Hemorrhaging Cash

It's like a terrible disease. Money is hemorrhaging so fast out of my bank account, it's not even funny. When it rains, it pours, and man, am I drowning. Sigh. Oh well, I guess that's why we make money, in order to spend it. But at this rate, I'll be in the poor house within a month, or sooner. Ha.

You see, we live in a money pit. Even though our home is only 3 years old, it's falling apart. Yes, it's beginning to show its age. All homes go through this inevitable breaking period, but our's seems to be never ending. We've had to repair or refrigerator, our dishwasher, and our washing machine twice. Now these aren't old appliances, they were brand new when we moved in. Today, I had a contractor tear out part of our driveway because a huge sink hole developed and allowed the concrete pads to settle. In fact, I've got sink holes all over my property. Along the side of the house, we had a huge sink hole develop. We had to have it filled in last year, but it sunk again. And more are developing. We have a sink hole in our front yard where the water shutoff valve is. I've filled it in, but it keeps sinking. I suppose there's a leak somewhere. The good news on that, the leak is before it hits our water meter. We have a sink hole that runs the entire width of our back yard, where the electrical wires are buried. And, after working so hard on my yard, and spending so much money, it looks like crap. The neighbor's yard looks absolutely beautiful, and he hasn't done jack with it. Nothing, nada. And mine looks like, well, you know. My new lawn mower (again, purchased new with the house) wouldn't start this year. It's a Toro, and has an always-start guarantee. Ha. That's so funny. So, I had to have that repaired. My snow blower burned out a belt on the season's last heavy snow. I haven't even begun to tackle that project yet, it can wait. And, my weed eater (which was 10 years old) finally broke. The shaft snapped, so it was time to buy a new one.

Of course, recall from my previous post that our digital camera broke, again, only 3 years old. Kaching, another chunk of cash floating out of my wallet. Plus, we just bought the new puppy, and she's having health problems. It's like we have a revolving door at the vet's office now, as it's like a zoo in our house with 2 cats and 2 dogs, and a batch of sea monkeys. We need to remulch our flower beds too. And, the polyurethane is peeling on all of the trim on my windows in the house. So, I'll need to strip those and reseal before winter hits. And speaking of sealing, I need to seel all of the cracks in the driveway, as that's what caused the sinkhole to develop anyhow. Ugh, I could continue as the list keeps building.

Oh yeah, not to mention, gas is now $3 a gallon. I filled up my truck yesterday, which cost $50. Ouch. That's pricey. Speaking of vehicles, my car needs new rear brakes. I've never replaced the rear brakes, they've always been OK. But, with 130,000 miles, it's time to get those back into specs. You can't discount your safety when traveling, that's the most important thing.

At some point, I'll likely have a nervous breakdown trying to keep track of all of this. Seriously, I think may visit the doctor to get something to relieve the anxiety. My mind is like a pressure cooker, and one of these days, the pressure will be too much and I'll crack. Unfortunately, I think the telltale signs are beginning.

Ideally, I long for the days of no responsibility. I long for the days when there isn't something to do, a problem to solve, or a crisis to manage. It seems there's always something on my calendar. For just once, I wish for a stress free week where I didn't have to worry about my job, didn't have to worry about my family, didn't have to worry about the money pit that we now live, didn't have to have responsibility. Perhaps in retirement. But for now, the pressure cooker continues to build.