So much for saving money this month.

Since we have had several months of spending like we had money. Well, we did have it...I just didn't want to spend it. I think that makes me a Scrooge, but I don't care. I overcame myself and did spend it.

So, this monthy, I wanted us to be on a money diet and only spend what was necessary. There was no real plan, just not to spend like crazy.

Well, Hubby went camping 2 weekends. Admittedly, he spent "his" money. Money earned from selling on ebay. Really, all our money is "our" money, but he opened an account to do ebay and it is for him to play with with my blessing.

For a couple of month's Hubby's brakes have been squeaking. Not squealing, not terribly loud. But it bothers me. It doesn't bother him...he just turns up the radio. But I hate it, since it makes us sound like people that cannot maintain their cars. Or worse, people that don't care if they maintain their cares. So, we made an appointment and took it in this morning.

We go to Brake Check. We LOVE our Brake Check. They take great care of our vehicles and their prices are very reasonable in our area. We had a major brake overhaul a couple of years ago, I think. It was all "lifetime warrantied", so I knew it would not cost us a fortune this time.

We took it in and left it and I got a call a couple of hours later with the verdict. $438. Ugh! But for that amount, we are getting:
1 new rear drum (apparently Hubby went through a pothole or something and it dented the drum.)
1 rear drum resurfaced
2 front brakes resurfaced
1 brake flush
1 serpentine belt
4 spark plugs (mighty pricey ones at that, but we HAVE replaced them before and they are pricey)
Spark plug wires.

The brake part isn't that bad, but since the car has almost 97,000 miles on it, they recommended new spark plugs and wires. We have never replaced the wires, so it was time. We also needed a new drive belt since the current one is cracked. Since we had bought one for a different car several years ago I knew that they were not cheap, but it is only costing $57. Hmm....maybe the other one was not cheap because it was done somewhere else. There is also labor on the warranty work. But at least we don't have to pay for parts. I was really not too upset at the cost. We have had nothing, except oil changes, done to this car for the last year and a half, so I won't complain at all.

But I can whine a little that my money diet was sidetracked this month. I guess we will have to try harder the rest of the month and let it carry over to next month.