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Home > Archive: March, 2016

Archive for March, 2016

rainy monday

March 28th, 2016 at 04:16 pm

Wow, as usual time has flown by since my last post! I started to catch up on blogs this weekend and there is a lot going on in everyone's lives!

Today is gray and very rainy and I'm totally unmotivated at work.

I've completely lost track of my finances and using YNAB. This first happened when I visited my mom in December to help out with her breast cancer surgery and recovery and I haven't yet signed in to YNAB to begin again. Maybe this week? I also haven't even remotely started my taxes. I keep forgetting! Update - I just this moment logged into TurboTax through the Fidelity website and started my 2015 return! I don't have any of my tax forms with me at work, but I reviewed and updated my personal info that imported from last year's return. I have now started my taxes! Sometimes that first step is the hardest - remembering my username and password, signing in and starting. (I somehow did remember my login information and I just recorded it in Evernote for next year.) Overall, the taxes shouldn't take very long to do, I just get stuck on the decision of whether or not to contribute to an IRA and, if so, should it be my Roth or traditional? First world problems.

I did recently notice that YNAB has changed to a web-based system that has a subscription fee. Has anyone made the switch? I'm curious if it's worth the investment.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to wipe the slate clean on YNAB and start over or attempt to fill in the past few months? I think that they recommend starting over (it would definitely be easier), but I hate to lose the data that I already have recorded in there. I wonder if there is a way to save it?

In other financial news, I was able to develop a grip on the morning of March 14 and pull together the paperwork for my 2015 flex spending account. I emailed it to my insurance company later that afternoon. The submission deadline was March 15 and I had $1500 in my account! I checked my P.O. box this weekend and the $1500 check was there - yahoo! I think I've already hit my deductible and OOP costs for 2016, so I should probably look into submitting paperwork and get the 2016 money now. The likely scenario will be that I get around to doing it on March 14, 2017. Doh.

I just did some research and discovered that my flex spending contribution for 2016 is $1500 again. Ugh. I must have chosen that amount when I thought that I would be getting new glasses during 2016. I ended up deciding to get new glasses in December 2015 because my vision plan allows for new glasses every two calendar years. (The plan contributes to the cost of frames and lenses, but doesn't cover them completely.) Getting them in December 2015 rather than early 2016 means that I can upgrade my prescription sunglasses in 2017 rather than having to wait until 2018. My total deductible/OOP is $1100, so I will have to figure out how to spend the other $400. We thankfully have a new policy that allows up to $500 of unused flex spending money to roll over into the next calendar year, so I can do that if I don't have any other coverable expenses in 2016. Phew. I just have to remember to check if I have excess 2016 funds before choosing my 2017 flex spending amount in November, so that I don't end up with too much money in my account.

BTW, my mom is doing really well. In December, she had surgery to remove a tumor in her breast. She took a few weeks to recover and then decided, with her surgeon, to go to her place in Florida for the winter and do her radiation treatments down there. That was a good call since she has so much more energy and motivation (and fun!) in sunny Florida then in wintery NJ, although it was a mild winter in the east. She has finished her treatments and feels good. She will have to take medication for the rest of her life and have regular follow up mammograms because the cancer will most likely return at some point, but for right now she is healthy and enjoying life at 81 (82 in April). I'm so glad that she decided to get an iPhone about two years ago because we text quite frequently, which is easier than talking on the phone. We can keep in more regular touch this way and then talk on the phone once in a while. Plus it's fun to send photos back and forth and she's just getting into using emojis, which is very cute. I was supposed to visit her during late March, but decided to go in mid-April instead. I need to get a plane ticket! I'm scared to look at the current prices since I've delayed for so long. Ugh - I need to do that today.

Happy Monday everyone!