And Then There Was None

Money this month for the emergency fund that is. Or at least a lot less than anticipated. We got our truck back from the mechanic yesterday, $443.65 poorer. Most of that was routine maintenance, stuff that definitely needed to be done before we drive to the Dells in a few weeks. What did we do that cost so much?

1 - Replace windshield wiper pump. ($22.89 for the pump) Yeah, our windshield wipers would work but no washer fluid would come out. Turns out there was a dead mouse in the system that killed the pump. Um, how exactly did a mouse get into a closed system like that? Our mechanic didn't know for sure but has heard that sometimes mice can get into windshield washer fluid receptacles at some quick oil change places. Those places usually fill up your fluid reservoir as part of their service and we could have picked it up there. Yuck.

2 - Add freon to air conditioning system. ($22.50 for the freon) Our air conditioning went out on the truck last summer if you recall. I was not looking forward to another summer with no air. The kids would complain they were hot then complain the wind was blowing them too much (when we opened the windows). And, well, I'm a princess sometimes so fix the air conditioning we did!

3 - Labor for the washer pump and a.c. system = $45.60

4 - Brakes. Both the front and back brakes needed to be replaced as well as the rotors machined. Yeah. It was time for a brake job. I can't even find paperwork on when the last time this was done. It was at least prior to the summer of 2007. Front pads = $57.25. Rear pads = $57.25. Rotor (x4) machining = $50.00 Labor (with a tire rotation and greased front end) = $174.80 (ouch!).

Add $13.36 in tax and there you go. $443.65 spent. Sigh. I had originally budgeted $400 for the emergency fund, $100 for the basement and $50 for the car fund for this month. Guess what. The basement and car funds will have to wait this month. Those are now going to $0 and what is left of the $550 - $443 is going to the emergency fund.

June is turning out to be a really expensive month!! At least our truck should have all the routine maintenance it should need for a while. Tires were put on less than 15,000 miles ago. Brakes are done. Regular oil changes completed. Battery and alternator less than 20,000 miles ago. Yep. Hopefully it's good to go for a while. Fingers crossed because once it starts to become unreliable we are headed for the dealership. It has 155,xxx miles on it right now. It's served us well these last 10 years.