Search results for health care
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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
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
Feb 20 2008, 02:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We'd never thought there was an upside to smoking until we read Ryan's post called "When smoking is good for you" at Millionaire Money Habits. After all, it's linked to serious illness and shortens your life span. "The health implications of this habit are great news for smokers who have a limited retirement fund or have plans to spend their retirement (savings) frivolously," he writes. In other words, who needs a lot of retirement money if the dirt nap comes early. (Just make sure you have good health insurance.) You do need a lot of money for smoking. With a pack-a-day habit, you're spending $1,825 a year -- and in some places even more -- or $76,000 between ages 18 and 59 1/2, not including inflation and higher taxes (and not to mention the additional costs of smoking noted in an MSN Money article). On the other hand, Ryan says, if you invest that money, you'll have about $1.2 million by the time you retire.
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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
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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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
May 14 2008, 06:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Him" at the Him-and-Her blog, Make Love, Not Debt, is depressed -- clinically depressed. He reached the decision to get professional help after it began to affect his relationship with "Her." But, before that, he tried to spend his way out of depression. He explains that "trying to thwart depression by doing everything except getting treatment can affect one's finances." His post is called "Depression is expensive, denial much more so."
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Posted
May 23 2008, 06:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Trent Hamm at partner blog The Simple Dollar. Hopefully, that headline woke you up a bit this morning. Several months ago, I made a list of 101 goals that I wanted to reach in the next three years. I piled this list on top of an already long list of medium-term and long--term goals -- including building a writing career and paying off debt. While making the giant list of goals felt very empowering at first, it soon became a big weight on my shoulders. I was reaching for too many things at once. When I set a goal, I'm committed to achieving it, and thus I often feel like Lucy and Ethel on the chocolate candy assembly line -- more to do than I can possibly keep up with.
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Posted
May 29 2008, 06:21 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Paul Michael at partner blog Wise Bread. The chances are, you're dehydrated right now. In fact, more than 75% of the American population is dehydrated, and worse still, more than 80% of them know they are. No big deal? Well, it is, actually. Lack of hydration can lead to all kinds of problems, including obesity, fatigue and a much higher risk of certain cancers. So grab a glass or three of water and read on.
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