Welcome to my 52 Ways to Save $100 a Month series. We’re serious about saving money in 2016. Sometimes it’s the little things and sometimes it’s the big things. I’m here to walk you through some little things that can add up to BIG savings. 52 little things to be exact. Every week, join me back here for another small money saving tip or idea that might not seem like significant savings until you see the overall yearly savings. It might just blow your mind. So pop in each Tuesday and read a new tip that will help you on your way to save $100 a month!
A virtually unavoidable expense is probably affecting your budget: medical expenses. The cost of medication, insurance co-pays, office visits, transportation to the doctor, hospital stays, surgeries, nutrition and the list goes on, can easily gobble up your entire paycheck. But there is hope! While you probably can’t avoid paying for one or all of those things in your lifetime, at least you can try to find ways to cut those costs. Here’s how:
- Pay Cash – If you are willing or able to pay cash upfront for medical services, you can normally negotiate the price down. Offer to pay immediately in exchange for a discount. But it’s hard to know what price is actually fair. How much should that procedure cost? How much is too much to pay? There’s a site called HealthCareBlueBook that can help with that. Just type a procedure in and you’ll get an estimate of what that procedure should cost. It doesn’t list specific provider’s prices, but gives a good idea of what that service should cost you.
- Just Ask – Even if you aren’t able to pay cash upfront, if you’re left with a mound of medical bills and you can’t seem to crawl your way out, think about asking for a discount after the fact. If you talk to the billing department directly, they might not be willing to offer a discount {fingers crossed they can!}, but they might be able to put you on a payment plan to help you avoid racking up debt on a credit card.
- Enlist Help – If you are struggling to get anywhere by simply asking, don’t get discouraged. Call in an expert. If the hospital or doctor won’t give you a break and your medical bills are out of control, enlist the help of a nonprofit or professional advocate that can help bargain for you. There’s a company called Medical Billing Advocates of America that can help negotiate your medical bills down on your behalf. While they do provide free one-on-one coaching, they typically keep a percentage of the reduction they negotiate for you. Regardless, they could still have you big time!
- Save on Meds – Check out this helpful post on How to Save on Prescription Drugs and then read on for another tip: A prescription you have to take should cost the same at any local pharmacy, right? Wrong. Each pharmacy can price their meds differently. Knowing those prices and where to find the cheapest price on your prescriptions could save you hundreds. There’s a website called GoodRX that allows you to compare what local pharmacies charge for a particular medication. It is easy to use and with just a few key strokes, could save you a bundle.
- Go Outpatient – There are times when it is necessary for your health and your safety, to have a procedure performed in a hospital where you can have round the clock monitoring. But that is not always the case. There a hundreds of procedures performed in a hospital with an overnight stay, that could be done at an outpatient surgery center. Ask your surgeon if this is an option, and if it is, you’ve just saved yourself thousands!
- Stay Healthy – This one seems like a crazy idea to so many, but it shouldn’t! Thousands of dollars could be saved just by taking better care of your body. Eat right, exercise, take a multivitamin and get routine medical checkups. Kick those bad nicotine or junk food habits, and your body will thank you. So will your wallet. It is estimated that preventative care such as this has the potential to save billions each year in our country!
How Much Can You Save: Potentially thousands. One patient who opted for an outpatient surgery center instead of a hospital when he had knee surgery saved more than $5,000 just by knowing to ask his surgeon if he could have it done at an outpatient center.
More Ways to Save:
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clean Out Your Closet {Week 1 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Break Up with Cable {Week 2 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Barter Better {Week 3 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Change Your Own Oil {Week 4 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Adjust Your Thermostat {Week 5 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Take Advantage of Your Perks {Week 6 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Pack Your Lunch {Week 7 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Make It Yourself {Week 8 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Preserve Your Bounty {Week 9 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Keep the Change {Week 10 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | The Art of Borrowing {Week 11 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Ditch the Gym {Week 12 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Clip a Coupon {Week 13 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Start Your Garden From Seed {Week 14 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Learn to Cut Hair {Week 15 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Become a 1 Car Family {Week 16 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Make a Phone Call {Week 17 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Shop Christmas in July {Week 18 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Grow a Garden {Week 19 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Just Say No {Week 20 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Go Generic {Week 21 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Make a Budget {Week 22 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Use the Library {Week 23 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Kick the Soda Habit {Week 24 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Improve Your Credit Score {Week 25 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Shop Online {Week 26 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Save on Lodging {Week 27 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Play for Free {Week 28 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Save Big on Birthday Parties {Week 29 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Back to School Clothes on the Cheap {Week 30 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Inexpensively Entertaining {Week 31 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Buy Used College Textbooks {Week 32 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Buy Used {Week 33 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Buy In Bulk {Week 34 of 52}
52 Ways to Save $100 a Month | Skip a Meal {Week 35 of 52}
leslie says
In case y’all aren’t familiar with it, legitscript.com is a great source for identifying illegal online pharmacies. I interviewed with them. Love the company and what they do.
Dana says
The one caveat I would give for outpatient surgicenters is that is there is an issue, hospitals settle more quickly. My husband had to deal with this. The hospital was cutting checked to everyone who had been impacted by his surgeon (who is now wanted by the FBI and has left the country), but the outpatient clinic fought us for months and the payout was substantially less, for surgeries that left my husband permanently disabled with a young family.
Cathy says
Hooray for the “Just Ask” method! I recently had to visit an oral surgeon for what we thought was a dental emergency. Turned out that everything was OK, but the visit (and 10 minute exam) warranted a bill for almost $200! When I called and asked his secretary for a discount, she put me on hold, consulted with the Doctor (it’s a small practice), and came back on the line to tell me if I paid now via credit card, they’d take $100 off the bill.
We pay our credit card in full every month, so that was a no brainer 🙂
Lindy says
A tip I read and remembered when I didn’t have a dental plan…good brushing, flossing and gargling with even the most expensive toothpaste and mouthwash will always cost you less in one year than a singel tooth cleaning (here in Canada anyway). When there was a need for dental care to fix a cracked tooth I told the dentist that I wasn’t on a plan and could he give me a reduction if I paid cash. He agreed and I did. Now that I do have a plan I still brush floss and gargle 2-3 times a day as a preventative because dental care in your fifties,even with a plan, can be pricey when they start talking about gums and root canals etc etc. Anything I can do to delay those dental experiences is worth it.
Emily says
Ask your employer if you can set aside pretax dollars for healthcare. Mine does this. It takes a little planning but allows your money to go farther for healthcare expenses.
Evelyn says
Oh my goodness, I’m feeling SO SO LUCKY right now that I live in Germany, a country with mandatory health insurance for almost everybody. Right now it’s 14,6% of your income, and if you’re employed, your employer has to pay half of it. The insurance is part of our social security system (and it was invented in 1883, so it also happens to be the oldest such health insurance system in the world). Almost everything is covered by it: doctor’s visits (also preventive ones), hospital stays, including surgery, dental care, birth, (and children are covered for free), psychotherapy, some physiotherapy, some aids (like crutches, etc.), some prescription medicine, and only a minimal co-pay (around 10€ for a prescription drug, one day of hospital stay, or one physio session).
Thank God… 🙂