Do you ever get dissapointed in yourself? Tough to shake this one. I need (per every auto mechanic that I speak with) a 60K mile tune up. I've been to a few places and received an estimate. Each estimate is over $1,000. I've asked my buddy who is a car mechanic if it's really all that necessary to fine tune all of these pieces and he was in agreement. He also explained the outrageous estimate. Apparently replacing a timing belt is quite labor intensive and the going labor rate @ any car shop is at least $100. So the trick to this job is to find the auto repair shop in town with the lowest labor rate and hopefully shave off a few dollars. The sad thing is, it's an 8 hour job, regardless of how much money I shave off per hour it still won't go that far. I can't foresee there being a $10 or more difference in labor rates. It would have to be at least $10 cheaper per hour in order for me to see some real savings. Cause once you hit the $1,000 mark, saving less than $50 is really nothing. Now, saving $50 on my grocery bill is NOTICEABLE!! Ok, now that I'm done with that little tangent. Here is why I'm dissappointed in myself. I have had a note written and taped to my wall for a few months that said "TAX REFUND, 60K MILE TUNE UP!" So I knew as soon as my tax refund hit the bank I needed to get the tune up. The refund was $400 more than I expected, which was just enough to cover the tune up & renew my passport. So what do think I did? I took the money and paid for (4) greatly needed massages, chiropractor visit, therapy visit, donated some goods to a squadron in Iraq and took the little bit I had left over to get a new shower curtain and few other things for my apartment. On the one hand, I didn't blow the money on really stupid stuff. I paid for some health related stuff and donated money to a good cause. Those were good decisions. However, this doesn't change the fact that I needed thousand dollars, God blessed me with it, and then I spent it on other things. I'm so disappointed in myself!! And of course the stress of where to come up with this kind of money again is only adding more knots of tension in my shoulders which will lead to another massage. At least I prepaid for 3 massages so I can easily go Tuesday after work and not worry about how I'm going to pay for it :)