Make sure that the provider (often a third-party provider such as a lab but also the physician) has your correct insurance info. I know, I know -- the office staff always makes me give my insurance card before anything happens; but they are not necessarily diligent about passing that info along. Once, a scan of my card went bad (no one checked the scan at the time of service); another time, the lab couldn't read the fax sent to them with my insurance card. If no insurance has been applied to the payment, then find out why (or why not).
Know what your insurance covers and make sure it gets covered. I went for a screening covered by my insurance but the visit was coded for a disease (allergies), which wasn't covered under my deductible. I had to get the code changed based on records from the visit -- it took a while but they finally corrected it.
I was not successful in getting the hospital where my first son was born to follow their own billing procedures. Its rule is to charge nursery fees at midnight -- he was born after midnight and released before midnight the next day. I was still charged the full price and couldn't get the hospital to reduce its fees (I would have accepted a few dollars!) I went to another facility for my next child.
When you are protesting charges, ask A/R to note that the charges are being "disputed" to avoid late fees, collection agencies, etc.
People were cheering when she announced this - are you surprised? She's finally given people with credit card debt an excuse to *not* pay down their debt. According to her, they need to pad their emergency fund first - which is good advice, except that most people won't have the discipline to do this. They'll spend the money that would have been sent to the credit card companies, and fall further behind each month. It doesn't make them a bad person, it's just human nature.
I started following this discussion when Trent at The Simple Dollar brought it up. I would recommend his rebuttal to this way of thinking as a more balanced approach.
At the time, I was flabbergasted. While I don't follow everything that Dave Ramsy prescribes, I do agree that he has been even keyed with his advice (as well as others, like the late Larry Burkett.)
In order to get to the 8 months living expense emergency fund that Suzy suggests, a family living on $2,500 a month (conservative, perhaps) would need to put away $500 of their monthly $3,000 a month take home pay (assuming they HAVE that much to spare) for over 40 months! (That's a long time.)
How much interest will accure during that time? If they have only $5,000 in cc debt, making the minimum payments for 40 months will cost them a heck of a lot of interest ($1ks of dollars.) Interest that the credit card companies are hoping you will provide them with (even if they have to wait.)
The fact that most American families are struggling, they are not likely to be able to put away the amount needed to secure 8 months living expenses in the next 5-7 years anyway, and the reality credit card companies are giving Americans even more opportunities to charge up accounts and sit on high interest rates causes me to distrust this advice.
Everyone will need to find a balance that works for them, but this one-size-fits-all advice just doesn't cut it with me. I hope that anyone finding this advice to be burdensome will get a second (or third) opinion.
Granted phone numbers can work to retrieve your account information but I have run into the problem in the past where I have had an account for some time and changed phone numbers, leaving me unable to remember which number was used to open the account and the cashier apparently couldn't come up with any other way to find it....
It is funny that all the "advisors" have changed their advice- everyone except Dave Ramsey. I see a lot of people on these financial blogs bad mouth Dave, but he lasts the long haul and his advice weathers the storms of our economy. Getting out of debt is always the best choice. I cannot understand why people depend on a line of credit from a company that shoots them in the foot as fast as they can. Depend on yourself working and saving to make it, and the less you owe makes being able to weather the storms easier. When you need more money get creative and work hard. It is not wise to walk around with the anchor of a credit card around your neck. She is walking in fear and reacting- until you don't have a job keep working to pay off your balance.
Hi
I am trying to go caffeine free. I started 6 weeks ago, quitting gradually, trying to give up coffee for Lent. I think I'm doing pretty good and want to stay off it. I find coffee is still calling me, but I have stayed off. I drink about 4-5 cups of decaf tea as a replacement and have had black tea in the morning to help. I heard tea is just as bad as coffee for the caffeine. What do you think?
for posting. I can't stand Suze Orman. I've tried to listen to her during PBS pledge drives, but she never made sense to me. It's good to hear that a professional in the field has the same outlook.
When you sign up for most cards, you have to hand that over. If you forget your card, guess what they ask for to do the lookup? Are you likely to forget your phone number? I assume others in the world regularly use their phone numbers as well since cashiers these days seem to react reflexively when I say the magic words: "Can I use my phone number?" Since I carry around my phone number with me all the time, I leave the plastic cards behind.
Granted, this works primarily at supermarkets - sams, costco, bjs, other bulk item stores you'd need the photo id.
If you really don't like saying your phone number in public, this service sounds like the way to go. I don't really consider my phone number all that private though (i.e. white pages).
I have been a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) since 1993 and can say, without qualification, that Suze Orman is the last person I would ever recommend for financial advice.
She is NOT a financial advisor, but a self-promoting actress/author. She's in the business of selling her personal brand, which she has built up not by providing good advice, but through her personal charisma. Her advice is terrible, more often than not, and this is just one more example. Many, many people will be harmed by this and they won't have the recourse of arbitration or the ability to appeal to regulators for relief. But Suze will get the PR she wants (like she's receiving from this Lifehacker article), and that's all that matters to her.
If you can't afford to pay a professional financial advisor for personalized financial advice, then listen to Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com) or buy one of his books. I don't agree with everything he says either -- but he's head and shoulders better than Suze Orman, or any other "talking head" financial advisor on the airwaves or in print. Take Dave's advice and get out of debt if you really want to improve your financial situation. Ignore Suze.
One hospital had a well known habit of having people ready for release at 8am but not finishing to release them until 3pm, making them sit there all day. Their day rolls over at 3pm so they get to charge for another day. Knowing this, the last time one of us was in the hospital they tried to pull this. We waited a few hours in case they actually were trying to track something down. Then we told the staff we were leaving right now, bye see ya. They suddenly then had all of our go home things ready to go when it was obvious we were leaving no matter what.
Another scam to watch for is having minor diagnositics charged as hospital outpatient when they could easily be done at a clinic. A local health care provider "centralized" all of their bloodwork and imaging (including xrays). So they send you to the hospital campus but not actually into the hospital, instead to a clinic building on campus. Then they slap a hospital bracelet on you as part of checking in at the counter. This little trick allows them to charge 3x as much for every diagnostic done.
Some states require providers to put prices on their website or a state website. They can be a useful tool to see what is being charged.
I was recently charged an out of control amount for pills that were handed to me...not cover they said, I took them on my own! However since I DID take them on my own I knew I had only taken two not three that I was charged for! After checking they agreed they made a mistake and changed the charge. Still too high but at least right.
But better to avoid all this mess in the first place and curtail one's consumption. It's way to easy to just charge things, and all those little things that you gobble up at Walmart really add up, so buyers beware and leave the CCs at home.
Thanks for sharing these tips. I find that reading other people's personal experiences and advice is a lot of help, especially when you're lost and searching for answers.
Thanks for the tips. I really need tools that help me organize things and remainders because my mind is a total mess. If someone tells me about something i have to do, if i don't list it somewhere is forgotten.
Just like to comment that I started teaching 12 years ago in Northern NJ. Small houses/condos were already $100,000 at that time, and I started at $17,000 for part time kinder. With all the prep work, I was working 30+ hours at a part time job. Then, when I got full time I was only making $27,000. Now I have a masters + 60. I didn't qualify for loan programs and paid for it all. I earn a very good living. But as the sole bread earner, I am not able to afford a home in Los Angeles were I work. Granted a house the size of my apartment (1,100 sq") is listed at over 1 million just down the street!
As for benefits, I have 30+ children sneezing and coughing all over me daily. I have been barfed on and peed on by other people's children. I deserve my benefits.
CEO's try much harder than the average american worker, so they therefore deserve much more. They work hard for their money and you shouldn't critisize them for what they do because they work hard at it. If its unfair, why don't you become a CEO? it's harder than it looks.
I don't think that paying only the minimum is "making them wait for their money." They will rake in the interest in the meantime. If they're going to mess up your credit for you anyway, why pay them at all?
Make sure that the provider (often a third-party provider such as a lab but also the physician) has your correct insurance info. I know, I know -- the office staff always makes me give my insurance card before anything happens; but they are not necessarily diligent about passing that info along. Once, a scan of my card went bad (no one checked the scan at the time of service); another time, the lab couldn't read the fax sent to them with my insurance card. If no insurance has been applied to the payment, then find out why (or why not).
Know what your insurance covers and make sure it gets covered. I went for a screening covered by my insurance but the visit was coded for a disease (allergies), which wasn't covered under my deductible. I had to get the code changed based on records from the visit -- it took a while but they finally corrected it.
I was not successful in getting the hospital where my first son was born to follow their own billing procedures. Its rule is to charge nursery fees at midnight -- he was born after midnight and released before midnight the next day. I was still charged the full price and couldn't get the hospital to reduce its fees (I would have accepted a few dollars!) I went to another facility for my next child.
When you are protesting charges, ask A/R to note that the charges are being "disputed" to avoid late fees, collection agencies, etc.
These keyringthings sound like a great idea for sorting all your loyalty cards out!
People were cheering when she announced this - are you surprised? She's finally given people with credit card debt an excuse to *not* pay down their debt. According to her, they need to pad their emergency fund first - which is good advice, except that most people won't have the discipline to do this. They'll spend the money that would have been sent to the credit card companies, and fall further behind each month. It doesn't make them a bad person, it's just human nature.
Sorry, Suze. I don't buy it.
I started following this discussion when Trent at The Simple Dollar brought it up. I would recommend his rebuttal to this way of thinking as a more balanced approach.
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/04/07/is-suze-right-do-emergency-fun...
At the time, I was flabbergasted. While I don't follow everything that Dave Ramsy prescribes, I do agree that he has been even keyed with his advice (as well as others, like the late Larry Burkett.)
In order to get to the 8 months living expense emergency fund that Suzy suggests, a family living on $2,500 a month (conservative, perhaps) would need to put away $500 of their monthly $3,000 a month take home pay (assuming they HAVE that much to spare) for over 40 months! (That's a long time.)
How much interest will accure during that time? If they have only $5,000 in cc debt, making the minimum payments for 40 months will cost them a heck of a lot of interest ($1ks of dollars.) Interest that the credit card companies are hoping you will provide them with (even if they have to wait.)
The fact that most American families are struggling, they are not likely to be able to put away the amount needed to secure 8 months living expenses in the next 5-7 years anyway, and the reality credit card companies are giving Americans even more opportunities to charge up accounts and sit on high interest rates causes me to distrust this advice.
Everyone will need to find a balance that works for them, but this one-size-fits-all advice just doesn't cut it with me. I hope that anyone finding this advice to be burdensome will get a second (or third) opinion.
Thanks for bringing this up, Paul!
Linsey Knerl
Granted phone numbers can work to retrieve your account information but I have run into the problem in the past where I have had an account for some time and changed phone numbers, leaving me unable to remember which number was used to open the account and the cashier apparently couldn't come up with any other way to find it....
It is funny that all the "advisors" have changed their advice- everyone except Dave Ramsey. I see a lot of people on these financial blogs bad mouth Dave, but he lasts the long haul and his advice weathers the storms of our economy. Getting out of debt is always the best choice. I cannot understand why people depend on a line of credit from a company that shoots them in the foot as fast as they can. Depend on yourself working and saving to make it, and the less you owe makes being able to weather the storms easier. When you need more money get creative and work hard. It is not wise to walk around with the anchor of a credit card around your neck. She is walking in fear and reacting- until you don't have a job keep working to pay off your balance.
Hi
I am trying to go caffeine free. I started 6 weeks ago, quitting gradually, trying to give up coffee for Lent. I think I'm doing pretty good and want to stay off it. I find coffee is still calling me, but I have stayed off. I drink about 4-5 cups of decaf tea as a replacement and have had black tea in the morning to help. I heard tea is just as bad as coffee for the caffeine. What do you think?
Pauline
for posting. I can't stand Suze Orman. I've tried to listen to her during PBS pledge drives, but she never made sense to me. It's good to hear that a professional in the field has the same outlook.
This got me so riled up I forgot which blog I was reading.
It's called my phone number.
When you sign up for most cards, you have to hand that over. If you forget your card, guess what they ask for to do the lookup? Are you likely to forget your phone number? I assume others in the world regularly use their phone numbers as well since cashiers these days seem to react reflexively when I say the magic words: "Can I use my phone number?" Since I carry around my phone number with me all the time, I leave the plastic cards behind.
Granted, this works primarily at supermarkets - sams, costco, bjs, other bulk item stores you'd need the photo id.
If you really don't like saying your phone number in public, this service sounds like the way to go. I don't really consider my phone number all that private though (i.e. white pages).
I have been a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) since 1993 and can say, without qualification, that Suze Orman is the last person I would ever recommend for financial advice.
She is NOT a financial advisor, but a self-promoting actress/author. She's in the business of selling her personal brand, which she has built up not by providing good advice, but through her personal charisma. Her advice is terrible, more often than not, and this is just one more example. Many, many people will be harmed by this and they won't have the recourse of arbitration or the ability to appeal to regulators for relief. But Suze will get the PR she wants (like she's receiving from this Lifehacker article), and that's all that matters to her.
If you can't afford to pay a professional financial advisor for personalized financial advice, then listen to Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com) or buy one of his books. I don't agree with everything he says either -- but he's head and shoulders better than Suze Orman, or any other "talking head" financial advisor on the airwaves or in print. Take Dave's advice and get out of debt if you really want to improve your financial situation. Ignore Suze.
One hospital had a well known habit of having people ready for release at 8am but not finishing to release them until 3pm, making them sit there all day. Their day rolls over at 3pm so they get to charge for another day. Knowing this, the last time one of us was in the hospital they tried to pull this. We waited a few hours in case they actually were trying to track something down. Then we told the staff we were leaving right now, bye see ya. They suddenly then had all of our go home things ready to go when it was obvious we were leaving no matter what.
Another scam to watch for is having minor diagnositics charged as hospital outpatient when they could easily be done at a clinic. A local health care provider "centralized" all of their bloodwork and imaging (including xrays). So they send you to the hospital campus but not actually into the hospital, instead to a clinic building on campus. Then they slap a hospital bracelet on you as part of checking in at the counter. This little trick allows them to charge 3x as much for every diagnostic done.
Some states require providers to put prices on their website or a state website. They can be a useful tool to see what is being charged.
I was recently charged an out of control amount for pills that were handed to me...not cover they said, I took them on my own! However since I DID take them on my own I knew I had only taken two not three that I was charged for! After checking they agreed they made a mistake and changed the charge. Still too high but at least right.
I was watching Full Circle with Michael Palin the other day. On day five of his ten month trip filmed in 1995, he met three gold panning prospectors on the golden sands of Nome, Alaska.
But better to avoid all this mess in the first place and curtail one's consumption. It's way to easy to just charge things, and all those little things that you gobble up at Walmart really add up, so buyers beware and leave the CCs at home.
I feel so welcome.
Where do you get a mule?
Thanks for sharing these tips. I find that reading other people's personal experiences and advice is a lot of help, especially when you're lost and searching for answers.
Thanks for sharing it with us. We love to travel and will check it out.
Thanks for the tips. I really need tools that help me organize things and remainders because my mind is a total mess. If someone tells me about something i have to do, if i don't list it somewhere is forgotten.
Andrea, thank you for highlighting my Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps article and helping spread the word about Greatnexus. Much appreciated. Thank you!
Just like to comment that I started teaching 12 years ago in Northern NJ. Small houses/condos were already $100,000 at that time, and I started at $17,000 for part time kinder. With all the prep work, I was working 30+ hours at a part time job. Then, when I got full time I was only making $27,000. Now I have a masters + 60. I didn't qualify for loan programs and paid for it all. I earn a very good living. But as the sole bread earner, I am not able to afford a home in Los Angeles were I work. Granted a house the size of my apartment (1,100 sq") is listed at over 1 million just down the street!
As for benefits, I have 30+ children sneezing and coughing all over me daily. I have been barfed on and peed on by other people's children. I deserve my benefits.
CEO's try much harder than the average american worker, so they therefore deserve much more. They work hard for their money and you shouldn't critisize them for what they do because they work hard at it. If its unfair, why don't you become a CEO? it's harder than it looks.
I don't think that paying only the minimum is "making them wait for their money." They will rake in the interest in the meantime. If they're going to mess up your credit for you anyway, why pay them at all?
Congratulations again, Linsey. And thanks for the links!