Oh ****! LOL I totally forgot about the pain med interference with nal. THAT's why they couldn't get the anaesthesia to work and I got like, 5 needles to the gums and it was still rather painful. I'm such an idiot, I totally forgot about that.
Good news is I should be able to salvage my computer files. Bad news is it looks like a logic board issue, which could set me back 500-600 dollars, and in the meantime my computer is in the shop. I've got a super old one that I'm using but I'm going to be losing a lot of work and money because I can't run all the programs I need on it. Good news, I am FINALLY getting health insurance, woohoo. It's a good plan and it's only 420 a month or so. Bad news is honestly 420 a month right now is huge. Basically, I'm sick of being damn poor and having health issues on top of that. But I guess I should be thankful that I am in a great relationship (it's amazing how supportive and helpful my bf is, even if he gets a bit sick of my drinking occasionally) and that if I absolutely NEED to, I can get a loan from my parents. Trying to be postive here...

Wow, thats a huge amount of money for health insurance. Is that normal? Full cover for my daughter husband and myself costs 1400 euro a year. I even think thats expensive and many people have canceled private insurance in the past few years. The public health system in Ireland isnt bad really and if your sick you will be treated, however the down side is if its not an emergency procedure one can wait up to a year.

HAHAHA Mario, your message almost made me double over in laughter. For the US, 420 a month is exceedingly cheap, especially since it's a policy that covers my preexisting conditions (you can be denied insurance for medical conditions, go figure). Adults who aren't on a super tight budget might easily pay 1500 a MONTH for insurance. And that's not even including deductibles. This is reason number 1 why I want to move back to Europe...

Last week's total was 16.5, perfectly respectable. I feel like I had a nasty couple of weeks where I got really drunk a lot but now things are more under control. My boyfriend just left for Russia for six weeks so that's not ideal, but I'm hoping that doesn't drive me to go out all the time and drink because I'm lonely Tonight I'm going to try and go to yoga instead of drinking and watching TV (which is sort of my default mode when he's not here, I hate to admit...)

Hi EL - glad to see that you've stabilized a bit after your rough patch. Good on you for preemptively scheduling some nightly activites to keep from feeling lonely. Establish a new default mode - the busier you keep yourself, the quicker those 6 weeks will pass.

Hope everything else non-booze-related is going well!

-H

Hi EL

Congratulations on your good week and sorry to hear about your PC woes. That's good re health insurance. What a rip off though - we pay NZD215/month for a family of 4, and we think that's a lot. The kids have no health issues so far, but hubby and I sure do.

TSM totally backfired for me in the end, but I am now on baclofen and hopeful it will be the magic pill!

Take care
Sticky

Folks, I know I've been bad about reading and posting recently, and I apologize. It's mostly because I've been swamped with work (working about 6 days a week, about 11 hours a day...) and there really hasn't been too much to report in the way of drinking (which is good...). But I just feel like I've been battered over and over recently and I don't know what to do. So I had this heinous tooth situation which came out of the blue and cost me 1700 USD. and then I find out that at age THIRTY i have my FIRST CAVITY. so more money at the dentist. And then my computer breaks. And then I get it fixed. And then it breaks again. And now..I've just heard from my accountant that since I'm on track to earn about 35,000 to 40,000 this year (which might seem like a fair chunk of change, but it's NYC, and let's remember I buy my own insurance and pay 1400 a month in rent) and that this means tha tI will owe 12,000 dollars in taxes at the end of the year. TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. which puts me at a tax-home of 28,000 at MOST. Out of which I have to pay my 1400 of rent and my 420 of medical insurance a month. I'll let you guys do the math. It's basically not feasible. I am in an effing tailspin. I am working so hard, and I love what I do, and I do it well, and there's basically no immediate way for me to make more money - sure in a year or so I can raise rates, network up, etc. But right now I am looking at being so much more poor than I ever was as a grad student and man, those were not wealthy days. I am really scared and also effing ANGRY. I am ALL for paying taxes and helping out the less fortunate but how do I end up paying more than a third of my income and barely scraping by when I work all the time at a specialized skill????
Ok, so I'm drinking tonight. Which is a stupid, because costly and uneffective, solution. But there's one thing that I feel like I can't face this without which is booze. Not ideal. I took a nal but I am just worried. UGH. If there are any US freelancers out there...maybe you have advice? I have an accountant and he basically says "well, this is the life of a freelancer". But I feel like if this were alwyas true then NO-ONE would make it, ever...

Wow. I just checked one of those online tax calculators and the combined New York state and federal taxes should be about $6700.00 and that was using 40,000.00. Not saying it was right, but hard to believe that the accountant was coming up with a figure twice that much. You might want a second opinion.

Hey Poink - that's what I did, too. Which seems hefty but enh, fair enough (the 6000 figure). Why my accountant would say twice as much I'm confused, because a) there's nothing for him to gain in it and b) he was really good last year and when I was not making much money at all, he even got a bunch BACK for me. So totally confused...but yeah,maybe I will try and get a consultation.

Well, there is this nasty thing called "self employment tax." It's actually both sides of FICA. For those who work for an employer, your check reflects the employer paying both sides, though you actually do. The total tax is 15.3% generally, with a deduction of 1/2 for AGI on 1040. That would be the difference because the income subject to the FICA tax is taxed for income tax purposes again.

EL, I will PM later. I think I can help.