Throw me a freakin' bone here

Every time I get more hours and more money that goes along with it, I start to feel better. My savings account grows slowly, and my checking account does, too. I like that feeling.

And then, lo and behold, something comes along. Like a cat and a yearly doctor visit (a couple months ago). Or, this time last year, a flat tire and a yearly doctor visit, which brought on an ultrasound to double check for cysts I knew I didn't have (and $1,000 in bills because my insurance deductible sucks).

This time, it's my washer and dryer and my car. I've had a washer and dryer in my apartment the whole time I've lived there, which is just over a year. When I moved in, the woman at the apartment office told me I wouldn't have to rent them each month because the appliance center wasn't billing them for it. As long as they didn't do an audit and realize I had one in my apartment, they wouldn't know it was there, and I wouldn't have to pay for them. Sweet!

Well, they audited. If I'd moved at the end of July when I was thinking about it, I wouldn't be in this position. Or I'd be in this position in another apartment closer to the actual city of Dallas, which has the #1 crime rate in the country. Anyway, I called two companies that rent washers and dryers to my apartment complex. It'll be from $29 to $33 a month for me to rent my not-even-full-sized STACKABLE washer and dryer each month. That means that for the remaining year that I'll be living in the fabulous city of Dallas, Texas, it'll cost me just under $400 to rent a washer and dryer. A stackable one. That's not even full-sized.

So I'm looking into buying a used one. Except every time I call, it's already sold. How do people find out about these ads so fast? At least I know it'll be easy to sell it a year from now!

As for my car, I went to get its state inspection yesterday. Two reasons Oklahoma is cooler than Texas: 1) Oklahoma realized state inspections are a pain years ago and stopped doing them. 2) My windows are not too dark in Oklahoma. Texas seems to think they are.

Granted, I do feel my windows are a little dark -- especially at night. But getting my windows tinted lighter isn't necessarily at the top of my budget to-buy list. Actually, I guess it is now -- right next to a stackable, used washer and dryer.

How am I supposed to start saving money when this crap keeps coming up?