Typical. Just typical.
Doctor...
My health insurance ended on September 22nd. Guess who needed to go to the doctor on September 23rd? Yep, it was meeeeeeee. It was a small visit, easy to pay cash to cover. Unfortunately, they ran my insurance and it was still showing Active, so the front desk billed insurance and couldn't reverse it, despite me telling them the insurance was kaput. But "it should be fine."
I got home and went down the rabbit hole. What happens if insurance is billed after you're no longer covered? Best case, insurance denies the claim and you pay cash later. That wasn't so bad. But worst case, the insurance company pays the inflated insurance price, then bills the patient for the entire insurance cost plus additional fees, because the patient wasn't covered---resulting in hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars over cash price! Needless to say, the billing department got an immediate call back, but they wouldn't change anything on their end because "it all went through."
After a call to my insurance, who told me it will just be denied, I gave up trying to reason with the doctor's office. Watch this dumb bill---that I tried to pay cash for up front---end up in collections. #UShealthcaresucks
...and Vet
Our puppy ate something she shouldn't have, resulting in a $400 vet visit. Surprise, surprise, my garden leave ends and ALL OF THE THINGS HAPPEN.
We've got two kinds of medication, special soft food in a can, and more gratitude for the emergency fund. She's fortunately on the up-and-up.
Job Hunt Update
Historically, once school's back in session, hiring picks up (in part because parents are back in the office, so teams can finally make decisions). Also, it's crunch time before the holidays, when people are trying to wrap things up before the new year. I was hoping I'd see an uptick in available roles, but as I review job postings, new roles in my areas of expertise aren't really popping up. Instead, I'm hearing many companies are on a hiring freeze---some due to budget season, some due to economic uncertainty.
I applied for some roles at lower-levels (and salaries) than I've been operating at (because it's still a job, and I can always move up) but fortunately or unfortunately, all I've gotten are some of the sweetest rejections, including "This role would be holding you back" and "You have far more valuable experience than what we can pay for." I don't know if it's even worth applying for lower-level roles anymore... probably not. But in this economy?...
My "favorite" rejection, for a role I'd be perfect for: "Unfortunately, our timing didn’t quite align for this position, as we received your application after other candidates had completed the interview process. If for any reason things do not work out with our selected candidate, we may be reaching out in the near future." That said, I do hope it works out for them!
Reality: The end date for my job hunt is entirely unknown, but it could be a year or two based on what I'm seeing and hearing.
In light of this, we're battening the hatches. Rather than draw down savings or investments to cover all basic living expenses indefinitely, I walked into one of our nearest retailers and asked about a part-time job. After explaining the situation to the lovely human in HR, I made it through the hiring process and have orientation and training next week. I'll still have flexibility to manage applications and interviews. And you never know---a really cool opportunity may arise from it.
Budget Cuts, Cuts, and More Cuts
An unexpected "benefit" of this new part-time role is a forced reset in "time value verses money" and my real hourly wage.
Florida's minimum wage is $13/hour. I'm not far above that, making $14.50/hour. Subtracting taxes takes it down to $11.65/hour. With about $6/shift in car costs (gas and $.40 mileage for wear-and-tear), it's around $10/hour.
And when I see that $10/hour, it's really easy to cut things and force myself to get creative. I do not want to trade almost an hour of my life energy for that $8 smoothie. I do not want to trade four hours of my life energy to have a pizza delivered. I do not want to trade eighty hours a month for a car payment. So I simply will not.
After conversation and consideration, our income split is now at 25%/75%. We're minding our gap and squeezing where we're able. The thing is, you just can't squeeze when there isn't any juice left. It's so easy to say "cut the latte, cut the avocado toast," but if you weren't buying it anyway, you can't cut it. The solution is a higher income, which is the focus.
I'm aiming to leave the rest of the lump-sum severance payment and cash reserves generally untouched---though they're still available for emergencies that will inevitably arise. The biggest win of all this would be not having to touch investments before I find something new, as I wasn't ready to FIRE or start drawing those down. They're not where I want them to be, at least not for the 25x income level I want into perpetuity.
Thanks to the markets, my portfolio is chugging along faster and faster. I can make more in a day (thanks, bull market!) than I do working my not-quite-minimum-wage job for a month. I want to keep letting them grow, keep beefing up that money-making machine. But we'll see what happens...