Changing Expenses for Next Year

So just as I was feeling all smug about keeping my ongoing expenses down, my benefits changed at work (or will change as of Jan 1). Overall, the new benefits are much better than the old. I am truly grateful to my company, as they are adding long-term disability as a benefit! Something I pay $1400 for a year right now. Of course I'll have to buy a small supplemental policy, but it should shave like $100 off my monthly costs. So that's great.

The insurance is also a much stronger plan, except of course in my case because my therapist is out of network. If she were in-network, this plan would be a dream. But since she's not there is a HIGH (2K) deductible and the worst part is that the initial plan year is only 5 months. So to continue seeing my same therapist I am going to have to bite the bullet. It's going to cost me $2300 for the first five months of the year, and that's for only 3 visits a month.

That said, I can still afford it, and to me, it's worth it, although it is a steep price. I am going to use that time to really work hard and hopefully not need as much therapy, but also to find an in-network therapist that I can switch to in June.

I will take advantage of the FSA, so at least I will be paying this big bill in pre-tax dollars.

I will have a ton of deductions from my paycheck:
401K
Transit Reimbursement
FSA

That will over all help to lower my tax bill, and hopefully I will barely pay anything for health expenses in post-tax dollars.

One Time Versus Ongoing Expenses

So I've been talking about how all year I've been spending a lot of money. Or what for me feels like a lot. But I realized, as I contemplated buying another pricey item, there is one thing that saves me from overspending. And that is that these expenses (except for my health care expenses) are one-time expenses. So my friends who pay $600 more a month than I do in rent pay that every month. That's a total of $7,200 a year. That's two sets of furniture, or a whole lot of clothes. Or two vacations. The good thing about one time expenses is you pay up front and then get to use the items/service. So you don't have to continue paying, even though you might continue consuming them. Like with clothing. Or furniture. So while these items depreciate, at least you only have to pay for them once.

General Update

So I usually only update my NetworthIQ on a quarterly basis. I just did Q3 at the end of September. That said, I just updated it again. I can't believe how much the market has gone up this month. So much for sell in May and go away. I'm just so glad that I never took any money (barely) out of the market after September 2008. I've been fully in (while also building my cash position) the whole time, which has allowed me to recover A LOT of the value that I lost two years ago (on paper). I also wanted to update my NetworthIQ so (I am ashamed to admit this) I could resume the top position on the page that ranks networth in NY (I'm on the top of the 5th page). I am really motivated by moving up the list. I do not know why. I wish those other people success, but I guess it's just nice to have a visual way to be rewarded for saving more. Since it's not like anything really changes in my life when I save more money.

I'm also excited to try some new investing strategies. I'm going to open up a Lending Club account. I have also meant to buy some foreign currencies (being all-in on the dollar scares me) and maybe some gold. I'd like to buy shares in a REIT, but that's a little more complicated. I also think about buying some GLD. The last time I thought about this it was at 1K and today I saw it's at 1,300. Insane.

Networth

I'm stoked cause I just updated my Networth and passed a few people on NetworthIQ. Not that I don't wish them much prosperity and hapiness! But for some reason, I always focus on the people that are a few in front of me and it helps motivate me. I guess we have to use whatever works to motivate us to save!

Although this quarter was really strong due to the market, my savings were really low compared to every other quarter of the year so far. So, I'm going to try to be good in October. Although of course I have some "expenses"coming up. Such as Billy Elliot on Broadway, haha. Luckily all done with social security tax, so that gives me a big boost and this year it's for all of Q4. I also have probably close to $1,000 or more owed to me from my health insurance company. I'm always out of pocket about $1500 because I pay the doctor and they pay me back.

Boring, But Good

I realized reading over my posts that this blog is probably boring, haha. Lately all I talk about is spending. My goal for the blog is really for myself -- I think of it as an online money diary, but if other people read it and can relate or find any value, all the better. But I also realized that when things are on track financially, money management can be kind of boring. I'm not making any major investments, purchases (just some furniture), or having any big life transitions, so it's just nose to the grindstone, trying to meet my current needs and save for the future. I guess it's a nice place to be, as I'm not stressing about debt or worrying about having enough to meet my current needs. There is always the underlying worry about having enough to retire, but it seems difficult to do much more about that than I already am.

spending, spending, spending

So I am in the process of buying a bed from Craigslist, and I am also taking a short trip this month. This means I'll barely be saving anything. It's stressing me out a bit. Or at least is weighing on my mind. I'm going to try to cut back in other areas. I saw a vase for $300 that I was about to buy and then realized that I probably should not. Same with a pair of shoes for $120. I guess I will just delay.

My most favorite time of the year

. . . is approaching. It's a time when my income increases. First, just like last year, I got a credit for my gas bill. I should not have to pay a gas bill for several months starting from August. On the income side, I will have paid all of my social security tax probably by the end of next month. So my paychecks in September, October, November and December are bigger than the rest of the year. This year I've been paying $756 a month in SS tax. That is an enormous amount of $ to have added to a paycheck. This is like Christmas, Easter and my birthday all wrapped into one. And then the best part of all (hopefully) is getting our bonus paid in December. Our business seems to be doing okay this year, so hopefully it will be comparable to last year's.