Like most adults, you've probably got a budget.
As the economy seems to worsen, we have to make our paychecks stretch a little further every month.
Food, car payment, rent, gas, medical, electricity. It all adds up.
I like to come up with a number that I need to make every month. Most people that I know are either in the red every month or they are just barely making enough money to get by.
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For the most part this works. We're no longer living in a society where it is normal to have an extra $500 every month. An extra $50 a month is great. Most people that I know don't even have an extra $5 per month though.
So what happens when you have an extra $5 per month and a hidden cost suddenly pops up?
Trouble.
Last week a friend of mine had car trouble that was unexpected. Nowadays you can take an Uber so it's not as bad as it was say 20 years ago to have car trouble. However, anybody that works and takes their Uber to work everyday will tell you that Uber is not very cheap in the long run. It adds up.
Fortunately my friend is able to work extra hours to pay off the car issue. He should have his car up and running soon..
At the beginning of this year I was unfortunately told that my rent would be increased by $100 per month. To me that's a significant increase. I wasn't expecting it but I guess I should have been.
However, the reason for this post is all about oil changes.
My car requires synthetic oil. I found a place not too far from here that will do a full synthetic oil change for $70. They have pretty good reviews on Yelp.
I was pleased to find the place mostly empty when I pulled in. They were able to get started on my car right away.
A sign out front mentioned that they would replace your windshield wipers for $10. I was excited at the prospect because mine no longer work very well.
When all was said and done I was given a bill for $150.
Well now I thought.
I budgeted $100 for this because I was quite certain that the $70 price would not exceed $100.
Keep in mind that the wipers were supposed to be $10 for the pair.
They were nearly $50.
Apparently my car requires some kind of special giant wipers that I was not told about before installation.
My car also requires nearly 7 quarts of oil instead of 5. Apparently that means that you pay more for the synthetic. I was not told that there would be an extra charge for that either.
Of course the very worst part was the fact that my seats are covered in black oil. That's pretty frustrating because I have been trying to wipe it off and not having great success.
However, each of us must be prepared for the hidden cost of living.
That means car issues, sometimes a higher electricity bill, medical issues, and all kinds of unexpected things.
If you are only saving up for the present then you're not saving up for the future.
You've got to pay attention to the hidden cost of living.