Many companies are now offering what they call limited benefit medical plans. These are basically plans that have a very low annual cap on the benefits they pay off. My employer recently sent me a brochure for one of these plans. They had plans with costs as low as $6.95 a week. With this plan you would only have to pay a $20 co-pay to see a doctor. I thought this seemed like a decent deal until I read that the annual cap on benefits is $500. The cost of this plan is $361.40 a year, that means the maximum amount you could actually benefit from this plan is $138.60 in a year. It seems to me that my employer is trying to make a profit off of me rather than offer a benefit. To make this deal worse many of the employees are young and/or have limited education and may not realize how limited their medical coverage is. Employees would probably be better off having no medical coverage at all than with one of these limited benefit plans. For more information about these plans read this article at USA Today.
Alternative Income Update
My alternative income total for June was $543.68. This is my best total ever but it is not sustainble right now. There were several sources of income that will not be repeated or at least won’t all be repeated in the same month. I estimate I could live on about $1000 a month without job related expenses,dental bills, and debt repayment. It will be a while before all those are eliminated so a more realistic total for monthly living expenses would be $1500. That means I’m about a third of the way there. Right now I plan to keep working even if I do get my alternative income to the level where it pays my monthly expenses. It would still be nice to know that I could pay my bills even if I were to quit my job or for some reason be unable to work.
June Income
Here is a summary of my income for June.
|
Jobs |
$1850.11
|
|
Medical Study |
$200 |
|
Online Income |
$235.84 |
|
Ebay/Half.com |
$61.66 |
|
Survey |
$15 |
|
Interest |
$21.18 |
|
Mystery Shopping |
$10 |
|
Total |
$2393.79 |
I’m pleased with the increase in income. My job income should go up in July because I’ll receive a third paycheck for one job due to how the paydays fall. Online income for June includes a Google payout and a text link sale. Since neither of these is likely to happen again in July the online income total will go down. Ebay/Half income will also probably be down. Medical study income will only be $100 this month. The other sources of income will remain roughly the same and won’t make a significant difference in my income.
.
June Expenses
Here is the summary of my June expenses.
|
Rent/Household |
$481.30 |
|
Utilities |
$116.85 |
|
Transportation |
$615.73 |
|
Food |
$126.50 |
|
Medical/Dental |
$218.22 |
|
Entertainment |
$64.63 |
|
Debt |
$108.64 |
|
Total |
$1781.37 |
The Utilities total includes the purchase of a new cell phone and my last natural gas bill. With not having those expenses in July this total should come down significantly. The transportation total includes a parking ticket,car repair, insurance, personal property tax, and registration. Since none of these expenses should recur this month this total should also be reduced significantly. I spent too much on food last month, I plan to cut that down to $75 for this month. My entertainment expense should be slightly lower this month.
My medical/dental expense will be larger this month because I’m having lots of dental work done. I hope to use any money saved from cutting other expense categories to pay down my debt so the debt expense total should also increase.
Festival of Frugality #81
Welcome to Tight Fisted Miser and the Festival of Frugality. If this is your first time here I invite you to browse the archives after you read the Festival posts. If you like what you see go ahead and subscribe to my feed.
Since today is Independence Day in Belarus and tomorrow is the 4th of July here in the United States(and lots of other places) I decided to include some related tidbits of trivia.
There were a lot of entries this week and I did my best to divide them into categories. Although there were some entries that I didn’t think were completely on topic I’ve included all posts except for some multiple submissions. I’ve had a couple of people write that they were not able to get the carnival form to work so I apologize to anyone whose submission was left out. Ok, On to the Festival!
Editor’s Picks
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” Benjamin Franklin. In addition to being a pioneer of frugality, at age 70 he was the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Shannon Christman presents Ten “Necessities” That Really Aren’t posted at Saving Advice. I agree with this list although I do use some of the items.
Silicon Valley Blogger presents Does Size Matter: How Small A House Are You Willing To Live In? posted at The Digerati Life.
I really like these tiny houses but I think it would be simpler to just live in a van down by the river.
The Happy Rock presents Benefits And Drawbacks Of Spending Cash posted at The Happy Rock. I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks although I’m sure many will disagree.
Mark McGuire presents How NOT to go to a Bar or a Club posted at TheLocoMono Website. This post shows how you can be a Tight Fisted Miser and still have a social life.
Clever Dude presents Frugality is more than just saving money at Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money posted at Clever Dude Personal Finance. My thoughts exactly.
Saving Money and Debt
The continental was paper money issued by the Continental Congress to pay for the costs of the American Revolution. Due to over-issue and lack of confidence in the government, the notes were soon nearly worthless-“not worth a continental.” According to John Witherspoon, the New Jersey clergyman who signed the Declaration of Independence, “For two or three years we constantly saw and were informed of creditors running away from their debtors, and the debtors pursuing them in triumph, and paying them without mercy.”
Super Saver presents Lessons From My Mom – Save For Big Ticket Items posted at My Wealth Builder.
Eric Stanley presents Saving Money – A Top Strategy For Saving Money posted at Personal Finance Blog Articles.
Tim Ramsey presents Reduce Credit Card Debt Quickly posted at My Debt Relief Blog.
Aaron Wakling presents Boat Show Financing – Never, Ever Use It posted at The Credit & Credit Card Blog.
Warren Wong presents Grow Your Pile Of Money posted at Personal Development for INTJs.
Stephanie presents Payday Loans posted at Stop the Ride!.
Free Stuff
“Live Free or Die” is the official state motto of New Hampshire. New Hampshire was one of the original 13 states. It’s neighboring state of Vermont was not one of the original states.
Apparently great frugal minds think alike. I’ve been meaning to look further into this couchsurfing thing.
Moorea presents How to Live and Travel Rent Free: House-sitting and Couch-Surfing! posted at Queercents.
MoneyChangesThings presents CouchSurfing: They Leave the Light On For You posted at Money Changes Things.
PiggyBank Raider presents Free (And Useful) Tools! posted at PiggyBank Raid.
Dorky Dad presents Visit Amusement Parks for FREE! posted at Trying to get it right.
Creative Frugality and Frugal Philosophy
Amy Allen Clark presents How to Construct an Airing Rack posted at The MotherLoad.
K T Cat presents The iPhone and Sushi posted at The Scratching Post.
Wallowgirl presents The Pros and Cons of Henna Hair Coloring posted at Wallowing in debt.
Thomas Humes presents Wealth Creation- Don?t Start With the Wrong Concept of Wealth posted at Wealth Building World.
Mer presents 11 Simple Kitchen Solutions that Really Work posted at Living Behind The Curve.
Katie McKay presents I Am 26 Years Old and My Mom Cuts My Hair | The Frugal Law Student posted at The Frugal Law Student.
Shadox presentsToilet Paper posted at Active Duty Military Money and Matters.
Dough Roller presents A Frugal Way to Buy a Mac or iPod posted at The Dough Roller.
DHM presents Drastic Budgeting in the Kitchen posted at The Common Room.
FFB presents The $7.99 VIN check posted at Family Finance Blog.
j2r presents Grocery Shop Club Cards – A little secret | journey2retirement.com Blog posted at Journey2Retirement.
FMF presents Save Money with a Whole-House Fan posted at Free Money Finance.
inswatch presents The Importance of Comparison Shopping posted at Home Insurance Guide.
Argonautica presents Avoid Vet Prices and Save Big on Pet Meds posted at Golden Fleece Blog.
KRG presents Food And Nutrition Programs: Government Assistance Part I posted at FILAM PERSONAL FINANCE.
Annette Berlin presents 10 Money Saving Vacation Tips posted at Frugal Journey.
Tiffany presents You Beautiful Cheapskate posted at Natural Family Living Blog.
MoneyNing presents Groceries That Help Make Us Rich posted at Personal Finance Blog by Money Ning.
Ted Reimers presents Cheap Colleges posted at CampusGrotto College Blog.
Mr Credit Card presents Using My Reward Points to Save on My Summer Vacation (Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog) posted at Ask Mr Credit Card’s Blog.
MoneyDummy presents All Those Crazy Coupons! posted at One Money Dummy Getting Smarter.
Everything Else
Wenchypoo presents Who Needs Universal Health Care? posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Madeleine Begun Kane presents Money Limerick Contest Results – And The Winners Are? posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.
Jason Elder presents Understanding Chapter 12 Bankruptcy posted at A Bankruptcy Lawyer’s Blog.
The Skilled Investor presents How to lie with statistics: Investment performance charts ? A Tip from The Skilled Investor posted at THE SKILLED INVESTOR Blog.
Allen Taylor presents Investing – Gold Shares – The Leverage Factor posted at Investing World Today.
Eric Hudin presents Smart Estate Planning Strategies for Average Joe posted at My Estate Planning Career Blog.
Grace presents Senior Money Pit aka Grandchildren posted at Graceful Retirement.