Looking Up

So my claim is approved, at least for now. They do reserve the right to ask for the money back if they find that I was treated for this before (or something). Fortunately, I had never even heard of this condition until August and really didn't yet have all the symptoms that go with it, so I should be OK.

LTD pays in arrears monthly, so that might be a little tough. Fortunately, I am current now and have 1.5 months coming to me, so I should be OK. I haven't seen my bonus check yet and I am starting to think that my boss has it. Usually we would do a review to see how the bonus was calculated and what goals I hit/missed, etc. Even though I would not mind sitting down with her and I have been working somewhat via helping coworkers, technically they cannot ask me to work. It would totally screw up my disability status if I did anything at all. All my pay is for non-worked hours, so there's no way HR can knowingly expect me to do any work. I guess I will have to email my boss and see what's up and how I will get my check. Still putting off the budget until I know what's coming to me, but I do have a template started with expenses. Also, taxes on insurance money are crazy. I have to give them a dollar amount to deduct and that only covers fed. I will owe state and OASDI probably (unless I can get back to work soon).

I am moving forward with the HEL. I have weighed all my options and this makes sense for me. We hit a snag when they threw in some points, but I threatened to walk and the points went away. Yay! I need to see if I can get the cc companies to STOP mailing me those blank checks. I typically don't use them, but since I will completely cut off access to these accounts (shred cards, remove from paypal, etc), that's still an option to spend and I don't want it. I am closing one cc for sure, but the other 2 would severely damage my credit rating to close. This is not one of my weaknesses and I know I can have an open account and not abuse it. Plus, I make more money now than I ever have and I don't need to rely on credit. I do need to put every cent to this HEL to pay it off ASAP. I currently contribute 10% to my 401k and i would like to increase that. Reading through all of these blogs I have found is so damn inspiring. I wish I was as disciplined as some of you! But I can feel it rubbing off on me and I can't wait to feel more in control.