It’s been a crazy week. Currently, I’m sitting here, taking my first break since waking up, making breakfast and getting started on 4 loads of laundry, and I’m tired already. The idea of going out into the snow and cold again makes me want to dive under the covers, too, so I’m taking a few moments to write here to hopefully get my head on straight and let me readers know what I’ve been up to lately.
Training week 2 was no less stressful, with all the bank compliance testing I have to take as well just the craziness/disorganization we’ve all been dealing with since our main office is in St. Louis. And BF would tell you that I’m pretty much Satan in the mornings … not used to getting up before 7 just yet! And get this: they have to take us to St. Louis for a week for training instead of bringing that training to us. It’s a 3-hour trip, so they’re putting us up in a hotel and paying for our meals for the week, but geez! That’s a long time to be gone from home. It’s been a bit hectic in our department, too, so I wonder if that means that overtime is going to be in the picture almost right away. Given that almost all my coworkers have kids and busy lives outside of work, I can see myself either jumping into those opportunities or basically getting pushed into them when they come along. That’s a lot of extra pay, though, and volunteering will get me noticed, especially if I keep my work performance up.
In other news, I got all my tax info in yesterday and sat down and did my taxes in a little less than an hour online. Not bad! I made a little over $21K last year – the most I’ve ever made, again. Between federal and state, I’m only getting a $600 refund. I took a hit because I cleaned out my educator’s retirement fund last year after I said goodbye to the community college. Also, I think I’ll take fewer exemptions so I get more taken out with each check. It stinks to think I’m giving the US government an interest-free loan of my money, since I typically get my taxes back in a refund each year, but I also have to keep in mind that I’m in a slightly higher tax bracket now. Not going to take any chances and end up owing the government money next year.
Another benefits packet came in from my employer in the mail. To be frank, I feel completely unprepared to have multiple choices with health insurance with the company, but it’s better than none. I chose a cheaper PPO option because I searched and found that my current doctor is covered by them, and I really just need my 1 check-up with her a year as well as birth control or the occasional antibiotic if I’m really sick. After some long consideration, I also signed up for dental and vision, and I agreed to start a 401K. The company will match my contributions up to 3% currently, so if I didn’t do it, I’m missing out on free money to go toward my retirement. Scary thought, retirement, but I do need to get on that, and this is the most painless way of doing it. The total cost is $135 a month, and it all gets deducted from my paycheck before I see it, so I don’t have to mess with anything. I’ve already applied for my benefits online, but the packet in the mail gave me the option to make changes. I could add a lot more to my benefits plan, but as I was going through, I kept calculating what my take-home paycheck would be. Sure, I could add long-term disability and accidental dismemberment and a big chunk into a pre-tax health savings account … but if I take all those options, my take-home pay is going to be pretty much the same as my previous job. Well, that’s not going to get me anywhere! I’ll just have to be patient and try to keep myself on track, especially with all the savings goals I have going right now.
Here’s where I say I’m sure I’ll be able to stay on track and do all the things I want to do. But to be truthful, I’m not sure. My job is a big bump in pay, but not big enough given that my costs are going up – those of us “enjoying” this winter in the Midwest with the higher utility bills, and with all those benefits I’m paying for now that I’m in the new job – I’m not sure I’ll be able to get everything in without putting myself in another paycheck-to-paycheck situation.
I’m revising at least one of my big 2012 goals here soon. Not sure which. Mind you this is just the drawing board, but I have some ideas. I’ll hang on to my old car a little bit longer and make sure I’m out of credit card debt (and, possibly, the private student loan) before I take on a new car payment. And as for buying a new place? Well, BF is no longer keen on moving in August when our lease is up, so we may stay in our cheap condo longer so we can save more money up.
