Somebody call the Waaambulance

This morning I started a ranting post about silly things. Tonight as I think about it, I amaze myself with how very superficial (and American?) my complaints were.

You see, I went to a Lia Sophia party (think Pampered Chef party but with cute and trendy jewelry instead of cooking stuff) the other night. While those who have met me in the last 10 years might find it odd, I did at one point in time wear make up, necklaces, and dangly earrings. My interest in such things just petered out over the years.

But there's still a bit of a girly-girl inside of me that enjoys those things, and she was bursting to get out after that party!

There were a handful of pieces I wanted. The total would have run me just over $100 (with the discounts) for the 3 top items on my list. For someone who's never actually purchased anything nicer than Claire's junk jewelry, just thinking about spending that much for 3 items made me want to gag. But they were so cute! And with a lifetime guarantee!! I went back and forth all weekend like I had the little angel and devil on my shoulders.

The little devil: Buy them. Your previous frugality makes up for this one purchase.

The little angel: You don't need them. Your money will be better spent (or saved) elsewhere.

The little devil: But you really could use a little sprucing up. You're not a poor college kid any more. You can afford a necklace or two.

The little angel: How often will you really wear them anyway???

Me: Fine. FINE! I won't get any jewelry.

*shed a tear and feel sorry for myself*

Seriously. I shed a tear and felt sorry for myself. And then I started a blog rant about how how I'm sick of living like I have no money to spare, etc. etc.

And then I remembered one line from that Saturday night Stake Conference meeting (I'm telling you, it really was a good meeting). Someone was talking about money and spending:

"Financial well being isn't a function of income but of the relationship of income to expenditure. Don't live during the up times as though they will never end."

So, even though I can afford them now that doesn't mean I deserve them or need them. (Most of us really don't want what we truly deserve. Thank heavens for the atonement!) It doesn't mean that down the road I'd be able to afford them either. Who knows what's in store?

And then I started thinking about how blessed I am that it's even an issue of should or shouldn't I buy this necklace. At least it wasn't "Can I or can't I afford to feed my family today?". Necklace or no necklace, I have it pretty good.

(Matt said it was my decision. Now, I don't really think it would have been that big of a deal if I'd bought it, but honestly, it wasn't necessary right now. Maybe I'll find something of theirs I like on ebay sometime for cheap.)

Perfect timing

Nothing like having to cancel your credit card right before you take a trip because there's been fraudulent activity on a crazy website that's not even in English.

What's worse is they had the 3 digit code on the back as well which means they hacked an online transaction somewhere along the way.

Why do people have to be such jerks? And at Christmas time nonetheless.

When in doubt, check it out

We got our bill for my hospital stay. When we saw it we were a little surprised. We have an EPO where our co-pay for inpatient hospital visits should be $150 with 100% covered after that. But the bill was for $506.

I called today to check it out.

The first guy told me that the bill was right. That the $506 was our % we had to pay. I didn't know exactly what our plan was, so I hung up and called Matt. He said that was wrong since 100% was supposed to be covered after the initial $150.

So I called again.

The next lady was just as clueless as the first guy, but when I explained what I understood our coverage to be, she transferred me to a claims resolution dept.

After taking one look at the statement, that lady said, "Oh, they definitely read this wrong and charged you incorrectly. You're supposed to only be charged a one time $150 co-pay. They charged you $150 for every day you were there."

So, the moral of my story is: when in doubt, check it out. If it seems you're paying too much for something, you just might be.

(Oh, and they charged us $56 for being in a private room. The hospital only offered private rooms. Don't get me wrong, given a choice of a shared room that's 100% covered or upgrading to a private for $56, I'd have chosen the private room, but it seems odd that they don't cover a private room when private rooms are the only option in the hospital!)

Money, money, money, money

Although our last check hasn't been cashed yet, it's good to know that we have sent it and Matt's parents should have received it by now. That means we have paid off our $10,000 loan we borrowed when we moved here a little under a year and a half ago. While we had enough in savings for a down payment and closing costs, we would have been tight trying to get things like washer/dryer, fridge, etc. It was super helpful to have the loan, but I'm very happy that they have their money back and we are debt free (minus the mortgage) with a decent savings before the baby comes. My income wasn't super great this past year, but it was extremely helpful in reaching our goals.

We decided, with that behind us, we can now use my piano lesson money to save for MATCHING, NEW living room furniture! We should be able to make that purchase in the next couple of months. Possibly before Christmas. Possibly after Christmas. Who really cares? It's just nice to know we won't be living in a DI showroom forever!!