What a week this is turning out to be. I'm still not feeling my best thanks to the lingering effects of this virus (or whatever it is) that I've had. Mostly I've just been very tired, but my mood has been pretty low, too.
This morning in an effort to cheer myself up, I decided to check my upcoming direct deposit paycheck stub. It's going to be my first paycheck after getting a raise and a "step" * increase for the year, and I was eager to see how much of a difference it would make. I'd already made plans to squirrel the extra cash from each paycheck away to help save for a trip we're planning next spring.
Well, imagine my surprise when I pulled up Friday's paycheck information...and my net pay for two weeks was actually five dollars less than before. I mean, what the actual f*ck?!!!!!
After I rubbed my eyes a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things, I looked a little closer, and it quickly became apparent what had happened. And I can't even be mad about it.
You see, one of the benefits our district offers is that they cover the cost of health insurance for lower earning employees and their families. There's a salary scale that pays 100% of the cost up to a certain number, then 50%, then 0. At my last school, my insurance was covered completely. Then when I transferred to my current school and position three years ago, I got a pretty good raise--even taking into account that that bumped me up to paying 50% of the cost. And now after a couple more salary increases, I'm finally on the hook for the full cost of the coverage. It's eaten up all of this year's gain.
I'm very, very grateful for the years of free medical insurance, and I don't really mind paying up now that I'm making more money. My salary has doubled from when I started eight years ago, and the state employee insurance rates are very reasonable. I have no reason to complain, and I won't.
But it was really disappointing at first.
*A "step" increase is the extra pay you get from each additional year of service.
Well, crud! The price you pay for success, I suppose. But maybe you’ll have better news come tax time. Congratulations anyway!
ReplyDeleteThanks! lol :)
DeleteI remember the dread of finding out what my health insurance was going to cost, especially since I carried 4 people on mine. (my late husband was self-employed) My school district paid a flat amount for all insurances and health insurance came out last. I was generally on the hook for 500-800 dollars a month out of pocket. I don't miss those days at all! My boyfriend worked for Boeing for nearly 40 years and their health insurance cost them $10 a month per person. I tried not to be resentful.
ReplyDeleteI'd have been shocked too, and threatened to take someone out.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, your cooler head saw what happened before anyone got hurt!
Jennifer, I'm very sorry you're still not feeling well but I have to tell you this plain sucks. Of course you're being very mature about it, and appreciative of everything, but I would still be resentful. I know you are younger than me, but do you see retirement in your horizon?
ReplyDelete