frugaler

4 Simple Ways to Save: Medical Bills

October 13, 2017 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Every year, the price of medical care seems to go up. We pay a hefty premium to be insured through my husband’s work, and then we have a $350 deductible and a $15 co-pay for any doctor’s visit, including wellness checks.

However, I know what we pay for medical care is not that much in the grand scheme of things; many Americans are paying much, much more for medical care than we are.

Yet, in my ongoing goal to continually lower our expenses, I’ve found a few strategies to reduce the high cost of medical care, and avoiding unpaid medical bills.

4 ways to save on medical bills — Cut those medical bills

Call the doctor before you go in.

One Saturday night, my youngest came down with a fever that started at 102.5 and climbed all the way to 104.5. Luckily, we controlled the fever with over the counter medicine, and she was back to herself in two days. And then it was time for my other daughter to get it. Then, my son. When my son got it, he was sick for three days and unable to keep down food.

Instead of bringing him to the doctor, I called the nurse. The nurse recommended a wait and see attitude. If he wasn’t better the next day, bring him in. Well, he was on the mend the next day, and I saved myself the $15 co pay.

Wait to fill prescriptions.

I had a root canal a few months ago. The doctor prescribed hydrocodone, and I promptly filled the prescription, which cost me $16 out of pocket. I should have waited, though, because the little pain I had afterward was easily managed with aspirin. If I hadn’t rushed to fill the prescription, I would have saved $16.

Of course, this advice does not apply to regular, monthly prescriptions need to control certain chronic conditions.

Consider an alternative to drug stores for your prescriptions.

I have to take thyroid medications. For years, I went to Walgreen’s to fill the prescription every month. Then I found out I could get a three month refill from Costco for a price 1/3 less than Walgreen’s. Yes, please.

If you have a Costco or Sam’s Club near you, checking the prices for prescriptions is worth your while. Even better, you don’t have to be a warehouse club member to use their pharmacy.

Ask for a different billing code.

My daughter had her regular wellness check in the spring when she turned 5. This past fall, we switched doctors. The new doctor required a new patient visit before she would start seeing my daughter regularly. The problem? The doctor’s office billed this visit as an annual wellness check, and my insurance provider refused to pay for any of the appointment, leaving me with a $125 bill.

I called the billing office, explained the situation, and after the billing office looked into the situation, they used a different billing code so I was only charged our typical $15 co-pay.

Insurance premiums, deductibles, and co-pays can be expensive. Using these tips and tricks, you can shave anywhere from a few dollars to several hundred or even thousand dollars off your medical bills each year.

What are your favorite ways to save on medical expenses?

When Your Frugal Life Can Cost You More Money

September 20, 2017 By MelissaB 3 Comments

One of the tenets of a frugal life is learning impulse control.

Are you running errands and want to drink a soda? Just wait until you get home. Instead of paying $1.00 for a can, you can have one that you bought in bulk for .10 a can.

Are you excited to see the latest movie by your favorite actor? Don’t pay $10 or more per ticket; just wait until it comes to DVD and check it out from the library. Or watch it on Netflix or Amazon.

Often, when it comes to frugal living, simply waiting can save you money—a lot of money.

Your frugal life can cost you money — Your Frugal Life can Cost You Money

However, the same impulse that prompts frugal people to wait can also end up costing them a lot of money, if they’re not careful. The key is knowing when it’s good to wait vs. when you need to take action.

Car Repairs

When it comes to mechanical car repairs, waiting will almost always cost you money. For instance, a few years ago, I heard a squeak when I pushed on the brakes. However, we didn’t have the money for a costly repair, so we put off the repair while we tried to generate more money. While we waited, the brakes continued to deteriorate, so a repair that would have only cost a few hundred dollars had we taken care of it quickly, turned into a repair that cost several hundred more. Ouch. Lesson learned.

However, for non-mechanical repairs, waiting or just not fixing them can save you money. Our electronic sliding door on our minivan has been broken for a few years now. (The cable is frayed.) Repairing it would have cost $1,000+. Since the van has nearly 200,000 miles on it and is 13 years old, we opted not to make that repair.

Home Repairs

Some home repairs can be put off, but most of them, like car repairs, need to be attended to in a prompt manner. If they are, they will cost much less money. Case in point? We hated our kitchen faucet. It was very low, and it was hard to use when washing pots and pans. We wanted to replace it, but didn’t have the money. Well, this summer, we learned that the faucet had been leaking. There were actually three leaks dripping under the sink because the previous owner had duct taped (!) one of the pipes under the sink. The plumber replaced the faucet and changed the pipes under the sink. We would have had that expense regardless of when we replaced the faucet, but had we taken care of the faucet earlier, we would have saved ourselves the water damage repair underneath the sink.

Living a frugal life and waiting for most things in life can save you thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of dollars over your lifetime, in some cases, waiting will just cost you more.

Do you tend to put off home and car repairs because of your frugal life, or do you attend to them promptly, knowing they will likely cost more money if you don’t?

3 Strategies to Keep Track of Your Purchases To Save Money

February 20, 2017 By MelissaB 3 Comments

I’m a big fan of buying in advance for items that I know that I’ll need. For years when my kids were little, I’d go out shopping a day or two after Halloween to buy my kids discounted Halloween costumes for the next year. I never paid full price for a Halloween costume, and after Halloween was over and the kids were done with the costume, I sold the costumes on eBay for close to the price I paid.

That’s the way I like to shop, and I know it’s how many others shop, too. After all, shopping this way is a smart strategy to stretch your dollars.

The problem is that as life gets busier as the kids grow older, I’ve found that sometimes I forget what I bought in advance. Then, I desperately go out shopping for the item I need, not realizing I had already bought it in advance.

Case in point: Last year, right after Christmas, I bought my daughter a green ruffled dress on clearance at a steal for this year’s Christmas. But, I forgot I bought that dress, and come November, I spent a lot of my time searching children’s resale stores for a dress that wasn’t unreasonably priced. I had no luck. A few weeks ago, I was digging through some storage tubs in my closet, and I found the dress.

So this year, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to implement a strategy to keep track of all of my deals. Here are some techniques I plan to use:

Keep all of the deals in one location. I have a corner of my walk in closet where I keep a large storage tub filled with discounted items I buy whenever I see a good sale on things I’ll need later. I use these items for my kids’ birthday and Christmas presents. I have added another tub to this one. I’ll store other items like seasonal dresses in these tubs so I know everything I’ve bought in advance is in one location.

Keep a spreadsheet of gifts. Even if you keep all of your items in one location, you don’t want to constantly have to rut through everything to find what you’re looking for. Keeping a spreadsheet of the items you’ve bought in advance as well as who they are for will make it easy to see at a glance what items you have. This can also prevent you from overspending and buying more than you need.

Use the libib app to track books. I frequently give books as gifts. We also homeschool, so when I see a good sale, I’ll buy books in advance for the next year or two of school. The free app libib is a great way to keep track of your books. Simply scan the barcode with your smartphone, and you can create an inventory, even categorizing by person you’ll be giving the book to or genre. You choose.

Buying things you’ll need in advance is a great way to save money. . .as long as you don’t forget about what you’ve already bought!

Do you buy items in advance? If so, how do you keep track of them?