Figuring it out as the chips continue to fall

I'm getting it figured out. Of course, the rules will change the minute I think I've got it nailed down. This feeling of semi-accomplishment is a fleeting moment. I'm reveling in it anyway. The truck has been repaired, the emergency fund has been set up, I've been toying with the Mint.com site and I'm getting comfortable. The Mint.com site for budgeting and personal money management is extremely flexible. I'm just sayin' ... don't give it information you don't want it to compute. As in, and I find this funny, within the Mint.com software my bank account says 'money out' to pay a credit card, and the credit card statement says 'money in' because I paid them. Mint.com decided those two transactions cancelled each other out and basically computed that I had several hundred dollars more in my account (at my disposal) than I actually did. I deleted the credit card information completely as extraneous to my overall program. Money out, that's what I want a handle on first.


Oh yeah, I made it to a fresh dentist yesterday. I feel this office is trustworthy. The first dentist cracked my tooth while working on another tooth. He was pretty brutal with the care I received, I went home to lick my wounds, and felt the jagged edge of a tooth that had not had a jagged edge before.

Picture to the right is a pretty reliable depiction of Ancient Dentistry. Dr Liu is living in the past.

It's when the piece fell out (three weeks later) that I realized what had occured. I'm being completely sarcastic when I say I've never had the pleasure to pay over $800 in dental care in order to have a root canal (for an additional $1,600 including crown) when it's all finished. Just my favorite stuff.

Yesterday's dentist took the time to show me options in tooth restorations, he gave me time lines, pain expectancy...just everything. I'll have the root canal there. The Assistant was pretty smart too. The front desk gave me three options to pay, two of them are no interest options. I do find it interesting when the front desk is uppity about payment. The first dentist, that did the damage, was uppity. Yesterday's dentist just laid out the info and said get back to them when I'm ready. This is not the first time in my life that the way an office handles the money at the front desk is in direct reverse proportion to the quality of service. I'll be calling them tonight, as another chip of tooth came out yet today...it's not fixing itself (shoot, I was hoping it would). I'll be putting my review of the dental offices on Yelp.com while I'm at it.

So, the chips are still falling where they may. The figures are still in motion, this part reminds me of stellar and planetary movements, I'm not sure the budgeting, adjusting, rebudgeting thing will ever stop. I don't mind paying attention for now, but is this something I'm going to have to keep my thumb on all the time? I'd like to walk away and enjoy the sunshine once in a while...but hey, too early to worry about that yet. So, here's to keeping my thumb on the pulse. For as long as it takes.