This article is a little rant/rave and a little beware the ides of dental school. They will get you. We had two cars coming into dental school. We found a great insurance rate from All State and everything was fine and dandy until my daily commuter broke down. Blown engine. I guess my crankshaft broke (rare) and siezed the engine up, i am still trying to figure out what to do with this car. The mechanic said $4000.00 to fix and I laughed and told him I could buy three of the exact same car, in running condition for the same price…go figure.
My wife and I made due and my friend and I would switch cars every other day and drive to school. Everything that breaks comes in threes right? Well I figured that it would be small things. I was right and I was wrong. Our DVD player broke next. Then the unthinkable…my wifes car broke down! Everything at once too. Battery, starter, transmission…It had been having some starter issues, but one day it started to leak from the transmission and then very day it was being driven to the mechanic it decided to break down half way there. After a tow and 1000 dollars later the car is fixed. A transmission seal broke, our battery was shot, a new starter was needed and a general tune-up from the starter electrical issues.
We will survive, but the money we had allocated for summer break was eaten alive in less than two weeks. It is important then to remember to budget emergency cash when taken out additional loans. You may have to go through a private institution because most schools will not give out extra money for the purpose of ‘emergencies’.
