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Home > August debt progress, dental update, random other updates

August debt progress, dental update, random other updates

August 21st, 2013 at 04:24 am

I sent off an extra $100 payment to NT's student loan to make sure we hit our August goal. As I was setting it up, I realized there hadn't been any interest added this past month. I did some sleuthing and realized that, since I've paid off all his unsubsidized portions of the loan, the remaining, subsidized portion won't accumulate any interest while he's in school! I was just hitting the higher-interest portions first, not realizing this difference.

The balance is only $3200 now, but it's nice to think that we won't pay any interest on it as long as we pay it off before NT graduates next year. (Plus I think there's a certain grace period after he graduates.) So, long story short, I'm going to stop targeting this loan and work on the next-highest-interest student loan, his private loan. When I pay that off (probably sometime next year), I'll work on AS's student loan. Then, we'll see if I can pay off this loan before it has a chance to accumulate any interest.

Anyway, all $100 of the payment went toward principal, so that takes August debt repayment to $1643 down, $107 to go. Big-picture progress is now at $25,573.06.

***

I had a follow-up with my dental surgeon today and had the sutures removed. He said it looked good and will check it again in 2 weeks. No copay because apparently these checkups are included in their original price quote. Sweet!

I asked him if he thought I'd need that extra bone graft (the one I'd have to pay $2200 out of pocket for). He said he wasn't sure, that it would be decided next year at the time of the implant.

So I won't know for a while, but at least it gives me time to plan. I've tentatively decided that I'll save up the $1200 that I know I'll need to pay for the implant, but I think I can cashflow the other $2200 when the time comes, if need be. (It'll just mean a lot less goal progress that month.) I'll make a note in my budget and make sure I set aside $2200 for January, and then if I don't need it I can put it toward student loans or something.

(Hmm, or maybe I should set aside an extra $100 per month in flex spending next year. I can use it right away to pay the dental bill, and my paycheck will be less than $50 per month less. I'll still be able to cashflow the $2200 fairly easily in that case. And that would mean I can put this year's snowflakes toward other things!)

I'm still trying to figure out how much my ultrasound/mammogram appointment will cost me. From what I can tell from the inscrutable claim forms, the mammogram is 100% covered but the draining of the cysts they did during the ultrasound may cost me a couple hundred bucks. Not too bad, I suppose. I just don't like not knowing!

***

I feel like I'm in another period of waiting. Waiting for my teeth to stop bothering me. Waiting for AS's raise to kick in. Waiting for our debt to get under $250K (should happen this year!). But having a busy calendar this summer has helped me stay distracted. We had "grownup weekend" last Friday night through Sunday afternoon -- our good friends, also the girls' godfathers, took them to their house for the weekend -- and that was amazing. We did go to that super-classy restaurant next door to us. It was like being in a dream made of food -- 11 tiny courses of transcendent flavors and textures, plus the most skilled, attentive service we've ever gotten at a restaurant. You don't want to know how much it cost! But we had the money set aside so it's OK.

I've also been trying to get involved a bit in a local cause -- a case of police brutality that ended in a killing just blocks from our home. It's really made clear to me that there's a bigger problem with our police force, and it's a cause I'm getting more passionate about the more I learn. So we've been going to rallies and meetings and spreading the word among friends. I don't know if it will really change anything, but it feels good to try to do something about it.

I have a 6-day weekend around Labor Day because daycare is closed, and we've already got lots of plans, including trips to the State Fair and the Renaissance Festival. The following weekend my sister and niece are coming for a few days, and we've got tickets to the science museum we'll probably use. In the weeks after that there's a drag show AS and I are going to, NT and lil AA going "camping" in friends' backyard, a visit to a winery -- and then suddenly it's nearly October! We know at least one Oct. weekend will be spent at our friends' mansion and another celebrating a friend's b-day. Thank goodness the girls are much less tiring these days, or there's no way we could keep up this pace! I don't know how it keeps happening, really; for a while there it didn't seem like we saw our friends at all, and now fun things just keep coming up. With all of the above, most of the tickets have already been purchased, so the only upcoming expenses will be food and carshare and (for one or two of them) babysitting.

Work's had its ups and downs but overall seems to be going pretty well. AS and NT are way overworked in their jobs and trying to find ways to offload some of the extra work on other people, but it's a struggle for both of them in different ways.

AA finished up her first swim class and did really well, so we're enrolling her in a "preschool" level one where she goes in the water without a parent. That starts in September too. I still want to enroll her in a dance class sometime soon, but I'll wait until there's a break in swim; not ready to be one of those parents carting the kid all over for various classes yet! Big Grin

I guess that's enough rambling for now. I'm starting to get pretty tired and will probably doze off soon.

2 Responses to “August debt progress, dental update, random other updates”

  1. My English Castle Says:
    1377095798

    We've had plenty of coverage of the Minneapolis police's misbehavior in Green Bay. Envying your state fair visits. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I miss the MN fair.

  2. Looking Forward Says:
    1377146291

    That resturant sounds wonderful.

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