Calculations, More Websites and Other Stuff

On my July 13th post, I discussed the capitalized interest on my student loans and asked you all to comment on how you would approach the dilemma. In a very thoughtful reply, Matt pointed out considering the interest to be paid out. I’ve decided to not worry about the capitalized interest- I’d rather focus on the two immediate problems, CC1 and CC2, and decide how to best approach paying those off. I have approximately $500 left to pay on CC1, and $4500 to pay to CC2 (I already paid for the upcoming August due date). Taking into consideration Matt’s suggestions, I went to the calculator my bank website has and did a little number crunching. On my next paycheck, I will be able to most definitively afford to pay $500 to a credit card. Using the calculator, I figured out that I would barely save anything in interest. So, that $500 (plus approximately $6 in interest) will go to CC1 so that I can check that one off the list. Then maybe I need to seriously consider freezing CC1…

More Websites

I enjoy checking out different financial websites and seeing what they have to offer. Here are two that I recently checked out:

Saltmoney.org– This website is really targeted for the still in school/just graduated from school crowd with student debt. It gives nice lessons on budgeting, understanding debt, loans and other financial products and you can import your student loan information to get their advice on how to make the best payments for quickest payoff within reason of your income. If this had existed 8-9 years ago, maybe I would have made smarter choices about how to approach the student loan world. Where I’m at these days, it is not particularly suited to what I have to deal with financially, but for my younger readers out there, check it out.

Readyforzero.com– This is a bit more suited for the older peeps in my audience. You can link your bank accounts, credit cards and loans and see all your cash flow and debts in one place. It gives you advice on which debt to tackle first (they go by the highest interest rate first, I kind of wish they gave you a choice between that and snowball) and how long it will take to pay off the loan based on how much money you are willing to put towards your debts and takes into account minimum payments on debts. It’s a bit glitchy- it’s a crap shoot if it’s going to connect to your account or not, I’m especially having trouble with it connecting to my student loan website, but all in all I think I like it the best of all the ones I have tried (cleanest and simplest interface).

**Again, I don’t get squat for saying anything about these websites

Other Stuff

I was banking on my health insurance being canceled by next paycheck. But I’m worried that a stupid loophole may mean I’m paying for insurance I’m not using for another few months until the next enrollment period. Apparently I have 30 days from the qualifying event to cancel my insurance. Well, we are at 53 days since my wedding, the HR lady is out so she hasn’t submitted all my completed paperwork and hopefully I have the correct paperwork to boot (proof of new insurance, etc.). I’m hoping I can say that my going on husband’s insurance starting next month can count as the qualifying event as opposed to the marriage. Fingers crossed, because I’m banking on that extra $200 a month to help with the debts!

Speaking of health insurance, I have some words of advice. ALWAYS CHECK TO SEE HOW MUCH OF THE RETAIL PRICE YOU’VE BEEN PAYING ON PRESCRIPTIONS. I recently learned that I’ve been paying full retail price on a monthly medication I take. I pay so little that I didn’t think much about it, but then the guy who was ringing me up pointed it out this past round. Over the long haul, we are talking around $140 on this. Once I’ve gathered documentation, I’ll be submitting the claims to my insurance, but I’m hoping to make at least some of what I shelled out back. I am about to submit another claim since my eye doctor has decided to charge me every year for contact fittings and won’t submit to insurance on my behalf, so I’m sure the insurance company is going to love me over the next several weeks! Being that I’ve fought with a few insurance companies in my day job to get payment on bills, I sure both will be a fight, but if you fight enough and have supporting documentation (ICD-9 codes, etc.), you will get reimbursed for some or all of your claims.

Finances, a fight to stay afloat!