One of the little benefits through my employer is the ability to take about $93 from my paycheck (11 months out of 12) which goes pre-tax on a debit card that can be used at most grocery stores and quite a few restaurants. I still pay 12% tax on food, but because my income tax rate is 31%, that saves me 19% of tax. (At least, that’s how I think it works.) The tax rate on everything else–including rent and utilities–is 25%. So, it is estimated that most people pay around 53% tax. Most Swedes don’t have a problem with paying high taxes, because they see the benefits with free education with free hot lunch, free college/grad school up to 6 years post-highschool, medical care, elder care, in addition to police, fire, roads, and more. They believe this is an investment in a civil society.
The little change here is that my primary grocery store, an ICA brand that is close to my work, has stopped taking this debit card. They have a bit of a fee to accept the card program, and the franchise owner of this grocery store chain has decided that the benefits are not worth it. Ugh!
So, there is a new ICA grocery store not too far away, and they take the debit card. I do have to cross a busy road at rush hour. Because it is under construction, the pedestrian crosswalks are not well marked. However, the new ICA is smaller, and it doesn’t carry some of my favorite items–even a ICA store brand breakfast cereal! So, I guess it is still some grocery shopping without the benefit of the tax-free debit card.
I’m now on the board of my union at work. It is a small “club” but important to provide a check and balance. This is quite gracious, as we have a high regard for our new boss.
Recently, I pondered in my blog whether I should wash a few dishes more often or let them accumulate for a few days—enough to make it reasonable to fill a wash basin with soapy water. Tonight, I washed my accumulation of dishes, and I realized that I should wash dishes more often. This is not because the pile was unwieldy, but because when I wash dishes, this reminds me to pray for missionary friends. The more I wash dishes, the more I pray for them.
I washed dishes tonight because tomorrow a colleague will spend the night. She lives in Stockholm, so her commute is a bit over an hour one way. There is a weekend young adult conference that she is part of, so it makes sense to stay with me rather than travel so long for a short night’s sleep to turn around the next morning. So, dishes are done, and I picked up a few things.
With blessings,
Beth