Saving Money

Last year I bucked the trend and spent my government stimulus check, albeit to pay off an existing debt. But that's one less monthly payment I have to make so it was well worth it.

This year, in addition to having to pay for glasses, contacts and a contact lens fitting, I have other medical bills to pay. I do have a healthcare savings plan, but underestimated the amount of money I would use; it's a use or lose benefit which I've never used when offered previously. I put what seemed like enough money to pay for glasses in the account and it isn't enough. Which is fine; this is just another way of using pre-tax dollars. I'm waiting for my debit card, which will have $250 free dollars from my employer on it in addition to my payroll deductions. The additional money would carry over, but there's no reason for me not to spend it on medical expenses since I have plenty of them.

While I'm saving for retirement through paycheck deductions, I need to increase my savings which is difficult. Right now I'm so focused on getting rid of the random bills that I've incurred recently that I'm not nearly as concerned as I should be about saving money. They say you should have the equivalent of 4-6 months expenses in savings. At the rate I'm going, that'll take me forever to achieve. Especially since I want to reduce my debt.

What I need to do is sit down and create a budget for myself and figure out if there's a way for me to achieve my goals of a) cleaning up my new, annoying medical debt; b) not carrying a balance on a credit card in order to do so; c) reducing my overall debt and d) increasing my savings.

My federal student loans are at a fixed rate and are unfortunately are the highest interest rate I have; however, the rate is much lower than the one I had for my undergrad loans. When I consolidated it seemed better to get a fixed rate loan because the rate I got was the lowest ever at that time. Now it isn't.

My other loans are really at a negligible rate of interest, differing by about .25 from one another; they both just recalibrated and got lower. I could decide that with such a low rate of interest I'd be better off not worrrying about paying extra on either of these loans and merely pay off my other debt as quickly of possible and put more in savings until the interest rates on these loans goes up again. That might be the most practical thing to do instead of worrying about getting the smaller one paid off sooner; the same payment at a lower interest rate will reduce principal by a slightly higher amount each month.

Cutting Back on Buying

The big question lately is whether Americans will change their consumption habits and continue to cut back. When I say "continue" I mean on a long-term basis. Will we stop buying everything immediately and going out to eat all the time for the future, or is this a temporary setback from which we'll revert once the economy improves? Right now, there's no way of knowing.

I don't think I'll continue with the consumerist behavior, simply because I had cut way back before the economy imploded. I have a bunch of books to read, needlepoint to work on and have to wait for my eyes to get straightened out first. I'm on an austerity program, probably until Easter so I can get some bills taken care of.

The convenience store gift card I referenced earlier will take care of filling my gas tank through President's Day so long as gas prices don't rise a lot in the next three weeks. That helps a lot as the only unfixed expenses I have are gas, food and my cellphone. The gas card means that I can devote another $100 to paying on one of my bills. That's huge!

Mid-Winter Safety Check

I know that not everyone lives in a Winter state and that Spring, in theory, should be coming soon. We'll know in a few days, when we find out what the Groundhog does.

Meanwhile, it's below zero again here and is going to be that way for a few days. I had a run-in with black ice last weekend; despite not driving fast on a city street, headed down a hill, I made approximately a 120 degree turn and ended up more-or-less perpendicular to the street on which I was driving. My tires are properly inflated and are new as of a few months ago. I didn't hit anything and nothing hit me; someone else drove into a snowbank, and I have no way of knowing whether it was from hitting ice or avoiding me.

Right now I have a full tank of gas and in order to avoid a frozen fuel line have always filled at a quarter tank. I work for someone who is completely reasonable and doesn't care if I'm late in the morning due to traffic, so long as I call once I figure it out and make it up by staying late that day or working longer another day during the pay period. That helps a lot because while I try to leave early enough to get to work on time, it doesn't always happen that way.

I make sure my fluids are topped off, get my oil changed regularly and carry extra wiper fluid and oil with me. I also have winter things in my trunk, such as jumper cables, a blanket, shovel and other random emergency items.

Be careful out there!

'Safe' Jobs

I don't know if there are any safe jobs. Government used to be viewed as safe but now has hiring freezes, wage freezes and layoffs, just like any other entity. Healthcare seems to be viewed as safe, but people are advocating medical tourism, so not so safe.

I've seen a few ads locally for attorneys that weren't posted by agencies; however, I had an invitation on LinkedIn to link with another recruiter I know. I don't think she has jobs to fill right now, since nobody seems to.

What's the safest job possible? Bartender, but not at a trendy spot? Barber? Grocery clerk?

College Educated Chinese Notice Lack of Employment

Considering that, like all of us, I have an advance degree, it's difficult for me to be sympathetic with the Chinese who are having trouble finding jobs. The job market in the US seems to have gone down directly when I have needed a job, every time.

When there is a global recession, when factories are closing down and countries are printing money right and left to bail out big business, it isn't a huge surprise if the job market is down. In China though, it seems education was the big saver, as it used to be in the US. No more.

Vision

I'm happy to have vision coverage with my health insurance, so was interested to read about how expensive it is to see; my co-pay is under $20 but in the past, when I haven't had coverage, I've paid a ton of money just to get my eyes checked. I'm very nearsighted and have always gone to an opthamologist; in the past I have had the start of a torn retina so I'd have made the switch by now anyway. An optometrist, once having noticed the tear, would've had to send me to the opthamologist for treatment.

Because my eyes are special, I paid a lot for the new lenses for which I'm currently waiting. I know I'll get what I need with the eyecare place at my opthamologist's office. I'm very nearsighted and have had trouble transitioning between close and distance so it was no surprise to learn that I need glasses that can compensate. My opthamologist recommends progressive lenses, which he says are the best, therefore, I have ordered them.

Meanwhile, I'm working with the contact lens tech, who hasn't yet come up with a prescription that works for me. She's sending new samples for me, but since I got eyestrain from the last set, I'm not optimistic. Her other idea, not realizing, or perhaps not caring, that my day is spent in front of a computer or book, is that I can throw on a pair of readers for the close work. If I need to wear readers all day, where is the advantage of contact lenses?

The other interesting part of the article was the reference to the same place in India to buy glasses. I'm still considering sunglasses for which I wouldn't get progressive lenses.

Out-of-business Sales

I like to shop the sales, but typically don't hit out-of-business sales. Usually by the time I become aware of them, the merchandise is picked over. It sounds like they're a crapshoot anyway. Then again, there are enough stores going out of business that there may be opportunities. Right now I don't have extra money for frivolous things, if I wanted them so won't be shopping; this week I paid for gas with a $100 gift card generated with points from my local convenience store.

I'm more likely to shop stores supplied by liquidators, including Big Lots and the PPL Shop. PPL is a local non-profit, with work programs, one of which is a retail store that buys closeouts and catalog returns as well as taking donations of used office furniture and other things. I've gotten some amazing things there over the years.