I always get grumpy right before I start working in the hospital.
I suppose I should cultivate a better attitude, but the prospect of working many days in a row, taking care of very sick patients, makes me anxious.
Once I’m in the thick of it, I’m usually more cheerful (at least the first week, before the sleep deprivation kicks in), but somehow the anticipation is worse.
Making things worse this year is the fact that the stock market rose recently, and I am pretty sure I have again “hit my number,” and likely surpassed it by a bunch.
At the same time, I had to attend a refresher course for attendings, full of bureaucratic nonsense and a safety course (reminding us that in Massachusetts, a health care worker is assaulted every 36 minutes. Ugh!)
Why, I might have asked, why am I still going to work? Who needs more money when you could be assaulted, have to give bad news to patients, and/or have to manage interns who (possibly) aren’t ready for the job?
In my grumpy mood, my answer was: well, you get paid well for this.
Another grumpy thought noted that I save most of it after paying for necessities.
So, I started wondering: if I have hit my number and am still working and earning money, should I try making my life more pleasant by spending some of that money I theoretically don’t need?
Perhaps I didn’t stop to think that through long enough. In about 2 weeks, I spent my usual paycheck (minus retirement contributions and secret savings) on one-time things: new carpeting for one floor, splurging on premium economy plane tickets for our upcoming vacation, and new computers for me and Mr. PiN. That doesn’t even count my new prescription glasses, paid directly with our FSA funds.
To be fair, I had money put aside for doing some work on the house, for vacations, and for medical costs like glasses. And the computer for me wasn’t really a splurge, since my 10 year old computer can no longer run some programs I need for work.
Still, it was a shock to see how quickly that money went.
Did I feel better about going to work over the weekend? Not really.
To be fair, I haven’t really gotten to enjoy my purchases yet. The carpet won’t be installed for several weeks, the plane trip hasn’t happened, and I haven’t even booted up my computer yet (I can’t get through to IT to get permissions for log in. Grrr.)
On the other hand, I did feel much more comfortable spending big this month, knowing that in theory I don’t need the income from working.
About 4 years ago I started thinking much more seriously about finances and retirement, and I mentioned quite a few house renovations that would need to be done in the future. We completed very few of them, and I think the next year or 2 are the time to get more of them done. Oven and refrigerator, I’m looking at you! The geriatric central A/C is also in my sights.
Shelling out large sums of money while still earning feels much less stressful, even though my retirement calculations account for these costs.
I don’t want to start treating work as only a money-making machine–that’s not good for me or for medicine.
But I understand now why so many almost-retirees start taking care of big projects in the years leading up to their retirement. I feel more comfortable spending large sums when money is coming in from somewhere other than my savings account.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’m looking forward to staying in some nicer hotels for our August vacation, and perhaps replacing the upstairs carpeting as well.
If you’ve retired, did you make any big purchases or updates before your work paycheck went away?
Our biggest spend right before retirement was replacing our deck and patio, and buying quality outdoor furniture for the first time ever. We are really enjoying it now!
Great to hear you are enjoying the deck and patio. Happily, we have a porch and yard in decent condition. Though I may add updating (repair vs replace) the furniture to the wish list.