Open Enrollment and an FSA Question

As a few others have mentioned, it’s Open Enrollment season. In the past nothing too exciting has happened, apart from a few dollar increases here and there.

Luckily the dental and vision plans have remained the same. Unfortunately no changes in the 401k either (still no company match in sight). The most drastic change is in our medical coverage. Aside from the $4 a week increase they are doing a complete overhaul of our plan…

We used to have a plain old open access PPO, however in 2010 we are converting to HRA’s, or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Basically,how that works is that our company gives us a pool with a certain amount of money (in my case, $750 for a single person). Whenever I get treatment for something, or a prescription it draws from this amount. Their reasoning is that this will hopefully get people to think about where they get their treatment instead of just heading to the emergency room automatically (that was one example), or getting an MRI someplace expensive when you could save several hundred dollars elsewhere. The one cool thing is that our provider now offers a feature that will tell us how much a certain facility charges for a procedure or whatnot. (If they offered it before it was VERY hard to find. I never found anything like that!)

Once that $750 is gone (the amount is higher if you have others on your plan) we have a $2,000 deductible we have to meet ($1250 out of my pocket, plus the $750). At that point I believe we pay 20% of any cost. At $4,000 the insurance kicks back in at 100%.

It doesn’t sound too bad, particularly when you throw in the fact that any preventative care visits are $0. So that wouldn’t draw from my deductible. Within a typical year I would only go to the OB/GYN for my yearly checkup anyway, and perhaps the general physician as well. So all that is free. However the problem is my BC pills….

With our current plan I pay $50 for every three months of BC pills. However, I did some research, then called our pre-enrollment hotline to find out how much I would pay next year. The answer was…..$70…. A MONTH!

Not good. This was after the “discount”. So, calculated over the entire year, it would bring the total to about $850. That’s $100 OVER the money I get! UGH!

I realize that’s not horrible. I paid around $240 out of pocket this year for the pills, so right off I’m going to have some out of pocket savings. I was just hoping this new plan would eliminate my spending!

I also realize that another option would be switching to cheaper pills. However, when I take into consideration how I felt before I switched pills….that is not an option. (I was experiencing some pretty serious depression before I switched to Yaz.) I would gladly pay $70 a month to NOT feel that way again!

So I suppose my real question is…how much should I put into my FSA?

$100, just to cover the pills? Or should I add in some more in case anything comes up? $200? In case I feel like getting new contacts (since I’m not getting Lasik for now), or in case I need some other prescriptions? The FSA is a “use it or lose it” deal, so I’d rather not put much more than I need!

Your advice would be much appreciated!

 

A day off!

Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, and surprisingly our company is giving us the day off. (Well, technically it’s one of the 3 days we can choose to have free, and this happened to be the last opportunity for that before the year ends.) I was a little hesitant to take it, as we’re going through an awkward stage at work where no one wants to ask for days off for fear we’ll get our heads chopped off. (Speaking of which….I need to check out when I’m taking the rest of my vacation days….) Well, I spoke to my boss and she says since it’s a “use it or lose it” situation I might as well take it. So I am.

I don’t want to let the day go to waste (after all there’s plenty I should be doing at work) so I’m hoping to be super productive!! Here’s a list of all I want to get done:

1) Sleep in a tiny bit. Nothing crazy, like noon. But it’d be nice to sleep in until 7:30! Check! Slept until 8! It was awesome!

2) Work out. What I do depends on what I did on Tuesday night (I’m supposed to run). Went for a run, but wimped out when it got too hot.

3) Sort out my car insurance issues. I will either renew with my parents (although probably not, because it bothers me that while I’m on their policy my name doesn’t show up on the card as a “named insured”….isn’t that asking for trouble?), get a new policy with the same carrier (should be about the same price, but I’d need to officially change my address, which sounds like a hassle), or get a new policy with a new company (I’ve already received a quote from them, and it’s comparable). (Still need to take care of this)

4) Sort out my health insurance issues. Mainly finding out how much my BC is going to take from the deductible with the new insurance plan so that I know if I’m going to need a FSA this year. Unfortunately I will still need a FSA this year. My pills are getting much more expensive!

5) Call Comcast to find out about their internet rates/offers. (Yes, I’m still internetless.) Conclusion: I’m going with Comcast’s offer, but am still deciding if I should buy or rent a modem.

6) Watch some Gossip Girl! Yeah, just had to throw that in there. Check! It is such a soap opera! lol….I can’t believe I’m enjoying it…

7) Take some clothes to the drycleaners. Check! so expensive! I decided to go with the “eco-friendly” place instead of the cheap local place I used to go to….let’s hope I don’t lose any buttons this time!

8 ) Bake something? Didn’t do any baking, but that’s ok. I was plenty busy!

That sounds like a pretty full day, so I should stop there. Although I should throw some cleaning in there….that 2nd bedroom needs to be organized, and lots of junk needs to be thrown out!

 

Starting over

It’s official, my thumb drive is dead.

I was an idiot to not back up those files, when I KNEW that thumb drive was the only place they were stored. I’d thought before “what if I lose it?!” and still did nothing. So, a word to the un-wise…..back up your files!!

Thank goodness for this blog though!  Thanks to my posts I don’t have to do much to remember what was on my budget, what the amounts were, and I’m really glad this happened right at the beginning of the month. I didn’t have too many expenses to re-enter. This also gives me an opportunity to rethink my spreadsheets and make any tweaks I’d been too lazy to do before.

Other than that trauma, I had a pretty great weekend.

Saturday morning went a little like this: made buttermilk pancakes (from scratch, of course) while watching gossip girl, watched some more gossip girl, got in a quick workout. Showered, did laundry, folded/stored clothes, cleaned up the apartment while singing and dancing. It was great. Later in the evening we had dinner at Five Guys (yum, but definitely the last time I go to that location…..too crowded) and then went to the movies (something we hadn’t done in a while).

Sunday morning a family friend delivered a piece of furniture (like a wardrobe without the doors….but not quite a bookcase) so now I don’t have to buy a bookcase as I was considering doing! After that we met up with my sister and BIL at the arts festival and rounded out the afternoon with a burrito from Qdoba. Afterwards I went to my dance class, and I ended the evening with a quick run and an hour of stretching. Dinner was a sweet potato made at home. (Man, do I love sweet potatos!)

 

It’s Friday!

I was all excited this morning because I was ready to post my weekly spending again! The good news is I didn’t spend much this week….the bad news is my USB thumb drive is not being recognized by the computer here at work. CRAP. I just hope it works when I get home because it’s been a WHILE since I’ve backed up those files….all my financial spreadsheets are on there!!! [sigh] I’m crossing my fingers it’ll work.

Anyway, I didn’t do much spending. From what I recall I only have a charge for Netflix, $15 for the pots I fired from my pottery class, and a trip to the grocery store. I think. I know I haven’t eaten out since dinner on Halloween, so I’m proud of that.

I’m doing well on my challenge for this month. So far I’ve worked out every day. While I technically didn’t work out on Monday, I worked out twice on Tuesday. I’ve even progressed to a new level of the Couch to 5k program! That’s big news for me.

I’m trying to be a little picky with how I spend my time and money this month. My flamenco classmates are preparing for a show, and I won’t be performing so I’ve chosen to skip classes this month. That should allow me to save all of my “dance money” towards my bellydance costume. Since my Sunday classes have already been paid for, that’s $130 I’m saving right there! I may start back up with flamenco in December after the show is done with. We’ll see how I’m feeling.

Another time “drain” from previous months was the Whole Foods classes I was going to. Not a waste of time by any means, but time consuming. This month they apparently haven’t scheduled a lot of classes, but one of the few that caught my attention was a Gingerbread House Building Workshop!! It’s $15 to attend. Should I take it? Or is that totally lame of me? lol. (Not that lameness has ever deterred me in the past….) Mostly I’m concerned if it would be worth my $15 for a workshop.*

As for my weekend, I’m hoping to go check out the galleries with the BF tonight. Since my mom is out of town (and she’s my usual gallery partner) I’m hoping the BF will enjoy it! There’s also live music at the park, so that should make it more interesting. On Saturday I’m going for a run, and then maybe going to an Art Festival not too far from my apartment. I’m calling my sister tonight to see if she wants to come too. Saturday night is jam packed with activities around the city, so if we have nothing better to do we could always find something to do. Sunday morning is up in the air, but in the afternoon I have my dance class!

It should be a good weekend….plenty of things going on, but no rigid schedule to make it stressful.

*The workshop fee is waived if you decide to enter the Gingerbread House Contest that they are hosting. Registration for a family is $25. Maybe I should check that out instead and make a house with my little cousins? Sounds like a lot of pressure though….

New Note: I just paid my Amex bill which means….I should be getting another $25 rewards card within the next two weeks!! Yay! I’m thinking I’ll either use that towards the workshop if I decide to do it, or use it to buy myself a set of heavier weights. (I currently only have a 5lb set.)

 

Pottery

I just realized I never told you all about how my pottery classes went!

 To summarize in one sentence: it was fun, and I think I’ve gotten it out of my system for now.

 Now, in more detail. It really was fun. The best part is that I got to learn some actual technique (my previous “teacher” was self-taught, so he didn’t have as much formal technique), and my work improved tremendously from my previous experience with just one class. My pots went from tiny 2” tall cylinders to much larger 3, 4, and almost 5” pieces. (I haven’t actually measured them, that’s just my guess.) The ladies in my class were nice, and there were always plenty of studio members around to help out.

 As for the bad stuff…..it’s far. Almost 30 miles from my apartment. It also cut my Saturdays right through the middle (1-4pm, and I always had to leave at noon to make it on time), so I’m actually kind of glad they’re over now. I also hated the cleanup process, but what can you do about that? Lol. I was also slightly annoyed that the class only included the firing of one piece. I ended up firing 4 since I figured I could make these Christmas gifts for some family members, and each additional piece was $5. Finally, I was annoyed when my beginner’s luck started to dwindle about halfway through the second class. Suddenly I was completely unable to pull a piece properly. I’m not sure what happened, lol.

 Either way, I’m totally glad I did it. It was fun, and as I mentioned before I got it out of my system. I feel a little sad saying I’m no longer “dying to sit at a pottery wheel”, but that’s the truth. Perhaps in the future the fever will build up again and this time I’ll know where I can go.

 I went for my final session this Saturday, in which we glazed (i.e. painted) our pieces. Nothing fancy, just picking out colors and dipping them in the glaze. I had a lot of fun since we were mostly unsupervised and I really got to talk to my classmates. Either way, the pieces will be fired this week (unless they were fired already this weekend) and they’ll be ready for me to pick up over the weekend! I’ll let you know how they turn out!

 As for the numbers: $125 for class time and instruction + $15 for additional fire pieces = $140 for 18 hours and 4 pots. Not the cheapest entertainment, but certainly not bad for a unique experience, and possibly 4 Christmas gifts!

 

October Goals Wrap-up

Is it ok if I skip this wrap-up altogether this month?

 Yes? Good. Because, um….I kinda failed at all my goals.

 Anyway, moving on, I’m determined to make November a better month, however I’m taking a slightly different approach. I’m going to try and take my mind off money (keyword: try) and focus a little on myself.

 One of the things I want to focus on, while this isn’t my “getting fit” blog (oh, you poor thing, how I’ve abandoned you), I definitely want to focus on not hating my body anymore. Ever since my boyfriend has gotten in shape, my physical state has been steadily deteriorating.  I always joked around that as a couple we maintain a pretty stable weight…. when one loses, the other gains. And now I’m starting to see that it’s true! I’d like to blame it on stress at work, and how I majorly snack when I’m stressed (I’m talking about entire cans of chips and/or pints of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting) there’s really no excuse. I simply have to hold myself accountable.

I actually weighed myself this weekend, and the damage was less severe than I thought. About 4 pounds. Not great, but I feel like I’ve gained 10 pounds, and I feel disgusting. It’s that feeling I have to get rid of. I purposely left the scale at my parents house because I don’t want to obsess with a number. I want to focus on how I feel.

 One of the key and underlying components of this is that I need to learn to manage my time. That includes finding time to sleep, limiting my TV time if need be, making time to prepare dinner, and of course, exercising.

 November Goals

1.  Do some form of exercise EVERY DAY. No excuses. Holidays are usually my cop-out days, but I’m running a 5k on Thanksgiving. That means the hardest day has been taken care of!! My plan includes running outdoors whenever possible, and any other day I can’t get outside will involve one of the many DVD’s I have. Dance classes don’t count anymore. (On Sunday, not only did I go to my dance class, I went out for a run, AND I did a whole hour of stretching. Go me! This post was written in advance, so I’ll assume that on Monday night I did as planned: dance class, then some Core Secrets afterwards. I did no exercise Monday night. I skipped dance class, but danced around at home while practicing our dance choreography….BUT I woke up early this morning and did the Core Secrets workout. As long as I go for a run tonight, I’m counting the Core Secrets for Monday.)

2. Plan my meals. I want to create a loose meal plan for each week. This will probably be my toughest goal, since it requires (go figure) planning. But it’s also the most important. Not only it will not only keep me healthy and give me the energy I need to workout every day, it’ll also save me money.

 And of course, I’ll throw in some money goals just so I don’t find myself in shambles in December:

3. No new clothes or shoes. No new “household” expenses, unless it’s for cleaning or related to the tables I need to repair.

4. Pay an extra $400 towards my car loan.  (I’m hoping that I’ll have a total of $100 extra left from Entertainment, and Gas, and possibly Groceries. My $300 ST Savings will go towards the car loan.)

 A few other unofficial goals would be keeping up with my reading schedule for Anna Karenina (probably not gonna happen, since I’d need to read about 30 pages a day, and I’m already behind), getting and keeping the apartment clean (although I need to), and repairing that side table!

 One thing at a time though….

 

October Spending

October wasn’t exactly the best month for my finances. I fell behind on my weekly posting and tracking, and I’m afraid I might even be missing some cash transactions from my records. I’m hoping this is the month I learned my lesson though, and that November will go a bit more smoothly…

(Budgeted/Actual)

Regular Expenses
Rent - $1,150 / 1,150
Phone - $50 / 50.53 
Internet - $50 / 0
Student Loans - $167.25 / 167.25
Car Loan – $260 / 229.50
ST Savings – $300 / 300 (part went to cover the amounts I went over budget with.)
Roth IRA – $400 / 400
Dance – $130.00 / 90.00 (extra $40 is going towards paying my costume for January’s showcase)

Irregular Expenses
Personal – $8.33 / $55 (I finally got a haircut!!)

Variable Expenses
Utilities – $100 / 258.01 *
Groceries – $200 / 199.04
Gas – $200 /  141.06
Household – $45.00 /121.85  (went way overbudget. Bought a tea set, placemats, and plants )
Clothing – $40.00 /177.51 (I’m no longer allowed to buy shoes. Period. That includes boots, unfortunately.)
Entertainment – $100 /100.44
Set Savings – $38.29 / 38.29**

As you can see my spending was a bit high in October. I’m assuming my gas was higher because of my pottery classes being far from my place, and the grocery spending was high because I threw in a trip to Costco. Household and clothing…..well, we all know about that.  Luckily I was able to cover that overspending with any of the leftover money (categories in bold), and with a bit of help from the ST savings. (ST=Short Term) In total I was able to put away $195.10 in after balancing the budget. (Which will be paid against my car loan as soon as I get a hold of my checkbook again!)

*I’ve decided that my “Set Savings” are going to be contributed to my emergency fund exclusively, and that will be the extent of my efund contributions for now.

**Utilities were super high because I was billed for all my deposits this month. $50 went to water, $50 went to sewer, and $35 went to an assessment by water. My actual bills were only $35 or so for water and $85 for electric. I’m not sure why electric went up, but at least it wasn’t by much. I’m going to just leave it at that, and hope that it evens out in the next 3 months before my next water/sewer bill.

 

Lasik Consultation #2

After seeing a good review for a local laser eye center in the newspaper last week I decided to set up another consultation. It couldn’t hurt, right?

I went in not expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised! Instead of feeling like a cold institution, this place made me feel at ease. The best part: the technician walked me through all of the tests, explaining what they were for, how it factored in to me being a good candidate for Lasik or not, and she even showed me all the cool colorful graphs! Even though I’d already had a consultation somewhere else, this was all new to me. (The “highlight” was when they tested me to see if I created enough tears. What did they do? They stuck a string under each of my eye lids for 30 seconds. Very scientific, huh? lol. Not as painful as it sounds, but interesting nonetheless. Has anyone had this test done?)

Without boring you with many more details, I definitely felt more comfortable here and with all other factors held constant, I would pick this place over the other any day. The best part: when it came time for pricing….it was cheaper! Not by much though, about $4,800 (vs. $5,000), however they offered me a 10% discount (something about me having insurance, and so they offered it as an “acknowledgement” that I have insurance although they don’t take it.) and after that it would come out to $4,311. They had other “packages”, but honestly, why wouldn’t I pay a little (i.e. about $1,000) extra for the best option for my eyes? (That “best option” would be the iLasik customized procedure, with a “bladeless” technique for making the flap.)

Side note: I had seen another center advertising their rates as “Starting at $1,600 per eye”. I had gotten excited, although now I figure that’s just for traditional lasik, and not the “customized” version I have been quoted.

So I was really happy with this center, and really glad I took the advice to look into at least one other place. Now, the questions are do I keep checking out other places? (It’s a hassle to have to take time from work though!) Should I figure out a way to pay for this in the near future? If so, do I get it done before the end of the year so I can take the tax deductions? Or do I wait until next year and take my time saving?

Looks like I have some more number crunching and thinking to do.

Suggestions and advice welcome.

 

“Wait, bobs have bangs? Oh crap…”

So, I went to get my hair cut yesterday. After having paid way too much last time for a cut I ended up not liking all that much, I ended up putting this off for nearly a year (Had I waited one more day it would’ve been exactly a year). My hair was way too long, and way out of control.

 I had also put it off because I had no clue where to go. I’d loved the cut I got 2 years ago, but that place was $80 a cut, and I would prefer to keep it lower. The last cut I got should’ve cost $88 (without a coupon), so there was no way I was going back there. I’m also terrified of trying out a random new salon….I’ve gotten another 2 bad haircuts that way. Eventually my sister told me about where she gets her hair cut, and that she was pretty sure it was under $50. I thought I’d give it a shot.

 My first impression: umm….am I at the right place? It looked a little um, dumpy. One of those tiny salons that aren’t all that fancy. It just wasn’t where I’d imagine my sister getting her hair cut. I was really early so I had time to sit around and see how everyone interacted.

 In conclusion, while it wasn’t the fanciest place, I like how everyone knew each other. It wasn’t pretentious, as some other salons are. They treated me as though I was a long time customer. The employees were very entertaining. (I walked in and was greeted by a past-middle-age man wearing a bright red-orange wig tied in a ponytail on the top of his head….a la “Pebbles” from the Flintstones. Later while another female customer was swooning over the “Twilight/New Moon” boys in a magazine, our male stylist walked over to join in on the admiration.) Very laid back, very enjoyable atmosphere. I could certainly be comfortable here.

 Now, onto the hair cut…..

 I didn’t really know what I wanted when walked in. I didn’t know if I wanted to go very short as I have in the past, or just ask them to give my hair some shape while taking off an inch or two. Well, when it was time to tell him what I wanted I instinctively asked for a short cut. The guy asked “so you want a bob?” Not thinking much I said “yes, sure….a bob!” So off he went.

 I never know if I should wear my glasses or not when getting my hair cut. On the one hand I wear my glasses a lot, and I want them to cut my hair with that in mind. On the other hand I’m blind without them and can never tell what they’re doing. So, when he asked me “so how long do you want your bangs?” I thought “bangs?! Oh shit, what is he doing….” That’s when I remembered bobs have bangs. Crap. He must’ve seen the look of fear in my eyes, so he said “ok, I won’t make them too short”. I now feared for my life. (My face is oval, but slightly on the rounder side. My forehead is also tiny, so bangs would pretty much wipe out my face and make me look like a 5 year old again.)

 Eventually he let me put on my glasses, and I let out a sigh of relief. After a few more tweaks, some blow-drying…..it looked great! I got a cut very similar to my $80 cut of two years ago for half the price. After tip and all it was $55!!!

 I think I’ve found my salon.

 

October’s 5th Paycheck

Back in the day when I didn’t have many monthly bills, I budgeted weekly, which means I never had to deal with months when there were more paychecks than others. Then I moved, and now that I’m faced with more bills (and a new budgeting method) I’m experiencing the joys of a 5^th paycheck for the very first time!

 I must say, there’s something very empowering about having a 5^th paycheck and knowing your budget isn’t really depending on it. I could’ve spent it on shoes and booze and my budget wouldn’t have suffered one bit. Fortunately I wasn’t planning on doing that. Here’s where I finally decided my money would go:

 Total: $783.95

$50 Donations

$250 Travel

$169.19 Roth IRA

$314.76 Car Loan

 Believe it or not, A LOT of thought went into this. Originally when I drafted my budget, the 5^th paycheck would replenish the funds that weren’t getting as big a contribution due to the 4-week method (basically the efund, travel fund, donation fund, and gift fund). It’s changed about a dozen times since then. However, due to recent developments (like my Efund essentially being put on hold, and my strong desire to max out my Roth IRA, and then my recent urge to get rid of the car loan) I came to the distributions above.

 Thanks to this extra paycheck I’ll be accomplishing one goal, and closing in on another!