Both of our cars are due for inspection by the end of July, and the Hyundai is going to need new tires, at $165 each. So needless to say, I have been putting aside extra money.
Today Dan and I took Alyssa and Ryan to the pool. My mom and brothers met us there a few minutes after we arrived. When the pool closed at 6pm, we left — Dan, Ryan and I (Alyssa wanted to go with my mom) going to the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner, and my mom, brothers and Alyssa going to the pharmacy for some stuff, and then coming over to join us for dinner.
10pm tonight, my mom and brothers leave. We shut the door, Dan settles down to play a game, and I start on dishes. Three minutes later, there’s a knock on the door. It’s my brother, and the first thing he says is, “Mom’s car won’t start”.
Dan goes and checks things out. We’re pretty sure my mom’s alternator kicked the bucket. So she took my car (the one that I just vacuumed and took through the car wash last week, and whose tank I just filled this afternoon) to get home with.
She has no money except for barely enough to cover food and a few more bills this month. No savings. No one else to ask to borrow from. No credit with which to take a loan out.
So… she’ll be having her hand out, I’m sure. Ugh. I’m not blaming her for her vehicle’s alternator going. The minivan is twelve years old and has 151,000 miles on it after all. But it’s times like these I wish she had gotten involved with paid blogging like she has been talking about doing since March of 2007, and put aside some money for a rainy day fund each month, even if it was just $20.
Blech. I need an ATM machine to fall into my lap!
That’s the problem with myself and Alex. We have literally no savings because we can’t afford to have any savings. Two weeks after Alex gets paid and we have barely nothing left. I hate it and I’m hoping we get ourselves sorted soon.
I really hope your mom’s financial situation sorts itself out soon enough. I have always noticed that important repairs always happen when you are at your lowest point. Things get broken when your broke. Yet nothing happens when you have money in the bank.
Honestly, try tirerack.com for the tires. When we were going to replace the tires on our car we were quoted around $150-$200 PER TIRE. A friend suggested tirerack.com and we got tires that have better reviews and are only $70 each. When we went to have them put on the car, the mechanic commented that they were really nice tires. We’ve only replaced them once since then and that’s only because we’re bad about rotating our tires, i.e. we never do it. I’m glad we don’t have to get our cars inspected here. That’s horrible!
God bless you for always helping your mom. Family loyalty aside, I’d probably have to cut my mom off after a while. It seems like she doesn’t learn from previous mistakes. Although I can’t imagine how rough it is to raise two young boys while on disability.