Caution: Adulting Ahead

I recently become a certified Construction Risk Insurance Specialist (CRIS).  A few weeks later I received a promotion!  My duties have been slowly changing over the past couple months. I'm training our new Contracts/Risk Specialist on negotiating terms and conditions for our purchase orders and subcontracts. I've been getting more involved in owner and other special agreements. I've also been handling more claims (workers compensation, auto, builder's risk, general liability, as well as bond claims). It's exciting and I'm learning a lot!  

The people I work with are great! The department I am in operates as a strong team without any drama. We have a department meeting next month to discuss the succession plan for when our director retires. I'm confident our culture will remain the same throughout the forthcoming changes. 

So, what's next?  I'm going to keep working hard. In the next month or two, I'm going to start the process of getting approved for a mortgage so that I can weigh my options of renting vs. buying. *gasp* This level of adulting is a bit daunting. I'm working on paying off my medical debt, increasing my savings, and improving my credit score to be strong enough to withstand a few dings when I apply without bringing it below excellent. 

An Unexpected Refund

Okay, I'm sure you know that I hate blowing money on anything medical related. In fact, I hate it so much that I always opt for staying awake during my visits with my colorectal specialist rather than paying to be sedated. It's traumatic and barbaric, but it saves me money. When I had to drop fat stacks on my MRI in November, it irritated me.

The lady at the imaging place told me how much I owed, so I pulled out my insurance card because I didn't think the price on the bill had been adjusted for insurance. "I'm sorry, dear, I've already ran this through your insurance." Holy shit, I thought as I slowly handed her my credit card. Ouch, that hurt my bank account. Behold, I got a bonus at work in December and the net pay was 37 cents more than the cost of my MRI.  Isn't that kind of freaky?

When I was paying bills last night, my credit card statement said I didn't owe anything because I had a credit. It baffled me. After further review, I found that the imaging place gave my card a full refund. It feels like an early birthday present!!! I had called insurance a few times after the MRI to ask about a possible partial refund, but they kept telling me that the claim hadn't been processed yet. The refund paid my credit card bill for January and will likely cover most if not all of February's bill as well. So yeah, I'm pretty much just banking money this month. Gah!!! This makes me so happy!