How to negotiate a discount on medical bills
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
When I submitted my upcoming medical need to Samaritan Ministries*** I received a list of tips on how to negotiate a discount on hospital or other medical bills.
These tips can be used by anyone, regardless of whether they are members of Samaritan Ministries, so I'm sharing them here.
Suggested Procedure for Negotiating a Reduction in Medical Bills
- Pray that God will help you to be a witness with each call you make, and that the bills will be reduced for His glory and the good of His Kingdom.
- Ask for the supervisor in the Patients Accounts office for each provider. You must speak to the peron who has the authority to make the decision to reduce the bill. Don't be dismayed when the first person you talk to says, "We don't give discounts." If you can negotiate the price of a new or used car, you can negotiate the price of a medical bill.
- Be sure that the provider understands you do not have insurance; you are a "self-pay" patient.
- Many hospitals have a sliding fee scale based on your income level. Be sure to ask about this.
- If you are a Christian worker, ask if the doctor or hospital has an automatic discount for clergy and Christian workers. Many do.
- Say to them, "By what percentage would you consider reducing this bill?" Then wait for them to respond. There are no high-pressure tactics needed. Just simply ask.
- If they still have not given a discount, they might if they're offered cash. Hospital and doctors often give discounts of up to 30% if the bills are paid promptly in cash.
- Say to them, "If we can arrange to get 70% of this bill to you in cash within 30 days, will you accept that as payment in full?" Again, just wait for them to respond.
- If you are still refused a discount, politely ask for that person's supervisor and repeat steps 1-8 with that supervisor. If you move up the chain of authority far enough and are politely persistent, the chances are very good that you will get a discount.
There are also services that will help you negotiate a discount on larger bills. Samaritan recommends The Karis Group, which seems to be a free service. The Karis Group has also partnered with Christian Financial Ministries to provide a service which is not free, but is guaranteed to save you significant money on larger bills, making it very worthwhile. We have no experience with either service, but Dave Ramsey thinks highly of them and his recommendation means a lot to money-smart people.
***Would you like to know more about Samaritan Ministries? We have been happy members for years. You can read about our experiences with Samaritan on my personal blog. If you decide to join Samaritan Ministries, please tell them KimC sent you.
Leafy Greens Are A Rip-Off
I wrote a while back on my old blog about how flour-based products are a rip-off. They are fairly easy to make ourselves and the ingredients are cheaper than the store-bought version, so if someone has the time, there is no reason to pay others to make them for us. I'm getting the same impression about leafy greens.
We live in Maine in an apartment. There is no yard to plant a garden, yet we have been having fresh salads this winter without paying outrageous prices for out-of-season leafy greens. Leafy greens are always in season in my kitchen.
Here's how I grow them.
- Take a coffee can and make drainage holes in the bottom using nails. I use 34.5 ounce cans, but have used cans as small as baby formula cans with success.
- Put an inch or tow of "stones" in the bottom for easy drainage. I use packing peanuts or broken up pieces of styrofoam, since styrofoam cannot by put in the recycling bin.
- Fill with soil.
- Plant seed and place near window. Water.
It's that simple! In 6-8 weeks, depending on variety, you'll have your salad. If you plant enough, depending on your salad needs, you'll never have to buy leafy greens again, even in the winter.
We recently got all fancy and switched over to self-watering planters, so I have no pics at the moment, but we usually don't eat the whole plant at once. We pull a bit off here and there for tacos and sandwiches, then pull a small handfull off of each plant when we want a big salad. More leaves grow in as long as you keep it happy. We've noticed the yield goes down eventually, and then we eat the rest of the greens and replant.
Leaving the Frugal Life Behind
Recently, my husband and I were given a gift certificate to dine at a lovely, expensive restaurant. Our dinner was delicious (of course, we ordered “the special“) and a delightful evening was put into our memory bank. However, I couldn’t seem to leave the frugal life behind.
Taking a brisk winter walk before arriving at our destination - remember this is South Texas “brisk” - I was a bit chilly and declined giving my coat to the Maitre d’. Little did I know how wise this would be! Pleased to be attired in some “new” clothes, I panicked for a moment as I have been known to forget to remove those plastic thrift shop tags! Thankfully though, this was not the case and we quickly took our seats in preparation for a scrumptious meal.
The place was crowded with conventioneers who seemed to have nary a thought to the expensive menu. With some chagrin, I must admit, after seeing a patron’s convention identification tag, I did hope his expense account wasn’t being paid by my tax dollars!
Thoughts seemed to continue down a frugal lane. I will confess, I doubted if anyone in this restaurant was doing their “debt snowball.” And I hoped that all those dining were now “living like no one else” because they had “lived like no one else before.” As we were leaving, I happened to see the Maitre d’ assist another patron with her coat. Honest, I wasn’t staring, I just happened to see her give him a $10.00 tip! He smiled and I gulped - only three more coats and this Maitre ’d would match a well-known blogger’s weekly grocery budget!
Now, it really isn‘t my place to decide how other people spend their money. And that is not my point. As we left the restaurant, the realization came to me that living frugally has taught me to evaluate and appreciate the choices I make. Special evenings can be a lavish treat, yet, while grateful for this fine dining experience, I have no desire to leave the frugal life behind. How about you?
Shopping To Feed A Crowd
Last week we discussed feeding a crowd for less. But before you can cook, you must shop. Is Sam's Club always the cheapest alternative?
Most of my quantity cookbooks list ingredients in bulk sizes: a #10 can, a quart of sugar, etc. The only way to compare apples to apples is to check the unit price.
TOTAL COST / NUMBER OF OUNCES = PRICE PER OUNCE
You know this, but it bears repeating. In some cases, the bulk size is no bargain. It's simply a timesaver.
When I'm cooking for a crowd, I try to shop like a business. Restaurants don't buy disposable pans at Kroger, so I stocked up on a variety of sizes at GFS Marketplace. (A smart reader pointed out that Sam's Club also sells half-sheet pans, 30 for $9.)
Frugal Hacks editor Kim C. realized her family was eating 30 pounds of bananas a week--a lightbulb moment. She began buying wholesale quantities from a produce terminal for a fraction of the price. I always wonder why the Duggar family, of TLC's 19 and Counting, doesn't adopt the same approach. (They make mega trips to discount grocer Aldi instead.)
I usually end up splitting my shopping for a crowd in two: half goes to seasonal produce and sale items at the regular grocery, and half to those bulk purchases which truly save time and money. When I saw how little frozen hashbrowns cost at GFS, for example, there was no way I'd sacrifice an afternoon to peeling potatoes!
Pick and choose your focus. Few caterers make everything from scratch. If cakes are your thing, start piping! If not, consider warehouse clubs, where big desserts have small prices. I was amazed that Costco's half-sheet cake feeds 48 for only $16.99. Muffins for a crowd, on the other hand, are cheaper to bake at home, especially if you use a make-ahead batter like this one.
Net your biggest savings by doing the entree yourself--even if you're only warming a spiral-cut ham with your special gourmet glaze. Pound per pound, meats and casseroles prepared at home cost less than their frozen or deli counterparts. If you do outsource, the cheapest meats are usually fried chicken (from Walmart) and pulled pork barbecue (from a local favorite.)
There's no simple answer to shopping for a crowd. You have to weigh time, money, and storage capacity to determine a formula that works for you. If you have any tried-and-true quantity strategies, we would love to hear them in the comments below!
New on the Frugal Blogroll for 3/6
New members of the Frugal Blogroll for the week of March 6:
Saving Money Isn’t Always Frugal
Living frugal is about more than just a few tips on saving money here and there. It's about changing the way you think about things, adjusting your thinking about wants versus needs, and revising both a sense of entitlement (which doesn't do us any good), and our ideas about deprivation.
Several years ago I started subscribing to a paper so I could get the sales fliers so I would know what all the 'deals' were. After a couple of months we dropped it, as I realized that having those sales fliers actually brought more stuff to my attention, and then into my house, stuff I never knew existed without those ads, stuff I suddenly saw a need for-and-it-was-on-sale so I would save money. I saved more money not buying those things at all than buying stuff I'd never even heard of before just because it was on sale- even when it was a very good sale. I do still use the grocery sales papers- those are important, but I borrow them from my mother.
Staying home is where the real savings come from.
Renter’s insurance: got it? get it.
I'm grateful for sponsors on Frugal Hacks for more than one reason. Yes, the occasional income is nice, but there's more to it than just money. I don't accept every sponsor. I choose them carefully, and for the most part I think they choose Frugal Hacks carefully.
Because of that our sponsors are a good fit for the topic of frugal living, and so they often remind me of worthwhile topics. We have a new sponsor this week in our Recommended Links area, and the website reminded me of our own experience (or lack thereof) with renter's insurance.
OUR STORY
My husband and I rented a home for the first 5 years of our marriage. We knew nothing about renter's insurance. To the best of my knowledge, nobody ever suggested it to us, and of course we didn't go looking for what we didn't know existed.
After 5 years and 3 children, we bought our first house and carried regular homeowner's insurance as required by the bank. We even used it once or twice, and were pleasantly surprised to learn that unlike auto insurance, you are not automatically hit with a rate hike when you place a claim. If those incidents had occurred while we were renting, we would have been out of luck.
After another 5 years and 3 more children, we decided to try our hand at life as landlords. We did some research, looking at plenty of sample leases. We quickly learned that many landlords strongly recommend or even require their tenants to carry something called renter's insurance.
I'm not sure I would recommend getting into the rental property business - we lost a huge amount of money when our town imploded - but I do heartily recommend renter's insurance to anyone who rents their home.
Renter's insurance typically covers personal belongings damaged due to theft, vandalism, lightening, hail, wind, power surges, water-related damage from home utilities, and much more. We had sewer pipes back up into our home not once, but twice, in the space of less than 3 years. Two different houses. Once resulted in toilet water and shower water from the couple upstairs flowing out of my shower drain, flooding my bathroom and creeping out onto my bedroom floor. That was bad enough, but the other was far more dramatic. These things happen.
BOTTOM LINE:
We all know that there's nothing frugal about being over-insured. Don't pay for more coverage than you need. But please consider fitting renter's insurance into your budget. Coverage starts at about $10/month, and in our experience it's worth the risk.
And if you're going to look into it, consider giving our sponsor a click to search 6 of the best-known insurance companies at once.
YOUR TURN:
If you rent, do you carry renter's insurance? Do you know about renter's insurance? Have you ever made a claim with homeowner's or renter's insurance, or been in a situation where you could have used the coverage?
Cheap and Easy Kid’s Room Art
Food Spoilage Table: how old is too old?
You probably realize just how un-frugal it is to let food rot in your fridge. No matter how good the price was, you waste money when you waste food.
When it comes to leftovers, we usually draw the line at 1 week or when it doesn't taste or smell quite right - whichever comes first.
With primary ingredients, it can be a little more complicated. Sometimes it's hard to know just when to call it a loss and toss it in the trash or compost. I found this helpful table at The HomeMaker's Mentor, where you are sure to find many other useful articles.
FOOD SPOILAGE TABLE
EGGS
When something starts pecking its way out of the shell, the egg is probably past its prime.DAIRY PRODUCTS
Milk is spoiled when it starts to look like yogurt. Yogurt is spoiled when it starts to look like cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is spoiled when it starts to look like regular cheese. Regular cheese is nothing but spoiled milk anyway and can't get any more spoiled than it is already.MAYONNAISE
If it makes you violently ill after you eat it, the mayonnaise is spoiled.MEAT
If opening the refrigerator door causes stray animals from a three-block radius to congregate outside your house, the meat is spoiled.LETTUCE
Bibb lettuce is spoiled when you can't get it off the bottom of the vegetable crisper without Comet.CARROTS
A carrot that you can tie a clove hitch knot with it is not fresh.CHIP DIP:
If you can take it out of its container and bounce it on the floor, it has gone bad.GENERAL RULE OF THUMB - if you can't find it on this list:
Most food cannot be kept longer than the average life span of a hamster. Keep a hamster in your refrigerator to gauge this.
Winners: H&R Block giveaway
Wow - we only had 23 entries on last week's giveaway for 3 copies of H&R Block's tax software or $50 discounts for taxes online. Maybe all you frugal people out there already did your taxes, unlike me.
Those are some pretty good odds for the people who did enter.
Here are the 3 happy winners, chosen by Random.org:
Alice Says: linked to my facebook page!
February 21st, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Vicki Says: I’ve used both TurboTax and TaxAct, whichever saves me the most. I’ll see how HR Block stacks up this year.
February 21st, 2010 at 5:34 am
Pamela T Says: I became a fan on Facebook, wahoo!
February 21st, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Congrats to the winners! May your refund be swift and generous. :)
New on the Frugal Blogroll this week
Want to join the blogroll? Click the Join tab at the top of the page to see if your blog fits the requirements.
Frugal Legs
A while back I came across this product on sale in the local Wal-mart:
I tried it on my legs, and I like it. I don't like it on my face, however. But for my legs, it worked great. But it's really just fine sandpaper, so I buy very fine sandpaper (600-b) at the hardware store, tear it in wide strips, wrap a strip around a bar of soap (I've also used a child's wooden block, it doesn't really matter, it just works better wrapped around a hard, flat surface). I use it about twice a week in the summer (in the winter I wear boots all the time and figure a little extra leg hair is added warmth. Sorry, folks), follow up with lotion and I love the way it makes my legs feel.
One package of sandpaper lasts me about three times as long as one package of Smooth Legs. Now, not everybody likes this stuff. Some people find it leaves their skin feeling similar to if they'd been out in the desert in a windstorm- sandblasted and windburned. That is kind of how I felt when I used it on my upper lip. But, as I said, I love it for my legs.
Exclusive Swag code for new users
Swagbucks paid for Christmas in our house last year and continues to provide a steady source of free Amazon gift cards, which can be used to buy nearly anything on earth, including used books at great prices. We love it!
If you're not using Swagbucks to get free stuff yet, now is a great time to get on board! Just take a moment to sign up (use the code at the bottom of this post to get a bonus!) and then use the Swagbucks search engine at http://swagbucks.com for your normal searches - you'll be awarded Swagbucks that you can redeem for free stuff like Amazon gift cards.
You can easily add the toolbar to your favorite browser or even make it your default search engine so that you can type your search terms right into the address bar.
Why is this a great time to join? Swagbucks is celebrating the launch of a bunch of new features with swag codes and giveaways galore to kick it off!
Even old members like me can earn lots of extra bucks this weekend!
1) More ways to earn Swag Bucks every day: With Swagbucks.com 3.0 users will be able to earn by having their toolbar visible on their browser and also by simply viewing our 'No Obligation' special offers. This means that in addition to all the regular ways to earn, the more you are engaged with Swagbucks.com, the more you will earn!
2) New look home page and Swag Store & rewards store: Swagbucks.com 3.0 will include a revamped, cleaner interface that will provide a better user experience.
3) Launch of the Swagstakes Portal: As you may know we currently run about a dozen on-going sweepstakes (called Swagsttakes) at any given time. With the launch of 3.0 we are going to have a brand new, fully stocked Swagstakes portal in which there will be dozens of Swagstakes running at all times! Some contests will be limited entry (meaning a set number of entries will be offered) so the odds for a user to win are greater. The tentative list of items that will be offered during initial launch should include: $100 Amazon Gift Cards, Sony Bravia 32" TV, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPod Touch, Flip Ultra HD Camera, Panasonic Blu Ray with Remote, Apple iPad, Sopranos Complete Series Box Set, Rachel Ray 10 piece cookware set, Playstation 3 system + games bundle, Canon Powershot Camera, Seinfeld Complete Series DVD box Set, Viziio 22" LCD TV and plenty more!
Ready to join? It's fast and easy, and if you use the exclusive code below you'll start off with 6 Swagbucks.
Exclusive Swag Code for new users:
FRUGALHACKS1 (case sensitive) - expires 3/4 at 6AM PST.
A List of Lists for the Frugal
6 Noteworthy lists by frugal bloggers:
- Top 100 Things to Disappear in a Disaster - what would you add to the list?
- 100 Ways to Save $1000 in 1 day - the title may be an exaggeration, but there's plenty here to get anyone headed in the right direction.
- Best 101 Debt-Busting Posts of 2009 (From 101 Frugal Bloggers) - Wow. Where to start? There's enough material here to keep us all reading for years. Can anybody help me out and tell me their favorite articles from this massive list?
- When Times are Tight: 168 Frugal Tips to Make Your Dollar Stretch - I like to think that I already know and use most of these ideas, but the reminders certainly don't hurt, and I did find a few new twists.
- The Cheapskate Guide: 50 Tips for Frugal Living - from Zen Habits. This list is shorter but deeper, and it's more about lifestyle than quick-n-easy ways to save a buck. It's also a bit more controversial in places. Give up the cell phone?!
- 28 Tasty Tips for Supermarket Savings - I thought I was a pretty frugal shopper, but there were some tips here that I needed to be reminded of: weigh pre-weighed produce, for example. Not all 10 lb. bags of potatoes or 4 lb. bags of oranges are created equal.
Feed A Crowd For Less
Our church hosts a fellowship brunch one Sunday a month. Various groups take turns cooking food for 100 (give or take)--and naturally, this requires some frugal planning. Last month, my group baked the equivalent of 8 ham and potato casseroles to serve with a make-ahead green vegetable salad and fruit. Along with 100 bran muffins from scratch, I also made some novice mistakes.
So let's talk quantity cooking today. Did you volunteer to prepare a Lenten meal after church, or or offer to coordinate a rehearsal dinner for a friend? Where do you turn for advice for such large quantities? How can you multiply the loaves and fishes to feed everyone?
1. Ask for help. Maybe you pray before you even crack open a cookbook. Maybe you phone the seasoned volunteer and pick her brain for ideas. Maybe you, like the Reluctant Entertainer, first consider friends who would be glad to contribute. Whatever you do--don't do it alone.
2. Create a low-cost menu. Rather than looking for deals on a pre-set menu or heading to Sam's Club out of habit, scribble a menu plan that's frugal by its very nature. Look at seasonal foods like turkey when it goes on sale in the fall, or strawberries when they begin ripening in June. Think of what you could make with an inexpensive protein base like eggs (baked french toast or strata), beans, or ground beef.
3. Fill in with inexpensive foods. Do you know the caterer's trick of placing the less expensive items first on a buffet? A giant basket of breads, big bags of Costco rolls, pans of sizzling cornbread--all help fill the plate. A hearty soup plus hot bread makes a satisfying meal. My friend Jordana, a soup master, turned me on to Twelve Months of Monastery Soups
4. Develop resources for cooking big on a budget. What works at home, with 2 can of condensed soup, can become prohibitively expensive for 100 people. What's more, you can't always multiply a recipe without adjusting--and who wants to risk wasting all that food? Yet the caterer's cookbooks I read required too much fussing. Here are the bookmarks I check:
- Cooking For Crowds is a 1963 text you can read online, free of charge. It features simple recipes geared toward volunteers, almost all of which eschew processed ingredients.
- A Kentucky Creation is one cook's record of church menus, cooked to feed the hungry. I trust her real world advice!
- Ellen's Kitchen has tons of advice and menus geared toward cooking for 100.
Do you have a favorite quantity cookbook? What's your favorite feed-a-crowd menu? Let me know in the comments, and next week we can tackle shopping for a crowd.
