Actually thinking about borrowing more $
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| Wed, 02-01-2006 - 1:45pm |
Am I crazy?
I want to get laser eye surgery. But not just any laser eye surgery, but the top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art, $1500 PER EYE no-touch laser surgery. I've needed glasses since I was 8 years old, and frankly I'm sick of the day to day wrestling with contact lenses, wearing glasses every so often to give my eyes a "break", the not being able to see the time in the middle of the night unless I put my face within 5 inches of the digital clock.
LASIK costs a lot less money, but that's the procedure that requires an actual blade to cut your eye before they laser it, and involves a lot more risk (not to mention discomfort).
I will be finished paying off my student line of credit in March - freeing up $300 a month. I was planning on piggy-backing it onto my government loan payment, to make a total of $500 per month. If I finance the laser procedure, it would only set my plan back by another 10 or so months.
What do you think??



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I imagine it must be really annoying not to be able to see at night, and the wrestling with glasses and contacts and so forth. And I *completely* sympathize with the urge to GET IT DONE NOW! LOL
Here's what I think I would do:
When you finish paying your student loan in March, take that $300 a month, and put it in a savings account for your eye surgery. You'll keep paying your other loan as usual. In ten months from March (so, at the end of 2006/beginning 2007), you'll have the money for your surgery, and you won't have borrowed a penny to do it.
I don't know whether it will have much impact on your final pay-off date--because it will take you longer to pay your government loan this way than if you piggy-back the payments. But it will set a good precedent and help continue you on the path to freedom from the credit card companies and debt industry.
I have found that making myself wait until I can pay for something in cash, even if it means delaying my debt repayment plan by a bit so I can save for it, has really helped me stay on target. It feels SOOO good to pay for things in cash, and I've gotten addicted to it. And, it's just a great habit to be in.
Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide. I definitely feel for your frustration!
Blessings,
Heather
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Have you crunched the numbers to see what the costs, timeline might be if you waited a year to 18mos to do the surgery? The technology seems to be improving expoentially in that area and that might either allow you to get a better procedure for the same price or the same procedure for a lower price if you can hold off. You also would have paid down that gvt. loan a bunch so the interest costs of postponing some snowflake payments might be considerably less.
I would also advise you check into seeing if you can do a medical FSA account at your employer to save the money (or some of it) pre-tax. Another subtlety of those accounts (I'm almost sure but double check me on this) is that you can be reimbursed at the beginning of the plan year for expenses up to the amount that you are scheduled to save through the plan year. So even though you haven't saved it all up, you can 'borrow' from it since you are committed to saving it after you sign up. I'm also pretty sure that if you leave the employer for some reason within that plan year that they cannot come back to get you to pay the remainder back. It's one of the employee friendly aspects of it that sort of tries to offset the whole 'use or lose' aspect of it.
Peg
Hello,
I would suggest saving up the money for the surgery, since if you have something unexpected come up, you can put off the surgery if needed. Peg is correct about flexible spending accounts letting you use the money when you need it, with a commitment to have it withdrawn from your paycheck every payday. I have paid for hearing aides this way ($3000 for two ears). Not only was it pulled from my paycheck every payday, but it doesn't count as "taxable income" at the end of the year, since you don't get the reimbursement unless the expense is "qualified".. simply means it has to be a medical-type expense. My audiologist submitted a "claim" for me so that the reimbursement check went directly to her. I didn't have to make the payment then wait for the reimbursement.
By the way, my husband had a flexible spending account last year prior to his layoff in September. He had actually spent all of the money in the account before September. It's definitely a perk that if you are laid off or leave a job, the company "eats" the expense of whatever you haven't contributed.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished
Thanks for the responses everyone. I am extremely susceptible to that "want-it-NOW" mentality, and I know it! I also know how good it feels to save up for something and pay for it with cold hard cash. The "want-it-NOW" feeling eventually passes, but the pride I would feel in knowing I worked for something and paid for it myself will last a long time.
I've been playing with a spreadsheet and have been trying to work out a way to do this within a year or so. I'll still increase my gov. loan payments, though not as much as I had originally planned, and I'll make a few minor adjustments in my monthly spending. After this is done, then I'll just put my original plan back in place! And if for any reason I change my mind, or it turns out I'm not a good candidate, then I'll have $3000 in a savings account to use for something else.
I've been wanting to do this ever since I first heard of the no-touch laser procedure about 2 years ago. Even back then it was the same price, so I don't know if it will come down anytime very soon, but at least it hasn't gone up! LOL. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll have a special sometime after I've saved enough!
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Excellent plan! Good for you for playing with the numbers and making it work!
I'm sorry I was so oblivious...I just noticed that you are obviously in Canada. Guess the US FSA rules/suggestions weren't too helpful huh?
Peg
My husband wants laser surgery also. Our insurance will cover 20% of it, but the only "approved" center in Atlanta that our insurance will allow us to go to charges $2300 PER EYE! Ack! When my husband heard that, he immediately stopped complaining about his contacts and glasses. LOL!
Looks like your costs will be a lot less, but honestly, if it were me, I'd just stick it out with my glasses and contacts rather than rack up more debt. Maybe you could find a cheap alarm clock that has bigger numbers so you won't have to search for your glasses in the night to check the time. I'm not sure if they make one that will 'say' the time or not. I'm thinking something like that would be pretty expensive, though.
Pat
Hello,
I have an alarm clock with HUGE numbers, (2 inches tall). I don't have vision issues, but in the morning I have the usual blurry eyes and half-awake mind, so I want those numbers to be big and bold. I can read the clock from down the hall. =) You can probably find an inexpensive clock that has a very large display.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished
I couldn't do it.
All my best,
Danni
Well, I decided pretty quickly that borrowing money for this is NOT a good plan, so no worries there. I probably wouldn't even be approved anyway, plus DF would NOT be happy about it (and neither would I).
I played with a spreadsheet yesterday, and I worked out a way to save the $3000 in one year, while still making payments on my student loan, and then once the $3000 is saved, everything starts going on the loan again. The difference works out to 7 months - if I don't do the procedure, my loan will be finished in December 2008. If I do, the loan will be finished in July 2009. That's not really a big deal, not when it means I am saving for something I really want.
Another option is to finish the loan in Dec. 2008, and THEN save for the procedure (which should only take 5 or 6 months if I contribute the same amount I was paying on my loans). But that means I won't be able to get the surgery until 2009 sometime. By then I might have kids, or a house, or no job. Or the procedure might even be cheaper then, or maybe not. Who knows!
I don't know to do. There's a lot to think about - it's not just that I want to be free of glasses and contacts. I've been told by my optometrist that I'm going to end up with oxygen deprivation because I wear my contacts too much. If that happens I won't be able to wear contacts at all. But I'm susceptible to headaches and migraines, and whenever I wear glasses I get a headache! I have quite a high prescription (-6.75), and even the "featherweight" glasses are heavy on my nose (which is what causes my headaches). But it would also be a 100% selfish expense - this would not benefit anyone or anything other than me. How do I get past that guilt?
Okay, I'll quit my rambling now.
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I think your plan to save the $3000 over the next year and delay your final student loan payoff by 7 mos. is a totally prudent way to approach what is a reasonable solution to a health problem for you. Even before you shared the headache issue, I don't think it is selfish to want the surgery but after you shared that, it seems even more appropriate.
Peg
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