Here is what has been taking place in the Sangl household from a financial standpoint.
* We have finally received the final bill from the hospital from my hernia repair surgery in June. If I had not had medical insurance, I would have been on the hook for over $23,000 - WITH DISCOUNTS. Since I did have medical insurance, I am obligated to pay the full deductible which was $3,000. If you don't have medical insurance, GET IT NOW! At least acquire major medical/catastrophic health insurance with a super-large deductible!
* My health insurance qualifies for a Health Savings Account (HSA). That means that I don't have to pay taxes on the $3,000 in health insurance costs! If my tax rate is 25%, I would have had to use $4,000 of my income to get $3,000 in take-home pay! I love tax-advantages!
* I recently paid my annual health club membership fee. By paying this annually instead of monthly, I only have to pay for eleven months! Every month I save 1/12 of the annual membership fee and PRESTO! the money is there when the bill comes due! I call it the
* My annual life insurance premium and Christmas shopping are also going to happen next month. I am GLAD that I have the escrow account! It makes it SO MUCH EASIER to save for these larger, non-monthly expenses.
* I noticed that ING Direct lowered their interest rate by another 0.10% when the Fed dropped rates this week. Oh well, they are still paying 4.20%! If you have not opened an on-line savings account with ING Direct, you can still get $25 FREE if you open the account with at least $250. I still have a few of those links left. You can click HERE to open your account and get $25 FREE!
* My daughter turns eight in a couple of weeks! Where did all of the time go? I think it is high-time that I review her 529 college savings and make sure we are on the right track!
What financial activities did you embark on over the past week?
Read recent posts by Joe
SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE POSTS AUTOMATICALLY
RECEIVE POSTS AUTOMATICALLY [color=red]VIA E-MAIL
November 10th, 2007 at 02:51 am 1194663079