And So It Begins....

It is February 16th, and already we have reached that magical time where our $3500 medical deductible has been met, our $1000 HealthFund is gone, our $2000 Flex Spending Account is gone, and we are now in our 80/20 period. That being said, we still haven't got all the bills yet for the $3500 already incurred :( (minus $1000 for the HealthFund). Dealing with THAT will be no fun.

From here on out, the girls meds should cost us around $400 a month. The thing I'm MORE worried about is the fact that around $2500 is owed to Aetna's pharmacy. I know they allow payment plans, but the little bit of info I've got so far indicates that those plans are spread over a term of around 3-5 months. That means we could be paying $600 per month to catch up, on top of the new $400 per month. Needless to say, that's not going to work :). Now the worry bit -- are they going to withhold their meds until we pay off the existing balance? I would HOPE not, but who knows with the state of the medical industry these days. That being said, I'll post more when I know more.

On to Happier news.

Terra's van will be completely paid off by the end of March (or the beginning if I can work it in) about 6 months ahead of schedule. Next up, Piper's hospital bill from all of our Cincinnati trips last year will be done in another 4 months (around July). After that, Makenna's Cincinnati bill should be knocked out in another 4 months (around November). Looking further out, my car should be paid off about this time next year - about 5 months ahead of schedule. THAT is the debt snowball in action :). Four medium sized debts being knocked out as you compound their payments.

In all, that represents around $7000 worth of debt. It's not as aggressive as I would like, but well, we have some pretty serious new expenses to deal with :). On the bright side, none of this is including Terra's income, so I should be able to accelerate things depending on how many hours she can get in the next few months.

The girls' doctor is also going to switch their meds, so I'm hoping the new one is somewhat cheaper :). I'll let you know how that goes later.