Vehicular Update

So I don't know if I mentioned it in my other post, but a few weeks ago the faithful old subaru I was driving around bit the dust. To be more accurate I was chugging along when all of a sudden it started to sound like it was going to explode, sounded as loud as a train. So I pulled over and eventually figured out that one of my spark plugs was loose, no big deal I thought, so I screwed it back in and went on my merry way. But apparently it came loose for a reason, and about 20 miles later it popped out again, and this time it wouldn't go back (I later realized that the threading in the hole which the plug screws into was stripped out).
Since then I've made a few attempts at fixing it but so far none have worked, (not even that JB weld stuff...:( ) so I've been driving around my new car, the 5-speed Saturn instead.
You actually learn to drive a standard remarkably quickly when it's forced upon you, and the 15 mile stop-light-infested parkway that I drive down twice a day to get to and from work only makes the learning process that much faster.
Of course there's a good reason I wasn't driving it earlier besides being new at it, and that was the lack of insurance, registration, and inspection on the vehicle.
I have since purchased insurance and registration (which was surprisingly no headache at all, I didn't have to go back to the house for missing documents or sign a 110 pages of legal documents, I did have to pay $170 tax on the car though...that was a disappointing, but not nearly as much as the headache I've been having getting the thing inspected.). Yes so far this car has failed inspection twice...why?
Well the first time it was because I had my check engine light on. The guy said "Well it might be an error cuz we don't see anything wrong with it, so I'll delete the code and after about 100 miles or so if it doesn't pop up again we'll get it taken care of."
Naturally I listened to him, not being much of a mechanic or really knowing anything about cars myself and after about 150 miles I took it back, still no check engine light. When I took it back however it failed inspection again, and this time they discovered it was my emissions. Turns out I've got a bad catalytic converter (I did some research and figured out what that does, and now I'm cursing my luck), so apparently the car runs fine, a catalytic converter isn't even something a car needs to run, but in order to ensure that I don't pollute the atmosphere more than is necessary I have to reduce my emissions with one of these things, and of course they happen to be made out of a precious metal like platinum, making them rather expensive.
The final price the guy quoted me for getting a new one installed was just under $400 dollars. I'm currently looking around for a better deal, but man...I'm honestly a little fed up with all these car issues.
I learned a while ago not to fret about stuff like this or make a big deal out of it, worst case scenario I pay the $400 and get it repaired and inspected, and really that's not a huge deal. I just hope this car has no more little expensive surprises waiting for me.....