Living frugally without hardship: let's share actionable suggestions

Yes. Uninsured motorist coverage is required. A quick google search finds a couple lists that show about 20 states require it.

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My allowed coverage is in increments from $15K to $100K with a required $250 deductible. Since they are definitely not going to pay out $100K for a car worth less than $15K, I might as well save the 56 cents a month difference.

I agree. I was trying to make a case for having coverage for under-insured drivers, because out of pocket limits often only apply for network providers. During an accident they’ll take you whatever is closest / hospital they have contracts with.

Not sure if that’s legally binding as physician’s first priority is to safe lives.

Not exactly the same but worth a read:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1713344

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Good question. I’m not sure, but my coverage will get me thru the emerg part and then they can move me to an in-network facility, if necessary.

Wow! I’m guessing you’re in NE or WY.

Shop by Unit Price.

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I heard of someone buying cheap clothes from Salvation Army or Goodwill for $5-10, wearing them a few times, and donating them back. They must not have liked to do wash.

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I do that often. Not only does it save on dry cleaning costs for suits, but it saves even more on airline baggage fees. And, of course, I can take a tax credit for the donated items.

Goodwills here often have 50-75% off days (or weeks) on certain things by weeks. It’s really a no brainer to buy a nearly-new suit for $5 wear it a few times and then donate it back.

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That’s probably a good plan if you don’t wear a suit often and the quality/fit doesn’t matter much to you, or you can do your own alterations.

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And only if your goodwill has decent suits. I’ve never seen a suit nice enough to wear to anything but a costume party in my goodwill.

I wonder if goodwill is going to lose a bunch of donations once people realize they can’t deduct them anymore on their taxes (for the large number of people that will now use the standard deduction). I also wonder if goodwill is getting a lot less good stuff now because of sites like Swap and Thread Up.

My wife gets a bunch of her clothes there. I’m not sure how much money we actually save since because the clothes are so cheap, she ends up buying more. But she does put old clothes she doesn’t wear anymore on the site and has gotten some cash back for them (usually more than the donation deduction would be). They just started carrying a decent selection of men’s clothes and I got a couple name brand sport coats (one new with tags) for under $25 each. I sent in a couple sport coats that don’t fit anymore. I’m curious to see if I get any decent money for them.

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People will still donate because they feel better about it. The average person is too lazy for threadup.

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Great tips on Goodwill.

I especially like them for kids’ clothing, because they outgrow things so fast.

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When I pay my medical copay at the local hospital I ask for “any discounts available?”. They give a 10% “early pay” discount if I pay in full within 30 days. They also seem to give a “tax incentive” discount of 15% from February thru April 15.(not stackable with the “early pay”) I have found some other medical establishment also do the same. You just have to ask. One place told me “No that would be illegal to reduce the agreed upon copay” but I still call and ask every medical bill I get.

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I have 1 Rx that has on its lowest end doubled in price in the last 5 years, on the higher end it has increased 20 times the price I paid 5 years ago. That is when I started using places like GoodRx and similar searches on the web for better discounts. My health insurance has a discount card (RxBIN), only in some cases does that prove to be a winner. Its a constant battle to get the best price, especially considering some pharmacies offer transfer bonuses.

GoodRx has a very nice tool for local pricing using their RxBIN. CVS/Caremark managed plans have a clunky 1 pharmacy lookup pricing tool on their website for their managed RxBINs. Is there any one stop shop for searching multiple RxBINs?

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I am most respectful of the need for affordable health care, to include especially prescription medications which do not by themselves send ill persons to the poorhouse!

It is important, however, to respect the presence in the marketplace of illicit pharmaceuticals. This includes not alone phony medicine, but also outdated medicine which has been re-dated and, as well, medicines which have not been properly stored before being placed on the market. These grade “B” and grade “C” medicines, of course, sell for less. Be aware of them and be certain the medicine you are buying is top shelf.

What’s your source for this information?

The expiration date is meaningless for drugs that don’t need to be refrigerated.

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I’m assuming the warning about “illicit pharmaceuticals” is more a warning against buying from random websites or something?

I dont’ think theres any concern about quality of drugs from reputable pharmacies.

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Agreed . . at least surely for the most part. In fact that is precisely the point I was trying to make.

I could not agree with that statement less. Really am surprised anyone would write such a thing.

Actually, the military keeps stocks of medications that are past expiration. Some are 50 years past their expiration date. Of course, it is trickier to do it yourself. The military tests the drugs it keeps. See this great article by ProPublica and NPR:

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