Money sucks. We have been pretty low income/low budget lifestyle for years now, but my husband just three weeks ago got a better job with full time hours. I reported the change and now Medicaid dropped me because we're now a hair over the income line instead of well below it. Whaaat the fuck do I do now. His new insurance will kick in after his 90 days but fuck that cuts it close, means a brand new deductible, and how do I keep seeing my doctor in the meantime? Should NOT have checked the status of my case at 1am. I don't really need to sleep tonight, do I? Ugh. Will call the people in the morning but right now I'm gonna have a nice long cry and wish I could have a drink. Or afford a drink.
Sorry. Special snowflake moment (I've had a couple of those today, apologies) Tomorrow will hopefully be brighter!
@scottipino I wasn't sure how to take your message so I just sent a PM...
I was going to say the same thing as @scottipino. And I know I wouldn't have meant it as criticism how you handle money, just feedback how to get more of it. I'm pretty sure that's how scottipino meant it, too.
We're not broke, but we're living in two households that are both rented, and trying to save for buying a house. Rocking the pretty microscopic disposable income look right now. Just keep telling myself that the savings account is NOT for fripperies Hard when there is so much cute baby stuff out there
@tentacular I just finished taxes on extension too! I made a big lump sum payment back in April but still owed more once I crunched the numbers. It was like a kick in the gut.
@grapeskittles4lyfe I learned a new word: frippery! I'm a bit too excited about that!
@MrsLittleMac Sorry about your insurance... does your state have any programs to cover pregnant moms/kids without insurance in the meantime? I'm not sure if you'd be over the limit, but Florida has Florida Kidcare and I believe there is some sort of pregnancy coverage. I don't know the details, just that my SIL had to use it.
@scottipino I wasn't sure how to take your message so I just sent a PM...
I was going to say the same thing as @scottipino. And I know I wouldn't have meant it as criticism how you handle money, just feedback how to get more of it. I'm pretty sure that's how scottipino meant it, too.
If it's just feedback or suggestions to get more money throughout the year, we are well aware of that. I'm not sure if I implied we are hurting bad or struggling and could use extra money, but really we aren't in a "bad" place. I just prefer to have more of a cushion in our regular account and instead it's tighter, so we've been catching up where it's slacking from overspending. We have money come straight out for investing through, savings and 401K, but we will not ever dip into it. But for us, like perrasucia said, this forces us to save, then we use that for bigger things. We've done it different ways but we've never accumulated as much in a year of saving on our own, than by holding it back within taxes. We live "comfortably" to our standards, and enjoy the money at tax time. We use that for bigger projects, or knocking off chunks of car/mortgage, or just some frivolous spending. Depending on what's going on, or what we want we do different things. It's so common around us that I just assumed most people do the same and look forward to their tax return.
+1 to money struggles. I just figure it is a part of life. I SAH and our tax bracket didn't even change from when I was full time. I look forward to tax refund time too! Only 4 more months until tax time.
@MrsLittleMac I dint know what state you live in. But in Illinois, even if your income went up a little, you would still be covered by Medicaid because you are pregnant. Especially, if you tell them that the insurance will not start for a couple of months. You should try talking to them in person. If you're in a Republican state, though, you might not get much help. Good luck to you.
My biggest issue is that when I was little, I vowed that I would not have kids until I was financially stable. Because we struggled a lot growing up. Well, fast forward to now, when I finally felt comfortable enough to start a family and then BAM I lose my job. And husband is still unemployed. It's like God was laughing at me for my plans. But I'm not too upset because I really believe that everything happens for a reason. Jobs come and go. And at 32, I really couldn't afford to wait any longer to start a family.
I'm considering cutting my bangs because my hair is at this awkward shoulder length and I'm seriously starting to look like the weird OCD counselor from Glee.
We (evidently weirdly) aim for a 10% tax shortage, and then have a bill due every April. It's not that big of a difference, but our best year we earned about $500 extra in interest from doing that. Then that was taxed of course
Now if I could just cut the whole check in April, a whopping 1% income boost! Lol. Still, I can see sending people one bill for 40 or 50 grand not working out that awesome....
eta: the AVERAGE fed bill in Connecticut is 12 grand a person!? Holy cow, maybe their bills would hit more like 80k.
@MrsLittleMac I would also discuss if they have pregnant woman's Medicaid in your state. That program has a higher income threshold and will cover through your pregnancy and the following two months after birth. I know because I was kicked off of my marketplace insurance (that I paid monthly for) and told to apply for it. I'm in TX so it may differ in your state, but hopefully there's something similar.
Ugh, the other day H said it wouldn't be the worst thing for the baby to born in December so we can take the tax write off for 2016. I shut that craziness down right quick by telling him that if the baby's born in December, we'll make any savings up with medical bills.
We usually aim to break even and fail. We've owed every year that we've been married. We make almost identical salaries, which apparently is not advantageous from a tax perspective. Something about the marriage penalty. It's confusing...
I live in California and left my job. I tried to get Medicaid for the months I would not be working. Since I get slightly over $1400 per month for my rental property I don't qualify even though I have no additional income, am pregnant and have one other child. I was pretty surprised. I ended up having to pay privately for shitty coverage and a high deductible. Thank God my SO is paying the monthly premium.
@Xstatic3333 I didn't realize that was a thing. We owe less if we file separately... Next year baby! You just saved me a couple hundred bucks. Note: mileage may vary, you lose the child tax credit if you file individually.
@Xstatic3333 I didn't realize that was a thing. We owe less if we file separately... Next year baby! You just saved me a couple hundred bucks. Note: mileage may vary, you lose the child tax credit if you file individually.
Yes, definitely check with a tax pro before filing separately! You also lose the SL interest and mortgage deductions as well as the ability to contribute to a Roth IRA. Most are better off filing joint, even if they owe a bit. We still do.
@PerraSucia, I agree that many Americans financially count on their tax returns in a budget sense. But you could make money by putting that into savings instead of giving the government an interest free loan. I always used to love getting tax returns back and never thought of it that way. The difference I see is if you put in savings account and accrue interest IF something were to come up you have access to the money. Even with maximizing our deductions we typically owe money every year. Suggestions for maximizing your deductions: make sure you take advantage of FSA/HSA/childcare savings accounts. Pre-tax money goes into them so they decrease your taxable income
@Xstatic3333 SL and mortgages would be NBD, (we're done with loans + both would itemize) but WTF with the Roth IRAs? Never mind then. Randomist crap ever. I'm gonna go glare at something now.
Thanks all! I was on the medicaid for pregnant women but now that our household income has increased I no longer qualify. Fortunately H's insurance kicks in early December, so not all is lost. Just a shiny new 3k deductible plus copays. Could be way, way worse though.
Maybe I'm a ss but my rings are actually a lot looser, they always flop to the side and the E ring doesn't stay in the dip the wedding band like it's supposed to anymore. First world probs.
Late to comment here, but this is happening to me too. I thought your fingers were supposed to get bigger when you're pregnant, but most days my engagement ring spins around so the stone is on the inside of my finger. It's kind of annoying, but I guess it's a stupid complaint. I'm sure they'll swell up eventually.
@WinchesterGirl I think they've actually had 2 already!! Them having theirs now is like us having our in december... makes me realize how fast it could be approaching. I really hope we all keep our babies in as long as needed.
@kswiger06 Yeah, I'm not ready for any of us to be delivering two + months ahead! That just blew my mind, that if they are two months ahead of us and already have two births...
Wow that is scary to think about! I know each year the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to fly by and I think this year it's going to be even worse. Just a few weeks after that and a lot of us will already have given birth!
I've been thinking a lot about this. My daughters bday is Feb 22... I'm due Feb 9. I don't really want all our family coming for our DDs bday party and passing our newborn around. Do you think it would be terrible to just do DDs party in January to avoid that?
@WinchesterGirl I was thinking about this earlier. Fingers crossed most of our babes stay in until late January, at LEAST... But it IS crazy December people are at the stage where babies are potentially coming, and not THAT early! (Though my concept of "early" may be skewed, since my sister had her baby - who is thriving now - at 26 weeks. Now, anything in the mid-30's doesn't seem that early to me, even though it still is.)
I've been thinking a lot about this. My daughters bday is Feb 22... I'm due Feb 9. I don't really want all our family coming for our DDs bday party and passing our newborn around. Do you think it would be terrible to just do DDs party in January to avoid that?
No not at all! You'll be better able to enjoy it that way.
@kswiger06 I think having it early is a great idea! You'll have more energy to put it together than you will with a newborn and you don't need to worry about all the people with germs and a new baby. Seems like a great solution to me.
Me: 33 | DH: 34 Married: October, 19, 2015 EDD 2/22/17 DS1 born on 3/2/17 EDD 3/8/20 DS2 born on 3/10/20 EDD 11/24/23 (Formerly Marriedhamstermom Feb ‘17)
I'm glad it makes sense to just do it early. I thought I'd double check with you guys before it comes up. With my mil, she'll start asking about bday parties a couple months ahead of time. I bet by thanksgiving she'll ask when we're doing it.
@Spicyweiner we normally just do a family party at our house, but with all the siblings getting married and having their own kids we end up with around 30 people here. We've always done a party of some sort, if we didn't do one it would cause family ruckus and I think DD will wonder why she didn't get a "regular" party. but if we end up doing it early, we will do something special just for her on her actual bday.
Re: Weekly Randoms (10/10)
Sorry. Special snowflake moment (I've had a couple of those today, apologies)
Tomorrow will hopefully be brighter!
@grapeskittles4lyfe I learned a new word: frippery! I'm a bit too excited about that!
Becbec usually starts them, but it says she hasn't been active yet today
But I'm not too upset because I really believe that everything happens for a reason. Jobs come and go. And at 32, I really couldn't afford to wait any longer to start a family.
Now if I could just cut the whole check in April, a whopping 1% income boost! Lol.
Still, I can see sending people one bill for 40 or 50 grand not working out that awesome....
eta: the AVERAGE fed bill in Connecticut is 12 grand a person!? Holy cow, maybe their bills would hit more like 80k.
Married: 10/10
EDD: 8/27/16 MMC 1/16
Rainbow Boy: 2/04/17
TTC: 4/18 BFP: 1/2/19
EDD: 9/6/19
We usually aim to break even and fail. We've owed every year that we've been married. We make almost identical salaries, which apparently is not advantageous from a tax perspective. Something about the marriage penalty. It's confusing...
Married: 10/10
EDD: 8/27/16 MMC 1/16
Rainbow Boy: 2/04/17
TTC: 4/18 BFP: 1/2/19
EDD: 9/6/19
Married: 10/10
EDD: 8/27/16 MMC 1/16
Rainbow Boy: 2/04/17
TTC: 4/18 BFP: 1/2/19
EDD: 9/6/19
ETA: Sorry, I guess this is their second birth. I just saw the separate post and went all
Married: October, 19, 2015
EDD 2/22/17
EDD 3/8/20
EDD 11/24/23
(Formerly Marriedhamstermom Feb ‘17)