Hello all! I wanted to provide another financial update to show you what I have been up to for the last few months. Why? So you can see what works for me in case it could work for you too. I also share my financial mistakes in the hopes that you can avoid making them yourselves.

Increasing Income

Performance Review

In my last quarterly update, I shared how I complete my performance reviews to highlight the value that I bring to the organization. So my score for 2020 was 4.6 out of 5 which gave me a 4.26% raise. This year my score was 4.8 out of 5 but my raise was 4.06%!

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I’m thinking since I work in a hospital, that perhaps COVID changed our pay structure somehow. So I called my boss who told me to reach out to the compensation department. I was told that I am high on the pay range for my position. This means I am close to making the maximum amount of money that I can for my current position. For background, if I max out, I don’t get anymore raises but instead they give me annual bonuses. However, in decreasing my raise percentage, it will take longer for me to cap out.

In case that’s confusing, let’s use numbers. So for 2020, the 4.26% raise brought my hourly rate from $41.78 to $43.56. Now in 2021, there are 261 working days which is equal to 2088 working hours (based on a 40-hour full-time schedule). So if you multiply that difference of $1.78 (43.56 – 41.78) by 2088 hours, that equals a raise of $3716.64 for the year.

Now if I got the same raise of 4.26% this year, my hourly rate would have increased to $45.42. Multiply that difference of $1.86 by 2088 hours and I would have gotten a raise of $3883.68. Instead, my hourly rate was increased to $45.31. Multiply that difference of $1.75 (45.31-43.56) by 2088 hours and I got a raise of $3654.

This isn’t the end of the world but it does make a difference. The difference of $229.68 makes a huge impact on an investing lifetime. In 30 years, assuming a modest 7% return rate, that $229.68 could have been $1,748.38. And year after year, my raise will be affected until they’re forced to hit my max. Who knows how long that’ll take?

So it’s important to understand the policies at your job. I am likely to address this with HR soon. If I do, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Focus Groups

Another way I have been making a little extra money is by participating in virtual focus groups. Now I’m not saying this will replace your 9-5. However, for an hour or two of your time, you can make $100 -$200 pretty easily. The forms of payment can range from a paper check, gift cards, or Paypal deposit. They tell you beforehand in case they will affect which groups you choose to participate in. I’ll tell you more about why it’s worth it for me later.

Decreasing Expenses

Groceries

I have used the money from focus groups to decrease my food bills. I redeem gift cards for Uber Eats and Whole Foods mostly. When I got a Visa gift card, I bought Costco gift cards. I usually spend $100-$150 per week on groceries. With the use of these gift cards, my average spend is now $55-75.

Less money spent on necessities means more money I can save and/or invest.

Another grocery win: Costco price adjustments. If you purchase an item and the price drops within 30 days, you can take your receipt to customer service for a credit. I LOVE that place!!!!

Auto Insurance

I shop for car insurance every 6 months. I have previously shared a post on how doing this saves me hundreds of dollars every year. This spring I changed my car insurance from GEICO to Progressive decreasing my premium from $147.83/month to $114.67/month. That’s a difference of $198.96 over 6 months.

Tuition for Higher Education

I am big on saving money on schooling. I recently graduated. Congrats to me!!!

So I did my best to obtain my MSN in Nurse Education for as little as possible. My job has a contract with Chamberlain University where the application fee is waived and we get a discount. In total, my degree cost $21,610. My job also has tuition assistance which covered $18914 of the costs. After taxes, I received $17902.23. That means I would be left with $3707.77 out-of-pocket costs.

READ MORE: How to Save Money on College Costs

The rest of these costs were student service and course fees that my job did not cover. My per diem gig offers scholarships annually. In 2019, I was awarded $900 and in 2020, I was awarded $320. This brought my out-of-pocket costs to $2,487.77. I also received a leadership scholarship that I applied for through my job that awarded me $4,000. This resulted in me coming out in the green $1,512.23. Winning!

Investing More

I am still on track to max out my 403b limit of $19,500. I have already maxed out my Roth IRA at $6,000.

Ok, want to hear a fail? When rolling over my traditional IRA to my Roth IRA, I made the taxes come out of the account rather than paying for it out-of-pocket. Why does this matter? Because once money comes out of an IRA, it cannot be replaced. That $6,000 limit is STRICT! So the taxman got a piece of my IRA, instead of money that is sitting idly in my savings account. Idk why I made that mistake but now it’s here for you to learn from.

However, I am just going to keep pushing. I have continued to pay myself first and invest all my bonuses. This has led to an investment account growth of a little over $20,000 in the past 6 months.

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So that’s what I have been up to. Any updates you want to share? Share in the comments below.