This series looks at a list of rules I made 10 years ago when I first started this blog regarding how I intended to approach money and life. 

Well. I have largely failed at this.

I have had health insurance the majority (though not all) of the time since starting this blog but my goodness, the cost is just ridiculous.

For the last few years, I have had health insurance that is essentially only good for a catastrophe and is otherwise like a questionable coupon. Since I have to pay the first $7,500 in expenses, I pretty much only go to the doctor if I think I might be dying.

So sometime things get a little out of hand – like a small rash that I ignored that turned into a systemwide infection over a few months. That was cool.

This is, of course, my fault, because I pick the cheap health insurance, but I can’t stomach paying $200-500 a month for something I probably won’t need that still has crazily limited benefits until you hit the deductible amounts. I currently pay $27/month for my garbage American insurance.

Sometimes I think I figured out some elements of my health insurance – like when I went to get my free annual physical in 2021. Which was free. But I was required to get bloodwork as part of it (a routine part of it, not because we actually thought anything was wrong) – which had to be done offsite ($150) and then go back for the doctor to read the results to me (about another $150). So much for a free physical.

Currently in the UK, I am covered by the NHS, though I do pay a sum slightly larger than my current health insurance fee in the US annually to access it (because of being here on a visa). I fell down a flight of stairs once and hurt my knee and wrist and gave myself a concussion and that visit to the emergency room was super efficient – right in and out – and cost nothing.

I will say I’m not a fan of my GP here at all but that is in part because most (though not all) GPs have geographic boundaries on their practice – essentially so you go to the GPs near you. I live in a very cheap area. The GP is not good. I don’t think that’s all GPs by any means, but if I had understood that better when picking where to live… I don’t know. I am cheap, so it probably wouldn’t have influenced me, but I have been largely disappointed.

You also call at 8 AM to try to make an appointment day of and if all the slots are already taken, you just have to call the next day at 8 AM and over and over again until you get an appointment which is insane to me.

So overall, I shouldn’t go bankrupt if an act of god or a drunk lunatic runs me over, but I am likely to live with lots of little, easily cured aches and pains that could probably be simply addressed by a doctor in either country but avoid it overall since my health insurance is trash in America and the process of accessing the GP is highly problematic in the UK.

Maybe if I refresh this series in 10 more years I’ll have a better update for this story. Fingers crossed.

If you’re interested in seeing how the other goals on my Money Manifesto are going, you can read those posts here:

1. ) I will pay off all my debt. 
2. ) I will tithe 10%
3. ) I will save at least 15%
4. ) I will build up a $10,000 emergency fund.
5. ) I will max out my IRA every year.
6. ) I will put effort into learning how the stock market works better.
7. ) Then I’ll invest in it.
8. ) I’ll put effort into learning how REITS work.
9. ) And then I’ll invest in it. 
10. ) I will own a home and it will not be a McMansion. 
11. ) I will pay for cars up front, in cash.
12. ) I will write a book. About a little man named Jorge who lives in a jar in an antique shop. He has a mustache. 
13. ) I will keep on learning thrifty and frugal ways to live and then actually use them.
14. ) I will make good decisions about how to spend my money, but I also won’t sacrifice all of the now for later.
15. ) I will travel. A lot. All 7 continents someday.
16. ) I will learn to side hustle. Especially to pay for #15.
17. ) I will start a roller derby team.