A Raise

So today is payday in the living rich on the cheap household.  We officially gave ourselves a $1000 a month raise today so that more funds are paid out by the company and less corporate tax is paid.  After tax that equates to about $750 more per month in our household.  Our expenses are pretty much the same so where is the money going?  Based on our 2017 budget more into the medical fund and more into the travel fund.  Those are two areas where I truly expect to pay a few thousand more each year from here on out.  I am 47 and hubby turns 55 in June and our medical expenses including dental and vision care seem to creep up each year.  We pay $150 per month for basic healthcare and pay out of pocket for all vision, dental and pharmaceuticals.  Last year I ended up getting a crown and hubby had day surgery for something that was not covered by basic medical (we wanted a specific test) so covered those out of pocket.  As we age I expect that bill to rise.  I have done the math and no, at this point in time due to pre-existing medical conditions it would not pay to buy a premium healthcare plan as they exclude or limit most pre-existing medical conditions.


As for the travel fund, well, we expect to be spending at least $5000-$7000 a year for the next 15 years of our lives traveling.  We are taking  each of my 4 step kids on one European trip in the next 5-6 years based on their schedules plus we hope to cover as many countries as possible in our personal travels.   We have also talked about down the road spending 3 months or so every winter in another country once we shut down the business.  That is unlikely to happen for 10 years or so but in the mean time we are not giving up our love of travel - we just have to schedule it a long way in advance.  This year is Greece, next year Italy,  after that who knows?

All these plans must be saved for.  We believe in credit cards but only as a means to an end which means paying zero interest.  Yes, we pay annual credit card fees of $70 each but last year on hubby's credit card we earned one air ticket to Europe and mine 3 air tickets to Alberta where the kids are.  For us, those fees are worth it.  If we didn't travel we wouldn't hold these type of credit cards.

Everyone has different dreams.  For us, that means travel.  If we didn't own our own business we would likely be like Kevin and Ruth, traveling the world. If you haven't yet checked out their blog you should do so as they live the gypsy life, a dream of mine.