Blogging Away Debt

When You Make More Money, You Spend More Money

Here’s something that’s been on my mind lately…

At this time last year, we were making less than $1,500/month. Even though our credit cards came out to help purchase groceries and gas, overall we did spend less than we do now that we are making more money.

Some of the spending is due to things that we can now afford and we should try to have to protect our finances for the future, like health insurance. Now I am thinking about getting more life insurance (to make sure that the surviving spouse can live debt-free) as well as getting disability insurance. Last year, we knew we couldn’t afford any of that, so it wasn’t even a thought in our minds.

The other spending is just because we have a little more money now so we can “live life a little” as I guess you would call it. My husband sneaks in Sara Lee bread instead of the store brand even though it costs twice as much, and I don’t complain. We buy fresh fruits more often now and buy more non-ground beef meats. Our thermostat has inched closer to 67 degrees this winter (last winter it was set around 64 degrees). Just little things that I’ve noticed that we have done.

I’ve always heard that when you make more money you spend more money and I can see that happening with us. I think the key here is for us to not go overboard and always spend less than we earn. Spending less than we earn is going to be key to having money to pay off debt and save for retirement once the debt is gone.

Very Nice News Was Received in the Mail Today

by Tricia

When we got home from shopping, my son got the mail from the mailbox and I saw the familiar logo of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan on a white envelope. That’s who we are getting our health insurance from.

My first thought was “Oh no” because they really processed our application quickly. They said it would take 4 to 6 weeks and it hasn’t been that long yet. It’s only been about two weeks since I mailed in the application.

Since Blue Cross/Blue Shield doesn’t really reject people, I wasn’t worried about it being a decline letter. I knew it was a bill. I opened the bill when we got in the house and my eyes scanned it so fast looking for the “Due Date.”

January 7, 2007

YES! I was so happy that I almost did a little dance. They were not utilizing auto pay for the first payment and I have until the new year to pay it! That is excellent news because we have a few more paychecks before the due date to have the money ready for it and we will not be as squeezed for cash.

While I tried not to worry about it too much, it was still a relief to now know when that bill was due. Sometimes, the unknown really bothers me since I am very much a planner type of person.

There was a little bit of bad news with the bill, though. The cost of the insurance per month was higher than what ehealthinsurance.com quoted me. Instead of around $330/month it is a little over $350/month. With looking at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s website…the price did go up since earlier this month. After my husband and I turn 30 early next year, we are looking at $400/month to cover the both of us.

I’m not going to focus on the negative which is the escalating costs of healthcare. I am going to focus on the positive that we will be able to pay this bill and when the time comes we will be able to pay future bills. As of December 1st, we now have health insurance after being without it since 2001. We now will have some peace of mind knowing that we will not be destroyed financially if something health-related should happen to one of us.

Next step is to finalize life insurance and look into disability insurance. Which, by the way, makingourway did a nice post on disability insurance not too long ago if you are interested.