I use to have these scares. When I first moved to the city, my life went wrong. I was lucky to pay rent some times and it seemed everyone wanted to screw me over from room mates to scammy companies. I learned a lot during the past few years.
1) Budget. You have one, that's GOOD. Just remember you will need a "fun" part of the budget or you'll find it impossible to stick to. No one is capable of never going out with family or friends. Sometimes you can't afford to go the movies with the gang, but I personally discovered that if you don't have a budget for the occasional night out, you'll find a way to spend the money.
2) Try your hardest to set aside money every month into a savings. The main goal is to get 6 months of bills. This is the emergency fund. Sounds like you could have used one for the Vet and the plumber. When I first set up my savings, I couldn't afford to cut anything out my budget really, so I sold plasma. I was able to then add $280 a month into a savings account. It was "emergency only" and when my cat went to the vet, I was so thankful I spent all that time having my blood sucked. These days I'm a lot more lucky and can just put aside money from my pay check.
3) If you're not all ready, consider improving job skills through higher education and get a better paying job. Can be certificate for something like beauty school, or even a degree for accounting. Check Financial aid to see if you qualify for grants. IF that's not your route, you can look for a better paying job, ask your current one for a raise or see about a promotion. Beware of this, if you ask for either, you need good reasons why you deserve a raise or a promotion. I can go off for a while about asking, consider it that's the route you want to take. This is all dependent on if you're currently just not making enough money to set anything aside. Sometimes we make money, we just don't spend it wisely.
I have other hints, but I think I typed enough. I do know how it feels to have your money sucked out of you for unexpected events. And I also know what it's like to not have money set aside to handle it. I've sold many personal belongings, done many weird odd end jobs, sold blood, turked for $.05 every 5 minutes, freelance writing, and other odd things to make money. It took me a while to get financially stable. Paying off debts, cutting costs from my life, getting a degree (HUGE part of everything), and learning about credit and savings plans.
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Unexpected Monthly Fee---Yikezzzz!!!
It scares me that the holidays are around the corner....
