Debt Dumpers - 2019

[Jaime4004]

You can always call them and say you need to work out a payment plan. Most hospitals expect this and are happy to work with you. A couple times they just asked me how much I could pay each month and that was that, they noted it and everything was fine as long as I paid what I was supposed to by the date each month we'd agreed on.

Same here, the last time I had to pay a large medical bill, they just asked how much I could pay monthly, and set it up based on that until it was paid.

 

[jen7233]

March is turning out expensive after all. Buying clothes and shoes for two kids that need a ton of things because I haven't bought in a while. This should get through to next spring I hope for the short sleeve and shorts anyway. Plus they needed some cleats and things for sports. Anyway, way over budget as I had to get more than just shirts and shorts, but also running shoes, swimsuits, pajamas, socks, underwear, and light jackets, and I'm done and don't want to look in a kids clothing department until late fall or look online either. I still need to get some athletic slides for me, and would like some flip flops that can be worn around the parks, if I can find anything that works and doesn't hurt. I give up on trying to find a bathing suit!

 

[MamaBelleRN]

medical expenses are insane which is why it's so vital if given a choice between insurance plans to weigh out the monthly/yearly (deductibles/max oop costs) potential costs of higher vs. lower premium plans.

dh and i were never so glad to have always opted to pay for higher monthly cost/lower oop cost coverage than when our dd broke her arm about 15 years ago. it was a minor break but it uncovered an issue that necessitated orthopedic surgery. we had an hmo so all we ever paid were $10 copays for each appointment and $25 for the hospital overnight stay (for surgery). it was months of appointments and while i have no idea how much it all came to, the hospital hiccuped on the billing and sent it to us-the negotiated lower amount that the insurance company was paying out was over $60,000 if we had opted for the lower monthly cost plan our then employer's offered we would have been on the hook for a large deductible, 20% of all those doctor's appointments, mris, tests.... and $12,000 for the hospital-the equivalent to years and years and years of the higher cost of our insurance. at the same time a friend's child had a serious medical diagnosis. the friend always thought people like us who paid for the higher coverage plans were 'suckers' and he could do better 'banking the difference' (of course it never happened that the difference got banked)-in the first 3 months his kid's expenses were in the hundreds of thousands BEFORE he rolled into a new deductible year. within 6 months they were looking at over $50,000 just as THEIR share of the costs my dd went on to need a second surgery-again low cost to us while his little guy needed several years of treatments to the point of financial destitution of their family.

I couldn’t agree more though I’m sad for your friend. Even when I was young and single, I always opted for the low oop plan. You never know what’s down the road, even if you’re healthy. When ds18 had his wisdom teeth pulled last June, it totaled thousands of $$ including anesthesia. We only paid $35 copay for the initial consult.
What stinks is when people don’t have much choice and the only plan offered is a high-deductible type.

Ironically, it was the ‘better’ PPO plan that caused us issue with medical debt. Although it was pretty standard 80/20 coverage, we had a few years of some medical challenges that resulted in us hitting our OOP max of $10k three years in a row. I actually love our high deductible plan. After $5k (of which they cover $1k) we’re covered at 100%. We just divide the $4k we’re ultimately responsible for across the 26 paychecks and it’s been painless paying medical bills since our switch over to a HDHP. Once we have that darn van paid off, we’ll go back to the federal max (which I think is $7k now?) so we can use our HSA to help cover braces x5 and as another retirement vehicle (we can invest part of our HSA into Vanguard funds).

 

[barkley]

You can always call them and say you need to work out a payment plan. Most hospitals expect this and are happy to work with you. A couple times they just asked me how much I could pay each month and that was that, they noted it and everything was fine as long as I paid what I was supposed to by the date each month we'd agreed on.

Same here, the last time I had to pay a large medical bill, they just asked how much I could pay monthly, and set it up based on that until it was paid.

my experience with this (personally w/ traditional employee/employer insurance, dealing as p.o.a. for an elder family member, and professionally dealing w/ public assistance clients) is that when you allow the medical provider to determine the ultimate cost based on what you say you can pay-even if you are eligible to a lower cost option it's not so much as offered to you. when i've negotiated payments for myself, family or clients-i ask what is the lowest amount they will accept to be paid-THEN, what terms can this be paid on.

Ironically, it was the ‘better’ PPO plan that caused us issue with medical debt. Although it was pretty standard 80/20 coverage, we had a few years of some medical challenges that resulted in us hitting our OOP max of $10k three years in a row. I actually love our high deductible plan. After $5k (of which they cover $1k) we’re covered at 100%.

if it works for you that's great but i look at those numbers and think-

$10K x 3 years in a row= $30,000 minimum-

even at what i perceive as obscenely higher premium costs of $500 per month for our household to have a low deductible/oop plan still would take us 5 years in premiums (absent any oop medical events) to have incurred similar expenses.

 

[MamaBelleRN]

my experience with this (personally w/ traditional employee/employer insurance, dealing as p.o.a. for an elder family member, and professionally dealing w/ public assistance clients) is that when you allow the medical provider to determine the ultimate cost based on what you say you can pay-even if you are eligible to a lower cost option it's not so much as offered to you. when i've negotiated payments for myself, family or clients-i ask what is the lowest amount they will accept to be paid-THEN, what terms can this be paid on.




if it works for you that's great but i look at those numbers and think-

$10K x 3 years in a row= $30,000 minimum-

even at what i perceive as obscenely higher premium costs of $500 per month for our household to have a low deductible/oop plan still would take us 5 years in premiums (absent any oop medical events) to have incurred similar expenses.

That $30k we spent was WITH the ‘low deductible’ plan and higher premiums. Low in the sense that each person had a deductible of $1k. BUT we had several hospital stays and surgeries over the course of those years so our 20% after deductible added up QUICKLY. We thought it was worth it to pay the higher premiums, but never imagined we would keep hitting the OOP max.

Now with a HDHP we will pay $4k at the most. That we can easily cover where the $10k was pretty much impossible for our income at that time.

 

[StacyStrong]

I went through SO MUCH money this weekend. However, it was my boyfriend's 30th birthday so I put together a little get together for him and about 20ish people. That was expensive. I also ended up shopping for more workout clothes and summer/spring outfits. Granted, that could have waited, but it's all the same money anyway. I just won't do it later as well.

I also flexed my time at work today to head to the doctor. I had bronchitis late last year/early this year and my ear has been hurting since. My temple/cheekbones have also been tender to the touch so I wanted to make sure I didn't have an ear infection before my trip in April. Turns out I've been grinding my teeth which is causing the ear pain/facial tenderness. So THAT'S annoying, but at least I'm not sick.

Oh, I also spent money on MNSSHP tickets for October. I think about how much money I've been spending lately and it kind of makes me sick lol. But, at the same time, I'm paying down debt and adding to my savings, so I guess I'm okay. I do need to chill out though.....I can't seem to stop!!!

 

[Jaime4004]

my experience with this (personally w/ traditional employee/employer insurance, dealing as p.o.a. for an elder family member, and professionally dealing w/ public assistance clients) is that when you allow the medical provider to determine the ultimate cost based on what you say you can pay-even if you are eligible to a lower cost option it's not so much as offered to you. when i've negotiated payments for myself, family or clients-i ask what is the lowest amount they will accept to be paid-THEN, what terms can this be paid on.
.

I'm sure this is true. It was a while ago. At the time I was just happy that I didn't owe it in one lump sum. I'd probably do what you suggested if it happened again.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

So after we ate with abandon at WDW, we came home on Sunday and joined Weight Watchers. We both have about 30 lbs. to loose. DH and I are both serious about loosing the weight and so he said that he would join with me, for which I am so thankful. It is much easier to stick to the plan when you have family support. DH has jumped fully on board and has been tracking his points. We went grocery shopping on Sunday and he had his phone out scanning everything the whole time.

We are now on day 5 and I have been doing well. Keeping within my points range and not feeling hungry. DH has complained a bit that when he packs a salad with chicken for lunch it isn't enough and it leaves him hungry, so I told him that he needs to pack himself extra zero or low points items for snacks, like a piece of fruit. I think it will be a bit of an adjustment for him, but I am confident that he will stick with it and figure out what works. If not for his own sake, then for mine and DD. He talks about how he wants to have a long life to spend with DD. Not that he is obese or anything, but he will definitely benefit from loosing weight.

 

[Eureka]

So after we ate with abandon at WDW, we came home on Sunday and joined Weight Watchers. We both have about 30 lbs. to loose. DH and I are both serious about loosing the weight and so he said that he would join with me, for which I am so thankful. It is much easier to stick to the plan when you have family support. DH has jumped fully on board and has been tracking his points. We went grocery shopping on Sunday and he had his phone out scanning everything the whole time.

We are now on day 5 and I have been doing well. Keeping within my points range and not feeling hungry. DH has complained a bit that when he packs a salad with chicken for lunch it isn't enough and it leaves him hungry, so I told him that he needs to pack himself extra zero or low points items for snacks, like a piece of fruit. I think it will be a bit of an adjustment for him, but I am confident that he will stick with it and figure out what works. If not for his own sake, then for mine and DD. He talks about how he wants to have a long life to spend with DD. Not that he is obese or anything, but he will definitely benefit from loosing weight.

Good luck! One of my go-to snacks when I was on it was an individual size bag of Popchips (like the ones that come in a large box at a warehouse club) for 3 points.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Our tax returns are finally showing up as received on the status checker!! Only took 26 days Would be nice to get our refunds before the end of the month, but not sure that'll happen.

 

[dayvewc]

I found money!!!! Was cleaning out my travel travel wallet and found a couple of Disney Gift Cards. Checked them, just to see, and between them they had almost $80.

Now, to figure out when and how to get to WDW to use them.

 

[pblack]

March is turning out expensive after all. Buying clothes and shoes for two kids that need a ton of things because I haven't bought in a while. This should get through to next spring I hope for the short sleeve and shorts anyway. Plus they needed some cleats and things for sports. Anyway, way over budget as I had to get more than just shirts and shorts, but also running shoes, swimsuits, pajamas, socks, underwear, and light jackets, and I'm done and don't want to look in a kids clothing department until late fall or look online either. I still need to get some athletic slides for me, and would like some flip flops that can be worn around the parks, if I can find anything that works and doesn't hurt. I give up on trying to find a bathing suit!

I have 3 pairs of these Skechers flip-flops and I love them! They are by far the most comfortable flip flops I've owned. Whenever we go to DL I either wear these flip flops or my toms, I can't wear regular shoes in the park. You can usually find them at the Skecher's outlet store also. The ones near me are almost always doing a buy one get one 1/2 off sale.

https://www.skechers.com/en-us/style/16155/skechers-on-the-go-600-shine/bkw

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Question for you DVC members. I posted on the DVC forum, but no one is really responding to my question.

We booked 6 nights at Poly in Oct. at the 11 month mark. We were hoping to switch our reservation to GF, but when the 7 month mark hit on Tues., there were only 2 nights available. We still need to book a 7th night by purchasing one time use points, but there is no availability for that night at Poly or GF. I was told that without points available, that I won't be able to get a waitlist request. If I book a night at another resort by purchasing one time use points and then cancel, do those one time use points go into my pool of available points for this year or do I loose them? I want to make sure that if I make a waitlist request for the single missing night that I will still be able to get it.

ETA: I think I have figured out what to do. I am going to book another reservation for the number of points that I need and then cancel it so the points are available for the waitlist request to be processed. But when I called, they said they are having trouble processing OTU points right now. UGH!

 

[dayvewc]

Question for you DVC members. I posted on the DVC forum, but no one is really responding to my question.

We booked 6 nights at Poly in Oct. at the 11 month mark. We were hoping to switch our reservation to GF, but when the 7 month mark hit on Tues., there were only 2 nights available. We still need to book a 7th night by purchasing one time use points, but there is no availability for that night at Poly or GF. I was told that without points available, that I won't be able to get a waitlist request. If I book a night at another resort by purchasing one time use points and then cancel, do those one time use points go into my pool of available points for this year or do I loose them? I want to make sure that if I make a waitlist request for the single missing night that I will still be able to get it.

ETA: I think I have figured out what to do. I am going to book another reservation for the number of points that I need and then cancel it so the points are available for the waitlist request to be processed. But when I called, they said they are having trouble processing OTU points right now. UGH!

My understanding is that once you purchase the one-time use points, they are just like your regular allotted points. If you cancel, they go back into your pool of points for the remainder of that use year.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

My understanding is that once you purchase the one-time use points, they are just like your regular allotted points. If you cancel, they go back into your pool of points for the remainder of that use year.

Yes, this is what my research confirmed. Use year is Sept, so we should be fine to get the one time use points and hope for our waitlist request to go through since the points wouldn't expire before our trip.

 

[jen7233]

So after we ate with abandon at WDW, we came home on Sunday and joined Weight Watchers. We both have about 30 lbs. to loose. DH and I are both serious about loosing the weight and so he said that he would join with me, for which I am so thankful. It is much easier to stick to the plan when you have family support. DH has jumped fully on board and has been tracking his points. We went grocery shopping on Sunday and he had his phone out scanning everything the whole time.

We are now on day 5 and I have been doing well. Keeping within my points range and not feeling hungry. DH has complained a bit that when he packs a salad with chicken for lunch it isn't enough and it leaves him hungry, so I told him that he needs to pack himself extra zero or low points items for snacks, like a piece of fruit. I think it will be a bit of an adjustment for him, but I am confident that he will stick with it and figure out what works. If not for his own sake, then for mine and DD. He talks about how he wants to have a long life to spend with DD. Not that he is obese or anything, but he will definitely benefit from loosing weight.

That's great! Good to have someone go through with you.

I have 3 pairs of these Skechers flip-flops and I love them! They are by far the most comfortable flip flops I've owned. Whenever we go to DL I either wear these flip flops or my toms, I can't wear regular shoes in the park. You can usually find them at the Skecher's outlet store also. The ones near me are almost always doing a buy one get one 1/2 off sale.

I will probably try these out. How are they if they get wet? I have some Skechers GoWalk that are my alternate walking shoe, and some slip on ones I've had no trouble with. Normally I can't do flip flops constantly especially for long walking like in parks, the Sanuk ones were fine I used those once, but awful if they get wet it's like walking on a sponge so those aren't my idea of a good idea for the parks. Maybe April will be okay and maybe, just maybe, no afternoon thunderstorms to be stuck in.

 

[pblack]

That's great! Good to have someone go through with you.

I will probably try these out. How are they if they get wet? I have some Skechers GoWalk that are my alternate walking shoe, and some slip on ones I've had no trouble with. Normally I can't do flip flops constantly especially for long walking like in parks, the Sanuk ones were fine I used those once, but awful if they get wet it's like walking on a sponge so those aren't my idea of a good idea for the parks. Maybe April will be okay and maybe, just maybe, no afternoon thunderstorms to be stuck in.

I don't have any issues with them when they are wet, they get a little slippery, but it's not too bad. I wore them on our last trip to DL a few weeks ago and it rained on us pretty much the entire day. You could always bring a small towel with you to wipe them off after a thunderstorm. These definitely don't feel like walking on a sponge to me though.

 

[DLgal]

This hasn't been a great month so far. Feels like we are just spending, spending, spending. Admittedly, some of it is travel related. We booked our Vegas hotel and had to pay a pretty hefty one night deposit since our arrival day is a Saturday and that day has the highest nightly rate. Luckily that means when we actually get there, the remainder due is less than that one night deposit, so that's good.

Our deductibles are coming due from all our doctor visits from earlier in the year. Had to pay my son's therapist a lump sum $360, another $150 for me and $100 for my other son. I bought my WDW trip ticket so we could make our 60 day FP+, so that was another $240. Plus, my husband got his first tattoo (something I told him he could do this month, but before all the other spending was accounted for). That was $530 total. Plus, we have been going to Disneyland a lot (that's an easy $100 in food/drinks each time). My sons 13th birthday is Sunday and we bought him presents (nothing big)and booked Goofys Kitchen for breakfast at his request.

Then, today I finally bought an air purifier for my kids room. We were advised to do so last year by my sons allergist, and I finally bit the bullet and got a Dyson tower one. At least I chose the color that was $50 cheaper and I opened a Best Buy account (apparently they closed DHs account due to non use) for the 12 months interest free payments. It will be $45/month for 12 months. My son really needs this thing. He has been sneezing like crazy the past few days since our pollen counts have been high and has been waking up all congested and runny nosed. I have been putting it off long enough and figured might as well continue the spending spree!

However, I still have $2k allocated towards savings for next month. I have one credit card that is offering a special low interest rate until May 31 (7.9%) so I will pay as much of that card as I can and roll the remainder into next month. My part time job starts 4/15, so I will be able to pay off the remainder with my first check in May.

My boys are apparently also going through their puberty growth spurts (FINALLY...my oldest will be 15 in a few months). I fear that, very soon, none of their shirts or shoes will fit and they will need all new stuff. Hoping we have a few more months to get through school, at least.

 

[Ngwira]

Our state refund of almost $1,000 will deposit on Tuesday and I have the extra paycheck coming in tomorrow so the March budget is looking plush! I have a $1250 summer camp payment to make on Monday so thankful for the extra money. Congrats to those who have joined WW. I'm down 19 pounds so far with no desire to stop.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Our state refund of almost $1,000 will deposit on Tuesday and I have the extra paycheck coming in tomorrow so the March budget is looking plush! I have a $1250 summer camp payment to make on Monday so thankful for the extra money. Congrats to those who have joined WW. I'm down 19 pounds so far with no desire to stop.