Finally some good news

Today is the first pay check of the new year. I waited with anticipation to see the results of my choices. I had done a lot of math but with changes to social security happening I was not sure how all the numbers would net out. I am going to "save" by switching health care and the change in SS tax $164.88 per month. Yep feels like a raise to me. Now I need to be careful about what is true savings and what will be out of pocket deductibles. There will be an increase in our out of pocket costs, I am guessing. So we shall see what our options are and if I really save any money by having this health plan. I am hoping that I do. Over the course of the year it puts $1978.56 back into the kitty. Sadly though I know there are deductibles so.... I am not sure I will truly benefit in the end. Hopefully though there will be NO MORE SURGERIES this year. Two surgeries in one year is enough for anyone.

And for those of you who are checking my math yes this calculation is lower then I previously calculated in my estimated savings for the different health care plans. I increased my HSA account from 500 to 750 as a result of knowing that we would probably have more out of pocket costs. That is taken out of each check pre-tax. I also increased the dental plan to include the 2 year old. We are going to get him the the dentist at some point this year. Perhaps closer to 3, cause he is a big baby this week.That stubborn son of mine would not open his mouth if he was asked. So maybe in the summer. ;-)

In the mean time I don't want to fritter away the increase in cash flow. $82.44 per check is helpful. I have two problems this month. #1 I dipped into my cash reserve for my checking account. So I think the first $82.44 will have to go towards maintaining the $1000 minimum balance I try to keep in my checking account. The balance did get down to $876.44 so I will be paying the stupid tax on the checking account this month. $14.00 fee coming my way. Sigh...Issue #2 is I had to dip into the savings I had. So my balance is currently: $1644.86 instead of the $2000 where I like to maintain it.

I have an automatic transfer of $105 From checking to savings. It will take 4 more "payment" transfers before the balance goes above 2k again. That means I will have paid myself back by March 15th.

Now to be sure the first thousand is for a real emergency. The second thousand is for known expenses that I like to avoid. Car insurance being top of that list. Some time ago I divided Car insurance and I think DD contact lenses to determine I needed to save more. So far the automatic savings has worked very well for me. I never feel that OMG feeling in the pit of my stomach that I have forgotten something. And although I do like to pay the car insurance with the tax return I dip into that top thousand of savings when it rolls around if I need to like in Oct. when there is no tax refund to cash in on.

OK so the math:

I am short $356.00

$105 * 4 = $420.00 // current payment pays back the deficit with $20.00 left over to go to debt at the end.

$165 * 3 = $495.00 // paid back in 3 transfers plus So I would be done by 2/28 AND it leaves me with $95 in the beginning of March to go to debt.

This is of course understanding that Murphy did not come to visit my house - which you know he LOVES me. Who am I kidding. I none the less hope for a quiet few winter months. In the past it typically is in the fall where I fall apart so here is to hoping...

The other option is to put in an automatic transfer directly to the credit card
I am leaning towards the automatic transfer. Its cleaner. I am already doing it, so the bite wont be too bad. And well I like savings in my pocket instead of those bloody debtors.

Of course I am paying interest for that privilege so there is the argument for the other side. paying off the debt faster pays me faster.

I think its the fact Murphy in the form of a snow storm or a DD need will win the case in the end. I am going to do the cash thing. I need a 2k Emerg fund and that is that. Once the savings account is paid back then I can begin to hit the debt harder. And if we use the tax return on the car insurance.... Ahh I can continue till October on the $ I have and stay focused on the debt. Lets hope I actually get a raise this year too. I think we'll know in June. If its a whopping $2.56 again so be it. LOL More reason to study programming in my spare time.

Oh and for those of you that noticed I slipped the extra $20 into my purse - Yep I always seem to feel short on pay day. Maybe that $22.44 will help me stay in balance and I can avoid dipping into savings.


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......