plans
Mama Ant asked if I still thought I would pay my car off this year as I’d planned to do…
I told her that I didn’t think so. Not after having been unemployed for two and a half months. Not with the medical bills to pay for, the student loan to pay off, and house repairs to make. I’m not giving up, I was just answering her question as realistically as I could, on the fly, not having done the math.
I wasn’t sure if I would be able to buy my home by the end of last year when I made those plans, either.
So you never know. Things might turn out better than I think. In any case, I’m taking care of the bills first, then the other stuff. Paying off the car is lowest on my list. Although I do plan to get my oil changed and my tires and alignment checked soon. With the medical bills and the car maintenance, it’s like the universe knows I’m working now, so everything is coming around with its hand out. It’s cool, though. As long as I’m working, I don’t even care.
Funny how a little perspective can change what you stress over. And make you more patient with the interruption of your plans.
damn damn damn
Florida Evans was right. Damn damn damn.
My tummy and head have been bothering me all day.
I did not need to see not one, but two medical bills in my mailbox when I got home today. One for one hundred dollars. Another for twelve hundred dollars. Yeah you read that right. I guess I can just add those to the one I have for ninety dollars laying around here somewhere. Chalk that up to having substandard medical insurance when I was temping. The insurance company was billed, and they decided not to pay. Even though I called them to get assurance that the services were covered. Not only am I no longer with the job I had that insurance through, but even that previous employer isn’t with that raggedy insurer anymore. Whether or not I can get the insurer to pay, it’s a time sensitive situation, ’cause you know if somebody doesn’t pay it, it affects my credit. I have excellent credit and I refuse to let it get blemished for this. If I have to pay for this myself, I will. I have the money, I’ll live. I’m just annoyed about the whole thing, though. You know that if the insurer was paying they wouldn’t pay full price. But since it’s me…
Anyway, whatever. Rant over. I don’t have time to dwell on this.
back to the routine
I’m back to the same routine I had before. I’m taking my lunch to work. I’m making do with the clothes I have until I take care of more important things. I’m not going impulse shopping. I’m increasing my net worth as aggressively as I can with my discretionary funds. Yes, I want to enjoy my money a little more. But you know what I want even more? To feel good about my finances while I’m doing it. I don’t want to go to Ross and drop $100 on clothes and then go home and wish that I’d killed off some of my student loan with that money. I’m not doing total deprivation – I will have the clothes. I will travel. I will trick out my car and decorate my new home. But all these things will happen in due time – over time, as I save for them, piece by piece. In the meantime, with most of my money, I’m keeping my expenses low and attacking my goals hard. I’ve got to make up for the lost time while I was buying my house and while I was unemployed.
I am a financial powerhouse.
I hustle.
I can do everything I set my mind to do with my money. I can earn more, invest more, save more… and owe less!
Every little bit helps. I’m getting to work.
observed
Observed: Hosting folks is expensive. But it’s better to have as much as you need than it is to run out of food or drink, and we didn’t. It was a great, but hectic weekend.
Anyway, my new schedule is a little hard on me right now. I’m adjusting my sleep, and everything else. I don’t remember the last time I balanced my checkbook. In fact, I have to run and do it now. After a certain amount of time not doing it, I start getting scared to spend money until I know where I stand.
whirlwind
Had my housewarming this weekend, finally. I’ve been too busy cooking, cleaning, shopping, entertaining, and who-knows-whatever-else-ing to have time to blog. We got great friends and family attendance, no one broke anything, and we have plenty of leftovers, which is good, ’cause I’m not shopping again, period! This whole week was a whirlwind, between starting a new job and preparing for the party. I promise I will catch you up on everything later, but I’ll say now that a lot of fun was had, a lot of money was spent, and not all of that money is mine. Thank God for a happy life. Anyway, I haven’t had time to update my checkbook, so I don’t know how much money I have. Payday is Friday. I’m looking forward to it.
what’s a bobbin?
I have wanted a sewing machine for years! I have been sewing stuff for years, starting with a little pillow I made for my parents’ eighteenth anniversary when I was in middle school. I took fabric and lace scraps, pillow stuffing, and a needle and thread and made a heart-shaped pillow, embroidered with “Happy 18th Anniversary” on it. You know, Mama Ant still has that pillow. And I’m still proud of it. Of course, I did that sewing by hand, just like all my alterations, hem repairs, button fixes, bathroom curtains, stuffed animal repairs… I’ve long wanted to learn how to make clothes, like Erica B. does. I never bought a sewing machine because I either didn’t have the money or because I did, but I couldn’t justify the expense in light of other obligations. I actually bought a sewing machine just last year as a present for my cousin’s teenage daughter who wants to be a fashion designer. I really wanted to support her dream.
I was so jealous. I wanted one for myself.
So last week, while I was fresh off the high of accepting an offer of employment, I noticed the Amazon deal of the day on Mapgirl’s website. A sewing machine that was marked down! I couldn’t resist. Call it a “Happy New Job” present to myself, but I had to have it. It seems like a pretty popular and reliable model, and Erica B. actually recommends it. Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it. And pay off my credit card at the end of the month.
paperwork
I won’t even annoy myself by trying to figure out how much time I spent trying to fill out all my benefits paperwork. There was the W4, the I9, the various insurance papers, the direct deposit form, gym waiver, health savings account papers. They had me calling my parents for SSN’s, looking up my doctor’s insurance number, and trying to figure out what I think I might spend in the next year on health care costs – a first for me. My gosh. I don’t want to have to do any of this again. And yet, I already know that when I’m married, I’ll have to. Arrggghhh!
I read through the entire Health Spending Account explanation and packet. I was skeptical at first, ’cause I already learned about the “use-it-or-lose-it” provision. In my imagination, I was thinking of some blogger (was it Mapgirl?) schlepping to the drugstore to buy miscellaneous stuff near the end of her Flexible Spending Account period to keep from “losing it.” I didn’t want to withhold too much money from my check. But it would be nice to take advantage of some tax-free dollars. I’ve done it before with transit vouchers and it was pretty cool – more money in my paycheck, knowing I paid less in taxes… So, I made some estimates of how much stuff would cost me over the course of a year and decided to give it a shot. Guess we’ll see how it goes.
no crystal ball
I was trying to use paycheckcity.com and the IRS Withholding Calculator to figure out how to budget my check and set up my direct deposit over the weekend.
Impossible.
My tax situation is simply not the same as it was last year. I will make less money this year than last. I will itemize for the first time, so I have no idea how much my deductions will be – since it’s only May, and since I’m still learning what all is deductible. My job offers a Health Savings Account, and I don’t even know if or how that may affect me. Oh – and I anticipate being married by the next time I file taxes. Which totally changes my filing status. The tax changes to unemployment benefits threw me off, too, since the withholding calculator doesn’t account for that. I can’t even effectively use the withholding calculator this year.
However, this is what I did: I divided the $5000 IRA contribution limit by the remaining pay periods between now and March 2010 (since I have until April 15 to finish contributing for the 2009 year). That helped me set a goal for how much to invest per paycheck to that account, and you know I need to, ’cause my retirement savings has suffered for a while now. Then I looked at what I paid in taxes last year, because my salary on this job is similar to what I made last year – that looked like it was 16% of my gross income. So I played with the paycheck calculator to see which number of exemptions claimed would result in at least 16% of that amount being held by the end of the year. Looks like two. Since I’m itemizing, I’ll have more deductions, and I’m making less than last year, I still think that I would over pay with two exemptions, but I’m not sure. It’s impossible for me to make an apples-to-apples comparison. But if my withholding is going to be off, I’d rather get a refund this time than owe – I’m erring on the side of caution. Beyond taking two exemptions, and sending enough to my IRA to max it out, I’m going to keep a separate “allowance” account on the side for guilt-free, non-necessity related spending. I will automate as much of this as I can. I figured out roughly how much I should be able to put towards saving, and how much for debt reduction – if my estimates are correct, I should be finished with the student loan progress bar by fall!
But all of this is speculation. I haven’t even received my first check yet. But I noticed that my mind was running – thinking of ways to spend the money I don’t even have yet. Sitting down and taking a realistic look at what I actually have the means to do was necessary, in order to keep my expectations and my goals in check! Better to plan now than spend willy nilly and miss chances to invest, save, and pay down debt.
questions galore
You know how, in a job interview, they ask you whether or not you have any questions for them? Here’s a list of some of the questions I had for my new employer either during the interview or after the formal offer. It’s not an exhaustive list, but they’re questions I figure some others may also benefit from asking for themselves the next time they switch employers.
Is this position a new position to the company? What is the work environment like? Who would I be working with? Is there a pre-tax public transit voucher program in place? (I had it at a previous job, and thought it was cool and convenient.) Are there any continuing education programs for employees in place? How do you handle sick days, holidays, and vacation days? Do the vacation days collect cumulatively over time if they’re not used, or are they use-them-or-lose them? How far in advance should someone request vacation days? Does the company support or ever encourage telecommuting? How is maternity leave handled? How would salary increases be determined and how often would my salary be assessed? Is there a company match in the 401k plan, if so, what is the match percentage, and is there any way to move up my eligibility date for participation? What are the expected hours? When would my first pay date be? Do you deduct and pay local taxes for city residents? Even though dress is casual, should I dress up for my first day? (For the record, the answer was that I could dress up if I wanted to, but everyone else would be wearing jeans. I’ve got half a mind to be like S23 and have people keep asking me why I look so nice. LOL!)
the kid is back
Take a good look at the progress bars in my sidebar,
’cause they’re about to change.
God continues to bless me.
After two and a half months of unemployment, I’m starting a new gig on Monday.
Have a good weekend, and think happy thoughts!
