Finance – Page 14 – Physician In Numbers

A Money Date Interview

When my father became very ill last spring, I realized that my mom didn’t really know everything she needed to in order to manage the household bills.

I started thinking about my own household: I have been taking care of the bills ever since we got married. Most of our discussion about the bills has gone something like this:

Me: I’m going to pay the bills this morning.

Him: Thank you for taking care of this.

Me (sometimes): Can you believe this water bill?

Him: I don’t know what to do about this, I do a lot of cleaning.

Clearly, we haven’t been communicating well about our expenses. I wasn’t really sure that my husband would be able to manage things if I were incapacitated.

Before our last vacation (which conveniently fell over the first of the month), I asked him if he would pay the bills that month. Of course, I would help him.

This would be our first real money date. I asked him if I could interview him afterwards, to see what he thought about it.

I note that my husband has a strong internal censor.

Buying My Own Bling

It’s a funny thing, jewelry.

If you think about it rationally, you’ll have to agree that it is expensive and a poor investment. Like a car, the price of almost any piece you might buy drops as soon as you take it home.

On the other hand, jewelry has been coveted and valuable for thousands of years. It can help dress up an outfit, start a conversation, or just straight up signal wealth and status. If you like a piece, it can work for you for many decades, unlike a car or cell phone, which is unlikely to last more than one or two.

I have to confess, I was able to accumulate plenty of jewelry over the years as gifts. My mother (who loves this stuff) has given me plenty of lovely pieces, especially for special birthdays (16, 18) and graduations.

Gold earrings, 4th–early 3rd century B.C., Etruscan. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Earrings are easy presents for birthdays/holiday/souvenirs. I have given and received a number from girlfriends and relatives.

Of course, who can forget the tradition of the engagement ring and wedding ring. I suppose I decided on my wedding ring, but my fiance picked out the engagement ring; we looked at rings together, but he made the final choice himself and surprised me.

It was therefore an odd event for me, last year, when I decided I was going to buy something expensive for myself.

Medicine And FI, Fast And Slow

I recently attended a conference on Physician Wellness, during which we were asked to do an exercise in pairs. Alone, we were to write down three goals at our job. Then, we were to ask our partner about a time when their work aligned with those goals, and how they felt.

My partner for this exercise was a hospitalist, who talked about the joy in finding time to really talk to a patient. When you don’t have to rush off to the next emergency or phone call, and can have a longer talk about who they are when well, or what has been happening, or just listen to someone who is sick and needs support.

For me, I thought about a visit I added on during the holidays, with no one scheduled afterwards. We had time to talk beyond the allotted 15 minutes, and to cover a few more problems, to build a stronger connection. I even had time to write the office note, while my house staff took care of business in the hospital.

In both cases, what we wanted was enough time to do our jobs well.

Credit Cards And My Budget

Despite the difficulties we had last May trying to earn credit card sign-up bonuses, I gave the credit card game another try this winter.

It’s been an interesting experience, and made me think more about budgeting. More specifically, about all those “one-time” purchases that come up.

Wednesday Wool-gathering

Several random thoughts on the week past.

Monday Melange: Fun Vs Money

I have been reading personal finance blogs for a while. I love the breadth of subjects: frugality, meal planning, travel ~~hacking~~ planning, geeky number posts comparing traditional and Roth IRAs.

One of my issues is that they all, every one of them (it seems), glorifies the side hustle.

You know, the other job, the one you do after your regular one is done. It doesn’t pay as much, yet, but helps you diversify your income sources.

Even doctors are supposed to have a side hustle, I hear.

Financial Future Me 2020

This weekend I spent a little time going through our expenses for last year, after having calculated our net worth for January 1. I’m not planning to reveal all our numbers here–Mr. Physician in Numbers (despite his suggesting the blog name) doesn’t want our numbers revealed on the Internet. But I will say, overall, we did pretty well in 2019.

We spent a little less than the year before, almost entirely due to reducing spending on travel. Our net worth went up ridiculously, almost entirely due to the stock market, over whose performance I have absolutely no control.

My New Year’s financial tasks completed, it seems fitting that I formulate some goals for 2020.

Happy 2020!

I hope this is the beginning of an excellent year for you. And for me too, frankly.

Today is going to be a social day, and I plan to enjoy it before I go back to the regular work schedule tomorrow.

However, there are a few financial tasks I do every year around this time, which I still haven’t quite finished. I think they are pretty helpful, and would recommend them to anyone.

2019 In Review

This is the time of year when people make resolutions for the next year. Usually there is talk of losing weight, saving more, getting ahead.

Before I consider resolutions (or plans) for 2020, I would like to look back at 2019, and think about accomplishments I can point to with pride. I find it is healthier for me to concentrate periodically on things that have gone well, rather than always pointing out what needs to improve.

An End Of Year Financial To Do List

There are just over 2 weeks before the end of 2019, and I’m feeling the pressure to finish off time sensitive tasks. Last month I went through the list I was worried about. I think it’s time to review what’s been done and what is left to do.