Payday! I do love this day. I don't like spending all my money, but I like seeing my bills go down.

First, I had $1.07 left in my account before payday. That amount goes into savings.

Paycheck this week was $1032.90. Right away $25.00 goes into savings and $250.00 goes into groceries. Next, I got my nails done and my hair cut, so $60.00 total. Next, I have to take out State Farm Insurance ($65.84), my student loans ($36.00), Netflix ($9.63) and Adobe subscription (192.70). I use my Adobe every month, if not every week for my planner pages. Totally worth it.

Next, I start paying bills. $132.16 goes towards my unsecured loan (and pays off $87.55 from my total debt). $15.00 goes towards my Line of Credit (and pays off $13.07 from my total debt). $35.00 goes towards my Torrid Credit Card. $30.00 goes towards my Credit One credit card. I have $181.57 left in my checking account.

I received $500 in my HSA account today for my employer contribution and my health and wellness dollars. $53.00 goes to Dental First Financing for my dental bills. $120.00 goes to a hospital bill. $75.00 goes to a clinic bill. $195.66 goes to pay off my therapy bill.

So, that means that my debt countdown total is down to $17,614.23. I had to do the math twice. So much! And I didn't even take into account what I'm paying for the student loan, since that hasn't come out of my account yet. That is over $856 gone off my debt since I started.

My savings total is now $48.72. I did sell something today, but I'm going to use the money from that sale to pay for shipping a box of items to a shop in Wisconsin for them to sell for me. Fingers crossed!

A couple months ago, I had to go over my medical and dental insurance for work. No big deal. I ended up raising my contributions to my HSA and here’s why – they take the money out of my paycheck before taxes. Meaning, I pay less taxes.

My HSA dollars get used to pay for medical and dental bills, of which I have a lot. They go towards therapy bills and my prescriptions.

As a part of my compensation package at work, I have the opportunity to earn up to $800 in health and wellness dollars for my HSA. All I have to do is complete certain tasks and the money gets deposited in my account. Simple things. Taking part in an annual health survey earns me $50. Other tasks are as simple as getting a yearly physical (which is free through my insurance), getting my yearly PAP smear and mammogram and getting a biometric screening. Those won’t be completed until next month, but I already have the appointments set up. I also watched a video series on how to improve my sleep and watched an interactive video on financial health. Simple tasks – they just take a little time. Believe me when I say I’m going to get all my money out of my employer that I can.

The best part about HSAs is that they roll over into next year and you can take them with you if you leave your current job. And you can “store” money in there for your retirement health costs. I highly recommend checking with your employer to see if you have an HSA available with your insurance plan and if they offer health and wellness dollars.  As you can see above, it worked for me to help pay down my total debt!