Aug 1, 2017
You may remember Donna from our previous episode PB31: Save Where You Can
ft. Donna Freedman. Donna's back with a new book, Your Playbook
For Tough Times Vol. 2, some great personal finance advice and much
more! For those of you who are new here, Donna has been a college
dropout, a single mom, a newspaper reporter in Chicago and Alaska,
and a late-in-life university student. She has over 20 years of
experience writing and helping people on media organizations like
MSN Money and popular online publications like our
former guest's J.D. Roth's website, Get Rich Slowly. Her
passion for helping people is evident on today's show and in the
great giveaways she has for our audience. On this episode we
discuss:
- Actionable tips from her new book and why, unlike some other
top financial gurus, she doesn't assume your financial situation is
always caused by your own doing or bad financial habits
- The opportunity cost -- money you could spend or invest
elsewhere -- of student loans and why students, and parents of
students, should always use a
student loan calculator before signing any new loan
agreements
- Simple ways and resources you can use to negotiate lower (or
free) dental and health care costs
- How the "four gifts" rule can help you save money on Christmas
and birthday gifts
SPECIAL PROMOs FOR PAYCHECKS & BALANCES LISTENERS ONLY!!!
-
Click here for a free download of
Challenge Yourself to Save the popular and a fan
favorite chapter from Donna's first book, Your Playbook For Tough
Times: Living Large On Small Change, For The Short Term Or The Long
Haul, containing 31 tips you can immediately use to save money
today!
- Click here to visit Donna's
direct platform and enter discount code
PAYCHECKS for a $5 PDF copy of Your Playbook
For Tough Times, Vol. 2!
- Interested in the original, too? Enter discount code
BALANCES for the first edition of Your
Playbook For Tough Times!
References
- The Healthcare Blue
Book - provides free online tools designed to enable consumers
to understand how much they should pay for healthcare services
- The Fair Health
Consumer - this tool estimates your costs for dental and
healthcare procedures and services in the ZIP code where you want
to receive care.
- More Helpful Tips & Recommendations from Donna:
- If you’re uninsured: At Healthcare Bluebook, type in
what’s needed (foot surgery, biopsy, etc.) plus your zip code and
get an idea of what you might pay for that treatment in your area.
As the website notes, the cost for the same network procedure can
vary by up to 400 percent. Even if you do have insurance, using a
tool like this could mean having to fork over less of a copay
(e.g., 20 percent of $300 rather than $500). Or use Fair Health Consumer’s cost
lookup tool to get an idea of what an average service or treatment
should be, then print out something called a “binding cost
estimate.” This basically says, “This amount is what we know to be
less than a billed charge but more than a typical insurance
payout.” Present it to a potential provider, say frankly that cost
is a huge issue for your household and you’d like to know if you
could get the needed treatment at this price. You can strengthen
your negotiation by offering to pay in full at the time of the
visit. If you can pay in cash, that might be enough of an incentive
to get the provider to agree. Even if you had to use a credit card
you’d at least be getting the best possible price for
treatment.
- Keeping prescription costs down: Common
meds may be free! Some supermarket pharmacies offer certain
antibiotics, generic Lipitor, prenatal and children’s vitamins, the
diabetes drug Metformin and other medications without charge. Among
the grocery chains providing free medications are Amigos United,
Giant Eagle, Meijer, Price Chopper, Publix, Reasor’s, Schnucks,
ShopRite and Wegman’s.
- Contact Info:
- ICYMI - PB53:
Broke Millennial ft. Erin Lowry
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