Financial faux pas & the Knox County Fair

At one point yesterday, our checking account had $-240, $6, and finally $120. OUCH.

Did you ever just have one of those days where you are helpless to stop the snowball effect of bank fees?

I woke up to that madness. I happened to check our bank account, thinking we would be at our usual couple-hundred dollar level that happens a few days before David gets paid (and at the end of the month since I'm paid on the first, monthly). What I saw was alarming—"Insufficient fund" fees everywhere! Holy cow when did that happen?!

It happened when I was in Chicago and not paying attention to our account. I can usually see that sort of stuff coming. When I do, a little click of the mouse transfers funds from one account to another, and we're in good shape until we can deposit more money.

In this case, a series of $5-$10 transactions (gas station drinks, fast-food lunches, etc.), ended up costing us $60 apiece! It's so infuriating when that happens, when you know you could have prevented it. What a waste of money.

My husband, who is altogether braver than I, talked to the folks at the bank and groveled our way back to refunding some of the fees. He explained that this was a one-time deal, that we haven't had anything like this happen since our reckless college days, and could they pretty please remove some of the charges? And they did. Whew. But not all of them. We still sucked up about $300 with absolutely nothing to show for it...but a lesson, I suppose, to always pay attention to our bottom line. And I will, I promise!

But the second part of this story is that I had originally hoped to do two things yesterday that cost money: 1) See my friend Shauna's show (Cinderella at Worthington Community Theater) and 2) Go to the Knox County Fair with David and Noah.

Until 5 PM when some of our fees were refunded, none of that was possible. Once we only felt half-broke, we decided to go to the fair. Not only was I in need of some family bonding since I'd slipped in at 10 PM the night before from Chicago, I find a gyro and a lemon shake-up irresistible. Plus there was a free concert yesterday with the price of admission (just $5!). The headliners were Jason Michael Carroll and Jake Owen, both up-and-coming country singers.

I was surprised to discover that the Knox County fair is tiny—much smaller than my home-town fair in Trumbull County (NE Ohio). But it still had the same charm. There were rows and rows of food vendors, pushing everything from Indian Bread to corn-on-the-cob, to cotton candy and ox roast sandwiches. There were animal barns filled with 4-H-raised cattle, a vendor "freebie" barn, grandstands for the tractor pull, and an endless selection of make-you-dizzy spinning rides.

We sashayed through the food, the vendors, and an animal barn or two, and then made our way to the grass next to the grandstands to get ready for the free concert. There were still 20 minutes before the show started, and Noah was getting restless in his stroller. We knew once we let him out the fun would be over because we'd be chasing after him in a crowded area, with no chance of watching the show. I decided to pass the time capturing some pictures (a shock, I know!).









We made it through half of the first song before we packed up and walked to the car. We didn't feel too bad about it—it was free, after all! Here's a view of the grandstands as we were pulling out of the gates:

On the way home, we decided to go for a short drive through the rolling countryside. Mount Vernon is awfully beautiful this time of year, and the view at sunset is a knockout!

I think we were gone a total of two hours, but even that short outing as a family was worth it. I think these nights are ones I'll remember forever (even the bank boo boo!).