Struggles of a new attending

[Anesthesia84]

I think you're doing great! When I finished residency a few years ago, we stayed on for my husband's fellowship and none of our bills really changed since we didn't move, didn't buy new cars etc.... He finished last June and we moved and I stupidly thought that since our expenses stayed in check after I finished it would be the same! Turns out moving and having a new house means tons of expenses and our goals of paying off certain things will be pushed back a bit (but we are still going to be net worthless very shortly which was our big goal this year!!!)

Anyway, I know how you feel and we have just sat down each payday to make sure we pay ourselves first (retirement, HSA, student loans, mortgage), see how much is leftover and then decide what our next priority is. This next paycheck gets to go to some new furniture for the house - 5 months after we moved in, ha! (And we are shopping at the local discount place.... still, it's nicer than the stuff we have from med school I'm sure)

[jfoxcpacfp]

Just a comment that the community here is awesome. Obviously, I can't address what you're going through from a personal perspective, but can imagine how much better it is to be able to share with others who have been in your shoes. The common thread that seems to run through the responses is to spend purposefully. Have a plan, such the excel spreadsheet mentioned above, to track current spending and name where those future dollars will go. Doing so will give you perspective beyond what you're spending and saving at the moment and will help to alleviate that "out of control" feeling. Also important, I think, is to make it a joint project with your spouse, monthly budget reviews, etc.

[RogueDadMD]

MPMD wrote:

jhwkr542 wrote:

Sounds like a bunch of one-time things.  I spend much more time fixated on the recurring payments, which are usually the big things.  Mortgage/rent, insurance, cell phone, internet, car payments (haha, nope!), private school tuition (haha, nope again!).  Example:  my wife had a $3k ER bill the other week.  I didn’t like it, but a one-time $3k won’t hurt.  I will agree with you:  with moving, there’s always lots of little things.  You’ll settle in.  There’ll always be lots of stuff like that that pops up from month-to-month for us, which you don’t budget for.  That’s why if you get the big stuff right (i.e. aren’t house-poor), all this other stuff will just be noise and you won’t worry about it.

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One thing I will tell you struggled with is this concept of “one time expenses.” When you are done living like a resident these might go up and up to where you can no longer justify them as being outside of your budget.

Major car repair, small house projects that must be done, Xmas, trip of a lifetime, various other reasons to tap the e-fund.

It takes a heckuva lot of discipline not to let a “one time expense” hit you every month especially the farther you get from training.

One of the ways to mitigate this which it sounds like the OP is doing is to pay yourself first. If you are maxing out 401k/BDIRA/other accounts and at 20% before you get your paycheck deposit then the spending is less damaging.

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MPMD's take I think is spot on and has been echoed before.  There are new "one-time" expenses every month.  The ER bill this month is the new set of couches next month is the vacation the following month.

 

I'm a believer in setting your savings goals and living off the rest, and if the variable expenses are different names but same totals month to month then I don't really care.  Someone wrote a blog post (WSP?) about paying yourself last (instead of paying yourself first, i.e. save then spend).  I think his take was to define was budget you need for the lifestyle you want, save everything else, then as income increases your spending is static so your savings keep going up and up.

I think that works great if you can define a budget at the beginning that gives you a good savings rate while keeping you satisfied, but if you can't do that, then I think defining the savings goals first is required.

Considering how fresh out of training you are, I think you are doing great.  

However I would see if you can find a way to max out the HSA, if not in 2017 then definitely in 2018.  It should not be very much compared to your overall salary, and the growth of that is going to be helpful.  Also since that means you are on a HDHP and already worried about short-term spending being higher than expected, forcing yourself to save in case of a medical issue so you have the cash to pay bills from the HSA (instead of using it like a Stealth IRA) will also provide some stress relief just by having that cash on hand in case you need it.  

[Gamma Knives]

I was you a year ago (except I didn't know about this site). I would echo much of what has been said here. When you move to a new area there will be some truly one time expenses to deal with. On the other hand, I found myself heading towards constant one time expenses (I still struggle with this).

Do try to max out the HSA if at all possible as that is a great tax break. I think (please double check me) that you can contribute for 2017 until the filing deadline in April 2018. Definitely maximize all tax advantaged retirement accounts before paying off the car loan at 2.9%. 

As someone who moved from a warm climate to a cold one, don't overdo the winter clothing thing. You are probably inside most of the time so get a few basics (from target not arcteryx); don't spend a ton on fancy overcoats or boots that are made for an outdoors man. Buy the clothing as you need it; the stores won't run out. If you end up doing a lot of outdoor winter activities and need to upgrade then you will know what you need.

[DrMoneyTails]

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

Just a comment that the community here is awesome. Obviously, I can’t address what you’re going through from a personal perspective, but can imagine how much better it is to be able to share with others who have been in your shoes. The common thread that seems to run through the responses is to spend purposefully. Have a plan, such the excel spreadsheet mentioned above, to track current spending and name where those future dollars will go. Doing so will give you perspective beyond what you’re spending and saving at the moment and will help to alleviate that “out of control” feeling. Also important, I think, is to make it a joint project with your spouse, monthly budget reviews, etc.

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I 100% agree; I am always amazed by this community. It makes so much easier going through life knowing I can count on all of you to bounce back ideas and get some advice!

Gamma Knives wrote:

Do try to max out the HSA if at all possible as that is a great tax break.

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I am looking forward to my next paycheck; I am pretty sure I will be able to max the HSA. The car (I have one 10k loan at 3.9%) will have to wait but maybe in December I can put a dent in it. I'll be happy if I can begin 2018 with only one car payment (the 2.9%). 

Gamma Knives wrote:

As someone who moved from a warm climate to a cold one, don’t overdo the winter clothing thing. You are probably inside most of the time so get a few basics (from target not arcteryx); don’t spend a ton on fancy overcoats or boots that are made for an outdoors man. Buy the clothing as you need it; the stores won’t run out. If you end up doing a lot of outdoor winter activities and need to upgrade then you will know what you need.

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Great advice about the winter clothes! We have been doing just that. We had the bare minimum moving up here (most things were gift from family members), and we have been purchasing some items as we notice we need them - for example, one of our favorite and mostly free hobbies has been to go hiking. We realized we were gonna lose our toes if we continued to hike in regular sneakers..