Rant #3,086: Always Tomorrow

Like last week with my taxes, this time around, I got hit again with an exorbitant fee that happily, I can pay, but unhappily, takes a huge bite out of my bank book.

I went for my yearly car inspection yesterday morning, and boy, did it hurt!

On top of the inspection, I needed one of my car’s rear brake lights replaced, and more costly than that was that the car needed front brakes, too.

Pair all of that up with the registration fee and an oil change that I also needed, and the total bill came out to more than $600.

It is an almost nine-year-old car, so there really is nothing you can do about it but again, pay the piper and get the heck out of there in one piece.

So I did just that, paid the bill and got the heck out of there.

As I was driving home, for the first time in a long time, I was actually thinking about applying for the service station credit card that was being offered.

I do not have any credit cards … we had some financial nonsense a few years back, and my wife and I simply got rid of all of our credit cards.

We have debit cards, but that is about it.

If I had the store credit card, I could have paid for today’s work with that card and then paid it off each month at a rate of my discretion, so it might have been easier to handle it financially doing it piece by piece rather than in one fell swoop.

And strictly because it is a store credit card, I would never be tempted to charge anything else on the card, because this particular card is simply geared to service station purchases and nothing else, so I would not add charges to the card anywhere but this service station.

Honestly, I am still thinking about it, but for today at least, what is done is done, and I really can’t look back.

Happily, I have been prudent with my money, and back-to-back taxes and auto bills won’t kill me altogether, but boy, is it still difficult!

And what makes things even worse is that we are a grand total of six days into the month, and I won’t get paid again until at least April 1, so I will just have to manage with what I have for the time being.

Yes, it is called “April Fools’ Day” for a reason, and this year, it is on a Saturday, so it will make things a little bit more difficult for me.

But what can I do about it?

Nothing, that’s what.

You just have to pay the piper, and then move on.

Here are the lyrics to the classic song “Money (That’s What I Want)” by Barrett Strong, and yes, those lyrics are ringing so true for me early in March … my ears are ringing as I think about it.

“The best things in life are free
But you can keep them for the birds and bees
Now give me money
That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Your lovin' gives me a thrill
But you're lovin' don't pay my bills
Now give me money
That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Money don't get everything it's true
What it don't get, I can't use
Now give me money
That's what I want
That's what I want, yeah
That's what I want

Well now give me money
Money
Wow, yeah, I want to be free
Oh I want money
That's what I want
That's what I want, well
Now give me money”

Yup, fits me to a “T” today.

But there’s always tomorrow …

And that’s precisely what I am afraid of.