I Thought Quitting a Job Should Equal LESS Work

Does it ever feel like work is the least work-like thing you do?  I’m starting to feel overwhelmed by the massive TO DO list I’m accumulating by being unemployed.  And not having a smart phone (more on that at a later date) is making my life turn into a pile of lists written on paper scraps, a free “health & wellness” wall calendar that I’ve been lugging around, and on the back of my hand…creating a ton of worry and stress dreams.  I’m trying to read Harry Potter before bed to remain calm and pretend I’m 12 years younger.

I quit my job – yay!  Time to celebrate!  For about a minute.

Then I realized that I don’t have an income.  Or health insurance.  Or access to the employee website to find out about processing health claims.  And I have to return the garage parking pass before the next billing cycle but there never seems to be an attendant at the garage gate.  And what about that employee stock purchase plan I’ve been contributing to – aren’t I supposed to get a check back for that?  How exactly did they calculate how many vacation days to pay out?  And what about the fact that I already got reimbursed the max amount out of my FSA but I haven’t made enough contributions, which doesn’t seem to be reflected in my last paycheck? AAAAAHHHHHH

It’s been about 3 weeks since leaving work and I’m still waiting on/need to do/stressing about the following:

1. My final paycheck…not sure what this represents since it was a direct deposit…..How do I access the pay stub? (Okay, called HR and they mailed it to me.)

2. To figure out how much vacation I got paid for (judging by this ridiculously small final pay it looks like negative 10 days…only kidding)…Apparently I thought we were on a delayed pay so that I should have gotten another two weeks’ worth for my last two weeks of work, which would have been paid during the next pay period….if that convoluted logic makes any sense.  Turns out this was false and I’ve been operating under the wrong thought process for six years.  Oops, my bad.

3. What happens to my 401k? (Rollover or leave it as is? Do I accumulate higher fees by leaving it in place when I’m not with the company anymore?)

4. What happens to my employee stock purchase plan? (Still have no idea on this one)

5. Buying health insurance – for Maryland or Michigan? (PURCHASED!! $115/month including dental, but apparently it goes up to like $130/month in Michigan….I guess we’re just super healthy here in MD! Woo woo!)

6. Or COBRA? (Um, NO)

7. Gotta get a smart phone (Seriously)

8. Retuning my parking pass (Finally done after many failed attempts)

9. Using my HSA – just keep using the debit card?  How do I track it if I can’t get on the employee website?

10. Am I going to get kicked out of my “select” bank account now that I’m no longer an employee?  Am I going to have to go back to paying $5/month like everyone else?  Are they going to start charging me $2.99/month to have access to my credit score (which is super high by the way in case you had any doubts)?

11. MOVING! And in that same vein, what to do with my car? Have them ship it out there and run it into the ground, or buy a new/used one here and drive it out there?  I’m starting to lean to the latter given the movers won’t move liquids, including wine (of which I have a lot) or cleaning supplies or shampoo/conditioner.  Nor will they move valuables or documents….not that I’d want them to, but it’d be hard to fly out there with all that stuff in tow.

12. Planning vacations! Okay, this one is fun, but it is still stressing me out piled on top of everything else going on.  For instance, Mark and I are going to Napa in October and everything is set except I have to rent a car, which takes all of 5 minutes, but I’ve been procrastinating needlessly.

13. Engagement ring anxiety.  Finally settled on it and put down a deposit and waiting for it to be delivered in the mail.  OMG NERVOUS.  I said when it comes I’m just going to open the box and put it on and start walking around since Mark’s in Michigan.  I’m not NOT going to open it!  But my friend Katie said that this plan is unacceptable and that there needs to be an actual proposal.  Well, we’ll see.  We’ll see.   😀

And that’s all that’s popping to the front of my brain at the moment.  I can’t even write anymore about it, I’m getting overwhelmed by the tasks.  I’ll keep you posted as to my progress on these….

Potter time.