Where it Went 10/13 - 10/26

Boo for this budget report. Not fun "boo" as in ghosts and Halloween but boo as in "boo hoo, I''m broke" or "my boo boo costs what?!"

After declaring I was gonna go out and spend some money, well, spend money I did. Then...I had a bit of a health scare, resulting in the following charges:

Urgent Care Center co-pay - $20
E.R. visit co-pay - $70
Prescriptions (including those not related to the health scare) - $20.
Grand Total = $110, which puts my total health care expenses at $180 in the PAST TWO WEEKS if you count the random $30 I owed my OBGYN.

Seriously boo to all of that. The Emergency Room is definitely a spooky place to spend your Saturday. And I don't even know if I will be charged a co-pay for my followup appointment today. Plus I went out and got some OTC things to help with my condition after the appointment. (Note that expenses today don't count towards the budget report, it's just aggravating.)

Anyway, the good news is I'm okay. And really considering opening up a Flex Spending Account since open enrollment season is coming up.

So here's where it went:

Projected/Actual

Sallie Mae - 407/407
Defaulted Student Loan - 260/260
Sprint - 74/74
Health - 60/180
Event Tickets - 60/60
Charity - 30/50
Groceries - 100/100
Clothes - 150/0
Misc. - 144/289




Booooo! Totaling everything up is scary. A lot of the miscellaneous is household stuff as I went on a kick of sprucing up our condo. But reality has set in and I'm done with shopping sprees for now. And I didn't even get any clothes!!!

I was able to earn $50 for consenting to take on another court assignment. I'm excited that these are coming in more frequently now as I definitely enjoyed spending the last $500 I earned. There may be more news in the area of additional income soonish so stay posted.

Finally Got New Contact Lenses

Yesterday morning I wake up to discover my very last pair of contact lenses had dried up. As I had previously written, my fiance and I had been sharing lenses for a while and even though my crappy vision plan said I was eligible for a new benefit as of January this year, I put off the visit for as long as possible. The reason: all the hidden out of pocket expenses they hit you with.

Luckily the extra paycheck has afforded me some extra cash and I was able to walk out the door with a year's supply of contact lenses, new glasses, and a bonus pair of sunglasses! The total: $225.

I expected to pay $200 so it was just a little higher than I predicted (feared). If I had been able to find glasses that were entirely covered by my plan benefit of $120 I would have been closer to the total. Alas they don't sell many glasses that don't look really really stupid for less than $120. Even though I got the more expensive frames I didn't opt for the extra anti-glare coating that would have cost $45 more. Out of pocket cost = $35.

The contact lenses were the biggest cost. I debated only getting a six month supply but the discount for buying a whole year's worth lured me in. Also one less thing to worry about paying for six months from now. My plan pays $120 after a $40 copay, so really $80, which would have only gotten me 1.5 boxes per eye (and they don't sell half boxes). So I paid more to save more. Out of pocket cost = $180.

The eye exam was free. They tried to convince me to get some high tech x-ray picture of my eye taken for $30 but the model picture alone was enough to scare me away from doing that. Out of pocket cost = $0.

The sunglasses were a cool bonus as I was in need of a good pair. They're non-prescription and the tech convinced me to get them since my insurance would cover it. I only had to pay the taxes on them. Out of pocket cost = $3.

Paying for stuff like contact lenses sucks but ,today I am seeing very clearly out of my fresh new lenses so in the end it was worth it.

Reevaluating the Emergency Budget Plan

Back in November, at the first sign of trouble, I posted a hypothetical Emergency Budget.

Now that the situation appears more dire it's time to reevaluate my finances to see how things will pan out were I to lose my job. Luckily it appears I will be able to ditch my lease once and for all in the coming weeks. So...as soon as the $85 Overdue Utilities are paid out, I will no longer be on the hook for my apartment!

Here is a new look at my fixed expenses:

Student Loans - 446*

Credit Card minimum - 15**

Prescription - 5(?)

Cell phone - 60

Collections - 385***

Total = 911 - are you serious? Yikes! That's worst than realizing I was paying $666 a month in student loans!

*Assuming I go back to paying $40/month for the School Loan instead of the $54 I have been paying instead.

**Excuse my ignorance, but do I have to keep paying this once the balance is paid off?

***260/385 in collections is for student loans but I separated it from the student loan total since you cannot defer a loan in collections.

This does not reflect any contributions towards living expenses (my fiance's mortgage and maintenance fees), groceries, or miscellaneous spending.

Assuming I qualify for full unemployment benefits, I will be making $405 a week on Unemployment, for a total of $1620, which means....I may be able to swing the Emergency Budget without even deferring my student loans!

It's not ideal, I realize, being out of work and not being able to fully contribute to our shared expenses but with $700 remaining I could still contribute to the groceries and have a little pocket change left over.

The only variable is health insurance and I'm still waiting on my meeting with the benefits representative to know what that sucker will run me for. Rumor is we're going to be able to continue on the State's plan for the same contribution we make now...around $100/month.

Forgive my nervous rambling as I await my fate.

Making the Most Out of My Dental Benefits

Since I am threatened with the loss of employment in January, I am trying to make the most of my health care benefits while I still can. Last week I discovered I had already maxed out my vision care benefits until January. And today, since I already had to go to the dentist, I decided to investigate my dental benefits as well.

First of all, I am lucky to have dental benefits in the first place. According to the American Dental Association, only about half of the U.S. population is covered by a private dental benefit plan. But even those that are covered, in my experience and research, still face hefty out of pocket costs if they require complex care. My father, for instance, has yet to replace a temporary crown in his mouth because it costs about the same as a slightly used car to replace.

Back when I had to have my dental surgery, I looked up my benefits to make sure I would not incur any out of pocket costs - that I frankly couldn't afford. And I was pleased to learn I had a maximum annual benefit of $1800 a year. The surgery was billed to me at $1100 (I nearly had a heart attack when I opened that) but I think it was negotiated by my insurance company at a lower rate.

It was not until today, however, that I discovered my unionized counterparts in State government have an annual benefit of $2300. WTF? And job security, wow, if only I could join their ranks.

Judging from the amount of cavities I've had filled this year (3), my two cleanings and my surgery I predict I have just about used up my entire $1800. Which is good for me since I got all these issues addressed and didn't need to spend more than $25 - the deductible I still haven't gotten around to paying - but bad for my wisdom teeth. They need to come out.

I've known for a good six months or so that my wisdom teeth were impacted. All four of them. I am not experiencing any pain with them but my dentist told me if I leave them in it will start to shift my other teeth and they will be hard to clean when I age. I know I can't afford to take them out now and hope I can either wait a little longer to have the surgery or keep my job. Ideally both.

I asked my dentist whether or not he thinks the oral surgeon could run the procedure through my health insurance instead of my dental - an all too common bit of administrative trickery - and he was uncertain. His coworker overheard the question and was a little more honest - that it would be up to the oral surgeon (aka he'd have to exaggerate on the forms a bit). I don't want to be considered a liar or a cheat but does it make sense to you that the same surgery is covered by one piece of paper but not the other? What would you do?

Good Thing I Have Insurance

Otherwise this would have cost $1100.


That's the spot where the dentist sewed a flap of my skin (taken from the roof of my mouth) to an exposed area of my gum. Yes, it hurts quite a lot.

I also need to get my wisdom teeth out this summer. I've gone without dental insurance for so long that I truly underestimated the value of having coverage now. Even though I'm looking for another job, it takes a while for dental insurance to kick in so hopefully I can finish all the work I need before then.