real life

Two weeks ago my car died on my way to my parents house. AAA rescued me and our mechanic then informed me that it would be $1200 to fix the car and there was no guarantee that another problem wouldn't arise. We made the decision to scrap the car (barely getting $300 for it) and began the arduous task of finding a new car. This time around, the shopping was entirely up to Aaron and I. This proved difficult with Aaron working 4:30am-6pm everyday because it did not leave us much time to look around. We found a few cars in our price range and mileage range, but none were the right car. Aaron finally came across the perfect car while on his route and we tried very hard to make it ours. After lots of frustration, some tears, and spending a day getting the title and plates, I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Chevy Aveo! I love my new car and I am so glad to be done car shopping! I really hope this car lasts us 5 or 6 years, at least, because I do not want to do this anytime soon.

I spent most of the morning getting car insurance and finally came up with a quote we can afford. We have to hold off adding Aaron on the policy because his car is still in his mom's name (a small blessing as we won't need to start paying his for a few more months). I also got our new health insurance policy situated. We will be paying $4 less a month for a much better policy! Unlimited doctor visits and eye insurance, amazing! Because of the addition of car insurance to our bills and needing to pay off the money we had to borrow for the car, I need to make a few changes to our current budget. I am cancelling our internet, effective starting tomorrow, which will save us 29.95 a month. So far, that is the only significant cut-back I have discovered, but I am going to open up an Etsy store soon so that will hopefully bring in a small amount of cash while I wait for a job. I know that we could save money by not having health insurance or getting the bare minimum coverage for my car, but that is only temporarily cheaper. If something were to happen to either of us, we would be in big trouble. We emptied our savings for the car so we have no money lying around to pay for another expensive surprise. Aaron will get insurance through his company starting in March so we only have to pay $120 a month until then.

Yesterday I took time to clean the new car, and it will probably be the only time I wash the inside and outside of the windows and wash the car by hand. My brother washes and waxes his car once a week, I have no idea how he has the motivation to do that! I do not have my camera cord at my parent's house, so here is a pic I took with my phone:

Now, Grace and I are chilling on the couch watching Ina. Aaron and I are going out to dinner with one of his friends tonight and then mom and I are going to the apartment tomorrow to get the bedroom altogether and hopefully take the twin bed to put in the spare room.She is sleeping illegally on the fouton. I love her, so I let her :-P

Blessings,
-Ashley