Happy Valentine’s Day
That is, if you’re into the whole V-Day thing. We stopped celebrating it several years ago after recognizing it for the marketing event that it truly is. Besides, with the events of the week, that holiday was the farthest things from our minds.
The Bitter
This past Sunday, my wife had a terrible time sleeping. Her dog, a Jack Russell that has been with her for 14 years, was up pacing around the bedroom for most of the night. Mrs. C is a very light sleeper and this kept her up most of the night as well. By morning, she felt that something wasn’t right and took the dog into the vet.
The dog, we’ll call her K, has had flare ups of pancreatitis in the past and was on a special low-fat diet. All of the symptoms pointed to another flare up and the diagnostic show an enlarged gall bladder. The vet was very confident that with a medication and a few days of care that we would be back to normal.
By Wednesday, it was clear that the pain was getting worse instead of better. The vet tried some additional pain meds but K just didn’t respond. Based on some additional observation, he concluded that it was most likely cancer. It was a very difficult decision, but it was time to say goodbye.
The rest of the week has been a very emotional time for my wife as she has gone through an intense grieving process. This was, in almost every sense, her first child. They had a very strong bond.
The Sweet
In other news, we had two financial events that I’m very pleased with. First, I was able to sell my ESPP shares for ~$7900 and a 12.95% profit despite very difficult market conditions. It would have been a bit higher if I had been able to sell the day they were released, but unfortunately life got in the way and I had to wait an extra day. That makes for an annualized rate of return of 27.58% on the investment. I will, of course, have to pay taxes on the ~$900 gain.
We also got the expected bonus for the second half of 2015. The company calls it a bonus, but it’s been a regular part of my compensation since starting and is only slightly adjusted by the company making or missing its goals. I do tend to think of it as deferred compensation and not a bonus per se. After taxes, we got around $10k some of which went to ESPP and some to 401k (Deducted pre-tax). That left us with an additional $7500 in the checking account this pay period.
Both of those events allowed me to hit a new milestone. The money from the bonus went to paying off the last balance on the rollover credit card. That leaves us with a balance of ~$7000 on an unsecured bank loan that was used for debt consolidation in 2014.
While I haven’t quite eliminated all of my pre-2015 consumer debt just yet, I no longer have an outstanding balance on a card! The only card in use now is the reward card that we use for budgeted purchases and pay down each pay period. So far, that card has never accrued any interest.
The ESPP money will go towards the unexpected vet bills for the month, the beach trip that we reserved last month, the living room renovation project, and what’s left will go back into investments.
Moving Forward
While the additional expenses were unplanned, it doesn’t look like we’ll have a setback. My debt reduction projection still show that i’m on track for the year. Luckily, I had not included all of my variable income in the projection so there was a little wiggle room.
I also know that I haven’t been writing as often as I would like. Things should settle back down and get into a routine that makes it a little easier to make time for the blog.
I hope everyone is doing well. Hug your loved ones, even your pets. A loss sure puts things in perspective.
-cb3