August was another financially stable month and my net worth increased by about 7 percent. However there were some happenings that are likely to impact my finances in the near future.

First, my Macbook of 4 years died and my “Gadget” sinking fund is not funded enough to buy a new one. I could afford a cheap laptop with the funds I do have, but I would rather purchase a quality product. I have some time to think on it. I’ll wait a bit since I’m hearing rumors of a new, cheaper macbook air.

Second, my health isn’t great and it’s costing me quite a bit. I’ve practically drained my FSA and I am anticipating another $1,000 in copays before the year is over. Not to mention travel costs to my appointments are high.

I’m very disappointed that my health has gotten to this point when I feel it didn’t have to. The issue is I have not been on a medication to control my autoimmune disease since last September. I had a bad reaction to a new medication around that time and the doctor that prescribed it assumed that my symptoms stemmed from depression. Instead of prescribing a new medication, the doctor has chosen to ignore me. So I’m having to find new doctors and deal with the complications of going under treated.

I had my second minor surgical procedure in August as a result of being on no medications. The fact that this disease can kill me makes things all the more confusing.

I was talking to a friend about the bad luck I’ve had with my health care over the years and she said something that really put things into perspective. Medicine is a male dominated field and doctors tend not to take women as seriously as men. Medical care is even starker for minority women with their medical care being worse. I remember reading this article on what Serena William’s scary childbirth story says about medical treatment of black women that had the same message. With prejudices baked into the profession and training, I’m fighting an uphill battle. I never thought of it this way but it does explain how I got here. And why it’s been so hard for me to get the right treatment over the years.

Anywhoo, enough about that and on to my net worth :

One thing that changed in August is that I’ve slowed my payments to my 401k loan so that I can set money aside for health related costs. These funds are held in my “cash and checking” accounts.

Spending

I went $32 over budget and this month I’m going to blame the $210 dining table I purchased for ruining my budget. Actually, I had set aside some money in my “Home Goods” sinking fund for it, but since it fit into my monthly budget (well… almost) ,  I decided not to touch it.

The asterisk for bills and utilities was put in place because I paid $115 extra towards my personal loan to my parents.