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Posted
Mar 07 2008, 09:18 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I made $15 for filling a prescription last night. That is, the medication cost me a $10 co-pay but I received a $25 gift card for trying a different pharmacy.
This was a Safeway pharmacy, so I had my choice of more than 60 gift cards ranging from bookstores to ice cream to spa treatments. I chose a Safeway card, for future groceries.
Drugstores want your business, and sometimes they're willing to bribe you to get it. Prescription transfers can be a pretty simple way to stretch your dollars.
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Posted
Apr 30 2008, 12:14 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
In a post called "WWFD? (What would Frodo do?)," Arduous of Arduous Journey tells a most amazing story. She lives in car-crazed Los Angeles, and she walks. (We'll get back to Frodo in a minute.) She acknowledges how strange this is. "In LA, if the only parking spot is three blocks away, it means you should probably just valet," she says about routine behavior.
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Posted
Feb 25 2008, 04:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. Waiting in line at the grocery store is a guaranteed way to see the covers of magazines targeting women. It's a real challenge to find a checkout tabloid that doesn't have blaring headlines about weight loss or the most recent diet sensation. "Better than gastric bypass!" "Kim lost 200 lbs in 11 months!" "Christin lost 100 lbs in 5 months!" Those very comments appeared on the cover of the June 12, 2007, issue of Woman's World magazine. The story was a fascinating look at a weight-loss diet known as Kimkins, created by Kim Drake, also known as "Kimmer." The Woman's World story begins by saying the magazine sent out spies to gather intelligence about Kimkins. The Kimkins Web site included numerous before-and-after pictures of not only Kimmer, but also happy members who had shed massive amounts of weight. Woman's World describes Kim as "smiling" when responding to questions. This implies that the Woman's World interviewer was personally watching the response of Drake. So, you would think that Woman's World would have noticed that "Kim" was in fact a 300-pound woman.
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Posted
Jan 30 2008, 08:08 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Last Wednesday I came down with a nasty case of what I've been calling "university crud." I assume I picked it up there because about every fifth person on campus is barking like a seal. In addition to a wracking cough, this particular crud includes headache, sore throat, and whole-body aches and pains. It started a slap fight with my asthma, too.
I stayed home from school Thursday, and I never skip school. I crawled in on Friday to take a chapter exam in Spanish, and then spent the rest of the weekend trying to recover. (Still not quite there.)
Uncomfortable? Sure. Prepared? You bet. Everyone should have an emergency fund. But how many people think of having emergency stuff?
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Posted
Nov 06 2008, 04:12 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Many employers are now holding open enrollment for health insurance, so it's time to thoroughly explore your options. With rising costs and shrinking coverage, you might save significant money by changing your plan. But please do not follow an unfortunate new trend and decline coverage to avoid paying what are likely to be higher costs. Says Consumer Reports (and we cannot emphasize this enough): That is a bad, bad idea. The cost of even a single serious health condition -- an injury, an accident, a bout of depression, an unexpected illness or surgery -- can hit five figures before you know it and lead rapidly to financial ruin.
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Posted
Jul 01 2009, 01:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Online searches for affordable prescription drugs may be easier than you think. Our thanks to Silicon Valley Blogger at The Digerati Life for putting the spotlight on a Web site called Medtipster.
At this site, you can search your town or region for pharmacies that offer low-cost generics of drugs you're taking, as well as low-cost therapeutic alternatives -- plus health screenings, mini clinics and immunizations available near you.
Specifically, the site says on its FAQs page: "You can search our database and find $4 generic equivalents to your prescription drugs. If there is no generic, we'll also suggest $4 drugs that might be able to be substituted with your doctor's advice."
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Posted
Oct 24 2008, 12:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. There was a festive feeling among consumer advocates when Congress passed legislation this summer that outlaws the use of phthalates -- chemicals some fear may cause reproductive defects -- in toys. But ever-inventive toy makers have a holiday surprise: a flood of phthalate-ridden toys hitting stores just in time for holiday shopping. The ban enacted by Congress doesn't take effect until Feb. 10, so toy makers and distributors have their elves working overtime to clear out their backlog of toys containing the chemical additives, which make hard plastics more flexible.
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Posted
Jan 25 2008, 08:37 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from freelance writer Abby Freedman, daughter of Smart Spending blogger Donna Freedman.
Deep, dark secret time: My mother writes for Smart Spending and I am in credit card debt. Assuming you haven't fainted dead away, let me explain. My fiancé has an inherited calcium deficiency that's been exacerbated by treatment for a couple of other health problems. His teeth were literally crumbling away by the time I met him. Last spring, he made an appointment with an oral surgeon and a denturist.
Since we didn't happen to have the needed $8,500 lying around, we started researching credit card deals. We wound up putting about two-thirds of the cost on a new credit card that offered 0% percent interest for six months. The rest was paid with "convenience checks" from my existing credit card at 3.99% for six months.
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Posted
Jun 24 2009, 12:01 PM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Most health care providers will tell you that early detection is at the heart of good health care. Walgreens gets it. The drugstore giant has partnered with two nonprofits to provide free health screenings in mobile clinics that are traveling the country this year and next. Six free screenings are being offered.
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Posted
Mar 03 2008, 11:50 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
What will be the "Wal-Mart effect" on health care as the retail behemoth proceeds with plans to open walk-in clinics in hundreds of its stores? A post by Jessica Hupp at RNCentral.com describes 20 possible impacts -- and most are positive. Consider this: Isn't it likely that health care costs will come down as other providers try to compete with Wal-Mart's lower prices?
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