Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

4 Simple Ways to Save: Medical Bills

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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?

3 Strategies to Keep Track of Your Purchases To Save Money

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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.

track purchases
Track Your Purchases

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?

 

4 Ways to Make Money for Christmas Presents this Year

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You may have started with the best intentions.  You didn’t want to go in debt to pay for Christmas presents, so this year you resolved it would be different.  This year you’d set aside money every month, so when November came, you’d be able to buy Christmas presents with cash on hand.

But then, you’re car broke down and the repair was more expensive than you thought, so you had to dip into your Christmas savings.

It happens.  Sometimes Christmas is only weeks away, and you don’t have money to pay for the presents.

Don’t worry.  There are still ways you can make money to buy presents for Christmas.

Consignment Shops

4 ways to make money for christmas this year
Make Money for Christmas Presents

Do your kids have clothes they’ve outgrown?  Do you or your spouse have clothes in the closet that you don’t wear anymore?  Why not take them to a consignment shop?  When the shop sells your clothes, they’ll give you a portion of the sales price.  Or, they may just offer you a flat fee upfront.  Either way, it’s money in your pocket for items you weren’t using anyway.

Pantry Challenge

Take a minute to go look in your freezer, refrigerator, and cupboard.  Chances are you have a lot of food there, probably more food than your family will eat in a week.  Why not have a pantry challenge?

There are several ways you can do this.  One idea is to just take a week off completely from grocery shopping and just eat up what you have in the house.  If you normally spend $150 a week for groceries, that’s $150 you now have for Christmas gifts.

Another idea is to do a pantry challenge for a month.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t buy any groceries for a month.  Instead, it means that if you normally spend $600 a month for groceries, try to mostly eat up what you have in the house.  Give yourself an allowance, say $200 for the month to buy perishable essentials like fruit, veggies, milk, etc.  At the end of the month, you’ve saved $400, which you can use for Christmas presents.

Credit Card Rewards

If your credit card offers cash back rewards, start saving that money now.  You won’t make a lot this way, but you can use that money to help supplement your Christmas fund.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is an online search engine.  You use it just like other search engines, but you’re sometimes rewarded with Swagbucks.  Earn 2,200 Swagbucks, and you can get a $25 Amazon gift card.  With diligent effort, using Swagbucks every day and doing other activities as well as meeting your Swagbucks daily goal, you should be able to earn enough points for the $25 Amazon gift card in a month.

If you need money for holiday presents, a pantry challenge will give you the most reward for your effort.  However, the other three strategies will help you make additional money.  By combining all four strategies, you may have enough money to purchase your gifts in cash.  Take some effort now, and you won’t have to go in debt this holiday season.

What other strategies do you use to raise money for Christmas presents?