Debt Hater

Traveling for the Holiday

Hi!

My guy and I are going to visit his family waaaay down South for Christmas, so I will be in a car for a very long time over the next day or two.

I will be back to the blog periodically, but we'll be visiting quite a bit and just chilling. I'll update you before the New Year.

Merry Christmas!

DH

Pondering Financial (and Personal) Goals for 2009

Ok, my Christmas shopping is done!

And I did not fall prey to any of the promotions in my inbox.

I've been thinking a lot about what my financial goals for 2009 will be (as well as personal goals).

We're hoping to move out of this studio apartment into something larger.
I'd like to buy a home by the middle of 2010 or the start of 2011.
I plan to take a trip for my 2009 birthday.
We might get a pet!
I may start my job search, or at least seek opportunities to expand on my skills and increase my income.
I am interested in teaching.

So, all of those will be factors in my financial planning.

Also, some other observations:
I'm getting tired of tracking every last receipt. It's become second-nature, but I am thinking about using one of the online cashflow programs. The software may also alert me to budget shortfalls, spending patterns and ways to save more money that I am missing just keeping my rudimentary spreadsheet.

I never stick to my budget categories, so I may chuck them. Ok, so you know from my monthly reports that I always go over my food budget and usually over my clothing budget. But, most months, I don't spend more that I have left over after saving money in my e-fund and 401k and paying bills, so maybe I'll allow the money allocations to be more fluid. So long as I don't spend more than I have left over, it shouldn't matter what I spent it on.

I have some BIG items that I want to save for. That means maximizing income, because there's just nowhere to reasonable slash spending. That means I have to stop being lazy about pursuing those opportunities.

Sorry, this is more me thinking out loud than anything, but, as we approach 2009, now is a great time to think about how you'd like to hit the ground running financially in 2009.

What are you planning for or what would you like to do that you aren't doing now?

DH

Holiday Retail Promotions FLOODING My Inbox

I'm done with my Christmas shopping (I think. If I forgot someone I'll scream, then apologize profusely, then get that person a gift).

But, like I'm sure is happening to all of you, every store I've shopped at in the last 2 years is sending me e-mails EVERY DAY with ever increasing discounts.

Two days after I got a "20% off your order and no shipping on orders over $150" e-mail from J. Crew, I got another one saying "30% off your order and no shipping!"
Hold the phone!

I bought a new dress coat for myself (yeah, for me; I had been eyeing the coat since August and I WAS NOT paying what J. Crew was asking at full retail. They ain't Gucci or something). It was already reduced, then the extra off, then no shipping.

But see, I bought it with the 20% discount.
So, I went back and put the same coat in my shopping cart with the new discount and it was about $55 less! Not only was the discount steeper, but the coat had been further reduced from two days prior!

It just so happens that the coat miraculously arrived that same day. I tried it on and it was too big. So, bingo, I sent it back and ordered the coat again in a smaller size with the bigger discount. Sending it back will cost me $5.95, a pittance when considering how much money I will get back buying the coat with another 50 bucks off.

I swear, I ALMOST want to go nuts and stuff my wardrobe with all the trimmings. But I ain't crazy. Budget is still paramount and I'm already over my clothing budget (I bought two coats this month. Yes, you may slap my hand with a ruler). I'm not overbudget and don't plan to go. I am also under my Christmas gift budget. What doesn't get spent is going into the emergency fund (trying to get to six months!).

But how tempting are those emails! I start each day just deleting them. I'm not even looking anymore. I got my coat for a steal. I'm done. I am holding my pennies for the bloodletting in January!

So, how are you all doing amidst Christmas shopping and retailer desperation?

DH

Using Twitter for Mini Updates on the Blog

Hi y'all!

Okay, Christmas is exactly SEVEN DAYS away. I don't feel very Christmasy though... I love this time of year, but there's been so much on my mind lately that I haven't felt the spirit of the season very much yet. It feels like it just snuck up like a bandit.

Anyway, besides my Scroogy feelings, I am trying something new. Y'all heard of Twitter? Basically it's microblogging. I thought it was the silliest thing in the world (why would I care that you just bought a latte or that you're waiting in line at the airport? So, who cares?!). But then a few friends turned me on to it so I'm giving it a try.

If you look at the left-hand side of my blog, you'll see my Twitter updates in a little box.
So, sometimes when I do something with my money or make a little observation or find a link to a good article, but just don't have enough for a whole blog post, I'll do a tweet about it.

This is just an experiment. I thought it might help me to update yall more often, seeing as how I can sometimes be a little lax on writing posts (I am so lazy. It's not even funny).

So let me know what you think.

And if you're on Twitter and want to follow me, please do!

Hoping you're feeling more in the spirit of the season than I am right now,
DH

Changing Employer Benefits

Okay, so yall remember my frantic and maybe a little angry rant about all the changes going on with my employer last week.

So this week we have to select new medical coverage because our benefits provider is changing. I was ticked off about this because we had a sweet deal before -- the company paid all premiums and we just had co-pays and we could save money in a flexible spending account if we opted to.

But it turns out that the new plan may actually work better for me than our current plan.

We can select the HMO or PPO (of course). With the HMO, the company would pick up all our premiums, as before, but we have to see doctors in the network. The nice thing is, it's open access -- I DON'T have to select a PCP (Hallelujah, because that's annoying if you don't already have one), I DON'T need a referral to see a specialist and it DOESN'T cost more to see a specialist. YES!

The PPO is pretty much the same deal except it will cost $46 a month (taken out of my paycheck) and it will cost more to see out of network docs.

Honestly, I will probably elect for the HMO. I don't have a doctor, so I don't care if I can only see in-network physicians. I hated the last doctor I saw and was looking for a new one anyway. I will double-check to make sure the orthopedist who helped me out with my back is in the network, just in case, God forbid, I need to see him again any time soon.

So, on top of everything going on, at least the health coverage didn't go to hell.

DH

To Be Old, Sick and Poor

UPDATE: 12/8/2008 -- Before I left, I got my grandmother straightened out. She will stay with her current Rx provider and will pay $8.40 a year in premiums. But, this way, all her drug brands will be covered and she won't need new prescriptions.

I love my grandmother.

She is 93 years old and suffers from all the maladies that generally afflict older people (hypertension, diabetes, glaucoma, arthritis, digestive problems, kidney trouble, shortness of breath...). But she is sharp as a tack and still takes care of herself. My mother does the heavy lifting like grocery shopping, but my grandmother holds it down just like she did my entire life.

But things just don't get any easier with age. I am home this week on vacation and when I am home, I don't do much. I spend time with my grandmother, running errands when she needs it since I have a car. I hang out a lot with my best friend since we were kids. I see my brother. And, of course, I shop (which I will get to the damage in another post)!

This week I have spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with Medicare Prescription Drug Plans. My grandmother got a letter saying she would be automatically enrolled in another plan because her current plan's monthly premium would increase from nothing to 70 cents a month. The plan they were going to roll her into was free, but it didn't cover ANY of the drugs she was taking! To be fair, it covered other brands of the same drugs she is taking, not the specific brands she currently gets. And, of course, it covered most of the generics she currently takes.

But she would not have known that if I hadn't called to ask specifically about each and every prescription. It kills me how they talk to older folks. You know they don't know what your complicated gub'ment speak means. One guy told her she wouldn't have to pay anything for anything. I called the same company and found that she might not have a premium to pay, but her drug brands weren't covered and the co-pay was higher. She was aghast, "Why didn't he tell me that?"

Because you didn't ask grandma. They only tell you what you ask about. Now, some customer reps are better than that and will ask more questions to get you a clearer picture, but those phone lines are jammed all day every day. Most of them are not going to take the time unless you make them take it. One lady hung up on me!

So, she is going to stick with her current plan. It will now cost $8.40 a year. That's nothing for my grandmother, thankfully, and if it was my mom would pay or I certainly would. It was not the cost, it was the convenience and the routine. She needed to stick with her current prescriptions and pharmacy. You can't just switch old people up, no matter how much "sense" it makes.

I do not look forward to old age. I assume it's better than the alternative, but it's going to be a hard row to hoe.

DH

Recession Turmoil Creating Havok On My Job

I knew something was coming around the bend, but I didn't see all of this.

Okay, so I'm supposed to be on vacation this week, but I've already been pulled into two conference calls for my job and I just spent the last 4 hours doing work while sitting in a cafe in Brooklyn (I'm not a happy camper).

This is what got laid on us:

• Two people in my department have been laid off. Today was their last day. Their work will be spread out to the rest of us.

• The company will no longer contribute to our 401k. That also means NO MATCH.

• The company is changing our health plan, effective Jan. 1. (Now, you know they ain't changing it to give us BETTER coverage. Before this change, I didn't pay premiums at all. I bet that won't be true anymore.)
  

• The company's budget for 2009 has been approved. (That may mean that there will be no raises, no matter how much we ask AND how much we deserve it).

I am not shocked but I am appalled. I was expecting my annual evaluation and I was certainly going to lay down my arguments for a raise. Now I don't even know if I'm getting an eval because I just got a new boss. My old boss was moved into some strategic position with no direct reports (i.e. he essentially got fired without losing his job).

So, yeah, right now it seems that this whole she-bang is going to hell. But the company itself is doing very well. It's a start-up with a lot of money invested in it, so there is plenty of cash -- just not for us, the lowly employees, it seems.

So what am I going to do right now?
First, I need to figure out what to do with the money I was putting in the 401k. I could stick with it or I can find my own fund to contribute to -- which I have read many times is a better deal when the company isn't matching or contributing.

Second, I need to figure out just what effects this will have on my job, work responsibilities and my compensation. Because if I am going to do more work, more work that I hate, more work that does not improve my professional skills or career prospect all for LESS money, then I will have to find a new job.
As terrified as I am to start a job hunt the way the economy is going to hell, I can't stay somewhere and be miserable AND get paid chicken scratch.

I have already started canvassing the market and my contacts from previous jobs just to see how things look out there -- it looks ugly.
I will get back to work on Monday and have a list of questions ready for my new supervisor. I will try to make my current position work for me, rather than me work for it. If I can't. I have to go.

Stay tuned.

DH

Reached My Goal of Saving 3 Months Living Expenses!

This is why I LOVE automatic saving/payroll deduction.

I set a goal of saving three months of living expenses a few months back and checked in periodically to see how I was doing.

I added up the money in my emergency fund and regular savings to find that I saved a total of $8,989 -- $300 over the goal!

Phew!
(You may remember, from a previous post that I estimated 3-month LE was about $9,200, which was close until I made some cost-cutting adjustments, which brought me to the new total above).

I felt relieved. First, it was quite the painless journey to this goal. I just set up a payroll deduction so I didn't have to think about saving the money. And with that money not ever appearing in my checking account, there was no way I would spend it. Second, it just boosted my confidence that I actually can save 6 months living expenses. The first time I thought about doing that, I freaked out because the total was so big and it seemed like I'd never reach it -- or at least not reach it forever. It won't take forever!

Right now, half the e-fund is in a 6-month CD earning 4%. I have to figure out how to best maximize what this money will earn for me while it's waiting for when I need it.

The picture isn't all golden though. I will still need some of that money to complete the rest of my dental work. My guy and I are also planning to move, which would mean higher rent and possibly utilities. So, that living expenses goal will be somewhat of a moving target in the near future.
But I'm not worried -- I did it this time. I'll just do it again!

DH

Cutting Back On Christmas Gifts and Shopping

Yall, know I say this every year, I HATE Christmas shopping.

I think it's the crowds and the feeling of obligation. Like if I don't get everyone and their brother a gift, I am a bad person.

Phooey.

But my family, having recognized the seriousness of the nation's (and, no doubt, their own) financial situation came to its senses and we decided on a Secret Santa for the adults. Now, it will be business as usual for the kids. mom, dad and grandma will splurge as much as they want on the little ones (or as little, because it's hard out there for folks), but no more everyone buying gifts for every last person in the family.

The rules, which we did not reach by democratic vote (instead, they were handed down to us by my aunt and cousin), were that we choose the name of one adult out of a bag and keep the name of our recipient a secret. We then buy our recipient $100 worth of gift. So, if you find a fantastic, perfect gift but only spend $70, then you should find an additional trinket for $30.

Now, I think that part is stupid. But, it will still save me at least $250 this Christmas and, frankly, I feel freer to buy a nicer gift. When I was sticking to my gift budget before, I felt really constrained. Part of it is because I am not a smart Christmas shopper -- I think about what I want to get, then get it. I don't do much bargain hunting. I also wait until the last minute (December, frankly, IS the last minute). But this way feels less rushed to me. So I am happy about it. Honestly, I am just glad that we are trying new ways to celebrate the holiday.

Hmmm, so what am I going to get my gift recipient?

DH