I took my car in to the dealership this morning for an oil change and for them to put it on their diagnostic machine to see why the engine light is coming on. It's been on for a year. Midas had put it on their machine a year ago and couldn't find anything so didn't charge for it.

I thought that maybe the machine at Ford would be better at diagnosing a Ford, so gave it another try. They found the problem. It is not a safety issue, but it will not be good for the engine if I let it go too much longer, especially if I want to keep the car running another two years. They used a lot of initials and said something about a whosit and a manifold thingie (yes, my knowledge of car bits is astronomical), and needing to order a part.

Anyway today's visit cost $135.12. I made an appointment for Friday to have the rest of the work done. It needed to wait until the next payday anyhow. The estimate is $679 and that includes tax. Well, we have an extra paycheck this cycle that was all supposed to go towards paying down debt. Now a big chunk of it will go towards fixing the car.

I am going to be positive about this, though. We have the money to do it, when we might have had to use a credit card a year ago. And even if we didn't have the money coming in I have over $1100 in my emergency fund. So we would have been able to cover the car cost with the EF without putting it on credit. And that is huge. Not having to use the EF is even bigger. It feels really good.