I certainly did not have a frugal day yesterday. Took my 2018 Volkswagon Jetta (the car my 93 year old mom gave me last year with only 23,000 miles on it) to my mechanic because of some noise I was hearing coming from the front driver's side. Turns out the lower control arm and bushing were failing and that rodents were also starting to chew some of the wires, which is very common out here in the desert. I don't know why I thought any of my cars would be the exception to the rule; some people in our village have had to replace the whole wiring harnesses in their vehicles which is well over $1000!
So yesterday's car repair total was $494 - he had said earlier in the day it could be anywhere from $500 - $1000. So I am super relieved it wasn't at the higher end of the estimate. And as K. pointed out, it was a free car to me so a $500 repair is nothing to get upset about. It is a great little car and gets great gas mileage, usually around 38 - 41 miles per gallon.
I need to go into town to prchase a high-frequency alarm system that goes under the hood of the car to keep the rodents away.