It's Raining Dogs and Vet Bills

Boy, around here lately it seems like if it rains, it pours. For me, this means:

1. A never ending line of vet bills that are no less than $100 each (one of which is up around $700)
2. A car that has, officially and for real this time, entered the last stages of its life.

1. The never ending vet bills
You may have read my last post about how dogs are wonderful but can be a little pricey. Well, as Taryn said, "I think pain killers for animals is ok- it just depends on how long they have left to give, and other stuff like that."* and it made me realize that Bing has a lot left to give (he is only about five years old) and that if the pain killers make him act like a normal dog, then that's what he is going to get.

However, this past weekend while I was in Illinois with Armini and my brother** was watching the dogs, Tim got into Bing's meds and ate what was left in the bottle (around 20 days worth of pain medication). SO, to add to the fact that I have come to terms with the fact that I will be purchasing pain killers forever, and the $500 vet bill that still isn't completely paid off (but will be on the 13th!) ... I have Tim's vet bill from the E-Vet ($700)*** and the bill for HIS medications ($128) for his kidneys and his stomach (to make sure he doesn't get an ulcer) plus any bills that I will have to pay when he goes back to the vet in a week to get his kidney function tested.****

* That's right readers! Comment, and I will quote you, give you some link love and add you to my Google reader. (Taryn, I checked out your blog, it's awesome. I will be back)
** Who will forever now be known as That Punk Kid.
*** I don't have to pay for all of this bill though. Only 1/3rd (parents are taking care of a third and That Punk Kid is taking care of the rest), but I do have to pay for any treatments that he is going to need for follow up care, and heaven forbid, any long term treatments he could need.
**** Cue head explosion.

(PS - I haven't ever done the foot note thing before and I apologize for having so many. I got carried away. Please don't stop reading)

2. The car that has officially entered its final stretch
That's right people. The car = done-zo.

For the last month or so it has been a little dodgy on the whole 'starting every time you put the key in the ignition' thing. Sometimes the engine would catch and then die right away. Sometimes it would have to turn over a few times (or 20 or 30 times) before the engine would catch. It would start eventually though, so really I just tried to keep my eye on the prize and stick to my savings plan.

But this morning I had to get to the airport to catch a flight for a business trip (don't fear reader, Armini is taking care of Tim and Bing, not That Punk Kid) and the car would not start. I tried it like 6 times. I gave it some gas. The engine would turn over but not catch. So Armini and I took his truck (thank the Lord he has a car of his own that turns on consistently) and when I called my dad to let him know about the car trouble his response was "Maybe it's time to start looking for another car". My thoughts exactly.

3. The hitch in my giddy-up
I took $1,000 out of my car fund not too long ago to pay off a huge chunk of my credit card which means that I only have $300 in my car fund right now. I haven't been able to save more than $50 from my last few paychecks due to the vet bills that I have had to pay off. As a result of some really bad behavior, the chunk of credit card bill that I paid off is back again, mostly because I don't have any other way to pay for stuff (also, I was being very bad - which will get its own post because it needs to be examined).

So the long and the short of this is: I have some large bills to pay. I might have a car payment a lot sooner than I thought I would. I am not making enough money to take care of all of these things.

Also, I have my heart set on a car that is probably not one that I will be able to afford:

Behold, the Mini Cooper. Car of my dreams.

ACK. I plan on applying for a loan in the next few weeks, as well as developing a plan for some really aggressive savings plan/budget. At this point I am 99% sure that the plan will be something like this:

• Pay bills.
• Save the rest.
• (have no life until I get the super cool car)
• (continue to have no life until super cool car is paid off)

It is going to be awesome.