I know how you feel. I've been in "rainy day mode" for the last two months:
- My car had some problems, and while it was in the shop I had a good bit of maintenance done -- brakes, struts, things that really did need doing.
- I needed new eye glasses, and I wear an expensive progressive lens.
- My teenager also got glasses, fortunately a simple, inexpensive lens.
- Car tags and taxes were just due.
- College tuition is due soon.
- My cell phone broke, and since we have no house phone, I had to replace it right away.
I've definitely spent more than I've earned in the last two months, but I'm not losing sleep over it:
- I'm thankful that I've saved so that I can pay these things without difficulty, and as I look around my house, I see that (because I've squirreled things away) we can cut back our spending to replenish the emergency fund ... without sacrifice. Looking in my freezer, I see several big pork loins that I purchased buy-one-get-one-free; I'll cook those for family get-togethers and pot lucks with friends. I also have lots of homemade soups, spaghetti sauces, and casseroles that I've frozen -- those'll see us through everyday meals until our emergency fund is replenished. I'm glad that I've done the bulk of my Christmas shopping and that I have an artificial tree in the attic.
- I'm thankful that I've owned this car for 8 years and have really never done anything but oil and tires thusfar. Now it should be set to serve me well for another 8 years, or even more.
- My old glasses lasted me a long time, and I'm amazed at what I'm seeing now.
- My daughter's moving forward in college, and this payment is my halfway-to-her-graduation payment.
- I can't find any silver lining about my phone; I'm kind of pissed that the old one only lasted two years.