As I was going over my recent medical bills and lining them up with the insurance claims, I kept coming back to the fact that the insurance company hadn't paid like it should on the nerve conduction study that I had before surgery. So, this morning I gave the doctor's office a call and they immediately fixed it, saving me $261.84 on the spot. If I hadn't inquired, I would have been out some serious (to me) money, so it really pays to carefully study your medical bills.
Miss KnowItAll came across an article in the paper about coupon use, and after reading it, I was not surprised. It seems that in 2012 coupon use was down 17% and the article stated that with an uneven economic recovery, shoppers have noticed the lack of good coupons. Well, yeah.
Basically, that means that even though the stock market is out of site, only the 1%ers are feeling the love. One of the big reasons that stocks are up is because corporations are cutting their work force hard, thereby saving big money on payroll, so their investors reap the rewards of us not having jobs. I know this doesn't sound very nice but it is reality, and it isn't very nice.
Since the manufacturers and corporations are doing so well, they put the brakes on the coupons. They were only trying to protect their market share by giving out generous coupons during the worst of the recession. You didn't really think that they cared about your budget, did you?? Now most of the coupons are stingy and you need to buy several items to use them. What good is a $1 coupon when you have to buy three bottles of $12 detergent??
That being said, I still check out the coupons and use the few good ones. Most coupons are for processed food and I avoid them, preferring to spend my food budget on "real" food instead. I have really cut my food budget by shopping the sales and Costco, and I eat most of my meals at home. I depend on Chimacum Corners for produce in the off-season and my garden in the summer. Right now all I have in the garden is chard but it is really tasty and easy to change up in recipes.
Miss MoneyPenny knows that all this takes time and she tries to help with her tips and ideas. When I had a job, I never had enough time to actually sit down and figure this all out. Half the time I had to go out to lunch because I hadn't prepared anything at home and that was a huge expense. So I get it, but stick with me, kids, and we will come out triumphant. After all, our grandmas didn't have it easy, either.
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