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I have heard both sides and I have worked in the health industry most of my working years. I can officially say that it is starting to get out of hand. I live in a conservative area and work in an extremely conservative area. Very few that I have talked to want anything to change. They are very afraid of changing to a government run health-care system. But I can tell you that if we dont do something then none of us are going to be able to afford any health insurance. There has to be a happy medium between the two extremes.
I am ranting because I just got my health insurance renewal. The premium has increased by 25% per month. That turns out to be 510.48 more for the year and that is just for me. Logan has his own policy and Charles gets his from work. If just mine increases 25% for the next five years then my monthly premium will be over $650 a month. And I can tell you that I have not had a pay increase since 2006. The agency I used to work for full time had nearly gone belly up multiple times in the past 3 year so no raises. Now I work for myself and I am working a contracted rate that will probably not go up anytime soon. The company I had worked for had insurance that was $130 a month for my part but you could only go to certain doctors/hospitals affiliated with the parent company of this agency. The area residents call this hospital a death hospital (you only go there to die. Very bad reputation for a rural hospital). Charles' work wanted over $600/month to add just me to his policy and over $1100/month to add both me and Logan. That was laughable! On top of all that our current policies have a $5000 deductible for me and Logan and $1500 for Charles!
Another therapist I work with said he went to a patient's home and there was a lady sitting on the couch who was fine the other day and who obviously had a stroke in recent hours. She couldn't walk or talk well and had been like that over a day. She did not seek help because she doesn't have insurance. Now this person is not likely to ever work and will be a drain on the system for years and years. Now how dumb is that!
For all the naysayers out there I just have to say that there has got to be a better way. I think we are too big a country to have a completely government run health system. It would be too complicated and is not very practical. But there has to be some kind of regulation on the healthcare industry. They should not be able to raise premiums so high. I go to the doctor a few times a year for the usual checkups and sinus stuff. Since historically hospitals can charge $30 for an aspirin you have to think that someone somewhere is getting all this money. They need to investigate where all this money is going! They say that medical expenses are one of the leading causes of bankruptcy. I think in the near future that medical insurance premiums are going to be added to that list.
Okay, I am done ranting and I guess I will now go and pay the bills.
There are many things that I am planning to do this year to improve my life, my family's life and my surroundings. My new goals are "evolving" as I said before and I don't have them quit defined yet. My previous goals
1. Improve our finances.
2. Spend more time having fun! (Got to have #1 to do #2)
3. Get in better physical shape. (I know - practice what you preach. I am a physical therapist after all!)
4. Be more organized.
Well there is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!
The Good:
Our finances have greatly improved. Amazing in this economy. Our retirement funds and Logan's college fund did dive but there is more time for them to pop back up. Lots of time! We are completely debt free except the house. We still owe just over $100,000 on it. Charles' new job he got a year ago turned out to be a great thing. He has now become a permanent employee and has had two raises so far. He is also a foreman of the whole metal shop and the company is planning to expand in this year. It is a very stable company with booked contracts through 2010 and it also has no debt. The owner runs everything on profits. I have changed my working situation too. Since things were looking up I now work mainly as a contract physical therapist for many different home health agencies. That allowed me to close in my coverage area. I can get more visits done in an 8 hour day if I want to. But instead I have chosen to limit my hours so that I can put Logan on the school bus in the morning and be home when he gets off. I am also taking a day off every other week to volunteer in his class and take some time for myself. Now down to the numbers. With Charles working we have managed to save $25,000 this past year. We have it in a high interest savings account that earned 3.5% last year (just got my statement). That is our emergency fund and we don't plan on touching it unless one of us is unable to work. I think we did so well because we stuck to our budget and our best tool was to use cash for food, household stuff, and our remodeling. I also had a cash budget for Logan's clothes and haircuts. I did have to increase the food budget during the third quarter so we weren't eating pasta and rice all the time with the increase in food prices. We had enough left over at the end of the year that we bought a new TV (and of course I found a great deal). So our number one goal last year was to improve our finances. We have definitely done that. This year we will continue to save so that we are putting money in our retirement and college funds and the extra will go to some desperately needed remodeling (If you have seen my kitchen you know what I mean!).
And the fun part - we have mostly stayed at home for fun stuff. We watch DVDs that I get at the library. I just watched the Great Debators last night. Really good! We are reading more. We are spending more time in the garden working on the yard. We are trying to get more projects done. We did take some day trips this year to local happenings and parties. Nothing big, but we were never bored. This year we are planning to travel a bit which we have not done in a while.
The Bad
Getting organized. Well, in my defense we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff. I had made a few trips to drop of stuff at the thrift store and we finally cleaned out the "junk room" We plan on turning it into a loungeing room with a new futon for guests. Still working out the details on that. Overall it has improved since I have had a little more time to work on it, but here is still lots of room for improvement!
The REALLY Ugly
Getting in better shape. That hasn't gone as well. I go in spurts and do well for a few weeks then I fall off the wagon! I believe that this one is now going to the top of the list this year. I plan on making this my number one priority and will be working out a plan to do it over the coming weeks. You have to have a plan!
So now you know what I did last year. Soon I will post my new goals and will recap them as the year goes on.
Good luck to everyone in the new year!!
Wow, it is March already! We haven't had much fun this past month. Logan and I have been sick on and off. Today it's Logan's turn. He was sick and I took him in - It's strep! Now another round of antibiotics. The pharmacist at Target is getting to know me pretty well. Then the insurance card was declined. Just another phone call I need to make to get it all straightened out. Luckily it was one of Target's cheap cash medicines. if the insurance worked I would have paid a $10 copay. But Target sells this one for $6 cash. Unfortunately, Logan missed his first soccer game with the big kids.
Financially, this month seemed even better than last even though we spent close to our $500 on food and extra medical bills that we rarely have. We actually spent less that $3000 this month! I think it has been before Logan that we have spent so little. I haven't opened the new savings account. Life has gotten in the way of some things so that is next on the list for this week. I have a big rummage sale next week at work to raise some money for one of our nurses who has tongue cancer. That will be a big job so I cant wait until that one is behind me.
The January budget held up good. Before I did a budget I thought about what did I want to spend on a few categories like food and household stuff. We decided $500 for each for the month. I took out $500 cash for each and put them in their own envelopes and guess what? We spent only $350 on the food category and $325 on the household category. That blew my mind. But what really got me was looking back in Quicken to see what we averaged per month last year. We spent and average of over $700 per month on food last year. And over $1000 a month on household stuff (this category includes things like dog food and meds, the new rug in our front room, tools and fixing the lawnmower). It could just be a fluke. February might not be as good. In fact I know it wont be as good. I just bought some vitamins that I only buy every few months and I will be making a run to Whole Foods to buy my special gluten free bread. This might be a $500 month. We are well stocked though and feel like if we really want to stick to a $500 limit it shouldn't be a problem. It might mean a few creative meals though!
We were also talking about what to do with the "extra" money left over at the end of the month. The two options we came up with were to roll it over to the next month or put all the extra into an extra spending fund. (I think the TV is on the way out - You can't really read anything printed in small writing anymore and it takes about 15 seconds to "come on" when you turn it on. I'm thinking we will need a new one in about a year) If we roll it over then we really aren't keeping to spending the same every month. I dont want to get used to splurging just because there is extra. So we are going to go with hording the extra to spend on something that we need/want that is not in the budget and to have a plan for the extra. No spur of the moment buys. So all in all I think January was productive financially.
I also got all our retirement/college accounts organized and on Quicken. I had lost passwords and account numbers changed and I just had not bothered to get it all together. Now its all straightened out. Turns out I had made many deposits that had been sitting there in cash for the past year. I hadn't bought any mutual funds with them yet. So now I am slowly buying funds so the money isnt just sitting there. I will also be opening a high(er) interest savings account with an online bank so my savings will make more than the 0.71% it makes now. Duh!! I will give more details about that when I get it done this weekend.
Now to exercise. Well lets just say I'm doing a lot better than I was before which was nearly nothing, but I know I could do better. It really is hard to make time when you are falling asleep before 9pm. I don't like to choose between exercise and reading with Logan. I should be able to do both but sometimes is doesn't work out.
It's been a great week! Charles finished his second week at his new job at Byrne Metals, Corp. He works in the shop, bending and cutting sheet metal into parts for buildings. We got his first paycheck and he sold the 1999 Toyota Corolla for $500. I also got paid so it was a good day toward our financial goals. When this month is over I will look at how we did sticking to our budget. So far it is looking good.
As for getting organized, we are making a good effort to declutter. If you look at what is gone by weight then I think we are well on our way by getting rid of the car! To keep it we would have had to spend about $700 next month on registration, inspection, tires, windshield and of course insurance. Now there is less stuff covering our very muddy driveway (it rained all last week!).
And today I started my exercise log. I am putting it on a Google calendar and you can see my progress (or lack of) by clicking on the link at the side. I thought about what would be the best way to stick to an exercise routine. Well nothing like public accountability.
I hope everyone is doing well. We are glad to have our first mostly dry and warmer day (60 degrees for the high). Yeah!
Yeah, I know the same old goals! But hey, I could say that resolutions will never work and then I would be right were I am now. Not that it is a bad place to be but I know I could do better. So here it goes.
1. Improve our finances.
2. Spend more time having fun! (Got to have #1 to do #2)
3. Get in better physical shape. (I know - practice what you preach. I am a physical therapist after all!)
4. Be more organized.
Maybe a little ambitious but I think each one has something to do with the others. We had spent the majority of the past two years trying to have a baby. Not successfully as most of you know, but we are looking at the positives, and there are many. It includes not spending as much money on a second child for his/her lifetime (and ongoing infertility treatments), more time for Logan, be empty nester's sooner (this is important at my age!). Logan is six years old and will soon be at an age where he will travel easier. I have spent a lot of time the past year finding the important tools to learn about how to improve in each of these areas. Now I am working on fine tuning each one.
First Charles spent the past year starting a business that has not yet made it. It's a great idea and he does have a great product but we are both lacking the business experience to make it really work. So he is still going to work on it on the weekends but he started back to the work grind last week with a new job very close to home. He works 7-3 and will be home in time for the bus so Logan doesn't have to go to day care except for holidays and the summer. We have made it on what I make but don't have any to put into the business and nothing has been put in savings this past year. I don't want to make that a habit!
For #2 it will have to be local inexpensive stuff for the first year until we have met goal #1. We are hoping to make a couple trips for 2009.
For #3 well - that just needs to be done. I know what to do. I have another goal for further down the road once I can go part time. I want to get my pilates certification and it could take a year or more. But the issue comes down to the fact that it you want to teach all those exercises then you have to be able to DO them! Not the same as teaching people to walk again.
Then on to #4. Getting organized. Our first challenge is to declutter. We had one garage sale last fall and we are doing a benefit garage sale for one of our nurses at work in about a month. And somehow I am in charge of ORGANIZING it. Silly people! How hard could it be? Okay stop laughing!
So I plan on posting my challenges and achievements on my resolutions. Nothing like a little accountability. I think if I write about it I push myself a little further with it. If there is anyone who would like to join me you can post your updates in the comments!! I would love some company!
My first motivation was to watch this video on time management. I know, snoozeville! But really, this one is great. If you have the "time" it's great to watch.
Watch Video
