If you have dependents, you need a life insurance policy. GET ONE. Don't let your loved one lose their house or starve because you didn't prepare for them appropriately!
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/yourmoney/107543183.html
Check out the article above.
Consequences of no life insurance are a NO BRAINER. If the breadwinner were to pass on, how would bills be paid? The article points out that life insurance is less than the cost of a few pizzas per month, or the cost of cable for the year. There's NO EXCUSE to not buy it. Dave recommends that at a minimum, you have 10 times your annual income in life insurance. Why?
I probably actually should buy a little more insurance. The policy I have isn't accurate anymore, based on my salary. Hmmmm.....
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
VICTORY!
"Our members are important to us, and we appreciate your patience while this case was investigated. After a full and fair review of the information, we have approved the emergency room services for date of service September 15, 2010. We approved the emergency room services based on the fact that your physician instructed you to proceed to the emergency room...."
WAHOO! I only have to pay my ER copay of $150!!!!!
WAHOO! I only have to pay my ER copay of $150!!!!!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
So close I can taste it....
We filed our tax return this weekend, and in about 2 weeks, we'll be getting a refund of about $4K. I am incredibly thankful for this refund this year, but I know that in the future it won't be so big due to the recent tax withholding changes we've made. $1K of this will finish paying off the cruise we're taking in May for graduation, and $3K will go to the car. That will leave only $2500 left to pay on it, and I'm trying to think of whatever I can to scrounge up loose coins here and there to pay on it as I can.
I wish I had some stuff I could sell.... :( Maybe I'll be able to scrounge some stuff up over the next few weeks. Every little bit helps.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Emergency Room Bill Part 2
Well, I got the copies of my medical records from my dermatologist and called up my insurance company to ask them how I needed to go about asking for reconsideration. The person i talked to, Ko, was awesome! He was very very nice, and gave me the mailing address to the appeals department. Told me to do basically what Patsy said in her comment to my previous post. i wrote a letter, told my story, gave a copy of the medical records from my doc (which clearly stated IV antibiotics on it) and copies of the hospital and physicians bills.
So after I got off the phone with Ko, I called up the number on the hospital bill. The woman I talked to was a witch from the get go. She was EXACTLY what Dave commonly describes when he talks about collectors. She wouldnt listen to reasoning, you could practically hear her foaming at the mouth....and all I did was called to give them a courtesy "Hey, i cant pay this bill, but my insurance is going to take anther look at it, and I'll keep you posted." She said that my insurance had ALREADY looked at it and denied it, and I had to pay. This is where it got fun. I old her "No, I don't HAVE to pay, and I'm not GOING to pay. My insurance didn't have all the records they needed. I'm sending those to them, and they will review. I'm working on getting you paid, but I am not going to pay you." So she said "Fine, I'm going to notate your account as refusal to pay and we'll send it on to collections." "Well, do what you have to do, I don't care, you go right on ahead. I don't borrow money, and I couldn't care less what you do to my credit. Threatening me is NOT going to get you paid."
And I hung up. MAN did that feel good!
So then I thought that the physicians office was going to react the same way....but I called them anyway. I explained the same story - my insurance would be re-evaluating it. Their response? "Thank you Mrs Hicks. I'll notate your account. Just give us a call when you have more info for us." Do huh? Stark different responses. Amazing.
Anyway, I got the letter written, and the records copied. I mailed it off this afternoon, along with copies to my doctor and both the hospital and the physicians. At least they can't say they weren't informed.
So after I got off the phone with Ko, I called up the number on the hospital bill. The woman I talked to was a witch from the get go. She was EXACTLY what Dave commonly describes when he talks about collectors. She wouldnt listen to reasoning, you could practically hear her foaming at the mouth....and all I did was called to give them a courtesy "Hey, i cant pay this bill, but my insurance is going to take anther look at it, and I'll keep you posted." She said that my insurance had ALREADY looked at it and denied it, and I had to pay. This is where it got fun. I old her "No, I don't HAVE to pay, and I'm not GOING to pay. My insurance didn't have all the records they needed. I'm sending those to them, and they will review. I'm working on getting you paid, but I am not going to pay you." So she said "Fine, I'm going to notate your account as refusal to pay and we'll send it on to collections." "Well, do what you have to do, I don't care, you go right on ahead. I don't borrow money, and I couldn't care less what you do to my credit. Threatening me is NOT going to get you paid."
And I hung up. MAN did that feel good!
So then I thought that the physicians office was going to react the same way....but I called them anyway. I explained the same story - my insurance would be re-evaluating it. Their response? "Thank you Mrs Hicks. I'll notate your account. Just give us a call when you have more info for us." Do huh? Stark different responses. Amazing.
Anyway, I got the letter written, and the records copied. I mailed it off this afternoon, along with copies to my doctor and both the hospital and the physicians. At least they can't say they weren't informed.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Emergency Room Bill does NOT qualify as an emergency
I'm sorry, but a hospital bill for $800 from back in September when I had my staph infection does not qualify as an emergency that I'm going to drain 80% of my baby emergency fund for. Nope, not happening. I refuse to pay it, as you can see below:
Background: On a Friday in September, I started feeling what felt like zit on the inside of my nose, which was strange, because after being on Accutane for 8 months, I don't get zits anymore. By Monday, my whole nostril was red and swollen. So I went to my dermatologist. He said it was an infection of some sort, gave me an antibiotic and told me to come back on Wednesday if it wasnt getting better.
Well, by wednesday, it was NOT better. so I sent in to see him and he looked at it again and said that I needed to go to the ER to get IV antibiotics. The pill wasnt getting the medicine to my system fast enough.
Fair enough, I trust my doctors opinions. So I go. and I sit, and I wait in the waiting room. And finally they get me back there and the doctor takes one look at me, says "eh, it's a staph infection. you dont need an IV. We'll just double your dose of pills to knock it out and you'll be good to go."
um...okay?!?
Soooo, ER doc gave me a prescription for yet another pill and sent me home.
A couple of months ago, I got a notification from my insurance company that they had declined to pay the ER or Physicians bills for the hospital because their review of the situation determined that it was unnecessary for me to go to the ER. Well, sure. If I had known it was just going to be another pill, my dermatologist could have prescribed that. But HE wanted me to get an IV, and the ER had other plans. Therefore, since the hospital did not follow the recommendations of my dermatologist, which resulted in my insurance company declining the bill, who got stuck with it?
Yours truly.
How the hell was I supposed to know that would be the outcome? Thank you, health care industry. You suck. Oh wait, I haven't paid you yet. Aaaaaaand, I don't intend to. I'm gonna wait long enough that you'll be happy to get something out of me, and when I'm satisfied that it's low enough I'm willing to pay, or I'm abundantly rich and can afford it to make you go away, I'll pay it then. But for now? No way. Your screw up for not following doctors orders. I'm not using my $1000 emergency fund to pay for this, and I have other bills that are more important, and I need to save that money for a true emergency. It's just going to have to wait.
Background: On a Friday in September, I started feeling what felt like zit on the inside of my nose, which was strange, because after being on Accutane for 8 months, I don't get zits anymore. By Monday, my whole nostril was red and swollen. So I went to my dermatologist. He said it was an infection of some sort, gave me an antibiotic and told me to come back on Wednesday if it wasnt getting better.
Well, by wednesday, it was NOT better. so I sent in to see him and he looked at it again and said that I needed to go to the ER to get IV antibiotics. The pill wasnt getting the medicine to my system fast enough.
Fair enough, I trust my doctors opinions. So I go. and I sit, and I wait in the waiting room. And finally they get me back there and the doctor takes one look at me, says "eh, it's a staph infection. you dont need an IV. We'll just double your dose of pills to knock it out and you'll be good to go."
um...okay?!?
Soooo, ER doc gave me a prescription for yet another pill and sent me home.
A couple of months ago, I got a notification from my insurance company that they had declined to pay the ER or Physicians bills for the hospital because their review of the situation determined that it was unnecessary for me to go to the ER. Well, sure. If I had known it was just going to be another pill, my dermatologist could have prescribed that. But HE wanted me to get an IV, and the ER had other plans. Therefore, since the hospital did not follow the recommendations of my dermatologist, which resulted in my insurance company declining the bill, who got stuck with it?
Yours truly.
How the hell was I supposed to know that would be the outcome? Thank you, health care industry. You suck. Oh wait, I haven't paid you yet. Aaaaaaand, I don't intend to. I'm gonna wait long enough that you'll be happy to get something out of me, and when I'm satisfied that it's low enough I'm willing to pay, or I'm abundantly rich and can afford it to make you go away, I'll pay it then. But for now? No way. Your screw up for not following doctors orders. I'm not using my $1000 emergency fund to pay for this, and I have other bills that are more important, and I need to save that money for a true emergency. It's just going to have to wait.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Tax Withholdings and Interest Free Loans to the Government
If you are like most Americans, you are probably terrified of owing the government money during tax season. From the time I was 16 years old, it was ingrained in me that it was better to let the government take out the maximum amount, and hope for a huge refund at the end of the year.
Well, those days are over. I'm finally done giving the government so danged much of my paycheck. I need that money and I need it NOW.
According to The Motley Fool, the average American gets back a refund of almost $3000 a year. That's $250 a month you could be keeping for yourself and using as you see fit. If you're trying to get out of debt like we are, that $250 a month will go a LONG way.
I posted this on a message board recently, and was surprised by the FEAR of some who said they would much rather let the government take too much, rather than risk owing at the end of the year. Uh....what? First of all, you can easily calculate about what your tax liability is going to be for the year. But even if you aren't convinced, you could open a high interest savings account, change your deductions, and sock away that $250 per month to earn compound interest for the year. One, you'd have all that interest built up, but two, you wouldn't have to wait for a refund because it would already be in your account to use, and THREE, even if you miscalculated, and you did owe the government any money, it wouldn't MATTER because you had set the money aside to pay them back! The fear is simply unnecessary.
Check out this calculator. You type in your gross pay, and your current withholding, and what your withholding would be if you changed it. Based on the amount of taxes that were withheld last year, and the amount of credits we qualified for, we could have actually claimed 8, and not given the government ANY money, and we still would have gotten a refund. I'm a little uneasy going that extreme this year, since Jonny will hopefully be working full time starting this summer, and our tax liability will probably change, so instead, I'm going to claim 7 for this year, and see how we look next year, and adjust when our income situation becomes more steady.
Yay for a paycheck raise and a bigger snowball to get out of debt quicker!
Well, those days are over. I'm finally done giving the government so danged much of my paycheck. I need that money and I need it NOW.
According to The Motley Fool, the average American gets back a refund of almost $3000 a year. That's $250 a month you could be keeping for yourself and using as you see fit. If you're trying to get out of debt like we are, that $250 a month will go a LONG way.
I posted this on a message board recently, and was surprised by the FEAR of some who said they would much rather let the government take too much, rather than risk owing at the end of the year. Uh....what? First of all, you can easily calculate about what your tax liability is going to be for the year. But even if you aren't convinced, you could open a high interest savings account, change your deductions, and sock away that $250 per month to earn compound interest for the year. One, you'd have all that interest built up, but two, you wouldn't have to wait for a refund because it would already be in your account to use, and THREE, even if you miscalculated, and you did owe the government any money, it wouldn't MATTER because you had set the money aside to pay them back! The fear is simply unnecessary.
Check out this calculator. You type in your gross pay, and your current withholding, and what your withholding would be if you changed it. Based on the amount of taxes that were withheld last year, and the amount of credits we qualified for, we could have actually claimed 8, and not given the government ANY money, and we still would have gotten a refund. I'm a little uneasy going that extreme this year, since Jonny will hopefully be working full time starting this summer, and our tax liability will probably change, so instead, I'm going to claim 7 for this year, and see how we look next year, and adjust when our income situation becomes more steady.
Yay for a paycheck raise and a bigger snowball to get out of debt quicker!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
End of the Year Stock Up...
I mentioned on FB a few days ago that I had some good coupons that were expiring soon, so I wanted to use them if I could find good sales to match them with. Here are the results (for simplicity i did not include sales tax - sorry):
Yeeeah. I wont be needing Toothpaste, Laundry Detergent, Toilet Paper, Dish Soap, or Mouthwash for a VERY long time. Hahah! And yes, these are all items I'll use, unlike some crazy couponers who use coupons just for the heck of it.
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