Charlie Murphy

I had to take in DH's car, "Charlie Murphy" as I call it, this a.m. to our trusted mechanic who is downtown, then ride the rail in. I call the car Charlie Murphy b/c it is black, i.e., dark, i.e., "Darkness" as fans of the Chappelle show will recognize. I hope whatever needs to be done does not cost very much b/c we are tapped out already for the month. I dipped into my separate checking account last night for groceries, which was really not a problem, I mean, that's what the money's there for, but I get crazy neurotic when my bank accounts start to hover around the cushion that is my personal comfort level. For example, this small separate account I have is where the dough from Job #2 goes, so its regular monthly input is a smidge under $600 total. I use that account to pay my car note, the cell phone bill, and finally, a certain amount for property taxes is taken out every month to go hide over at the credit union. My minimum comfort level for this account after all bills are paid is, say, $50. I just can't reconcile it in my head that $50 is (gulp) perfectly respectable and that I could spend all the $ in this account down to $1 if I really wanted to. Nope! I can't do it! Don't try to convince me! $50 minimum or death!

Well, I got it down to $44 today, and I didn't die, so that's good. Still... it hurts.

Trying to decide next which married status DH and I should file our taxes under. I keep leaning one way, then the other. There are pros and cons to both. This sucks.

Good news: my car insurance agent finally convinced me, with actual numbers and figures and after many phone calls and emails for almost 2 months, to switch my homeowner's insurance over to him. The discount on our vehicles we'll now get should pay for the condo insurance, so I'm coming out ahead. But I had to write a check to him this week to cover the 1st half of the year. I'll get a partial refund from the other place, but who knows when?

So I brought my lunch today! I've got just a few bucks to spare these days and I'm saving it for fun times with the baby this weekend. At least I have a lovely black-and-white cookie to enjoy today ("Look to the cookie!"--Seinfeld) that I was delighted to find at our local HEB last week. It's good to live in a Jewish neighborhood.