This month I went in for my eye exam. It's been a year since I've had one. Normally I can go two years without needing to go in and get glasses. Not this time around. I've been noticing that I can't see as far away and things just aren't as crisp. I was hoping it was a figment of my imagination. I was hoping I just had a couple of hard days on my eyes. Nope. Turns on my astigmatism in my right eye got a little worse and my left eye didn't feel like working as hard as my right eye. Go figure. My old arrangement with work was that they would reimburse me $200 every two years towards new lenses/an exam. But last year I was lucky enough to get VSP. That means the new glasses I have to get right now - are free. I don't have to pay a thing for them. But, if you wear glasses full time then you also know that you also need to redo your sunglasses too. These aren't free. I do get 20% off the final total of them when I get the lenses and frames all at once so it saves me a tiny bit. I wasn't expecting to fork out almost $400 dollars for new sunglasses with a new prescription, but that's what I'm doing. Thank you very much small tax return. The funny part is when I was talking to the sales person helping me, I was telling her how I was grateful for my insurance but I had been wanting to put that money into savings for a rainy day. She looked at me and said "I know you might not want to hear this, but it IS a rainy day." Yes, it had been literally raining all day. It also made me think though. She's right. That's the whole point of saving money. You save for important things that come up so that when they do you can be better prepared. I'm fortunate in the fact that I had the money to cover the cost of this. Hidden blessing.
Of course when it rains, it pours. Or in this case the water pump in my car blows and I also have to change the timing belt. Who knew the timing belt should be changed at 60k, and 120k miles. I am at 153k miles and I hadn't changed it once. Go MAZDA! And while I first thought I'd be car shopping this week (what was originally thought to be a problem with the connecting rod - which would mean a new engine which would essentially mean I'd be buying a new car instead) it turned out it was the pump. Fixable. It's still more than anyone would like to spend at one time, but in the grand scheme of things, if it buys me time to save more money for a new car... well, I'm in. I also asked very nicely if he'd be willing to match the price of the place I was going to be taking my car into that weekend for an oil change and tire rotation - you know, since they have to keep my car throughout the weekend and thus causing me to cancel that appt - and surprisingly he said he would. Woohoo! Hidden blessing #2. Then I went to pay for it all and it was cheaper than the quote he had originally given me... like 600 less. YES! Hidden blessing #3.
Next, though bittersweet - my sister and I were supposed to plan another trip to Palm Springs for later in the year. Because she just got a new job (GO HER!!!) she won't be able to take a vacation quite so soon. So the money I was planning on using to pay for my share of the trip... was now to be applied to the aforementioned items. Hidden blessing #4.
And finally, I still have a bit of $ left from my tax return to put towards a purchase for myself. One that isn't so much a need as it is a want. After all that, I still get to treat myself to something without having the resounding guilt it could have brought me. Hidden blessing #5.
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