Estimating 2010 Paid Time Off

I have a fairly decent Paid Time Off (PTO) deal. My employer gives me four weeks off every year, including 8 holidays (6 calendar, 2 floating). If I don't use all my time then I'm allowed to transfer up to 15 days to the following year. Early on I recognized this benefit and made a point to carry over at least a week when I first started. Now I carry over the full 3 weeks and have been doing so for the past few years.

Why am I telling you all this? Because in my head, it pays to be as thoughtful about your PTO as your cash. Time, as they say, is money. Those three weeks I carry over not only could come in handy if I need a big chunk of time off, but also as a bit of a financial cushion should I get laid off (which could come in handy, as severance at my company is minimal).

Keeping an eye on my PTO is even more important since I'm in a long-distance relationship. For our situation, since I have more time off than he does, I'll go visit him more often this year. This allows him to bank his PTO and use money saved from travel costs to put towards debt and/or emergency savings. Below is quickie calendar I came up with to help visualize my PTO time, and for us to use to coordinate our visits.

*Please note that the PTO days left in 2010 does not reflect the 3 weeks I have that will get carried over into 2011.

So this is what I've drafted so far, which leaves me 5 days to play around with if I get sick, an emergency,etc. However since I already have 3 weeks that I'll be carrying over, these 5 days must be taken before the end of the year or be forfeited.

I realize that as a single person with no children or other dependents, hoarding PTO time is easier for me to do than others. Even so, I believe that if at all possible, like with having a cushion of emergency cash, we should all have at least a day or two of PTO to be flexible with.

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Comments Drama

Since I'd been living under a rock for the past month of so, I didn't realize that Haloscan has moved to the ECHO platform, which means no commenting ability until I get the comments upgraded. I'm in the process of doing that now, so please pardon the dust.

In the meantime, if you need to reach me, velvetjones3000 at gmail is where you can find me. :)

2010 Goals

Short version of my 2009 goals: Done.

Taking a gander to the status bars on the right you'll see the new goals for 2010. Read on to get a little detail on them in order of importance.

2010 Health Care Deductible Fund—$2,000
Do I even have to tell you how out-of-pocket health care costs have gotten? My employer went from a copy to a deductible model so that means I have to spend $2,500 before the insurance company will chip in 80% of all other costs. I know there are a lot more craptastic plans than this, and still I'm unhappy about it. But whatever. $500 will be taken directly from my paycheck via FSA, the rest will be raise in cash.

2010 Travel Fund—$4,000
While I'll be using flier miles for trips to see the BF this year, there are still costs like taxis and trains to the airport and fees for using your miles (eye roll). Then there's a family member's wedding in the Fall, a possible trip to my ancestral home to see family, and a visit to see my BFF.

2010 Clothes Fund—$1,000
The $500 I allotted last year was woefully insufficient. I'm hoping doubling that amount and being more thoughtful about what pieces I buy will produce better results.

2010-2011 Move Fund—$10,000
This amount should be able to get me in an apartment, get utilities hooked up, and a few bits of furniture.

Car Fund—$25,000
This what I believe it will cost me to get a new, no-frills hybrid, including taxes, title, registration, insurance, license, etc. At least I hope so. I know I'll be able to get to $20k this year. If it turns out I need to buy a car at the end of the year, then that's what I'll have to work with and I'll have to adjust my plans for what type of car I buy. If it turns that I don't have to move until mid-2011 or even later in the year or 2012, then I can get the rest of that total. This is kind of a moving target, but I believe it's important to start saving for a car because I am going to need one sooner or later. Better save now while I have the ability.

2010 Charity—$800
The places getting my money this year are Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary, The Innocence Project, and NPR.

I didn't list my retirement savings as a goal because that's just something I do. I'll be maxing out my Roth IRA...again, however I've drastically reduced my 401k contribution from $10k to $2k. This allows me to have more cash in my pocket but still get the company match.

Thinking about 2010 and beyond

Some random thoughts:

• A small voice inside is telling me that I'm going to need to make more money in the future. The salary of an administrative assistant is not going to work for me long term, no matter how much I save. Sadly, the voice of self-doubt and fear of failure is more persuasive.

• I've drafted a list of 2010 goals. It's a very long list, but more comprehensive and thoughtful than previous years. Hopefully it will keep me from getting caught off-guard too much by things I knew I'd need money for, but never thought enough about to save.

• 2010 may be the last year I'm able to save in a big way. Mom is talking about selling the house in 2011 to live somewhere with less upkeep and give her more to live on (provided the house sells at a profit at that point). This is great for her and I'm glad she's thinking about this. For me, it means that I might have to readjust my savings goals knowing that 2010, and possibly 2011, will be my last year of being able to save a large amount of money (think upwards of $20k). This brings me back to my first bullet point above.

• The BF is overcome by a sense of hopelessness about his debt situation. I feel powerless in that there is no way I can help him. What would you do if you were holding $37,000 in private loan debt to Bank of America that was fixed, but will be changed to variable come next year? Oh, and that interest rate at fixed is 15%! Getting another fixed loan is out because only BOA offers personal loans that large or if anyone else is, the interest rate is even worse.
  

• I'm finding it difficult to change old, bad eating habits. The good news is that I'm still the same weight I was last month. The bad news: I'm still the same weight I was last month. I think in this I can understand the BF's lament. I've been overweight all my life. When I experience moments like these where I'm not, or think I'm not, making progress, I can hear the negative tapes playing in my head saying things like, "How is this going to be different? You've failed over and over again. It's not going to get any better for you, so just accept your body now. This is as good as it's going to get for you." It's embarrassing to admit such terrible thoughts, but there they are. The only thing that keeps me going is this vision in my head I have of myself weighing 40 pounds less when I go to the doctor's office next year for my physical. In spite of my doubts, the goal of better health is more compelling. So even when I slip off my path, I just pick up where I left off and keep going. And that's it. I can understand why people make the comparison between being fiscally fit and physically fit. However I have to say that getting out of debt and managing my money was far easier than trying to lose this excess body fat that I've had all my life. :)
  

:::tap, tap::: "Is this thing on?"

Yeah, yeah. I've been gone for a bit, and trust me, I feel bad for neglecting my little blog. I haven't written much because there isn't much going on. As Fabulous Ma would say, "My money is boring." Although that's not entirely true.

I've been trying to get on the whole healthier eating and exercise trail. For the past two months I've been walking (low impact and free!) about 4 to 5 miles a day, six days a week, and trying to eat more thoughtfully (veggie sandwiches, cooking more often, brown instead of white rice, etc.). I've lost 10 pounds so far and my blood work from the doctor shows that my body is liking the direction I'm taking. However as the weather gets colder it's becoming clear that I need to take a new direction with my exercise. So now I'm considering getting a gym membership. I hate the idea of spending the money for something like this, however in the end I believe it will be a worthwhile investment in myself.

Speaking of investments in myself, I've signed up for a year-long pro membership at Dailyburn.com, a web site that tracks what you eat and how much you exercise. There's a free option, however to doesn't track stuff like fiber, etc., and some other features. I figured for $45 year, it's worth getting full access without the clutter of advertising all over the site (like on SparkPeople.com). I have to say that keeping this food/exercise journal has been eye-opening. If you asked me before all this, I would have said the number one thing to look out for was sugar/carbs. However it's become very clear to me that I take in WAY too much sodium! Holy cow it's in EVERYTHING!

So anyway, my greater challenge is to improve my health without adding significant cost.

File under: "Jesus Effing Christ"

From Fortune.com, A Jobs Crisis

Even more sobering: a report this week from Rutgers University professors James Hughes and Joseph Seneca who noted that, even if the economy suddenly started adding 2,150,000 jobs a year (instead of losing more than 3 million), it would take until 2017 to get the [unemployment] rate all the way back down.

Ugh.