesday and just got progessively worse and worse. So today I took Jeff's car to work and Jeff took the Jeep in to be looked at. Turns out there are two pinprick holes in the power steering pressure hose and steering fluid had been leaking out AND spraying my engine. Lovely. But wait... there's more. The battery is apparently also dead. Sooo... the car is STILL at the shop and I can't pick it up until Monday night. That means I need Jeff's car for my trip to New Hampshire tomorrow and for work on Monday. Jeff is going to work from home on Monday (thank GOD he has the flexibility for emergencies like this) while I take his car to my job.

I did however, mention that BOTH cars needed work, right? Well Jeff's car has a bubble in his front tire. A bubble that has been there for QUITE awhile and means that any second he can have a tire blow out. We'd been ignoring it because we wanted to get a little caught up money wise before getting a new tire. Can't do that now... AND his windshield wiper broke. I swear, it's like the universe does NOT want us to get ahead. It's really ironic the sense of timing. So while my car was at the shop Jeff brought his car in and got those issues taken care of. Sigh.

The good thing? We can do this. We have two cars and the flexibility for one of us to work from home while the other uses the car for work. Not a lot of people have that option. Still... so frustrating!

The other good thing? I have two Christmas presents for Jeff purchased (NOT ON CREDIT CARDS!!!), and I have one present for my father. My sister and I decided we would get together for dinner rather than exchange presents, and we already decorated our Christmas tree so I'm trying to stay in the Christmas spirit. I may hate that I work three jobs, but I CAN work three jobs. And hopefully between those three jobs we'll get through this and actually have, oh, a savings account again! Wouldn't that be nice????

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a better Saturday than we did! Oh, and the Dial soap at the Dollar Store? Don't get it, it really doesn't seem to lather well and I now have like 5 bars of the stuff. Double sigh there. ;-)