Financial meltdown

Every now and then, this blog is like therapy. But cheaper.

And right now I need cheap. (Chad might argue I need therapy, too.)

It's not that I don't mind spending money; in fact, it's sometimes kind of fun. (See "Trip to Paris," August 2009.) But it's the unpredictable, expensive things that all seem to spring up at once that really make me frustrated. Here's a list as of late:

• Injuries are not cheap. Chad is now going to physical therapy twice a week at $25 a pop. That's $200 a month. And once the surgery is finished, and Lord knows what that's going to cost, it will increase to three times a week ($300 a month). I'm starting to realize how mad people get about health care, and we have pretty good coverage!
  
• This injury happened right at the beginning of the season, so we still had to pay for all of Chad's fall leagues. Goodbye to a completely wasted $145.
  
• Last month, Chad's car needed $500 of work. Now the "service engine soon" light is on again. And property taxes are due. And the registration is due for my Jeep ($45), but we can't pay for that until it passes an emissions test ($20) and inspection ($15). Oh, and my "service four-wheel drive" light just came on too. I don't even use that!
  
• Last night, as a final nail in the coffin to all things money-related, the dryer went out. I took two loads of wet laundry over to Janice's for drying at 10 p.m. and I'm pretty sure steam was still coming out of my ears when I made it up her three flights of stairs.

I considered throwing myself a pity party, but I don't want to spend the money.