January 15th, 2023 paycheck

Created:

The market was up the previous day, so I did the market, 2 cents over, and 1 percent down limit orders to buy the multi-factor fund. 2 of the 3 executed. The market closed up again that day and there was enough in the settlement account to try and buy some more.

That’ll be for the next paycheck, though.

I increased the contribution to my 401k to hit the annual contribution limit.

I decreased the contribution to my HSA despite the contribution limit increases. My employer contributes 500 USD. Unfortunately, it has to go to their custodian, and there has to be a 1,000 USD balance before contributions can go toward investments. So, I won’t see the investing benefit until I’ve been with the company for a couple of years.

I need to verify that the account is set up, as there were some problems when they hired me.

Allocations

Section titled Allocations

All the funds are within their minimum and maximum thresholds. All but the S&P 500 fund are within their low and high points. Good times.

The extended market is creeping up to its higher limit. We’ll see what happens next paycheck. I’m debating on shifting to either sixty-forty or fifty-fifty for the extended market and S&P 500 in the 401k.

Skill improvement

Section titled Skill improvement

I appreciate Grammarly so far and can see myself purchasing a one-year plan after this month.

Health and wellness

Section titled Health and wellness

I haven’t taken the colchicine for over a month now. I haven’t had the allopurinol for over a week.

Seem to be doing okay.

Spent way too much money

Section titled Spent way too much money

I ended up returning both Wi-Fi equipment sets because they ran into issues. A bonus was I had the money back. The drawback is the Wi-Fi might be spotty.

We’ve shifted all of Becca’s things to use my primary Wi-Fi. After that, I plan to move the router to the other side of the office door. Hoping that will give a little more distance at a more reliable connection for her.

Being owed money from a credit card meant that when I did the data portion for this check, the debt was technically negative. 2 of the 3 cards were at a zero balance, and one had a positive balance of a few hundred dollars.

If this happens, I modified the spreadsheet to 0 debt out and increase the cash balance. So, part of the cash portion is on a credit card account. However, it’s money owed to me, not money I owe; therefore, not debt.

Death in the family

Section titled Death in the family

We made it to the services. It was nice to spend time with family. But I wish it could have been under better circumstances.

Until now, Becca and I have never been diagnosed with coronavirus. When we got back, she didn’t feel well. We’ve both been vaccinated and fully boosted. She did an at-home test, and it came back negative. Regardless, we decided to institute our precautions.

I slept in the office while she stayed in our regular room. We maintained distance. We wore masks while we were in a shared space. We masked in all public areas, not our shorter list.

The next day, we went to a clinic to see if it was strep or the flu. They were able to administer a test for both coronavirus and the flu.

It came back positive for coronavirus.

She did another at-home test, and it quickly came back positive.

We’re learning about all the things related to coronavirus still. One article suggests that repeat infection may increase the probability of having a real problem; death, hospitalization, or sequelae (I didn’t know that was a word). It means long-term effects from a previous condition.

In 2020, as we (humanity) started learning about coronavirus, many equated it to the flu. Others, however, equated it to instadeath. My analogy was polio.

With the flu, you typically want at least low-dose or subinfectious exposure (you don’t get sick). This causes the immune system to adapt to be better at identifying and fighting flu virus variants. Another paper indicates that subinfectious coronavirus exposure may do the same. The subinfectious part is essential. You don’t get sick and show symptoms. The virus doesn’t get to a point in your body that you begin shedding it into the world around you. The virus comes in. It starts trying to reproduce. And your body says, “Not today Satan!”

Death wasn’t the issue with flu or polio. Polio has flu-like symptoms. Those symptoms usually subside in a few days. And, there was always the possibility of long-term permanent effects. I’ve never heard of long-term noticeable and adverse effects of the flu. That’s how I feel about the coronavirus, and that’s why I’m still cautious.

I make a living with my brain. I have a lot of my self-identity wrapped in my brain; beyond the obvious. My life is in a really good place at the moment. So, I will do what I can to keep that going for as long as possible.

I haven’t been particularly freaked out about COVID. I don’t let it run or ruin all aspects of my life. I don’t stress about it on the regular. But I’m also not throwing caution to the wind.