Paycheck to Paycheck

Paycheck to Paycheck

Too many of us live paycheck to paycheck with insufficient savings to see us through an emergency and only a prayer in our hearts to see us through an interruption in the money flow. It catches you off-guard when that emergency or interruption happens, no matter how many times you have considered it and tried to plan ahead. Financial experts suggest having savings to cover at least six months of expenses. For us, it was save for retirement or this emergency account. We couldn’t do both, chose retirement, and now it has come around to bite us.

My husband had a fender bender while backing up out of our driveway to run some errands. Somehow he managed to go through a narrow opening between a decorative wooden fence and an apple tree in our neighbor’s front yard across the street. He ended up with the back bumper of our car in the door of the neighbor’s car. He doesn’t remember it happening.

Medical vs. Legal Suspension

The neighbors called the paramedics since my husband was incoherent. Of course this occurred on a Friday evening, so our doctor’s office was closed. We refused the ambulance drive to the Emergency Room but, on the advice of the doctor who still happened to be in the office, we took my husband to the hospital.

Upshot is that despite no medical evidence of a seizure and, instead, reason to think his unconsciousness was caused by a morning incident with our cat where a varicose vein got opened and bled profusely and elevated blood sugar—he unwisely ate a brownie before going out on the errand instead of a healthy snack—his license is now medically suspended until the Department of Motor Vehicles says otherwise. (See: http://bonniearnot.blogspot.com/2016/08/dont-tease-cat.html)

If you have a DUI or OUI, the DMV may allow you to keep a hardship license, which means you may drive back and forth to certain locations only, work and maybe a doctor’s office, I assume. With a medical suspension—is there an acronym for this?—I doubt they will allow any driving, but we will see.

Hidden Costs

Having a suspended license has caused secondary complications. My husband did not at first inform his work superiors of the suspension. He had rides back and forth to work. They found out and suspended him without pay. A valid driver’s license is a prerequisite to employment. The fact that he has worked for them for nearly twenty years with good reviews and was not missing work means nothing. He has one month to rectify the situation or face being fired. The DMV usually requires six months before considering lifting a medical suspension.

Experts don’t generally mention hidden expenses you must plan for in those six months. Medical and life insurance premiums are often taken directly out of a paycheck, so you might not remember them when planning. I know COBRA laws allow people to keep their current insurance for a specified period if they pay the full group rate. It’s less than paying as a single customer but still much more than what you may be used to if your employer pays part of the expense.

I guess the moral of the story is to put aside funds for both retirement and emergencies even if that means skimping on the retirement at first or vacations, clothes—whatever you don’t absolutely need. After you have the amount required in the emergency fund, funnel those funds into your retirement plan. What you do if you legitimately have no discretionary funds and little recourse to getting more, which many of us don’t, I wish I knew. I have faith and God has always seen us through. Be interesting to see what He has in mind.