September 2015 Expenses and Savings
Income
& Expenses
When I switched jobs I
looked at the regular health insurance where you do a copay and the insurance
company covers the rest. I added up the
higher monthly costs for those and the HSA (monthly cost plus the $5500 deductible.) The HSA was $1000 cheaper per year and my
company puts up to $1600 into the HSA if you get a physical and do some other
online activities to learn about better health.
Sounds good
right? Well even after you pay the $5500
out of pocket (I saved for that) you still have to pay %20 of anything on top
of that up to $12,000. What?? Yeah that is crazy. Basically I am footing most of the bill for
anything and paying the insurance company monthly on top of that. I think HAS's work if you're in good health
and you can accumulate money in it and invest.
Now looking at my
expenses we can see the big yellow blob that was so big Excel decided not to
label it. On top of my usual mandatory
expenses was a large chunk of healthcare costs.
Everything else was pretty much the same.
Two items continue to
be over budget though. Childcare
(clothes, diapers, etc.) was $200 and my wants category. I found with tiredness comes lack of energy
to cook dinner after a full day of work.
I find myself bringing home takeout and pizza at least once a week and
buying more frozen prepared meals at the grocery store. I don't get home until 6:30 PM most work
nights so I need something fast before the kids have to get ready for school
and in bed. I do try to do a big meal on
Sunday so I can have leftovers at least once during the week. So that helps some.
Savings
& Summary
This month was a big
drop in my savings rate. Most of it was
planned for and I will do better healthcare planning next year knowing what I
know now about my HSA. I remember my first
kid was $500 dollar copay. My last kid
has so far cost me $7000+. Things
certainly have changed in 15 years! I am
appreciative that I have a job and can afford insurance. I definitely sympathize with those who do not
have any or poor health insurance. This
is a system that definitely needs fixing.
Either that or I am moving to Canada. :-)
Happy saving,
DFG
Healthcare in the US is broken. I need to visit the marketplace starting tomorrow to shop for next year's Obamacare options. My current is going up 22%.
ReplyDelete22%. Sounds like one of those evil companies that locks you in for a year at a low rate and then it skyrockets after that. I hope your shopping finds a better deal!
DeleteHealthcare in the US is way too confusing and it would be drastically be improved with just simplification. The fact that there's not an easy way to compare either makes it difficult as well.
ReplyDeleteI just did my 2016 benefits and this year at least they had a computer program that helped me estimate my costs and pick the best plan. It helped just wish I had it last year.
DeleteHealthcare and especially insurance is definitely a disappointment in this country. My wife and I are on our own companies insurance plans because even though hers is so much cheaper at $35 a month with a $250 deductible, if I was to add myself, it jumps to $250 a month. Its crazy.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, congrats on the new baby!!
ADD
Thanks ADD re baby. Yeah my insurance from my employer covers me at no cost. It is my wife and kids that I pay for each month. AND I have to pay per kid. Crazy that these days you are penalized for having a family.
DeleteTotally agree with your healthcare complaints - I really want to see Bernie Sanders get elected so we can actually be like the rest of the modern world and have a government run, single payer healthcare system. I'm tired of the every day person paying extra so millionaire CEO's of insurance and pharmaceutical companies can keep collecting huge checks.
ReplyDeleteYep it really needs to be solved and soon. It is unlikely though since healthcare accounts for a large part of the GDP. Why would our government want to reduce the costs.
Delete