Ooof.

I took my vehicle in for service and picked it up today to the tune of $925. Oof.
Before I get tons of responses recommending mechanics, thank you, but I adore mine. They are fair, they don't talk down to me, and they aren't running a scam to bilk me out of my hard-earned pennies. Mr. T likes them too and says he doesn't even feel like he needs to go into the office with me to stand there and look threatening.

Regardless of how nice they are (they always tell me what has to be fixed, what would be nice to fix, and what I don't have to worry about if I don't want to), I still needed a major service, a new battery (I still had the original from when I bought it), and my front brakes redone, so what I thought would be a $200 expenditure rapidly quadrupled.

Not that I don't have the money, but there are a few other places I would rather have spent it!

Well, of course I concede that it's very important to have working brakes and a reliable battery, but you know what I mean. I just have to keep telling myself that this is a temporary setback.

Deep breath.