Rukh O'Rorke
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Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 3, 2023 14:24:06 GMT -5
I have 2 small RI projects scheduled end of this month, was planning on using that to pay for the holidays, hopefully will have some excess for bills.
If I keep client #2, will have a big project March, get paid April, and can get back in the drivers seat as opposed to riding shotgun as it were.
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debthaven
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 7, 2015 15:26:39 GMT -5
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Post by debthaven on Nov 3, 2023 19:26:05 GMT -5
Rukh O'Rorke I'm impatient for the 9th of the month so I can update ... I don't see myself waiting for the 30th or 31st LOL.
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seriousthistime
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 22, 2010 20:27:07 GMT -5
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Post by seriousthistime on Nov 7, 2023 9:36:42 GMT -5
Looks like my last update was in early June so a full quarter..... I am on track with maxing my 401k and hsa - those are on auto pilot with payroll, but to provide numbers I'd need to log into work computer for pay stub and not doing that! Let's just say I am on track  so far! 8 more paychecks to go.....so about 71% if even......401k maybe a little less as I am making up a bit in last 6 months as opposed to first 6. SepIRA and Ibonds were already done for the year. There has been no further progress on other goals. treasuries is negative as bills mature they have been eaten up with bills, so far 1k. nothing further to taxable, and that will likely be the case for the rest of the year. Got into a bit of credit card debt with a vacation and some pricy vet bills (vacay was about 3k, vet 3.5k) and I am expecting it may take the rest of the year to clear that up, and then it is xmas times! ok - going to estimate 73% for HSA as employer kicked in 300 start of year, and 69% done for 401k as contributions were a little less than first 5/6 months | Vehicle | Goal | Saved so far | Percent of Goal | | 401k | 30,000 | 20,700 20450 | 69% 68% | | SepIRA | 5,250 | 5,250 | 100% | | HSA | 4,850 | 3540 3450 | 73% 71% | | IBonds | 10,000* | 12,500 | 125% | | treasuries | 10,000* | -1000 | -10% | | taxable | 5,000 | 1,000 | 20% | | Total | 65,100* | 41,990 41,650 | 65% 64% |
so about 65% done, with 71% of paychecks.... Had no RI, Inc. money over the summer as one client cut back. Should have a few smaller project in the fall, so hopefully that will help out. ETA: wanted something else off my pay stubs for my number crunching, so updated with actually numberrs YTD. two months since my last updat. 401k and HSA savings have been on autopilot and should still be on track to max by year end if I don't need to make any changes. As my t-bills mature, they continue to go into checking automatically and being eaten up by bills and similarly - no taxable savings is occurring. This trend will likely continue through to 2024 when I will reasses where I am at vis a vis incorporating the student loan payments into my routine. Credit cards are so insidious where by the purchases you make today can be due 2 months into the future so if not paying attention easy to get ahead of yourself while still paying them off monthly.....until suddenly you can't if something else comes up. So I'm still trying to rein that beast in without making any interest payments. This month is going to be cutting things very close. After my student loan payments go through, I'll be down to about 250 in the checking account until my next paycheck, 5 days later. I think I've accounted for everything that will come through, but I'll have to keep a close watch to make sure. I bet you can think back to days in the past where having $250 in checking until payday in 5 days would seem quite flush. If all the bills are paid until then, you should be fine. I have two credit cards for regular use (and another one I use for automatic payments which I rarely use for anything else). The two credit cards have due dates in the middle of the month and the end of the month. I use one of them for most of the big ticket items and the other for things like groceries, gas, etc. But I'm not strict about it, and I tend to put bigger ticket items on whichever card gives me the most days before the payment is due. |
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Nov 7, 2023 11:44:10 GMT -5
Credit cards are so insidious where by the purchases you make today can be due 2 months into the future so if not paying attention easy to get ahead of yourself while still paying them off monthly.....until suddenly you can't if something else comes up. This is where budgeting software can be so helpful. I use YNAB and the funds are there before I ever make a purchase, so the credit card balance is irrelevant. Of course, you can still charge more than you've budgeted for, but at least it's in your face in red numbers right away (ope...overspent by $200 in car maintenance this month already!) and you know you need to move things around from other categories to right the ship. |
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Rukh O'Rorke
Senior Associate
Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
Posts: 10,339
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 7, 2023 13:58:10 GMT -5
two months since my last updat. 401k and HSA savings have been on autopilot and should still be on track to max by year end if I don't need to make any changes. As my t-bills mature, they continue to go into checking automatically and being eaten up by bills and similarly - no taxable savings is occurring. This trend will likely continue through to 2024 when I will reasses where I am at vis a vis incorporating the student loan payments into my routine. Credit cards are so insidious where by the purchases you make today can be due 2 months into the future so if not paying attention easy to get ahead of yourself while still paying them off monthly.....until suddenly you can't if something else comes up. So I'm still trying to rein that beast in without making any interest payments. This month is going to be cutting things very close. After my student loan payments go through, I'll be down to about 250 in the checking account until my next paycheck, 5 days later. I think I've accounted for everything that will come through, but I'll have to keep a close watch to make sure. I bet you can think back to days in the past where having $250 in checking until payday in 5 days would seem quite flush. If all the bills are paid until then, you should be fine. I have two credit cards for regular use (and another one I use for automatic payments which I rarely use for anything else). The two credit cards have due dates in the middle of the month and the end of the month. I use one of them for most of the big ticket items and the other for things like groceries, gas, etc. But I'm not strict about it, and I tend to put bigger ticket items on whichever card gives me the most days before the payment is due. I My main concern is that i'm forgetting something that is going to post! this reminds me I need to chek every day until payday.... |
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 7, 2023 14:09:34 GMT -5
Credit cards are so insidious where by the purchases you make today can be due 2 months into the future so if not paying attention easy to get ahead of yourself while still paying them off monthly.....until suddenly you can't if something else comes up. This is where budgeting software can be so helpful. I use YNAB and the funds are there before I ever make a purchase, so the credit card balance is irrelevant. Of course, you can still charge more than you've budgeted for, but at least it's in your face in red numbers right away (ope...overspent by $200 in car maintenance this month already!) and you know you need to move things around from other categories to right the ship. I don't think budgetting wold have helped in my case of the moment much, but if you aren't paying close attention the 2 month lag can really catch you if income or something esle changes...then you realize you haven't actually paid for the food you ate last month! |
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Nov 7, 2023 15:11:00 GMT -5
This is where budgeting software can be so helpful. I use YNAB and the funds are there before I ever make a purchase, so the credit card balance is irrelevant. Of course, you can still charge more than you've budgeted for, but at least it's in your face in red numbers right away (ope...overspent by $200 in car maintenance this month already!) and you know you need to move things around from other categories to right the ship. I don't think budgetting wold have helped in my case of the moment much, but if you aren't paying close attention the 2 month lag can really catch you if income or something esle changes...then you realize you haven't actually paid for the food you ate last month! With YNAB it doesn't matter what account you pay for something out of (checking, credit card etc). The amount is removed from your balance as soon as you spend it (or as soon as you enter the transaction anyhow, which for me is daily), so it doesn't matter if it's not for 2 months when you finally transfer the funds from one account to another. For example, in this month back in 2021 I spent $620 from three different accounts to pay household maintenance expenses. I don't really care what the total available is (top right), only the category balance which is in the hole. I need to cover that somehow by either moving money around or it will end up being subtracted from my available for next month (you can see there was some overspending in Oct and Nov that got carried over)
 Paying credit cards is just a matter of transferring from one on budget account to another. (these pics are from two different times, so the numbers don't jive with one another. If the pic below was from the same month, the $4877 would be $15,848)
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Rukh O'Rorke
Senior Associate
Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
Posts: 10,339
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 7, 2023 17:55:34 GMT -5
I don't think budgetting wold have helped in my case of the moment much, but if you aren't paying close attention the 2 month lag can really catch you if income or something esle changes...then you realize you haven't actually paid for the food you ate last month! With YNAB it doesn't matter what account you pay for something out of (checking, credit card etc). The amount is removed from your balance as soon as you spend it (or as soon as you enter the transaction anyhow, which for me is daily), so it doesn't matter if it's not for 2 months when you finally transfer the funds from one account to another. For example, in this month back in 2021 I spent $620 from three different accounts to pay household maintenance expenses. I don't really care what the total available is (top right), only the category balance which is in the hole. I need to cover that somehow by either moving money around or it will end up being subtracted from my available for next month (you can see there was some overspending in Oct and Nov that got carried over)
Paying credit cards is just a matter of transferring from one on budget account to another. (these pics are from two different times, so the numbers don't jive with one another. If the pic below was from the same month, the $4877 would be $15,848)
are you paying for it? thought it was like 15/month now. |
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 7, 2023 17:55:52 GMT -5
looks like 14.99....
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Nov 7, 2023 21:39:46 GMT -5
Ouch $14.99/month? I never switched from the desktop version when they went to a subscription service whenever that was...2017 maybe? At the time they offered a deal of $50/year to convert over, but I figured I would stick with what I'd paid for until it didn't work for me anymore. So far, so good. The app doesn't work on newer phones anymore, so I just use it on the desktop, but that's fine.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 8, 2023 0:03:22 GMT -5
thats cool, I tried a free something, maybe mint or ynab a few years ago - may a mistake I couldn't fix and abondonned. MPL, would that bloom account do anything towards this?
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debthaven
Senior Associate
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Post by debthaven on Nov 8, 2023 19:13:27 GMT -5
Update, finally!| Name | Goal | Saved | Spent | | General Savings | 25,000 | 24,000 | 0 | Windows/Paint/Shutters | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Summer/Travel | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | | Bridge | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | | TOTAL | 39,000 | 37,000 | 13,000 |
(Plus 10K saved for/spent on windows/paint/shutters)
(Plus 3K saved for/spent on summer/travel)
This month I added 200 to travel for our long weekend in Amsterdam, and 1500 to general savings, so 1700 total.
Next month should be even better! I'm hoping to reach my goals for both general savings and for the bridge. ABOVE ALL, I'm looking forward to reducing my hours again in January!!!
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Nov 8, 2023 23:17:56 GMT -5
thats cool, I tried a free something, maybe mint or ynab a few years ago - may a mistake I couldn't fix and abondonned. MPL, would that bloom account do anything towards this? I was playing around with the Bloom app this afternoon and didn't see any budgeting stuff, but I think you might need to have money in the "Spend" account before that feature is activated. They claim it's a paperless envelope system, but I'm not seeing anything like that yet. |
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plugginaway22
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Joined: Jan 2, 2011 10:18:42 GMT -5
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Post by plugginaway22 on Nov 9, 2023 7:48:08 GMT -5
I procrastinated for a year but it is finally done! And we are retired so no excuses!
Our HSA account was left at DH's ex-employer, some random company that had few investment options and no interest paid on the balance (about 30k). At age 63 we really are not interested in investing this money, but at least now it is earning 4.99% at Fidelity. The transfer of funds took about 2 weeks. In two years we will be able to use this for Medicare premiums if we want.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Joined: Jul 4, 2016 13:31:15 GMT -5
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 10, 2023 13:59:08 GMT -5
Update, finally!| Name | Goal | Saved | Spent | | General Savings | 25,000 | 24,000 | 0 | Windows/Paint/Shutters | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Summer/Travel | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | | Bridge | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | | TOTAL | 39,000 | 37,000 | 13,000 |
(Plus 10K saved for/spent on windows/paint/shutters)
(Plus 3K saved for/spent on summer/travel)
This month I added 200 to travel for our long weekend in Amsterdam, and 1500 to general savings, so 1700 total.
Next month should be even better! I'm hoping to reach my goals for both general savings and for the bridge. ABOVE ALL, I'm looking forward to reducing my hours again in January!!! yay! |
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 10, 2023 14:42:55 GMT -5
I made it to payday without borrowing more money or getting overdrawn, woo hoo! There was one unexpected bill come in for autopay. The electric bill which seems to be billed every 4 weeks so slowly moves aound the month and this time came in early than expected. Luckily it was a small bill and did not send me into the red....
Have not lowered my 401k contributions as yet, and todays deposit brings the cash in that account up to a little over 5k. Hoping I can hold steady until I get my little side job income in. Will porcess that data lickedly split so I can bill asap, lol!
Now, I need to make it to the next credit card statement date of 11/21 with the most minimal spending I can manage as it is already at the limit of what I can easily pay in December - maybe more than that already! I need food, think that is all. Still, 11 days is a lot, and anything can happen.....here's hoping nothing pricey occurs....
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 21, 2023 17:19:53 GMT -5
I was super excited to reach my savings goals in late Nov/early Dec, but I probably won't, for two reasons: - I've been fighting with my complementary health insurance for 3 months. I'm at the end of my tether with them. I'm on Xanax, just because of them. They owe me $450, and I need them to reimburse me. Above all, I need to know they'll pay for my expensive bridge next month. THAT is what is really worrying me.  - The Cirque du Soleil comes to Paris every few years. This year they're quite local. DH and I had decided not to go this year, but after talking to the 2 kids who will be here at Christmas, we changed our minds. I got 5 tickets for DH/me/DS2/DS2'S GF/DS3. And there went 500 euros LOL! No regrets, their shows are just fabulous! I'm reducing my hours again next semester, as planned. Only by 3h/week, but still, I won't be able to save as much as I did this year. Oh well. I want to work less, so it is what it is. |
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seriousthistime
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Post by seriousthistime on Nov 24, 2023 1:42:27 GMT -5
I was super excited to reach my savings goals in late Nov/early Dec, but I probably won't, for two reasons: - I've been fighting with my complementary health insurance for 3 months. I'm at the end of my tether with them. I'm on Xanax, just because of them. They owe me $450, and I need them to reimburse me. Above all, I need to know they'll pay for my expensive bridge next month. THAT is what is really worrying me. - The Cirque du Soleil comes to Paris every few years. This year they're quite local. DH and I had decided not to go this year, but after talking to the 2 kids who will be here at Christmas, we changed our minds. I got 5 tickets for DH/me/DS2/DS2'S GF/DS3. And there went 500 euros LOL! No regrets, their shows are just fabulous! I'm reducing my hours again next semester, as planned. Only by 3h/week, but still, I won't be able to save as much as I did this year. Oh well. I want to work less, so it is what it is. I LOVE Cirque du Soleil! Before the pandemic I would go to Las Vegas every year and always went to at least one of their shows. |
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 29, 2023 18:17:29 GMT -5
Update!| Name | Goal | Saved | Spent | | General Savings | 25,000 | 25,000 | 0 | Windows/Paint/Shutters | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Summer/Travel | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | | Bridge | 1,000 | 500 | 0 | | TOTAL | 39,000 | 38,500 | 13,000 |
(Plus 10K saved for/spent on windows/paint/shutters)(Plus 3K saved for/spent on summer/travel)(Plus 500 saved for the bridge)I added 1000 to general savings + 500 for the bridge, so 1500 total. I hope to add the last 500 for the bridge. It was a very good month! I also got a bit of profit-sharing that covered 75% of the Cirque du Soleil tickets.  ETA: I was finally reimbursed for 90% of my medical expenses, which obviously helped!
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Dec 2, 2023 13:25:58 GMT -5
I needed to transfer 2300 out of savings to pay bills this month (and its only the first week  )and keep my 401k on schedule to max. I'm still struggling to figure out what that means for me in terms of savings, lol! Seems likely to be a net 0 for the month - if I'm lucky.....will also have the 500 tbill come out of my treasurydirect account too and that will also be needed. So 2800 coming out of savings. More than I'll have going into th 401k actually means a negative savings rate for me this month.... My paycheck last week was higher than expected. I checked the stub to figure it out and it seems my usual HSA contribution was reduced. I think it likely that I made an error in trying to have level payments through the year and now I have maxed....so last 2 paychecks will likely be higher too. It was just like 40 dollars, but hoping for more in the 2 december paychecks, lol! If HSA is completely done now should be a tiny additional boost. Also looking to hit the limit on social security withholding. I originally thought that was why my check was a little higher, but my FICA actually increased! Looks like HSA contributions lower FICA (who knew? not me apparently!) so now I'm not sure if I will get much of a break on FICA in december, since I don't really know how it all works.....Right now I am estimating about 300 more in December than most 2 paycecks month, will see how it all pans out... Finally got my RI data in for final projects of 2023! Whew, what a releif. The payments won't come in until Jan but I can at least have a few little splurges for the holidays. The RI net from these 2 projects will be about 2k combined. So not even equally what I've taken out of savings, but definitely a huge help. In 2024 will lower my 401k contributions just a bit with plan to max for the year - pending some other stuff. In 2023 I didn't recalibrate first of the year, I waited until the end of company's fiscal year to send 7% of bonus to 401k to ensure I got the match on the bonus and see what my raise was. Since the 401k limit increase had been so much, that didn't work out too well for me. Bonus was nice but not that much, same with raise, and then I needed to adjust to get nearly the whole 2.5 more into the 401k in the last 6 months of the year. In 2024 my initial plans is to max evenly across the 26 pay periods, and then when the bonus 7% goes through I can adjust from there...um! but then I'd hate to have to up it 1st of the year 2025! Maybe I will pretend 2024 bonus same as 2023, take the 7% from that, and then max the rest over the year? And this all assumes I am going to be able to continue to max 401k which is not at all clear to me right now! Still I think best to plan for that as best I can and adjust if and when I need to. |
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Dec 8, 2023 13:15:57 GMT -5
Update!| Name | Goal | Saved | Spent | | General Savings | 25,000 | 25,000 | 0 | Windows/Paint/Shutters | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | Summer/Travel | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,000 | Bridge | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | | TOTAL | 39,000 | 39,000 | 14,000 |
(Plus 10K saved for/spent on windows/paint/shutters)(Plus 3K saved for/spent on summer/travel)(Plus 1K saved for the bridge; I added another 500.)
Fingers crossed my insurance reimburses me what it's supposed to for the bridge!That's it for me for 2023! See y'all in 2024!
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teachermom
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Post by teachermom on Dec 15, 2023 15:07:09 GMT -5
Hey all! Can't believe 2023 is almost over! Sorry I am been missing but still saving. Working on what my goals might be....I have 18 months until retirement so will need to be strategic. Keep up the savings racers!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! See you in 2024!!
Teachermom
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seriousthistime
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Post by seriousthistime on Dec 15, 2023 15:13:09 GMT -5
Good to see you, teachermom! Stop by more often... I need to post an update. Will try to get to that later today. |
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Dec 15, 2023 19:30:00 GMT -5
Hey all! Can't believe 2023 is almost over! Sorry I am been missing but still saving. Working on what my goals might be....I have 18 months until retirement so will need to be strategic. Keep up the savings racers!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! See you in 2024!! Teachermom I've also been lackadaisical about keeping updated here....EOY is a good time to regroup, reflect, and plan for 2024. Less enthusiatic about it all than I used to be, lol! But still starting to think about the new year, new goals, new new new.... |
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Dec 15, 2023 19:35:05 GMT -5
Done with work!
2 weeks off from dayjob, last 2 RI projects done and billed! Is it too late to get a holiday going on? I've done nothing, and don't even know where to start, lol!
Will get final paycheck next week and will do my savings accounting when that is here. The outstanding RI invoice due date is in mid January so will not impact 2023...
Only 16 days left! this one flew by quicker than any year I've ever seen!
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Dec 16, 2023 4:34:22 GMT -5
I didn't start my table from zero this year, but I'll probably start it from zero in 2024. In 2023 I earned 16,365 above my retirement income, and saved 16,250! 14,000 of that was "saved to spend" on the new windows/shutters/travel/bridge. I'll be working a bit less come January. If only I could figure out how to work less and still save as much.  |
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Dec 16, 2023 12:08:47 GMT -5
I didn't start my table from zero this year, but I'll probably start it from zero in 2024. In 2023 I earned 16,365 above my retirement income, and saved 16,250! 14,000 of that was "saved to spend" on the new windows/shutters/travel/bridge. I'll be working a bit less come January. If only I could figure out how to work less and still save as much. That is a pretty awesome ratio! kudos!! |
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Dec 21, 2023 20:40:21 GMT -5
As my friends on the decluttering thread know, insurance did indeed reimburse me nearly 2.2K for the bridge! What a HUGE relief! That's a big chunk of change!!!
So thankfully my 2023 "general savings" will make it intact into 2024! LOL.
I'm still thinking about my goals for 2024.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Dec 23, 2023 12:57:12 GMT -5
All right! I have done extensive EOY accounting on saving, and here is the bittersweet update! | Vehicle | Goal | Saved so far | Percent of Goal | | 401k | 30,000 | 30,000 | 100% | | SepIRA | 5,250 | 5,250 | 100% | | HSA | 4,850 | 4,550 | 100% | | IBonds | 10,000* | 12,500 | 125% | | treasuries | 10,000* | -3000 | -30% | | taxable | 5,000 | -17,500 | -350% | | Total | 65,100* | 31,800 | 49% |
As I had mentioned midyear - I realized that I was recording money going into savings, but not when I took it out and I wanted to get a better picture and so I went through all the accounts and it wasn't pretty. It was more than I was hoping, but less than I feared, so good to take a look at it head on! Live and learn, as they say.... So - on the poistive side - I was able to max the 401k, SepIRA, and HSA. I did more than Max ibonds as I had paid too much in taxes. Note: the HSA goal was 4850, and I only contributed 4550 but have it at 100%. That is because my employer contributed 300 to the account so I contributed as much as I can by law. Negatives! I used up a bit over 20k from savings to fund living this year. This is due to a couple of large medical, and vet bills, a vacation, and the student loans starting up again. Back to positive - I at least had a decent amount of savings this year even after accounting for those withdrawals! Now - I need to sit with this over the EOY retrospective and new year prospective planning and figure out what it all means for me! I still have not gotten all my extensive medical workups I started planning for a few years ago as part of my pre retirement workup so I anticipate heavier medical bills in 2024 as well. I have a HDHP, fully load the HSA, but pay for medical out of pocket so that the HSA builds as additional retirement savings. I do not want to stop that so will be planning to pay out of pocket in 2024 as well. OTOH, my monthly budget has not worked out at all since the student loan payments started up in October. I have a large RI project in early 2024 that will be paid out in March/April that will clear up this feeling of being on a hamster wheel trying to get everything paid every month. I will take that opportunity to reset everything - all credit cards at 0, etc. Then will put whatever is left over into Ibonds and SepIRA, and see how the month to month goes after that. the upto 60 day lag on the credit card has gotten me into a bad habit of letting it accumulate too much and then it feels like a scramble to pay it off every month. I always pay in full (so far for many years now!), but I'm hoping starting at a 0 on everything will help me be more mindful and budgety. Decisions to be made are lowering the 401k contributions and/or stopping cleaning services. Both are relatively difficult decisions for me, so as I said, need to think on it some. I plan to start the year with a plan to max the 401k, and see how long I can keep it up. |
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azucena
Junior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2011 13:23:14 GMT -5
Posts: 5,942
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Post by azucena on Dec 23, 2023 16:20:42 GMT -5
Not sure what you mean by 60 day lag on credit cards. I pay ours off each biweekly paycheck to help limit how high it gets. Feels less painful that way.
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