The beginning of a new healthcare year and the high deductibles are yanking money out of my wallet like a creek on flash flood steroids.
This is why I keep a piece(about half)of what I save in my yearly Savings Challenge in the month of December and don't put it into the Savings Challenge totals for that year.
I saved $3323.77 last December from our various incomes that month but only put $1548.21 toward the Savings Challenge, reserving $1775.56 of what we didn't spend in December to put toward medical bill deductibles in 2016.
We got to February 9th and we have already racked up over $3K medical charges for 2016.
And for once it is NOT all me! lolz
Hubs has an issue and the dr. ordered a whole battery of bloodwork tests for some pretty pricey and offbeat issues it might be, just to narrow down some causes.
8 tests that cost $2,761.
EEK!
Our insurance got a discount so we only owe $1,510.27 of that.
Gee, I feel soooo much better now! haha!!
And of course those tests didn't turn anything up which makes me even happier to shell out that kind of cash. not. (Though I am happy Hubs doesn't have any of these medical problems.)
So that $1775.56 will cover these medical tests plus a little leftover to cover what the February regular income won't.
I know we have plenty of cash in the bank/invested to cover the $3K in deductibles we wouldn't be able to cash flow with regular monthly income. But being as these medical bills all came in the first 5 weeks of the year there is more medical bills than money that has come in in the first 5 weeks of 2016.
Add in that in March I have real estate taxes due as well. 8-(
Not having that $1775.56 set aside would have severely bolloxed up our cash flow for February, March and April, making me have negative cash flow and I would have had to have pulled money out of the Savings Challenge rather than put money into it, until sometime in March or April.
I just hate my cash flowing being screwed with, that's all. ;-)
And on the lighter side of things I ran into Weis(PMITA)Markets yesterday afternoon and did a Deal twice.........
The last 2 weeks they had a deal when you buy 3 Gorton's fish products you get an instant $2 off, plus all the Gorton's has been 50% off reg. retail price.
There are/were assorted $1/1 Gorton's IPQs on coupons dotcom so I printed 6 out and got 6 items, these 3 x 2.
They all totaled $59.94 and 50% off brought them down to $29.97.
$6 off in Qs and $4 off in Instant Discounts got all 6 down to $19.97(which is 2/3rds off) or $3.32 for each package. Not bad for shrimp that is reg. $10.99 a box!
That fish is sold at Walmart for $5.08 locally so that price was jacked up at $7.99 but with the deal and Qs it was still $1.76 less with this Weis Deal.
So I've spent $19.97 so far this week on groceries, taking my February spending to $269.25 so I am over my $250 target and have passed into the "I can spend an extra $50 this month if there are good deals" territory. I'd call 6 boxes/bags of fish deal worthy. I've got $30.75 left to spend on food this month and about 11 days left.
Gonna be tight but do-able.
Sluggy
Your careful planning hast help with the stress of the deductibles. Even with good insurance, the out of pockets add up so quickly. I bet there will be regular fish specials for a while-may have to stock up.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's Lent so fish deals get me hook, line and sinker. lolz
DeleteMedical is so pricey but the alternative is worse I guess.....
Sluggy, do you have a HSA as part of your medical ins plan? I have a $4000 deductible, towards which my employer deposits 1/2 or $2000 at the beginning of the work year. Then I deposit the rest, evenly spread out over my 20 pay periods. I also have a $2000 RX deductible once the first combined medical/RX deductible is met (easily done for us), with a 3 tier system of RX co-pays. Currently, all medical (must be in plan or its 80-20) is free/covered at 100% for us, up to plan limits (such as 50 outpatient PT visits)
ReplyDeleteEven with several of us on daily maintenance RX's, I don't anticipate hitting this second deductible. That said, however, I still deposit $ from my paychecks to cover them, affordiing me a cushion that can roll over into the next year. It's a game.
Love your Lenten fish deals! WTG!
Carol, I stopped tapping the HSA last year. We have decided to just let it accumulate until Hubs retires. He's going early so that will help us out pay the OOP/HD until we get to Medicare age.
DeleteI'm glad that hubs is healthy even if he is expensive.
ReplyDeleteShould we just stop trying to save money since every one is clawing at our pockets?
I am about ready to put everything in eldest son's name and go on Welfare....well after he figures out he can spend it all/liquidate it all then I'll NEED welfare.lol How about you?
DeleteOh gosh I just typed and it disappeared! Oh well gist was at least you can afford the bills and I always told my kids, never be without heath insurance. Murphy's law right?
DeleteHow freaking expensive! We are only responsible for crutches/wheelchairs/medications after we pay our $150 a month in medical insurance, thankfully so. I know we are spoiled in Canada but we pay way more for booze if that helps (at least 2x). I hope that means nothing is wrong with your hubby rather than them having to do another bunch of expensive tests.
ReplyDeleteFirst thought I had - you have to pay for those tests??? I will echo Cheapchick's comment - glad I live in Canada! I'm in the same grocery boat as you - have spent all but $56 of my grocery money - had a BIG shop yesterday and it darn well better get us to the end of Feb. except for salad greens!
ReplyDeleteFor the first time I am having to deal with Medicare for Mom. ( I miss Dad and I also miss him taking care of this) It is like learning a new language that I was not ready to learn. I am so thankful for our regular insurance and the P.I.A. it is rather than jumping through all the hoops of medicare and the supplemental plan.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you. We've been swamped with medical costs already this year and it isn't fun.
ReplyDeleteLarry