Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Here’s a few more thoughts on the matter.

#1: HC made a great point about waiting for your first paycheck to arrive. Sometimes, you get caught short for a month when you start work because you’re waiting for direct deposit to kick in, etc. I’m rethinking how I budget stuff due to changed pay cycles. I used to get paid every two weeks, which meant I got the fictitious ‘bonus’ check twice a year because you end up with three paychecks a month in two different months. (My stance is that it’s not a bonus. You worked 80 hours for it. It’s yours.) With my new job, I get paid twice a month. It’s taking me a while to get used to it since it’s a radical departure in how I manage my finances. I used to give myself an allowance on paycheck Fridays, but now that payday is a floating day, I have to pay closer attention to my cash flow, lest I run out of money in my checking account. (I generally keep very little in my day to day checking account.)

#2: Remapping the lunch plan. I work in a place with a plethora of food options. However, I have noticed the pricing on lunch is MUCH MORE expensive than before. Because I had access to in-building cafeterias at my old job, the pricing was rather low. Because they were self-serve buffets, I also could control my spending and my calories by dishing out exactly what I planned to eat with no waste. The new dining options pose a HUGE problem for me since I can no longer exercise stringent portion control. This doesn’t seem like a huge issue, but it is. Before I could eat a complete and balanced meal for $4. Now I usually spend about $7 and it’s too much food or else not very healthy. The guys at the office are conditioned to get $2.50 sandwich specials from the local supermarket, but I hate sandwiches and have a preference for hot food. Long term, this will be an issue. I will eat more and spend more. (And no, I will not be packing my lunch. My evening plans are often so variable that I cannot count on cooking anything to take to work the next day.)

#3: 401k plan. Because much of my company’s HR is self-serve, I’m having a devil of a time signing up for the 401k plan. I’m going to have to spend some time making phone calls to get that figured out. Annoying. This also means that instead of the 6% I initially planned to contribute, I have to bump it up so that I can average out 6% over the course of the year since there will be at least two checks with no contribution at all. Frustrating, but not insurmountable. I only mention it because it does represent a kink in my SMART goals.

#4: Public transportation is not reimbursable. I was hoping for this. Most Federal contractors in DC will provide Metrochecks so you can get Metrocards (farecards) as a tax-sheltered benefit. Apparently, that is variable at my company depending on the contract terms with the client. So at this time, I’m spending the equivalent of gas money in Metrocards at the increased fares that began in January 2008. Because of this, I’m thinking I might keep on driving to work as the parking garage fee is only $100 a month and that’s equivalent to Metro. I’ll have to crunch the numbers, but sadly, reducing my carbon footprint might still be a pipedream. (I don’t plan on taking my motorcycle to work in pantyhose. Are you nuts? My co-worker and I were talking about taking our bikes to work, but seriously, it’s a bad idea for me.)

#5: Medical FSA contribution problem. This year you can contribute $5100 a year. Going back to point #1 and the shift to semi-monthly paychecks from bi-weekly, I will now be contributing a lot more to FSA per paycheck. Instead of $192 a bi-weekly check, it’s more like $250+ semi-monthly. I get paid more overall, but since I only have 20 more paychecks left in 2008, I am going to have less cash per check than I initially budgeted.

#6 Medical FSA reimbursement problem. I already had my big surgery this year before my benefits card arrived. Now I have to send in forms. It’s going to be a while for a check to get sent to me. It’s annoying, but at least I am not suffering for the money right now. I could have delayed surgery further, but the timing was good to get it done early during my job transition while my project ramp up was delayed.

So that is all for right now. Sorry for the randomness of this entry, but I’ve been dwelling on these issues in the back of my mind the last few days without much chance to write them down. It’s half a post for you and half a TO DO List for me.