MO and I have a lot of medical expenses. I have a nice little system in place to save money on medical bills.

First: I have an HSA so the money we use to pay the medical bills is tax free and comes right out of my paycheck, so we never miss it.

Second: I pay my medical bills right away to avoid any fees, and also my main provider offers a prompt pay discount of 10% on many services if you pay in the first billing period.

Third: I pay the bill with my Discover Card to get 1% back, and then just reimburse myself (for free) from my HSA.

So the last bill we got for MO was $276.88.
I called and paid right away (Saved $27.69 (10%) with the prompt pay discount).
I used my Discover to pay it (Earned $2.77 (1%) in Cashback Rewards).
And then reimbursed myself with the tax free funds in the HSA (I am not sure how to calculate the tax savings?)
That equals $30.46 + Tax Free Savings, just on this one bill, and we didn't even need to do anything other then pay smart to get those savings!

The 1% back doesn't seem like a lot, but our Cashback Bonus is now over $1000 and that is free money, just for using our Discover Card when we pay for things we were going to buy anyways!

Hope those tips help anyone with medical bills!

Yesterday was a long day of medical apts. From 7:45am till 3:00pm we were in and out of Drs. apts allllll day!

We had extensive ultrasounds for both babies and everything looked great! They are both measuring about the same size (roughly the size of a can of pop each) so that is also wonderful news. Both babies were dancing around a lot. We got the envelopes with the babies genders, they are sealed and we will be doing a small gender reveal next week with immediate family. We are so excited!!

I had diabetic training (major family history of diabetes, so no surprise I am a prime candidate for gestational diabetes). My Dr. let me know there wasn't anything I could have done differently to prevent this so that made me feel better. I am 20 weeks now and have only gained 9lbs (with twins!) so I am happy with my weight gain so far, and they were not concerned with my weight at all, but only with my blood sugar levels. All we can do is do our best with diet and exercise to treat it to keep me and babies healthy. So I got my meter and also went to the pharmacy for test strips and lancets. We met our OOP Max for the year way back in May, so won't have to pay anything for the visits or Rx.

I also got my flu shot for the year too, again free. We took MO to CVS to get his flu shot, but they were out, so he will need to wait till next week. We had some time to kill between apts so we went to Goodwill and MO was able to find 2 pairs of shorts for next year for $3.50 each and one pair of workpants for $5.00. I have been looking for maternity coat options, but did not want to spend a ton of money on a coat I would only be wearing for a few months. I was super excited to find a really cute coat that I can wear this winter to cover up the babes. My current coat is getting a bit hard to zip! The coat probably won't last me for the whole pregnancy as it is still a regular coat, just a much bigger size, not maternity, but it was only $6.99 so I was very excited!

I also found a Peanuts PJ set that was new with tags for $14.99, and it was only marked for $1.99 ($2.12 after tax) so I got that for resell. I plan to mark that for $6.00.
*ETA - Sold for $6.00 on FB on 11/25/18
Profit = $3.88

I had my yearly eye exam and ordered contacts. I usually do every other year glasses, and every opposite year contacts. My exam was free with my health insurance and I had a $200 allowance for my eye wear. My contacts came out to $201 for 18 month supply.....so total OOP was $1!

I always try to get my apt. earlier in the calendar year so that I don't forget about the benefit, or run out of time to use it during the busy holiday season.

MO wasn't feeling well for a few days last month and went into the clinic. We got the bill a few days ago, $227.70. I called to pay it from my HRA and they OFFERED a 10% discount if we paid in full! So we got a discount of $22.70! Nice to see something good for paying your bills on time! I paid the bill from my HRA account. I still have $10,300 remaining in that HRA account.

I completed our Open Enrollment for my health insurance today. Sadly I did not meet the metabolic testing requirements so I have a higher premium then last year. My premium will be $54.50 a paycheck for me and MO. Hopefully when they re-test later this year I will meet it and that would lower the premiums a bit. My employer will contribute $800 to the HRA in Jan, so that will be a nice bump to that account!

Reminder to everyone to use your vision insurance! Most vision plans have an eyewear allowance that is good either yearly or biyearly....even if you don't NEED new glasses or contacts, be sure to use this benefit! Don't let if go to waste! Make your apt now, so you don't have to try to remember at the end of the year when things are crazy with the holidays!


I used my allowance last year for glasses, so decided to use it for contacts this year.

I got my eye exam, contact lens exam and 36 contacts (lucky me my eyes are the same strength).

Eye Exam $0
Contact Lens Exam $25 (Not covered by insurance)
1 1/2 years of contacts $3
Total = $28.00!


SWEET! My contacts came to $203 and I have a $200 vision allowance every year. My vision insurance is free through my employer.

Another item off life's never ending TO DO LIST!

Continuing to get things done on the post-divorce "To Do" List. Got XH removed from my health insurance. I was waiting until he had his own coverage in place before I removed him, and due to the untimely deaths of his grandmother and mother that was delayed, but he finally had coverage as of 10/1/14, and so I had his termination backdated to that day and I will get a small refund in my paycheck for the premium. Now my health insurance is just me so will completely free. The only thing I pay is for vision and that is $4 a month which is well worth it for my glasses or contacts each year.

Last night was my and BFs last night of coed softball, we ended the season at 9-3! Good year and a very fun team! We plan on having a softball party at my house next weekend so that will be fun!

I went pheasant hunting for the first time this weekend. No one in my family hunts, so BF is introducing me to a lot of new things! It was pretty fun and very nice weather considering it is October. We got one (he actually shot 2, but one landed in a sun flower field and we couldn't find it) and BF make me "pheasant nuggets" (as opposed to chicken nuggets). It was very tasty!

I got new glasses at the end of July. I like to keep track of that on here, makes it really easy to see when I last got my eyewear.

Lens $139.00
Frame $249.00
Standard Eye Exam $89.00
-$397.80 Insurance Payment
------------------------------
$79.20 My Costs

I paid the $79.20 out of my HSA.

Normally I try to keep the costs of the frames down so that I don't have to pay anything OOP, but the ones I picked out were a little spendy. Luckily I have over $10K in the HSA account so nothing OOP for me!

We are in OE at my work for health insurance. I am enrolling in the same benefits as last year and my deductible and premium are both staying the same, so that is good, no increase!
DH and I both got a $25.00 per month ($600.00 per year between the 2 of us) credit for meeting metabolic testing criteria. We also each got $25.00 per month ($600.00 per year between the 2 of us) for being non-smokers. So that is $1200 per year I am saving on insurance premiums just for being healthy!
So my monthly insurance premium is $50. Whoo hoo!
My employer gives a yearly contribution of $600 to our HSA. I look forward to seeing that hefty boost each year, and this year it is increasing to $800! So that is like a $200 increase in my pay! Just had to share as that news made my day!

Yeah finally got my new glasses!

Eye Exam - Covered 100% by insurance
Lenses $134.00 - Covered 100% by insurance
Frames $129.00 - Covered 100% by insurance

Final cost for me - $0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So with Friday's paycheck our HSA reached $8K! Wow! So I was sooo excited that we had $8K just sitting there....JUST IN CASE something happened we can be comfortable that between insurance and the money in the HSA we wouldn't have to pay anything OOP for medical expenses. I have been very diligently putting $125 every single paycheck into the HSA. I was so happy that I texted DH and my Mom that we had reached this great number. So that was Friday....Saturday night we were at a BBQ with some friends and DH ends up hurting his knee so bad that I have to take him to the ER! I was inside the house when it happened, so I didn't see it, but apparently he was joking around and pretended to kick something and when he planted his left foot and kicked with his right, he lost his balance and fell...only his left leg which was planted didn't give out...it was locked in place and so when he fell it didn't fall with him and got all twisted up. UGH. So his knee bone is literally poking out the side of his leg....not out of the skin, but it's a huge knob on the side of his leg where it shouldn't be. So we went to the ER and got xrays..nothing broken, but they want to do an MRI cause they think some of the tendons/ligaments are no longer attached. Tomorrow he goes in to see the orthopedic surgeon and see about the MRI, and then see about surgery. We are on a HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan) so we have to meet a $3K deductible before the plan kicks in...and with what we've heard so far sounds like we will meet the whole thing. SIGH....oh well that is what we saved for so I guess we just have to feel lucky it is there when we need it and hope DH feels better soon.

We got our company HSA deposit today of $600! Yeah! Now our HSA is up to $6800! Super excited about that! Between our $125 deposit per paycheck and the incentives I get for entering my healthy eating and workout points we should get over $10K by the end of the year! Makes me feel so secure to know that even if somethihg horrible happened we would have enough in our HSA to pay for it.

I got my eye exam and my contacts last week. The eye exam is covered at 100% (I had to pay $15 for the contact lens fitting) and I had $200 allowance for eyewear.
For my contacts I got 6 boxes of contacts ($36.00 a piece) and only had to pay $16.00.

$15.00 Contact Lens Fitting
$16.00 6 boxes of Contacts
Total OOP $31.00

I could put this towards my HSA account, but I think of that like a savings account, and I don't need to use my savings account to cover $31.00, so I just paid for it OOP.


I always make sure I use my allowance as soon as it becomes available to get the most out of my health insurance.

At my work they let us enter our workout minutes and healthy eating choices to get funds for your HSA. I am able to earn up to $500 a year and so is my husband. I reached my $500 this week! DH has not entered his information in a long time, so I need to get him moving on it as he has only earned $25 so far. It is a great program that they offer to help get extra funds into our HSA.


We also have a program to help with the premiums. My insurance premiums are only $600 a year ($25 a paycheck)for me and DH. They offer a metobolic screening test, and if you meet the requirements then you get credits to your insurance premium. I can earn $300 by meeting the 3 of the 5 criteria (blood pressure, blood sugar, waist circumference, cholesterol and triglcyerides) and DH can get a $300 credit just for doing the testing, he doesn't even need to meet any criteria. Last year the testing was only offered to the employees, not to the spouses. I met all 5 of the criteria last year, so I am expecting to get the full $600 credit, so I won't have to pay anything for health insurance premiums! Testing is in about 2 weeks so we should have the results in about a month and then we will know if we have any premium for 2012.

DH was having a lot of neck problems so had to go to the chiro several times back in May. I finally got a bill so sadly our HSA balance will go down now. Glad we have been contributing diligently to the HSA. We were so close to $5K!

Balance $4565
-$385 5 chiro visits
New Balance $4180

So while we were waiting around at CVS for DH's meds we found some good deals. Valentines Candy was 75% off!

$.97 Kleenex - Saved $1.02
$.97 Kleenex - Saved $1.02
$1.25 Big Heart Strawberry Chocolates - Saved $3.74
$1.25 Big Heart of Mini Candy Bars - Saved $3.74
$1.25 Big Heart of Mini Candy Bars - Saved $3.74
$.75 Mini Heart Box of Chocolates - Saved $2.24

Total Spent $6.83!
Total Saved was $15.50!

Now the chocolates we definitely not needs......but 75% off of Valentines Candy is a great deal. All of the candy was for DH except the Strawberry Cream Chocolates were for me (just had one and it was AH-Mazing!). DH will freeze the rest and eat them for the next month or two. Of couse we were out of Kleenex again since I was sick for so long, but am feeling lots better, so these should last for more then a week this time.

I also signed up for their "extra care rewards" card. So starting in April I should get 2% back from any purchases made in Jan - March 2011. I don't shop at CVS very often, usually only when we are getting an RX, but every little bit of savings helps!

Here is my DH's ankle

My husband only weighs 140 lbs, so you can imagine how fat this ankle is!

Ewww...nasty bruise!
He went to the Dr today and luckily it is just a bad sprain. Happy it is not broken! Looks horrible though...office visit, xray, crutches and rx. Don't know how much the office visit and the xray are yet, but the crutches were $60, and the generic rx was $4.16 (brand name would have been $53!!). Wish I would have been with him, cause I would have told him not to get crutches with the dr, could have got them at CVS for half that price.....oh well, the crutches are for adults 5'2 to 5'11, so either one of us can use them, and we should never have to buy crutches again. And the rx was super cheap so that was good.

DH and I went out of town for the weekend. He was in a basketball tournament about 100 miles away. I thought it would be a resonably cheap weekend. We were riding up with another player, and also rooming with 2 other players, so that and food and shouldn't be more then $100 for the whole weekend. Well we gave $25 a piece for the hotel room, paid for a tank of gas $33, snacks $4, breakfast day 1 $5, admission to the tournamant for me $5 (!!), $21 lunch day 1, $14 lunch day 2, $25 booze. So that's already $157!! Then the very first game DH and a big guy from the other team got tangled up and fell, and the big guy rolled up DH's foot and ankle. That was yesterday morning and he has been severly limping since then and his ankle is humungous and bruised. We were going to go to the walkin clinic when we got home, but the weather was bad here and by the time we got back to town the clinic was closed. So I think he will need to go in tomorrow to get it looked at. So after that the weekend will most likely cost over $300....ouch to that, and ouch to DH's ankle.

Checked my medical claims online and saw that my claim for the walkin clinic was received. $180!! Yikes! My insurance's negotiated rate is $162, and since I am on a HDHP (High Deductible Health Plan), we are responsible for the whole amount until we get to $3200 deductible. Luckily we have our HSA, which is at $3500 so we will just pay it out of that. But it is still pukey how much it costs just to be seen for 4 min to get some cold medicine.

I don't think I mentioned it on here. But I am sick. And I have been sick for over 2 weeks now. And I am SICK OF BEING SICK! Awww! I know it's that time of year and everything is going around, but enough already! So I am home in bed today. I also missed 3 days the week before last. So I am bummed cause not only do I feel like butt, but I am burning up my 2011 PTO, and my work does not have an employee friendly attendence policy. Blah. I have some kind of bronchitis sinus infection hybrid crap. Usually I fight through things on my own, but I couldn't take it anymore so went to the dr yesterday and got some meds. Hopefully I won't be knocked on my ass forever!

We got our yearly company contribution to our HSA this week. So they put in $600 for us into the HSA. That is really helping with my HSA goal of $5000, now we are already up to $3300! YEAH!