Saturday, 29. May 2010
I have always considered myself a thrifty person and responsible with money. Before I got married, I managed to pay off my student loans early, buy my own home, pay my credit cards in full each month, pay all other bills, save in my personal account and 401K and still have a little left for an occasional luxury. I went without a few things of course, like a new car, but I was happy. Fast forward a few years, I am married. We both work and split bills 50/50, even the grocery bills, even though he makes more than I do. I pay for my own health insurance at work and his is free for him as an individual. My husband itemizes the receipts each month and gets in a bad mood if it is more than he thinks it should be, even though I am paying for my share. I have tried to explain to him that as a woman, there are more things that I need to purchase at the grocery store (makeup, tampons, prescriptions, shaving cream). I also buy my own prepaid cell phone card there instead of paying more for a plan like he does, so that is another $20 every other month on the grocery bill. We recently remodeled our kitchen (which we paid for out of savings– not many people can say that they did that) and I’ve been wanting to finish decorating it, but he gets all persimmony about me spending money for drapes, art, etc. The truth is, we’ve got enough money coming in to pay for things, but he wants to sock it all away. I save the average 10%, (personal savings in addition to 401k) but for him, it isn’t enough. He thinks I should save more. It is making me miserable how controlling he is, this constant focus on money. By the way, he has no problem buying an IPod for himself and I don’t give him crap about it, because I feel like as long as he can pay his share of the bills and is saving, that is his business.
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Friday, 28. May 2010
okay, so here is the deal, with all this healthcare talk all over the place it got me thinking. My husband and I own our own business, and therefore to buy personal health insurance for our family, the amount is outrageous! for a family of 4 for a decent plan, it cost us 650 dollars a month, plus a 25 dollar copay each time we go, and if anything major happens, we have to meet a 5000 deductible first. Prescriptions however only cost us 10 dollars, no matter what it is. However, we are a fairly healthy family. My children only go for their yearly checkups, and if they get an infection that just will not go away on its own. I only go once a year to the girly doctor. My husband goes once a year for a checkup. So, about 6 years ago, we dropped our insurance, we have not had insurance for 6 years! and this is why. for one year, we stuck our 650 a month into a savings..and when it came time for us to need something medical, we took it out of that savings and paid out of pocket. We called around to all the doctors in our area and within a 20 mile radius, and found one who understood we were paying cash from our own pockets and therefore, he gives us a discounted price for your normal basic run of the mill things..checkups, call in prescrips, etc. As for dental, it was way to expensive to begin with, we in turn also called around to dentists for our children at first only, so they could have a yearly check up. Why did we do this? because we never ever went to the doctors! our 650 was being wasted because we never barely used it! we were astonished to see that after a year we had saved up roughly 7800 dollars, and only used 1000 of it, which meant a savings of 6800 dollars…now after 6 years? we have about 30,000 saved…and we have not had to use it for any major health problems. With dropping our insurance we knew we had to insure our health, and that of our childrens..so we began to eat healthier, and we made sure our children as well as ourselves took very very good care of our teeth. We buckled down on our excercising and eating right, dropping all bad habits, smoking, drinking, sugary sweets (we still have the occasional sweets) and that also saved us money..at the time cigs were only 2 dollars a pack..but it does add up! so here is my question..what if everyone did this? what if everyone in america…dropped their healthcare? and only paid the doctors who worked for decent prices out of pocket in cash? and if we began eating healthier and diminished bad things? what would happen then? what would the health insurance agencies do? what would the other medical doctors who charge and arm and a leg do? Just something to think about is all I’m saying. Right now..my husband and I are only 29 and 33…if we continue as we are, we stand to save 204,000 dollars by the time he’s 63 and I’m 59..add the interest rate to it that our bank gives us, and we have decent amount of money. We have talked about if something big pops up, like broken bones, and such, or illness, but our doctor has assured us that he can guide us in those situations, what to do, where to go if need be. My point is …if a good percentage of people did this, especially those who are well off? and could afford to do it this way? would the prices not come down? to make it more affordable for everyone? I can tell you in six years, we have not had a huge problem. We had the birth of our 2 year old, I went to a midwife, the whole thing cost us 10k, alot yes…but we had it saved already, midwife is not the most common pick today..but I can tell you my experience was equal to that of the birth of my 8 year old in the hospital, in fact it was a bit better, more comforting really. Not for everyone..but again..what if a large enough percentage of people followed along?
rrm….what coverage is that? and how does it work? I haven’t seen something like that, but then again, we haven’t gone searching for any in the time being. Any info you could give me on would be appreciated. Like, what does it cover? and are their deductibles, only certain hospitals to go to? etc. Thanks for the info!
michel, not to mean honey, at all…but that is kind of one of my points on the buckling down issue, we do have to be more vigilant about ourselves, more aware of our surroundings, it causes us to be that way when we have no coverage..which would mean…I would never ever, under any circumstances, pour hot oil into any container..doesn’t mean I’ll never have an accident, it just means I am much much more vigilant about me and my children.
Posted in Answers by Prescription Savings -
Thursday, 27. May 2010
Personal savings are at an all-time low, and consumer debt, obesity, and prescriptions for antidepressants are at all-time highs. All of these things bespeak the same underlying problem: a desire for instant gratification without doing the hard work of living in ways that create lasting satisfaction.
Was Phil Gramm right?
A third-generation freethinker
To LIz: see my answer to your previous question:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkEJnippT0By5gAL8oIT_NTsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080717062847AAVwL4e&show=7#profile-info-NUN71FLPaa
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Wednesday, 26. May 2010
Per a divorce decree, my ex is to pay for an insurance policy for our child and I am to pay half of what is owed from appointments and prescriptions. This worked for 3 years until….
>>My ex got a health savings account which apparently causes me to pay full price for every appointment and medication my son needs.
Am I am paying toward some enormous deductible, likely meant to cover his whole family, or am I paying into a savings account that he and his new family will benefit from? or both?!!
I’ve read a bit about HSA’s but I’m afraid I don’t fully understand the concept.
Any info or recommendations are welcome.
Thank you thank you so so so much.
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Tuesday, 25. May 2010
I’d like to think that I’m very ethical but my belief (atheism) is a significant part of my life. I’m a secular atheist – humanist so I might not necessarily adhere to religious morals but I do have my own ethical morals nevertheless.
I direct an after school study program in a predominant Burundi/Rwanda/Congolese refugee neighborhood here in the States. Just yesterday, a refugee child came to the center which is elderly grandfather who evidently had very poor eyesight. The child told me that his grandfather needed reading glasses because he wanted to read his bible but he couldn’t afford to buy prescription glasses. So, I drove them to the optometrist on the way home and got him a pair of reading glasses.
Now here is the weird part — I genuinely care about the well being of this child and his guardian (grandfather) but I was a bit hesitant to buy reading glasses for someone who would only use them for the purpose of reading the bible.
I honestly regret investing $200 in a total stranger and buying reading glasses for someone who probably wouldn’t even be tolerant of atheists. I’m a poor high schooler who doesn’t even have a job so $200 is a fortune in my eyes. I basically just gave away 4 months of savings/allowance to a total stranger so I could “help” him read a bible. The irony is that I’m an atheist.
NOTE — I’m not saying that it was a mistake, I’m just asking if it’s normal/ok to regret doing such a thing? — When I think about, I wouldn’t take it (the action) back. I’m not that cold of a person.
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Monday, 24. May 2010
I have a 17 week old and the costs a still mounting as a single mom Im up to a £1500 (basically my savings a count), clothes are fine as that’s what I was bought her and just treated myself to a £60 changing bag (Im sick of the one I have as its to small plus I don’t spend anytime without her and still want to look nice)…..
what was your biggest expense? cot bed
a treat to yourself? changing bag
where did you sell stuff you didn’t need? haven’t yet
and can you get medication on prescription? x
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Sunday, 23. May 2010
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea a couple years ago. I was doing well on the CPAP machine in the beginning, but lately it seems like its not putting out air as powerfully as it did in the beginning. Although I told my doctor that I believe the problem is the machine, he says that I still need to be “retested” since its been a while since I was diagnosed. I have a new insurance, well, a Health Savings Account with a $2,500 deductible awaiting. Retesting will cost a minimum of a few thousand dollars. I wanted to try to purchase the machine myself online, but you need a prescription to purchase one. Is there a way around this? Also, I once heard someone mention they were using a CPAP machine but were unable to get use to wearing it at night. Instead, they were fitting with some type of “dental device” that they insert during the night to keep their airway open. They said they haven’t used their CPAP machine since. Has anyone ever heard of such a device? Do you know what the name of it is?
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Saturday, 22. May 2010
instead of socializing it or passing a law forcing us to have insurance and giving the insurance companies a bonanza like ‘universal’ plans would be, why not just demand more of the insurance companies? say “what the hell? i pay 500 a month, and im NOT going to pay a 2500 deductable, and im NOT going to pay 20% co-insurance, nor am i going to pay 50 bucks for a generic prescription!” why not reign in these companies and FORCE them to provide affordable, COMPLETE coverage? have you looked for health insurance lately? its laughable. almost makes you just want to take that 500 a month and put it into savings, since that would be better than relying on these bastards, who come right out and tell us that we have to pay a large percentage of our own bills, then pay a percentage after that. its ridiculous. then once we reign them in, THEY will reign in the drug companies and doctors.
lets not forget that we still have the power. maybe not of VOTE but we still control the money.
HEALTH CARE AND INSURANCE. SORRY.
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Friday, 21. May 2010
I live in the State of North Carolina and our insurance has changed and I now have to purchase my meds for 3 months at a time for 1 money,I know in some states schedule ll Narcotics can only be administered on a monthly prescription,but this new insurance Company id requesting a script for 3 months per medication I am taking,It’s actually a savings for me but is it legal in the state of NC to do that,I really need to know or know who I can contact to find out for sure,thanks in advance for any answers I may receive on this,Randy
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Thursday, 20. May 2010
Tiny bit of back detail.. My husbands ex wife does not have any custody rights to their children (although she is allowed supervised visits) and of course does not pay her very minimal child support. She is an admitted and obvious prescription and narcotic drug abuser. She has no job, no car, yada yada… Well she had been on unemployment up until last week or the week before and we have now learned she is trying for disability. Which would most likely be a fraud case, but whatever. It would most likely be a mental health claim. So I guess I have two questions… how long would it take for her to get approved, if she could. And also, would the children see any money from this? Do they pull child support? Do the kids get a so-called “cut” from her disability or because of her disability? It’s not about the money per se, but we would like to put some away in their college savings accounts if they ever do get any…. Thanks for any advice!
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