Aaahhh!! My car!

Its all Evans fault!

So my A/C decided to die. I think it died on June 1. Day one of the Summer! So NOT cool.

At least it survived the Boise trip, that would've been miserable.

I knew it had a leak cuz it would disappear in the winter and I have refilled it every spring for the past three years or so. But this winter was especially bad and prolly did some more damage to my car, made the leak worse or something. Sigh. What do I do now?

My car is on its last leg right? 186,000 miles on it, more than 10 yrs old, and I dont want to put any more money into it than its worth right. But to find and diagonse the problem to see how much it costs makes me soo stressed. I dont want to know the answers. I dont want to know how much money it'll take to fix the A/C. I dont want to have to make the decision on whether or spend the money or just go buy another car. I think its more than just the leak now, cuz even with some free-on in there its not coming out cold, so whatever part that is that keeps the air cold is not working, not just that I have a leak.

I dont want to know.

BUT the reason I have a hard time just giving up on this car and buying another one is:

A) If I buy a car I want a brand spanking new one I think. I can't decide if I'm using most of my savings to buy a new car....but if I'm going to put a huge chunk of my savings into a car its gotta be brand new and even then I'll still need a loan.

B) I just got a house loan not even 6 months ago. You should't get/ask for two loans within 6 months it didn't look good on credit and

C) I haven't even figgered out how to pay the mortgage and all the bills yet with my two paychecks a month. Its been like 3 or so months and I haven't figgered out the budget to pay the bills, especially after the expense of the Boise trip. Before the house, it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but now... I gots more responsibilities and I dont know how to handle it all and I dont want to add a car payment AND higher car insurance on top of the expenses I can't seem to grasp yet.

Or... buy a used car. And I dont even know if I want to trade in my car for another. Maybe I want to sell it or give it away! I dont think it'll help me much in way of trade in...but we'll see I guess.

It freaks me out how much I rely on my roommates check each month. It really makes me wonder if I could do this house by myself if I had to. And to add a car payment, which I've never had before and put it on top of the mortgage, and then higher car insurance.... ggaahh I dont think I can do it.

I mean I knew some things would have to change when I got the house, but it certainly helps to NOT have a car payment cuz I didnt have one when I bought the house! So many changes. I actually have to budget now. Weird. I dont know how much more expenses I can pile up, not to mention that there might some emergency expenses or trips to pay for.

So my options are...

A) Diagnose and treat my current car. Experiment and pay someone to do some things in an attempt to fix it. Or see how much it will cost to fix it if problem is found... OR give up and

B) Buy a brand new car and get a loan. I am not compromising on a used car when I'm spending like 10 grand of my savings on a car. Looking to spend like 20 grand on a car, and need to finance the last 10 grand somehow. I would like and obviously feel more comfortable if I could save some more money, but it looks like my car is running out of time. Or I'm running out of patience.

Now, this is all Evans fault because! He jinxed me. Like he always does. I think I mentioned in a past journal entry how Evan and I chatted about my car this spring and his poor opinion of my car and he kept mentioning "WHEN your car has another problem I dont think you should spend money on it and you should get a new, more reliable car" I told him my car was doing just fine, reliable the past 5 years I've had it, it only had that one problem with the coolant that one summer and its been fixed and doing fine. It took me to CA twice last year and the Grand Canyon I think its okay. But... he just had to say all that and now look. My car has one more problem with it and he thinks its done for. The car still runs! Its just...no A/C in the summer... Sigh. My poor Jack. Its been a wonderful 5 years with you. I don't want to get rid of you. And I'm just afraid to know how much it will cost and who can actually accurately diagnose it. I hate the maintenance part of cars.

Maybe I should just buy a new car to skip that kind of stress hopefully for the next 5-10 years. But I dont want another loooaannn.. I just want to pay for the car.... but I dont want a used one... gaaahhh... but I dont think I can handle the expense on top of the mortgage...

Evan and I went car hunting last night after some brainstorming about finances and attempting diagnosis of the car. He really wants me to get a Dodge Avenger or some cool muscle looking car. For him, of course. But...this is my car, my money, and I'll be the one driving it. He is seriously like trying to manipulate me into getting a car he wants. With all my stress and he's taking me to a Dodge and Chrysler car lot. Oy vay.

After driving the Avenger and me not being convinced we went over to try the Cruze again. I liked the drive of the Cruze. I'm not so picky about the inside of the car as long as things work ya know, radio, power locks, windows, blinkers, etc and its comfortable for passengers, but its more important to me not to feel like I'm driving a freakin boat like the Taurus or Impala. I want something I'm comfortable parking and the Avenger seemed to bulky for me to do that. I like the ride of the Cruze, felt a lot more like my Cavalier just enough spunk and kick to make me feel fast and its cute. The Cruze is not excatly a mid-size car, its more compact, but its not exactly as small as a compact, ya know? Its the smallest mid-size car you'll get and thas kinda what I want.

Now I know I want a Cruze and now the different models and packages that come with it are plaguing my mind when I havent even gotten past my first issue which is my current car.

My mind is swimming in cars and money. I can't turn it off.

I'll attempt a diagnosis of my car and then attempt to make a decision from there. Til then I will attempt to deplete the full tank of gas I have and die of heat in my travels.

On a good note though: I went to the dentist for the 6 month check up and didnt have any cavities. Woot Woot. I think I've heard that only three times in my life now. I do pay for the flurid treatment every time though cuz I will pay the extra $20 to do whatever I can to help keep my teeth. Clean teeth! Wee!