Tuesday, August 08, 2017

August Happiness Challenge: Day 7

Rizz is happy to just write a check
On Day 7, I was happy I have an emergency fund. The  hospital bill for $412.94 arrived in today's mail. Obviously, that is not the source of my happiness.

I'm happy, though, that I don't have to put that $412.94 on plastic. After all, my 2017 "OneWord Goal is to focus on what counts," including my credit card debt.

Right now, my emergency fund has $1350 in it. I won't like seeing that total dip below $1000. But like the last check I wrote from this fund -- $175 for HVAC repair on 6/24 -- I'm happy I have the cash on hand. Now I'll have to build it up again, by adding between $20 and $25 every month.

While I'm at it, I'm also happy I still have good insurance. Part of why I wanted to have the colonoscopy this summer was that I wanted to make sure I could pay for it. Looking over the bill, I see that the procedure cost $8196. My total responsibility is less than 10% of that.

After my bout with c.diff, this test was wise, if not immediately necessary. I'm fortunate that I have the insurance and funds to pay for good healthcare.

 

If you want to play along, just come back here (meaning to this blog, not this individual post) each day in August, looking for the Happy Cub. Every day I will try to have a post with the headline: August Happiness Challenge: Day [X]. Leave a comment and then post your own daily happiness, with August Happiness Challenge in the title to make it easy to find.