mish mash

I have a whole mess of financial thoughts running through my head today.

First, Molly is sick today. Actually, she's been sick since about Wednesday, but this morning it started to get worse instead of better. I took my child to the doctor like any good mother, only she's not covered by my health insurance. $255 later, we had blood drawn, a shot, meds, and new food to take home. I had to put that on our joint Chase card since this is the paycheck where the mortgage comes out and we're going to Disney next week.

Speaking of Disney, I managed to put aside $300 to take with me. We leave Wednesday night and come back Monday afternoon. Saturday will be taken up with race day, so I'm hoping that other than food, my expenses will be minimal and I'll be able to come back with some of that money.

Yesterday, I received an email that my job is not continuing my health plan in 2013. Next month I have to decide whether to jump onto the hubs plan or to take the other plan that's offered. I'm leaning towards the former right now, but it'll depend on what kind of coverage they'll offer for my post-op doctor visits and physical therapy when I get knee surgery later this year. It's very frustrating decision to have to make. I'll admit I had a "poor poor Kathy" mindset last night, but I'm getting over it.

It's not all bad news, though. I've been very good at documenting my spending this month and I think I've managed to reduce spending - not by much - but a little. I was able to stick to a budget when buying a bridal shower gift last week and spent less than I usually would. I even went to Home Goods yesterday with some co-workers and didn't see anything I wanted to buy! That's huge.

Any news with my readers - who's got big weekend plans? We're having people over for the Jets / 49ers game on Sunday since the tickets were too expensive for us to actually go.

At My Own Expense

Today was a very expensive day.

I bought four things I didn't need today. I went into PetSmart for one toy (Plubber) and walked out with five. Those damn clearance signs!

Thankfully, since I've cut down on spending in the past twenty-ish days, I was able to purchase other necessities today without fear there wouldn't be enough money in the bank to cover them. Which is good, since tomorrow is looking like a pretty expensive day as well.

this is what I've been seeing all day

I ended up spending more than I anticipated on a new pair of glasses this afternoon. I went to "America's Best" (imagine me air quoting that) for new specs & contacts. We have a pretty crappy vision reimbursement plan at work, but I knew Cigna would cover one eye exam a year (but not the actual vision correction). Yet the store told me differently. I was also informed that because I was getting contacts that their "free eye exam" offer didn't apply even though I was purchasing the two pairs of glasses. Ridiculous, but yesterday, our accountant told us we can deduct our medical expenses as long as we keep as our receipts, so you know those bad boys went in a folder for next year!

I also did some food shopping today at BJ's. Unfortunately, their in-store coupons weren't as good as last time so I didn't save as much money; However, I did manage to snag two lilac bushes, two hydrangea bulbs, and a pack of astilbe for my front gardens. Generally, I try to shop locally, but when it comes to flowers I found the big box stores tend to offer more for your money.

In other news, I set up a small ($50) automatic savings plan for each paycheck yesterday and I also reached my first $100.00 in savings! It's small, but at least it's something! Any one else have a little victory this weekend?

Day Twenty Eight Spent:

$293.07 Electric Bill

$121.25 BJ's

$15.00 co-pay

$233.95 eye exam & glasses

$28.22 PetSmart

$11.21 Target (birthday present)

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Day Twenty Eight Saved: $0.00