I Hate Paying Bills

I sat down to pay bills last week, and I discovered that the Mrs.'s paycheck was $5.00 less than normal. Turns out, county and local taxes have increased.

This week, my paycheck was $5.00 less than normal. Same reason as why the Mrs. is $5.00 short each paycheck. So there's $20.00 less per month in our checks.

Our water bill is $10.00 more than normal this month. I admit it. I like long hot showers in the winter.

We got a notice in the mail this week that our monthly mortgage payment is going up $30.00 per month. Looks like property taxes and insurance rates have increased, so our escrow will fall short without the increase.

I just paid the post-Christmas electric bill. That was $35.00 more than normal. Maybe I won't put up Christmas lights next year.

I haven't gotten the natural gas bill yet, but we've had a long stretch of bitterly cold weather lately, so our furnace has pretty much been running non-stop since December. If we come in under $250.00, I'll be surprised.

I have an $18.00 bill to pay to our local dentist for when the Mrs. had to have some work done on a tooth in November.

I have a $132.00 bill to pay to our local hospital for my broken ankle in September. That brings the total out-of-pocket expense for that ill-advised decision to slide into second base to right around $400.00. So far. And that was after having to fight with my insurance company to get them to pay anything.

Speaking of my insurance, my co-pays and maximum out-of-pocket expenses are doubling in 2010. That's awesome.

I just wrote a check for daycare. We pay $48.00 per week more now than we used to, having started the girls in pre-school, rather than in an in-home daycare. I will be the first to stand up and say that the pre-school they attend is absolutely fantastic, and it was one of the best decisions we've made lately, but still...it's $48.00 per week less that we have in our pockets. $192.00 per month.

The dog is due for his annual trip to the vet this month. That generally runs in the neighborhood of $200.00 or so, by the time we get all of his vaccinations, testing, and medications for all of his various ailments. Our reward for spending that kind of cash on him is that he CONSTANTLY steals food from the girls off their plates and out of their hands, he gets into the kitchen trash and spreads it all over the house every time we turn our backs, we've had to put June's diaper pail in the garage because the dog will fish wet diapers out of there and eat them and spread them all over the house, and he has peed on the carpet right in the middle of the living room on each of the past two days. Oh, and I'll have about 90 lbs. of dog crap to pick up if the snow ever melts out of our backyard. So I have that to look forward to. He also barks at me every time I come home. Burglars could break in, and he'd either sleep through it or piss himself (on our carpet, of course) while running through the kitchen trash and/or shredded wet diapers and hiding in a closet. But I come home from work at the same time and walk through the same door every day, and he barks at me. Idiot.

Our stupid Toyota van needs more repairs done. Correction: it needs the repairs done CORRECTLY that Andy Mohr Toyota in Avon didn't do right the first time in November. The tailpipe still rattles against the bumper, and there's no heat in the back of the van. It blows air, but it's cold air. I can only imagine how many hundreds of dollars that's going to cost me. I've tried to keep a positive attitude about it since we bought the damn thing last April, but that piece of shit van is a money pit. Then, of course, there's the enormous pain in the ass of driving it to the incompetent dealership and leaving it there for days while they "fix" what they should have fixed right the first time.

I have not enjoyed my Toyota experience at all.

I filled out Andy Mohr's customer service satisfaction survey after the last trip there, and I bashed them for not fixing our van right. Naturally, I heard nothing in response. I see now how valuable my input and satisfaction is to Andy Mohr, as well as what quality of work they do there. Then I e-mailed the dealership a couple weeks ago to see about scheduling a time to bring it in so that they can fix it right. This will shock you, I'm sure, but I'm still waiting for a response. Any repair work that we have done anywhere but at the dealership voids our warranty, so we're being held hostage by our local Toyota dealership for two more years.

And they wonder why I didn't buy their extended warranty.

The house needs a new roof. I see water spots in the ceiling where water is obviously getting under some shingles. I guess the cheapest shingles they could find to slap up there 14 years ago when they built this house are finally starting to fail. Once the roof is fixed, of course, we'll have to fix the water damage to the ceiling inside.

We likely won't be able to take a family vacation this year because we can't afford it.

Needless to say, the girls are on a hiatus from gymnastics for awhile. We just don't have the $235.00 every 8 weeks for that.

My chest actually starts to get a little tight if I think about it all for too long. I sure don't want to have a heart attack, though. I'd have to fight with the insurance company for six months to get them to pay anything, and then I'd be down at least another $5000.00.

Well, at least I'll have my cost-of-living pay raise to help us get through this.

Oh wait.

No I won't.

I don't get one this year.

I'd go sit in the car with the motor running and the garage door down to put myself out of my misery, but it costs too much to fill up the gas tank. And since I'd be using the van, I'd have to listen to that annoying rattle of the tailpipe against the bumper the whole time. Plus, it would be cold, since the heater doesn't work right.

* Sigh *

I guess it could be worse. I suppose I should be grateful that we're not worse off than we are. After all, I know several people who are losing their jobs entirely, or who have even worse health insurance than I do. If they have any at all.

Or I could be living in Haiti.