Friday, March 17, 2006

Worries

VB does not stand for Virginia Belle. It stands for Very Broke. Oh well. You can't take it with you, right? At least I'm not as broke as I was when I was a teacher.

Between moving, buying a new cell phone, throwing a party, paying my taxes (oh yes, another year with no refund!) and doctors' bills, I'm broke. I mean, I'm fine. I just don't have that nice little cushion/safety net I had a couple months ago. Which is enough to freak me out. I've been really good about paying off my Visa balance by tripling my minimum payment each month (I've paid off about $1,000 this year! Yesss!), but I think this month, I might just pay the minimum. And I think I will call to see if my car insurance rates can be lowered. And I'll try to cancel my Match.com subscription. Kinda cool that I don't need it anymore. Actually, I'd be quitting it anyway. I'm done with online dating! Hmmm...I'll have to brainstorm on how to pinch some pennies....tuna for dinner?

You know I went to Dr. Nazi, the dermatologist. And everything is fine. Since I hadn't met my insurance deductible, paying her $300 between the office visit and lab work didn't seem all that unreasonable. But yesterday I went to the gynocologist. (Looking back on it now, I wish I had spread out my appointments a little more for financial reasons.) Can I just say that male gynocologists are the smartest men around? Think about it. Do you know any other men who actually get paid to feel up women??? I paid mine about $200 yesterday. And left feeling violated. Not to mention some slight discomfort. (Ladies, you know what I mean. Men, trust me, it hurts.) I paid a man to violate me. What is wrong with our society, anyway???

I wrote out my $200 check to him. That is when I realized that my new insurance SUCKS. Last year, Dr. Gyno got $15. Total. And I hadn't met my deductable then, either. You'd think that being a state employee would ensure better insurance....

I owe the IRS $200. (It's actually closer to $300 but I'm getting a small refund from the state, so it's a net payment.) I bought a $100 cell phone. I moved. You know how it goes. As much as I try, I'll have very little play money after paying the bills here soon. I'm just glad I didn't go hog wild at Christmas! And at least I don't have to dip into my savings.

Of course, I just had to buy a new cell phone and had to go to the doctor. But other than that, I haven't been too bad with money this month. I haven't gone shopping. (Although, of course, now that I'm broke, it's all I want to do.) I haven't been going out to eat very much--just about once a week, which is good for me. I even managed to not pay some of the time. Almost everything I've bought for my new apartment came from a gift card. So maybe it just feels like I've been spending money.

Ok, well, I'm off to look at plane tickets for Germany....

I'm using credit card points!!!! Get off my tip!!!!

7 comments:

Modigliani said...

You know you're a grown up when you consider going for Doctors visits a monetary splurge! Ha!

What the hell is wrong with our country? I had to go to the doctors recently for something very routine, and it ended up costing me $200, too! But I don't even have insurance. Our country needs better health care!!

Anny said...

i feels ur money probs. :(

sassafras said...

Ooh, Germany. How fun!
On a not so fun note, I hear your $ pain. I seem to go on extremes with money. I will think I have tons of it for a little while and then I will be stingy with it thinking that I'm going to be in the poor house soon. Moderation. I love to say it just don't love to practice it! Oh well.

Virginia Belle said...

Mo-- I know! the weird thing is, my old insurance was for a much smaller organization and it was waaaaay better! you'd think that a group with literally thousands of members would be able to negotiate better rates!

anny--thanks for the empathy!

sassafras-- yes, i think we all have money woes from time to time. i'm just annoyed because i've been really pretty good with it lately and i'm having that "I can't win!" feeling. :(

Perstephone said...

I can relate to the doctor's bills, too. I just went to the doctor and spent $120 because he was out of network, but supposed to be the best. All he did was put me on an antibiotic (another $20).

Virginia Belle said...

stephanie a. -- i hear ya, girl. that stinks. Dr. Nazi spent all of three minutes with me, so in essence, she gets paid $100 a minute. grrrrr....

Detox-- so is that where you landed? i am jealous! hope you're keeping your head above water. literally and figuratively!

hmmm..two broke people in SC. go figure. :)

NML/Natalie said...

Your tax system sounds like some gangsta sh*t. How messed up is that to have you pay tax all year and then come back and ask you for more at the end of the year? It sounds like they're making it up as they go along. Why can't they just take the correct amount each month!