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Dental insurance is like 4 dollars a month, how about we focus on slightly larger problem areas.
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Aug 5, 2015 13:41
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Grumpwagon posted:If your appointments out of pocket cost $180, but with insurance, they are free, and your insurance is $180 a year, why wouldn't you pay for the insurance? Especially when insurance comes out of pre tax money and paying it on your own is post tax
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Aug 5, 2015 17:56
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Hey guys sorry I didn't reply yesterday as I said I would. I ended up going home sick from work and just felt like crap until this morning. First of all, thanks a lot! We appreciate the well wishes. My wife is absolutely ecstatic! I'm sure she would post too, but her phone screen is cracked and her laptop is broken. She already put in her notice, and she's starting after next week. Insurance: I'm currently on a 3 or 4 a year dental cleaning schedule due to something that came up (very likely from smoking), but luckily all that has been taken care of. Interesting debate. Eyes we don't really need yes. One trick to not having your computer burn out your eyes is to look out the window at something non-specific in the distance every now and then to allow your eyes to change their focus. Or so says my former optometrist at least. I'll definitely do the math on insurance to see if the dental is worth it. My mom kind of has the friends and family hookup all around town from working in the industry for nearly 20 years, so it may not be worth it. Should we get COBRA or something? Here's what a little FAQ said: Is COBRA retroactive for coverage? You have 60 days after you lose your benefits to elect to pay for COBRA coverage. However, even if you enroll on Day 60, your coverage is retroactive to Day 1. Of course, you'll have to pay the retroactive premiums for that period. So it sounds like we can not pay for COBRA insurance, and then we can just retroactively get it if something comes up? We still have our HSA so small visits should be taken care of. Old Fart posted:Thanks for the response, KG. Of course. Thank you for your replies as well. That goes for everyone. I do generally appreciate the discussion. If you guys remember I just used to take every piece of advice immediately and without thought, and it turned into kind of a convoluted mess for awhile where I was changing budgets 3 times in a day, etc. Instead of that I'm trying to think about the suggestions in a more meaningful way now to see which point I can apply (or can't), etc which takes some time to do. Sometimes a consequence of that is that the discussion has moved forward quite a bit, so I miss some discussion that I had wanted to reply to. Old Fart posted:Well, doesn't it beat what he's doing now? Is it a bad thing to say, "hey boss, let's find a way to work on that thing you said, I'm really eager to learn that stuff"? Then he could get paid training, over and above whatever else he studies on his own. He also strengthens his professional network, as I'm sure boss-man would feel some ownership and pride in his loyal protege. My reservation here is that it pigeonholes me more than anything else. If for some reason DAX goes under it would hurt my career. Some big companies do use DAX though (Boeing is one), so who knows. I am definitely taking the input he gives. For now I'll just keep learning what he's teaching me while I can. I don't feel like I need to make a huge career choice quite yet. Inverse Icarus posted:i really don't understand this line of thinking at all Well yeah! I mean need as in necessity. I definitely want more. PurpleButterfly posted:OK, snark aside: longtime reader, first-time poster. I've read this thread all the way through (been following it pretty much since the beginning, I think), and I am still rooting for you. Keep making strides toward paying down debt. Thanks for posting and welcome. The envelope system is going well. I tried to freeze our debit cards in a drat blender bottle and the stupid thing exploded in the freezer. $7 down the drain dammit! I liked that bottle. My wife and I had a serious talk about finances for the first time in awhile the other night; we talked about our progress, our budgets, the emergency fund, debt, etc. It was motivating.
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Aug 5, 2015 17:56
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Knyteguy posted:Thanks for posting and welcome. The envelope system is going well. I tried to freeze our debit cards in a drat blender bottle and the stupid thing exploded in the freezer. $7 down the drain dammit! I liked that bottle. Such remarkable strides in some areas, yet you continue to find new and interesting ways to set yourself back. I realize the benefit of hindsight is that it always with perfect vision, but why wasn't a zip lock bag good enough? And I don't know what COBRA insurance is, but I'd avoid it because G.I. Joe told me it is bad.
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Aug 5, 2015 19:15
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Knyteguy posted:So it sounds like we can not pay for COBRA insurance, and then we can just retroactively get it if something comes up? We still have our HSA so small visits should be taken care of. Yes, if your total coverage gap is less than the 60 days I believe that is exactly how it works.
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Aug 5, 2015 19:38
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Droo posted:Yes, if your total coverage gap is less than the 60 days I believe that is exactly how it works.
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Aug 5, 2015 22:40
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Maybe I missed it but why are you losing health insurance? Wife new job have a big wait period I am guessing?
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Aug 5, 2015 22:47
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COBRA is very expensive since you have to pay both your own contribution and your former employer's share. If you are thinking of buying it retroactively, make sure you have enough cash to afford it.
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Aug 5, 2015 23:17
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spwrozek posted:Maybe I missed it but why are you losing health insurance? Wife new job have a big wait period I am guessing? 40-60 days is pretty standard.
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Aug 6, 2015 00:01
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Robo Boogie Bot posted:40-60 days is pretty standard. Never seen it for health insurance, bummer.
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Aug 6, 2015 01:32
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My job had a 90 day 'probationary' period before health benefits were provided. It seems pretty common to me.
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Aug 6, 2015 03:09
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Mine was two months, and that was a state job. To be fair, you could opt in right away and pay the whole thing yourself, which would probably be an easier option than COBRA if it is available.
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Aug 6, 2015 03:25
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Cool. So what we'll do then is just hope for the best, and cover COBRA if necessary. Maybe I'll up medical coverage on the car insurance for the 2 months or so that this is going on? We're talking like $6,000 if we cover the premiums from her job by ourselves. This will be an interesting month for pay. My wife has 62 hours of payable PTO at termination. She also gets paid next week, and has a week that will be due upon termination (or within 2 weeks by law). I just double checked all of this this morning. The principal car payment posted. It cut off about 7 months worth of payments. We actually saved more interest than I realized (I was fallaciously thinking that all of our $510 monthly payment goes to principal in the calculation I posted). We cut the cost of financing by $1,400 or so.  . Gotta keep doing that.e: just in case my estimates are way off: 
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Aug 6, 2015 16:49
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3k a month for a hdhp seems a bit crazy, even for the family option. Sounds like you should hang onto all the extra pto money and such until the insurance kicks in. Good job on the car. That is a brutal monthly payment, I hope all goes well and you can keep knocking it out.
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Aug 6, 2015 17:23
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For some reason I don't think I fully realized/remembered that was a $510 monthly payment
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Aug 6, 2015 17:54
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IllegallySober posted:For some reason I don't think I fully realized/remembered that was a $510 monthly payment I had the same reaction. $510 a month for a Corolla of all things, if I remember correctly.
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Aug 6, 2015 18:47
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dreesemonkey posted:I know this is from a few pages ago, but man. Interest: Not even once. Quotein' from many pages ago Man interest sucks if you're the one paying it.
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Aug 6, 2015 21:16
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Bugamol posted:I had the same reaction. $510 a month for a Corolla of all things, if I remember correctly. And enough negative equity to borrow $25k to get a Corolla. The MSRP for a Corolla starts at $17k.
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Aug 7, 2015 15:07
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Nocheez posted:And enough negative equity to borrow $25k to get a Corolla. The MSRP for a Corolla starts at $17k. I think this is because he was underwater on his previous car and rolled in the difference into this loan? Correct me if I'm thinking of another goon...
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Aug 7, 2015 15:38
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Rurutia posted:I think this is because he was underwater on his previous car and rolled in the difference into this loan? Correct me if I'm thinking of another goon... This one. I believe it was a discussion in the thread, where it was worth getting out of the 18% truck loan that had even higher payments? Correct ME if I'm misremembering, but I think this lowered payments at the time.
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Aug 7, 2015 16:42
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spwrozek posted:3k a month for a hdhp seems a bit crazy, even for the family option. Thanks. Yeah it'll be a huge relief when we no longer have a $510 monthly burden. Interest does suck when you're the one paying for it yeah. I'm hopeful we can refinance when the car is no longer underwater. I am planning to do some forecasting when our financial situation restabilizes. I'll post that here. Nocheez posted:And enough negative equity to borrow $25k to get a Corolla. The MSRP for a Corolla starts at $17k. Rurutia posted:I think this is because he was underwater on his previous car and rolled in the difference into this loan? Correct me if I'm thinking of another goon... Correct. Much of that financed amount is negative equity. Our car has a few ~fancy~ options though, so it was a little more than $17,000. I did a KBB on it yesterday and it's still worth over $15,000. At least it's holding its value well. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Aug 7, 2015 |
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Aug 7, 2015 16:44
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Knyteguy posted:Correct. Much of that financed amount is negative equity. Our car has a few ~fancy~ options though, so it was a little more than $17,000. I did a KBB on it yesterday and it's still worth over $15,000. At least it's holding its value well. This can also be a curse. Lightly used Subaru's and Honda's (at least around here) are close enough to the same price as new that I would argue you should just buy new for a couple thousand more for full warranty and knowing the entire history of the car. Many cars are not like this though, your corolla has the "yay toyota" thing going for it, but it also was the most dated car in the class for a number of years, so the competition was more desirable to a point.
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Aug 7, 2015 17:01
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Old Greg posted:This one. I believe it was a discussion in the thread, where it was worth getting out of the 18% truck loan that had even higher payments? Caught this after replying. We had a car at 18% and a truck at 11.99%. Those equaled about $20,000 or so in debt. We traded both in for the Corolla @ 10% to get rid of the car interest rate. It's a mess that goes back to long before this thread, and it's something I tend to regret pretty often. If we had been smart about our vehicle choices we would still have two of them, and they wouldn't be that truck, that car, or the Corolla. I will not finance a car again unless I have budgeted and saved to pay for it in cash, and it makes mathematical sense to do so (~<3%, etc). dreesemonkey posted:This can also be a curse. Lightly used Subaru's and Honda's (at least around here) are close enough to the same price as new that I would argue you should just buy new for a couple thousand more for full warranty and knowing the entire history of the car. Ah good point. I don't know if we'll ever sell this car while it's still running at least. I find it a little boring, but my wife likes it well enough and it gets the job done.
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Aug 7, 2015 17:28
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Knyteguy posted:Ah good point. I don't know if we'll ever sell this car while it's still running at least. I find it a little boring, but my wife likes it well enough and it gets the job done. Word. Drive that baby into the dirt. I'm still in a '99 Accord. Cars are just metal boxes that move humans around. They need to be safe, and preferably cheap on repairs/gas. People like to put a lot of emotion and status into cars, and I'll just never understand it.
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Aug 7, 2015 19:45
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Some of the most fun I've had was driving a caged corolla on the dirt in the scrub of Arizona, it's a good car.
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Aug 7, 2015 22:21
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Inverse Icarus posted:Word. Drive that baby into the dirt. I'm still in a '99 Accord. People do spend a lot of their lives in cars (assuming one doesn't take public transit), so there a certain level of comfort that is nice. Buying a luxury car is def still a bad idea, but I regret not getting Bluetooth with my car.
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Aug 8, 2015 03:10
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Duckman2008 posted:People do spend a lot of their lives in cars (assuming one doesn't take public transit), so there a certain level of comfort that is nice. Buying a luxury car is def still a bad idea, but I regret not getting Bluetooth with my car. You should look into tranzit blu. A car stereo company can install it for $200 or so. My 06 outback didn't have aux or Bluetooth so I went that route last summer and it is a very good product.
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Aug 8, 2015 05:05
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Depending on how new your car is, it can be trivially easy to install an aftermarket head unit. Even a sub-$100 radio can have Bluetooth support and include a microphone for taking phone calls.
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Aug 9, 2015 12:46
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Well today was the first day of my bike commute. It took me about 15 minutes each way. It turns out that running mountain bike tires at 35psi for a commute is the reason it was terrible. I got some puncture resistant smaller width road tires and they're inflated at 70 psi now, and it's pretty much a breeze. In fact on the way home it was a lot of fun since I was flying down a trail the whole way. So thanks for talking me out of a second car. It's unneeded. Restaurants will be cut heavily moving forward in favor of better groceries. I developed a food intolerance to fatty food per our doctor (remember I said I went home early from work?) Blessing in disguise imo. Eating out has become consistently seriously painful. Wife started her job today. It's going well.
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Aug 18, 2015 08:00
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Knyteguy posted:Well today was the first day of my bike commute. It took me about 15 minutes each way. It turns out that running mountain bike tires at 35psi for a commute is the reason it was terrible. I got some puncture resistant smaller width road tires and they're inflated at 70 psi now, and it's pretty much a breeze. In fact on the way home it was a lot of fun since I was flying down a trail the whole way. Sounds like several positive steps. Keep the momentum going.
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Aug 18, 2015 08:54
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Knyteguy posted:Well today was the first day of my bike commute. It took me about 15 minutes each way. It turns out that running mountain bike tires at 35psi for a commute is the reason it was terrible. I got some puncture resistant smaller width road tires and they're inflated at 70 psi now, and it's pretty much a breeze. In fact on the way home it was a lot of fun since I was flying down a trail the whole way. Hooray! Finally! You're going to feel a lot better soon.
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Aug 18, 2015 13:14
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Hows the budget? Still doing cash?
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Aug 18, 2015 15:34
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I wish I had an intolerance to fatty food. Keep up the good work! 
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Aug 18, 2015 15:59
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You can develop one if you try! Fatty liver disease will, of course, kill you if you don't eat properly afterward though.
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Aug 18, 2015 16:01
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Thanks for the support guys. The envelope system is going well. All in all I like it enough to commit to it for the moment. No Butt Stuff posted:You can develop one if you try! Fatty liver disease will, of course, kill you if you don't eat properly afterward though. Well I don't have fatty liver disease, and it's not gall bladder related either (which was a huge concern of mine after some research). It's actually just kind of like lactose intolerance or gluten intolerance, but with high fat foods. Most stuff on the grill fits within the constraints pretty well. I enjoy barbecued meats and veggies, and fish, lean beef, boneless skinless chicken, etc all work. Greasy fast food hamburgers, and takeout pizza? Not so much. I'm still learning whether things like avocado will be ok or not.
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Aug 18, 2015 17:56
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gently caress yeah, good work man
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Aug 18, 2015 18:10
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That is like the best update in this entire thread, great job 
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Aug 18, 2015 19:39
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Good work on the biking. Now get one o' these:  edit: y'know, once your kid is actually old enough (~1 year maybe?)
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Aug 18, 2015 20:54
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We had one of those. It kinda sucked. Made you pedal with your legs out at a weird angle.
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Aug 18, 2015 21:53
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My folks had a rear seat when I was a kid. Seems much easier to use!
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Aug 18, 2015 22:34
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