I need to rant right now. Because I am debating what I should do. I just got a wonderful gift of money from my mother for my birthday yesterday. It is to pay for something in particular (not saying until I get it...hopefully...I am waiting on ebay). Anyways, I come home from work today and smell something (like melted rubber or plastic). All I think is my cats dragged something dead into the house again. I come in and find that they knocked my snakes (yes I have a snake as well) heat lamp on the floor. There is now a circle of melted carpet in the back cornor of my boyfriends and mine bedroom. The circle is about 2 1/2" in diameter. Now here is my problem, I have the normal bills coming up (mortgage, Association dues, tuition, etc.) coming up and planned for those. I also now have a check for my birthday to get something I have been... coveting for a long time. Now I feel I have to replace the carpet. But I don't want to spend my money.

Here are a few details:

1. I do own this condo 100%
2. The carpet already looks like "poop" because my cats used to drag earthworms and dead rats into the house and leave them in areas (resolve and oxyclean can only do so much).
3. They have also managed to tear up the carpet in areas around the house.

End point, the carpet at some point will need to be replaced, the question is, do I do it now. Or should I wait maybe a month or two to replace. Would it be horrible to leave a hole there. It didn't sink down past the bottom potion of the carpet (the area where the carpet bits are sewn in. So I am not seeing padding or wood flooring.

What should I do?