$211.22

So, it finally happened. The last of 6-7 doctors bills came through...hopefully.

Of course, there continue to be surprises after I think I'm long past owing anything. In fact, I'm so sure that they are wrong in sending these bills that I've been waiting until it actually turns into a collection agency request before acting on it. And, it always does end up doing so.

One of my friends said this wouldn't happen - that is, medical bills going to collection agencies. However, that is now not the case.

A few months ago I had two collection agencies after me for two different bills that were both something like $226.01. What are the odds that I would have two bills at that amount? Statistically, that would not be very likely. I'm not sure where on the chi square it would occur, but it would be the part of "least likely." Can you tell my statistical skills have dwindled from the measly to almost non-existent?

Anyway, I will pay this bill tomorrow because I, of course, am not independently wealthy and need to maintain a credit score for future cars, homes, and electronics.

Not to be too personal, but I've added up the numbers and I've spent about $4,000 on health care over the last year! This is $4,000 that I didn't have (i.e. 401k tanking, stock market crash, depression, er, recession).

"You must have a bad healthcare plan," they say.

Alas, I supposedly am a civil servant with a great medical plan. The surprise is that I had better coverage when I worked for a small contracting company a few years ago. At least back then I could have money taken out of the pay check, and make a $10 co-pay and it would be done.

Not in 2009. Now I get bills for weeks after and they are in the amounts of $10, $100, $200 and $211.22. This isn't counting the $500 I had to shell out at the front desk while preparing to get multiple MRIs.

All of this makes me incredibly grateful that I have any coverage at all, but makes me incredibly sad that people that have lived with their finances in order can be completely set back for life from one bad medical experience without proper coverage.

Guess I shouldn't complain. Some of you have rehearsed your financial woes on your blogs as well. These little things make it seem like one can never get ahead no matter what kind of best laid plans are made, but at the same time maybe it forces us (us being me really) to focus on the important stuff and not on the rat race stuff (money, power, prestige, getting ahead, etc.).

Either way, the check is in the mail and perhaps I should do something more meaningful than working 50-60 hour weeks and writing blog entries about money I owe.

Money Surprises - from the automated world

So, every Saturday morning I have a ritual. I open a spreadsheet I created about five years ago and start entering data on all my investments and debt.

It's quite the eye-opening experience. Luckily, I have a notes field to explain what some of the expenditures that week. This is a purposeful exercise and though a lot of my life is automatic, I prefer to keep doing this exercise. It is the one activity that forces me to capture a snapshot of where I'm at every week and it reduces the amount of money that I spend on my one spare day of the week (Saturday). After all, it's really hard to be tempted to buy even groceries on Saturday when the morning starts out with reality staring at me in the face.

This morning was quite the eye-opener. After logging into all my accounts, I realized that my mortgage, my six month car insurance bill, my yearly life insurance bill, two credit card payments, tithing and home insurance all hit me this week!

The pro is that it all happened electronically without me having to worry about a thing. The con is that I hadn't been tracking exactly when these automatic yearly payments would hit me. Thank goodness for having a job for continual money flow and for overdraft line of credits. This too shall pass.

Ah well, this means that this Saturday will be even more realistic. No need to grocery shop when I've got some food storage to use and the gas tank is already full.

There is some good coming out of this bad economy - we are all becoming a little more savvy on the money management side of things.

Now, on to logging the investments which have turned into a bad gamble at this point.

Saturday Morning Spreadsheet

Every Saturday morning I get up and fill out my personal finance spreadsheet. Yes, I could do a lot of this in even more electronic ways. But, the act of filling out the spreadsheet actually helps me internalize what is going on with the money. Saturday is the day with the least rigor in my life and most susceptible to money spendage. Filling out the spreadsheet is the psychological reminder that I really don't have anything to spend when I walk out the door on Saturday morning.

This morning I filled out the "Investment" tab and realized that my accounts are down around 40%. Wow. Some are down 80% and some are not down much, but the grand total is about 40%. Yet, on the "Debt" tab, my debt is barely moving. Of course, it doesn't help that my mortgage payment, the yearly home and car insurance fee and the yearly neighborhood association fee all came out of this last check. Still...even if that hadn't come out it would still not be chipping away.

I could stop contributing to the 401K, but then I would end up giving that money to Uncle Sam anyway because the 401k helps lower my taxes (and apparently no actual savings benefit right now).

Just a sign of the current times I guess, but it is a glimpse into how bad it must really be. What about those that are retiring, lost their jobs or are stuck in any kind of non-perfect situation (divorce, random health issue, fewer hours, or this thing called life, etc.).

I don't have the answers, I just have my spreadsheet.

It looks like I will just be buying some gas and a couple of carrots today.

CNN Breaking News

I have some RSS feeds set up to give me the latest information on financial markets.

Here are the messages that came in through CNN today. Short and very to the point.

Sent: Sep. 29, 2008 1:48 p.m. - Dow Industrials fall more than 600 on fears bailout package vote will fail.

Sent: Sep. 29, 2008 2:30 p.m. - $700 billion bailout bill fails in House. Dow down by nearly 600 points.

Sent: Sep. 29, 2008 4:43 p.m. - Dow suffers biggest point drop in history, falling nearly 778 points in reaction to House vote rejecting economic rescue.

I don't know what the right answer is to resolve the crisis. I just know that I'm a big spender and...a very big saver. Strange combination. But, in this situation it's almost like I'm being burned for being such a good saver. So, I'm not sure what to do. Help - Craig, where are you? 

Do I keep contributing to the 401k? Should I scale back? It's good to buy low, right? But, what if low means it is going to zero soon? Do I scale down the contributions and pay off debt? When should I get back in?

Alas, it's a difficult time. Even the guys on Fast Money don't know whether to buy or sell. The reason they give - the rules are changing and still haven't been re-established and so ...if the standard is floating how does someone make a decision? They do have a point.

All stress aside, I'm glad I have some food storage, I'm glad I have a very stable job (if I lose mine that would mean the country is in REALLY bad shape) and I'm glad I have friends. That doesn't solve all problems, but it at least provides a little peace.

Financial Signs of the Times - Part 2

...and yet another email from E*TRADE all in the same day.

_________________________________________


Given all the recent news in the financial industry, we understand you might have some questions about how the cash in your E*TRADE Securities account is protected.Rest assured that the uninvested cash in your Extended Insurance Sweep Deposit Account (ESDA) is automatically FDIC-insured up to $500,000—featuring up to 5X the coverage of FDIC basic insurance.This extraordinary level of protection is a free feature of your brokerage account. There is no cost and nothing you need to do. It's just one of the many ways your assets are protected at E*TRADE Securities:
•
FDIC insurance coverage up to $500,000 for the cash held in your Extended Insurance Sweep Deposit Account.¹
•
E*TRADE Securities is a member of SIPC, which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $100,000 for claims for cash). Explanatory brochure available upon request or at www.sipc.org.
•
Additional brokerage protection up to $150 million per brokerage account is underwritten by London insurers (aggregate $600 million).²
At E*TRADE, the safety and security of your assets is of paramount importance. Today, over 3.1 million customers worldwide rely on E*TRADE for their trading, investing, and banking needs. We look forward to serving you for many years to come. Sincerely,Michael CurcioChief Executive OfficerE*TRADE Securities LLC P.S. For additional information on your Extended Insurance Sweep Deposit Account, please visit the following links, or see our frequently asked questions.

Facebook - Friends for Sale

A few months ago I kept getting messages informing me that different friends had purchased me on Facebook. It sounded too weird to me and so I never checked into it because any widget you "check into" on Facebook seems to automatically force you to display the widget on your page. Since I'm a big fan of simple and effective online design, I don't like to participate in a lot of the little widgets, decorations, gifts, etc. that seem to detract from the main ambiance of the message.

However, I finally gave in and had to check it out since my value (about $8,000) at the time seemed so low to the million or so dollars that a few of my friends were worth.

I'm glad I did.

First, you earn money for yourself if you log in every four hours. It seems to consistently be $10,000. Don't ask how I learned this fact.

Second, you earn money if you invite a certain number of friends to the application. That seems to be around $40,000. This is allowed once a day as far as I have been able to gage.

Third, you can invite the same people day after day and so you can keep re-earning $40,000 even if you select the same people.

Fourth, the more people you invite and gain as "pets," the more likely that the percentage of participants will go up which will put more money into the "pet marketplace" and the more likely your own value will go up because there are more people participating in the buying and selling process. More money in the game literally.

Fifth, you earn money when you buy or when you are bought...putting more money in your spending pocket.

Wow! This game has nothing to do with buying or selling people as pets. It's all about cost-push and demand-pull economics, stock market, finance, money management, etc. Very, very interesting.

It really is a safe environment for learning some things about the market. Now my task is to figure out how to capture this into an interesting game for kids, as well as adults, to teach those market skills. Hmm.