Cats And Coupons

As I’ve mentioned previously, the homeless pet situation is a big problem. I was having a discussion recently with TJ, my twelve year old, and mentioned to him that the nearby shelter had just expanded so it could hold all of the animals it was receiving. The number of shelter animals is on the rise. Before you go get yourself an expensive purebred, consider checking the nearby shelters. The animals there are in desperate need of a home and you’re one of the many mortgage lenders out there. Think of the upside too. Shelter animals are grateful, because they’re happy to have been chosen and they know what it’s like to be homeless or to live in a cage. You’ll spend less money adopting an animal from a shelter rather than buying from a breeder. You might not have to housetrain a shelter animal if they’re older. And guess what, Even purebreds end up in shelters and need homes too, so you might find exactly what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for an animal, think shelter. And spread the word.

For anyone becoming eligible for Medicare, you’ll be faced with some decisions. One of the first things you’ll need to do is decide what coverage you want. Options include straight Medicare, hmos and medicare advantage plans. When evaluating options be sure to read the details, benefits, copayments and coinsurance information very carefully before choosing. Choose what fits your personal situation the best. If you’re not sure what to choose, ask someone for help. Choosing the wrong plan could end up costing you more money than you realize.

If you’re a regular reader you may have noticed that I’ve added a banner that will appear at the top of every page. The banner is for The Animal Rescue Site.

The Animal Rescue site provides people surfing the web with a free way to help provide food for shelter animals. One click of a button on the website helps provide food and care for the animals. Wondering how that happens? The funding comes from the site sponsors. And, all of the sponsor advertising fees from the website helps the animals as well.  The funding goes to partner programs including the The Fund for Animals, Petfinder Foundation, North Shore Animal League, and other worthy animal rescue programs supported by GreaterGood.org.

I’ve placed the banner up there in the hopes that anyone visiting this site will take a moment and click to help the animals. It’s unbelievable how many animals there are in shelters. You can help these animals in many ways and clicking a button is probably the easiest one of all. People are encouraged to click once a day, every day. If you love animals and want to help them, get clicking!

If you have medical insurance there’s a good chance you have to pay a coinsurance for  diagnostic imaging like xrays, cat scans and mri’s. Sometimes a copay and a coinsurance are required.
When it comes to keeping out of pocket expenses down, many people know the two big rules regarding diagnostic imaging.
1. Before you have your test, be sure to check if you need a precertification.
2. When scheduling be sure you’re going to an in network provider.
But here’s one people may not have thought about. Check with your insurance carrier if you can use a physician who performs and reads his own tests. Here’s an example. I have a 20% coinsurance on all diagnostic imaging and a $30 copay on all visits to a physician’s office. By going to an orthopedist who does his own xrays or cat scans I now only pay $30 and 20% coinsurance. Had I gone to an orthopedist who didn’t I’d pay a $30 copay to him, a 20% coinsurance to the facility where I had the test done and another 20% coinsurance to the radiologist who read the test. Depending on who’s on your insurance policy and the amount of tests you have done this could really save some money. To protect yourself from unpleasant surprises, be sure you know your benefits before having any procedure or test done no matter what insurance you have.

There’s a good time and a bad time to buy many items. Any item that can’t be used regularly year round should be bought in it’s off season. For example, buy snow skiing equipment at the end of winter. Buy patio furniture after the beginning of fall. This works for clothing too, if you’re willing to buy several seasons ahead. Shop clothing clearance racks for clothes for your children for next year. It’s all in the timing. I truly believe that you don’t have to pay full price for most things.

This one’s easy. Be careful before doing business with a friend. I was friends with someone until recently. Ellie was the type of woman that had different money making ideas and was frequently checking out one small business opportunity or another. I think mainly she was only interested in the idea of getting rich or famous. In the past, when I haven’t been swamped, I’ve done a couple of simple html websites for her and charged her a couple of bucks to cover the domain and hosting. When Ellie told me about her latest idea she said she wanted to get this big expensive website set up by this company and it would cost her several thousand dollars. I told her I was a bit concerned about her laying out money she didn’t have without knowing how successful her venture would be. I suggested she let me set up a simpler, smaller scale site for a fraction of the cost. I’d invested over twenty hours into that site when I told her we were almost finished. She told me she didn’t want to pay the amount I’d asked and that I should delete the site. Needless to say we’re no longer speaking. I wish I’d never done business with a friend.

It’s May. Nice weather has arrived. Summer approaches rapidly. I know of a lot of people that have been wondering where their tax refund is, and when they’re getting their economic stimulus rebate. If you’re also one of the people wondering, you can find the answer online. To check on the status of your federal tax refund, just click on the link on the IRS website (www.irs.gov) that says Where’s My Refund? You’ll be asked for the social security number, filing status and exact refund amount. After you enter those you should be given the status of your refund. There’s a page on the IRS site detailing dates that stimulus payments are being issued. Click on the link that says When Will You Get Your Stimulus Payment to get the latest mailing and electronic deposit dates.

My middle youngest brother mentioned to me recently that he bought some fitness equipment, one of those all in one gyms they show on television. I must start by saying he isn’t out of shape, he’s underweight and you can see his ribs, so I don’t know what he was thinking when he got it. But I got to thinking that the shipping on those things must cost a small fortune. Why would you not find a comparable machine locally? I can’t see myself in a situation where I’d have something huge and heavy shipped. I always consider shipping costs when buying something over the internet. And, for all major purchases I almost always buy in person. Are there certain items you wouldn’t have shipped?

A lot 0f people got an early surprise yesterday. The government has decided to release the US economic stimulus rebate payments a little early. Yesterday, today and tomorrow 800,000 payments will be direct deposited. 5,000,000 more payments will be direct deposited on Friday. Paper checks will also be getting released early. The first batch of checks will be mailed on May 9, which is a week early. The order of delivery has not changed since the original announcement, order will still be determined by the last two digits of Social Security numbers.

If you’ve ever had to buy any home medical equipment you know how expensive it can be. Often people find themselves trying to help family or friends get the equipment that they need if an unexpected medical situation arises. Before buying items such as walkers, shower stools, benches, beds and wheelchairs, ask around. You never know what someone else might have that they no longer have a use for. I was inspired to write this after witnessing two women at my work having a casual conversation. One woman mentioned her elderly Mom was very sick and that she had to go out looking for equipment. The other woman said “Wow, I have that, that and that from someone in my family, do you want it?”. And just like that, part of a problem was solved and some money was saved.