3. If your heart is not already set on a Church where this is out of the question try to have the reception and wedding at the same place. It will save time and money because you only have to book one space. No worries about timing, limos or traffic. This works well for outdoor weddings.
4. If you would like to be married outdoors, check out your local parks. Many cities rent out the gazebos, cottages, pagodas, ect. for weddings and events for very reasonable prices. Beware of places that schedule events back to back. I have worked in buildings that did this for weddings and events and sometimes events got scheduled too close together and the wedding guests would end up getting kicked out too soon.
5. Shake your family tree and friends down for skilled people to help with the wedding. We had friends take care of our cake (we only paid for the ingredients), be our DJ, and be our officiant. Be sure to check that they really are skilled at the task they are offering though. Our friends were glad to help and looked at it as a wedding gift to us.
6. Consider making your reception a potluck. This may sound strange but for us who had been living together for 2 years, it did not make sense for us to register for more stuff. We did not need anything, so instead we asked that people come with a dish of food. We provided the plates and such and hamburgers and hot dogs. Our family and friends provided the rest. It saved us so much money in catering bills and the food was really wonderful. This is often cheaper for the gusts too.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Going to the chapel
Wedding season is here! I love weddings but it drives me crazy how expensive people can make a simple declaration to spend the rest of your life with someone. If you want a very expensive no holds bared wedding then power to you, but if you are looking for cheap wedding ideas that don't leave you wanting more then you have come to the right place. I had a wonderful wedding that cost about $2000. I had the teared cake, beautiful outdoor landscape, dancing, food, and great pictures. So here is how I did it.
1. The most important thing we did to save money was to have our wedding on a Thursday. Not having the wedding on the weekend saved us so much money. It saved on the place we rented, the photographer, and the honeymoon. For us even a Friday was considered a hot day. So Saturday, Sunday and Friday were out. Having our wedding on a weekday saved about $50 an hour on the place and about $1000 off of our photographer. Wedding photographers do not usually work weekdays so any work on those days is considered extra. They are willing to make really good deals when they have nothing better to do. Plus the photographer had no other weddings to do that day so we could pressure him to stay for the whole wedding without paying extra.
2. Keep the guest list small. Under 100 people is good, under 50 is even better. Do you really want to entertain all of those people? Here is something that I have learned from listening to so many brides, the more people you have at the wedding the more stressed out you will be and the less you will enjoy your big day. Really, I have met so many ladies that say that if they could do it over again, they would have invited less people. If there are too many people, then the bride and groom spend the whole reception, greeting people and have no time to eat or relax. So do you really need to invite your neighbors, coworkers, old friends you have not spoken to in years? Consider it carefully.
To be continued...
1. The most important thing we did to save money was to have our wedding on a Thursday. Not having the wedding on the weekend saved us so much money. It saved on the place we rented, the photographer, and the honeymoon. For us even a Friday was considered a hot day. So Saturday, Sunday and Friday were out. Having our wedding on a weekday saved about $50 an hour on the place and about $1000 off of our photographer. Wedding photographers do not usually work weekdays so any work on those days is considered extra. They are willing to make really good deals when they have nothing better to do. Plus the photographer had no other weddings to do that day so we could pressure him to stay for the whole wedding without paying extra.
2. Keep the guest list small. Under 100 people is good, under 50 is even better. Do you really want to entertain all of those people? Here is something that I have learned from listening to so many brides, the more people you have at the wedding the more stressed out you will be and the less you will enjoy your big day. Really, I have met so many ladies that say that if they could do it over again, they would have invited less people. If there are too many people, then the bride and groom spend the whole reception, greeting people and have no time to eat or relax. So do you really need to invite your neighbors, coworkers, old friends you have not spoken to in years? Consider it carefully.
To be continued...
Monday, May 11, 2009
Self Weaning
Many times I have been asked by well meaning relatives "So when are you going to wean your son?" I always reply "I am going to let him self wean". It sounds really simple right? You would think that there would be no heart ache and conflict when you let the child decide to wean on his own but sadly, for me this was not the case. My son is now a year old and he has a very good grasp of how to feed himself and how to drink from a sippy cup. I have no worries about his nutrition. I thought he would wean somewhere around 18 months or so. It came so much sooner then I would have liked.
At around 11 months he started to lose interest. Then after his first birthday I realized that he could not care less if I nursed him at all. One day I went to nurse him and he really was not interested. I told myself "Well, maybe it is phase. He will be more interested tomorrow" Wrong again. It went on like that for a week until I realized, my son did not need my milk anymore. I can not even explain how strange it is that my breasts are back to being just decorative. I am one of those people that likes to feel useful and so it was wonderful that for a while my son really needed me. Now I feel replaceable. I did not feel any of the relief that other moms had described feeling. My husband was really wonderfully supportive. He let me cry on his shoulder and told me that no one can replace me in my sons life. He made me feel much better but sometimes I still get choked up about it.
Then one day my son bumped his head on something and started crying. I picked him up like moms do and held him to chest. He put his head on my shoulder and stopped crying. Now this may seem normal for most kids but my son has never been a snuggler. He always squirms out of my arms when I go in for a kiss or a hug but this time he was snuggling me! Then I remembered how it felt to be held by my mom when I was sad. I always loved being in her arms. It was then that I really understood that a mother really can't be replaced. What a relief!
At around 11 months he started to lose interest. Then after his first birthday I realized that he could not care less if I nursed him at all. One day I went to nurse him and he really was not interested. I told myself "Well, maybe it is phase. He will be more interested tomorrow" Wrong again. It went on like that for a week until I realized, my son did not need my milk anymore. I can not even explain how strange it is that my breasts are back to being just decorative. I am one of those people that likes to feel useful and so it was wonderful that for a while my son really needed me. Now I feel replaceable. I did not feel any of the relief that other moms had described feeling. My husband was really wonderfully supportive. He let me cry on his shoulder and told me that no one can replace me in my sons life. He made me feel much better but sometimes I still get choked up about it.
Then one day my son bumped his head on something and started crying. I picked him up like moms do and held him to chest. He put his head on my shoulder and stopped crying. Now this may seem normal for most kids but my son has never been a snuggler. He always squirms out of my arms when I go in for a kiss or a hug but this time he was snuggling me! Then I remembered how it felt to be held by my mom when I was sad. I always loved being in her arms. It was then that I really understood that a mother really can't be replaced. What a relief!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Love Your OB or Midwife? Hate Them? Let Everyone know!
I came across this survey and thought it was a great idea so I will share it with everyone. As you all know, I am all about being thrifty but part of being thrifty is choosing to spend your money wisely. I find it very frustrating that I can look up the ratings of a new TV but I can't look up the ratings of a doctor or midwife. When it comes to birth, whether you have health insurance or not, you will probably have to spend some money when everything is said and done. So why can't I get a quality review? Well now you can! The Birth Survey lets you look up the ratings for doctors and midwives that other women have rated. I think this is a really great idea but it takes some effort on your behalf so that more doctors and midwifes will be rated. The survey is anonymous and takes about 30 minutes depending on your answers. Did you have a wonderful experience with your doctor or midwife and want to encourage more woman to see them? Or maybe you had an awful experience and want everyone to stay away from that person. Either way let everyone know about it! We (women) as consumers of birth care deserve to know the quality of our caregivers.
Friday, April 17, 2009
High Risk Pregnancy with No Health Insurance
So you just found out that for whatever reason, you have a high risk pregnancy and you have no health insurance. The first thing you should do is look in to getting state insurance. Even if you have already tried, please read what I have to say because you may yet find out that you qualify for something or more then they gave you. I was very blessed with my pregnancy in that I had no complications that came up. I did however discover that the path to getting health insurance from your state is a lot more complicated then the workers that “help” you to get this insurance would make it seem. After the birth of my son (at home) I had post labor hemorrhaging. My midwife took care of it but I did have to go to the hospital to get a blood test done to see if I needed a blood transfusion. It turned out that I did not but what I did get was a nice bill from the hospital for $3300 for the room I stayed in for 2 hours (I should have gotten a lot better service for that price, can you say penthouse?) and a blood test. I also got a phone call from this wonderful lady that worked with the hospital that showed me how to qualify for state insurance to pay for my bill. I live in
- After you have applied to get the state insurance and they deny you or give you a “spend down” pick up the phone and give who ever is in charge of your case a call. Ask them questions! If you were denied, ask by how much, ask if they do spend down amounts (it is like a deductible), ask if you can reapply if your income changes, ask anything that you can think of! I did not do this and paid the price. I was put on a spend down of $4500. This would be nothing for a typical hospital birth but it was a lot of money for me. If you have a high risk pregnancy you really need some insurance so ask. The workers may or may not just tell you these rules. I know the guy I worked with did not tell me anything I did not ask about.
- Once you have the insurance, it can not be taken away. My husband works a job that pays him by the hour. Some months he gets a lot, some months he gets a little, it just depends. I did not understand that if I could do without a little one month and qualify, that it would not be taken away from me the next month if he made more money. All I would have had to do is have my husband work no overtime one month and reapply. We would have been in and I would not have had to pay for anything else. So if you don’t qualify by just a bit, consider cutting your work hours a little for one month, then reapply.
- Even if you have just had the baby or are close to having the baby apply or reapply. Don’t wait. In my state you only have 60 days to apply. If you are able to get the insurance for the month of the birth, even if it is past that month, the state will cover all charges that month. It is not like commercial health insurance, it is retro active to the time the coupon is for. Most of the charges you have will have come from the birth itself.
- Even if you get a spend down reapply if there is any change in your income. Getting your spend down lowered will save you month so it is worth the trouble.
- If all else fails and you have a big bill on your table call the hospital. My hospital had a woman that was in charge of getting pregnant women and children insurance though the state. It is so great having someone like that (that knows the system) on your side. They are there to help so let them do their job.
I hope this helps someone. Hopefully someday, all of my advice will be obsolete because no one will be without health insurance of some kind but until then good luck! If anyone else has tips (maybe from other state systems) I would love it if you would share them.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Pregnant with no Health Insurance
I have to say, it is really scary being pregnant with no health insurance. I was at my first job out of college and was going to get health insurance after 90 days when I found out I was pregnant. We did try so it was not a shock but it was a shock to lose my job a month later. As most people know, you can not just go out and buy health insurance when you are pregnant. It is considered a pre-existing condition and therefore you have to wait nine months to have it covered. I don’t know about you, but being as I am human, my pregnancy did not last more then nine months. I went though my entire pregnancy without health insurance but in the end, it turned out that I could have gotten state insurance at some point. So I will go over my advice for having to go though everything with no insurance. In a few weeks I will go over how to get state insurance and how to deal with a high risk pregnancy with no health insurance.
1. Midwife, midwife, midwife – These wonderful women are a life saver for those with no health insurance If you are having a normal or even slightly abnormal pregnancy, you need to pick up the phone book, look though the internet, ask your friends, or call your local birth center and find yourself a midwife. My midwife cost me $3000 for everything. This includes all appointments, the birth and well baby check ups. The only thing it does not include is lab tests because the lab will charge their own fee for that. Depending on where you live, midwife care will run you from $2000-$5000. An OB costs much more then that and they nickel and dime you for everything. My friend got charged $10 for every stick she had to pee on to see if there was protein in her urine (which they do at every appointment). For me that was included in my midwife’s fee. You will also get much more personal care from a midwife. All of my appointments were an hour long and I never had to wait more then 5 minutes. Midwives are used to seeing patients with no health insurance so they will set up a payment plan and some give cash pay discounts if you pay by a certain date. They will normally go anywhere to help you give birth, hospitals, birth centers or your home. I should note that you want to see a midwife with her own practice, not a group of midwives or midwives under an OB.
2. Do I really need that? – You need to always be asking that question of yourself. You are going to have to do your research and find out what tests you are going to do, and what you are going to skip. Ask yourself questions like “Do I really need to get a blood test to tell me that I am pregnant?” Remember, you can refuse anything and you have to pay for every test out of your own pocket. Most of the tests midwives give are very cheap ($20-$70) and most midwives will respect your wishes to do only what is necessary. My midwife knew I had to pay for everything so we would discuss it first and then I would decide if I wanted it done. Most OBs on the other hand, do not know what anything costs and will run as many tests as they can. They do not know you have no insurance and will not remember if you tell them. To give an example, I refused the blood test they do for downs syndrome and the other two diseases, but did get the glucose test done.
3. Ultrasounds – It seems like I hear so many woman that get these done all the time. I am sorry to break it to you but unless you want to spend a lot of money, I would recommend you skip all but the 20 week ultrasound. At 20 weeks, a good tech will be able to tell if anything is wrong. Some women go without them all together and that is fine too. Your midwife will listen to the baby’s heart beat with a Doppler and will measure your belly to see how big the baby is. From what I have seen, these measurement are often more accurate then ultrasounds anyways. You don’t really need an ultrasound unless your provider thinks there is something wrong. I did pony up the $150 to see my son at 20 weeks. My husband had heart problems as a baby so we wanted to get a good look at my son’s heart to see if it was normal. It was and we found it was a boy which was great too.
4. Stay Healthy – I know that we all want our babies to be healthy but it really is important to take good care of yourself especially when you don’t have insurance. The healthier you are, the fewer tests you have to do and the less likely you will have to get special (really expensive) care for you and your child. So get out and get some exercise and try to keep the sweets to a normal amount. I know you feel like a whale but it is so worth it. My midwife said that she would start to see problems for some women that gained more then 50 lbs. I gained exactly 50 lbs and was fine.
5. Consider a home birth or birth center – I know that is seems crazy but if you are having a normal healthy pregnancy, you really should consider one of these options. You home is completely free and a birth center (if you are lucky enough to have one around) is much cheaper then going to the hospital. I had a wonderful home birth and even if I have insurance next time I have a child, I am going to plan on another one. It was so wonderful to not have to travel while I was in labor and to only have people I knew and was comfortable with coming in and out of my room. I got to labor any way I wanted to with no IV or monitors. I pushed my son out in my own time with no one rushing me or threatening me with a C-section, vacuum, or anything else. If you do your research, you will find that homebirths with a good midwife for normal women are just as safe if not safer then hospital births. After the birth of my son I started to hemorrhage, my wonderful midwife took complete care of me. She had IV’s, pitocin, and other things that stopped the bleeding and stabilized me. Midwives are prepared for the most common sorts of complications. Birth centers are great too. They are set up like hotel rooms to birth in. They do have some medial equipment if you need it but it is no in sight.
I got though my entire pregnancy paying about $3500 for everything. It came out to be $3000 for the midwife and about $500 for tests and my one ultrasound. I think that is pretty good considering that the average healthy birth (not including pregnancy care or well baby care) cost about $12000 in a hospital. I hope that this helps someone. Please feel free to ask questions if you have them. I did a lot of research when I was pregnant so I might be able to help.
1. Midwife, midwife, midwife – These wonderful women are a life saver for those with no health insurance If you are having a normal or even slightly abnormal pregnancy, you need to pick up the phone book, look though the internet, ask your friends, or call your local birth center and find yourself a midwife. My midwife cost me $3000 for everything. This includes all appointments, the birth and well baby check ups. The only thing it does not include is lab tests because the lab will charge their own fee for that. Depending on where you live, midwife care will run you from $2000-$5000. An OB costs much more then that and they nickel and dime you for everything. My friend got charged $10 for every stick she had to pee on to see if there was protein in her urine (which they do at every appointment). For me that was included in my midwife’s fee. You will also get much more personal care from a midwife. All of my appointments were an hour long and I never had to wait more then 5 minutes. Midwives are used to seeing patients with no health insurance so they will set up a payment plan and some give cash pay discounts if you pay by a certain date. They will normally go anywhere to help you give birth, hospitals, birth centers or your home. I should note that you want to see a midwife with her own practice, not a group of midwives or midwives under an OB.
2. Do I really need that? – You need to always be asking that question of yourself. You are going to have to do your research and find out what tests you are going to do, and what you are going to skip. Ask yourself questions like “Do I really need to get a blood test to tell me that I am pregnant?” Remember, you can refuse anything and you have to pay for every test out of your own pocket. Most of the tests midwives give are very cheap ($20-$70) and most midwives will respect your wishes to do only what is necessary. My midwife knew I had to pay for everything so we would discuss it first and then I would decide if I wanted it done. Most OBs on the other hand, do not know what anything costs and will run as many tests as they can. They do not know you have no insurance and will not remember if you tell them. To give an example, I refused the blood test they do for downs syndrome and the other two diseases, but did get the glucose test done.
3. Ultrasounds – It seems like I hear so many woman that get these done all the time. I am sorry to break it to you but unless you want to spend a lot of money, I would recommend you skip all but the 20 week ultrasound. At 20 weeks, a good tech will be able to tell if anything is wrong. Some women go without them all together and that is fine too. Your midwife will listen to the baby’s heart beat with a Doppler and will measure your belly to see how big the baby is. From what I have seen, these measurement are often more accurate then ultrasounds anyways. You don’t really need an ultrasound unless your provider thinks there is something wrong. I did pony up the $150 to see my son at 20 weeks. My husband had heart problems as a baby so we wanted to get a good look at my son’s heart to see if it was normal. It was and we found it was a boy which was great too.
4. Stay Healthy – I know that we all want our babies to be healthy but it really is important to take good care of yourself especially when you don’t have insurance. The healthier you are, the fewer tests you have to do and the less likely you will have to get special (really expensive) care for you and your child. So get out and get some exercise and try to keep the sweets to a normal amount. I know you feel like a whale but it is so worth it. My midwife said that she would start to see problems for some women that gained more then 50 lbs. I gained exactly 50 lbs and was fine.
5. Consider a home birth or birth center – I know that is seems crazy but if you are having a normal healthy pregnancy, you really should consider one of these options. You home is completely free and a birth center (if you are lucky enough to have one around) is much cheaper then going to the hospital. I had a wonderful home birth and even if I have insurance next time I have a child, I am going to plan on another one. It was so wonderful to not have to travel while I was in labor and to only have people I knew and was comfortable with coming in and out of my room. I got to labor any way I wanted to with no IV or monitors. I pushed my son out in my own time with no one rushing me or threatening me with a C-section, vacuum, or anything else. If you do your research, you will find that homebirths with a good midwife for normal women are just as safe if not safer then hospital births. After the birth of my son I started to hemorrhage, my wonderful midwife took complete care of me. She had IV’s, pitocin, and other things that stopped the bleeding and stabilized me. Midwives are prepared for the most common sorts of complications. Birth centers are great too. They are set up like hotel rooms to birth in. They do have some medial equipment if you need it but it is no in sight.
I got though my entire pregnancy paying about $3500 for everything. It came out to be $3000 for the midwife and about $500 for tests and my one ultrasound. I think that is pretty good considering that the average healthy birth (not including pregnancy care or well baby care) cost about $12000 in a hospital. I hope that this helps someone. Please feel free to ask questions if you have them. I did a lot of research when I was pregnant so I might be able to help.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
No Health Insurance
First of all, having no health insurance sucks. My family has been in this situation many times. It seems like every time my husband gets hurt, we are between insurances. I even went though my whole pregnancy with no insurance of any kind. So it is safe to say that I have become well versed in dealing with this sad situation (that really no one should have to go though in a civilized country but I will not go in to that). I will present some ideas for dealing with this situation. Today’s entry will deal with general no insurance and the next entry will deal with having no insurance though a pregnancy.
1. When you get to the hospital, tell everyone you see that you have no insurance until you can speak to someone who can help you. Unless of course you are physically unable to do this, then have a loved one do it for you. Do not leave without speaking to someone that deals with people with no insurance. They are sort of like hospital social workers and their job is to help the hospital get paid. They know the fastest way to do this is not though you. These people will hook you up with the right forms and phone numbers to help you get financial aid (yes they have this for hospitals) to help you pay your bills. Depending on your income and how many other uninsured people the hospital treats that month, you can get your bill reduced or even eliminated all together.
2. If you are home from the hospital and are looking in shock at the huge bill they have sent you, pick up the phone and call the billing people. Tell them you have no insurance and they will connect you to the people you need to speak to.
3. If you have all ready been denied financial aid or your bill is not from a hospital, ask for the cash pay discount. All hospitals, doctors, and ambulances have a cash pay discount of anywhere from 10-40% if the bill is paid within 30 days. I found out that putting a big hospital bill on my credit card with 10% interest was worth getting 40% off my bill.
4. If you have lost or quit a job within 2 months that offered you COBRA after you left but you did not take it because it cost too much, get out that paper work. We all know that for the most part, COBRA is joke because most people can not afford it. Well a little known fact is that if you get hurt within the first 2 months of the job loss, you can get coverage by paying the back months premiums. Whatever they would have covered when you had the job, they will cover now. When my husband got hurt and had to be in the hospital for three days ($12,000!) the hospital paid for the first months premium for us. Then we just had to pay the current month. For us, $360 was much cheaper then paying the whole bill. You can stop paying the premium whenever you are done getting the care you need. Then on top of all that, the hospital forgave the deductible we owed. I do not know if this is unique to my state of Washington or if it is everywhere.
5. Think positive. Pray if you are the praying type. I know people think that is silly but let me tell you it is worth a try. First of all, you are already in some kind of physical distress so you don’t need to go stressing yourself out, and second of all it is free so give it a try. It has worked for me many times. We have no outstanding dept from any of the many times we have needed medical care and had no insurance.
Anyone else have to go though a medical situation without insurance? What are your tips?
1. When you get to the hospital, tell everyone you see that you have no insurance until you can speak to someone who can help you. Unless of course you are physically unable to do this, then have a loved one do it for you. Do not leave without speaking to someone that deals with people with no insurance. They are sort of like hospital social workers and their job is to help the hospital get paid. They know the fastest way to do this is not though you. These people will hook you up with the right forms and phone numbers to help you get financial aid (yes they have this for hospitals) to help you pay your bills. Depending on your income and how many other uninsured people the hospital treats that month, you can get your bill reduced or even eliminated all together.
2. If you are home from the hospital and are looking in shock at the huge bill they have sent you, pick up the phone and call the billing people. Tell them you have no insurance and they will connect you to the people you need to speak to.
3. If you have all ready been denied financial aid or your bill is not from a hospital, ask for the cash pay discount. All hospitals, doctors, and ambulances have a cash pay discount of anywhere from 10-40% if the bill is paid within 30 days. I found out that putting a big hospital bill on my credit card with 10% interest was worth getting 40% off my bill.
4. If you have lost or quit a job within 2 months that offered you COBRA after you left but you did not take it because it cost too much, get out that paper work. We all know that for the most part, COBRA is joke because most people can not afford it. Well a little known fact is that if you get hurt within the first 2 months of the job loss, you can get coverage by paying the back months premiums. Whatever they would have covered when you had the job, they will cover now. When my husband got hurt and had to be in the hospital for three days ($12,000!) the hospital paid for the first months premium for us. Then we just had to pay the current month. For us, $360 was much cheaper then paying the whole bill. You can stop paying the premium whenever you are done getting the care you need. Then on top of all that, the hospital forgave the deductible we owed. I do not know if this is unique to my state of Washington or if it is everywhere.
5. Think positive. Pray if you are the praying type. I know people think that is silly but let me tell you it is worth a try. First of all, you are already in some kind of physical distress so you don’t need to go stressing yourself out, and second of all it is free so give it a try. It has worked for me many times. We have no outstanding dept from any of the many times we have needed medical care and had no insurance.
Anyone else have to go though a medical situation without insurance? What are your tips?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
