Make a plan for anything that's use-it-or-lose-it

Enjoy your benefits all year long

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to make a plan for the upcoming year
for anything in your life that is use it or

(00:24):
lose it. You don't want to be doing things frantically
next December, when with a little thought you could have
spread those things out and enjoyed using your benefits all
year long. So I find it fascinating that eye doctors
are completely swamped the last week of December. Now, on

(00:46):
some level that is because a lot of people are
off of work or off school, and so it is
a convenient time to go see an eye doctor. But
in other cases it's because people have certain health benefits
that need to be spent the end of the year.
The end of the year is not exactly a surprise.
It happens December thirty first every year, but still people

(01:10):
don't think about it. There they are trying to get
an appointment or waiting a long time as a walk
in which might not have happened in say October. It
is the same with charitable giving. I know people feel
generous with the holidays, but there is also a lot
of rush to get deductions for the year before December

(01:31):
thirty first, Then there are vacation days. Some places roll
these over, but some don't. You get a certain amount
each year, which means that people are either trying to
take days off in December when everyone else is too,
or they risk losing some of their time off. Not good.

(01:51):
I know not everyone has use it or lose its
resources in their lives. But if you do fall into
this category, take a few minutes now to think about
the upcoming year. What resources do you need to use
by the end of the year. When can you use those?
If you get a certain amount of paid time off,

(02:14):
you might go ahead and book an extra day or
two somewhere, even if you don't have a planned vacation.
That way, you'll be more likely to take these days
and maybe build in a little decompression time into your life.
In many cases, you can ultimately decide not to take
a vacation at that time if work is really busy,

(02:36):
or if you wind up needing to use a lot
of PTO because a family member gets sick or something
like that. But by thinking ahead you can spread out
the fun. If you support some smaller nonprofits, there might
be a real benefit to giving a donation in say July,
when they might be facing more of a cash crunch

(02:57):
versus December may be a bit more flush thanks to
other people's last minute donations. And if you get benefits
for regular checkups like dentists or I doctor visits, go
ahead and schedule those now. No need to wait until
next December. I mean, unless you aren't allowed to book
less than three hundred and sixty five days since your

(03:19):
last one and you just squeezed one in. But even
if you do have that restriction, you could book now
for next December and a lot of places and then
not have to worry about not getting an appointment because
the place is slammed. This episode is airing at the
end of one year, but there is another year coming,

(03:41):
and there will be another one after that too. There
is no need to be surprised by the end of
the year. Make a plan for any use it or
lose it benefits, and you will be way ahead of
the game in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening.
Here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for

(04:10):
listening to before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

(04:33):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.