Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

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alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I posted this yesterday but it disappeared in to cyber space...lol. I have gone over my 2019 budget and reallocated money in different areas. I have gone over the last two years of Medicare statements and guessed-estimated what my possible medical co-payments might be compared to what my needs have been in the past two years and it has really opened my eyes. If I could get a medicare supplement the lowest I have found for my age group would be $199.00 a month! That is a lot of money to shell out each month compared to what my possible needs might be.. As it is now my breakdown for Drs fees will be about 12.00 a month after what medicare pays. Compare $199.00 to $12.00 a month I think I am doing better without the supplement. However if I should have to have surgery that will be around $1400.00 + (need to look up the exact amount) however the rest is covered by Medicare A. So I am going to put some money in my savings account each month to cover the known costs and extra to cover possible cost.. At least I will be getting a little bit of interest on it instead of spending $199.00 a month on a possible medical need that may never happen. My shoulder replacement and ankle replacement surgeries are electives and at this point I am doing ok with periodic cortisone shots for pain in my shoulder. My ankle is fused with arthritis and not that painful. In fact my Dr told me he did not want to touch it unless the pain became unbearable since ankle joints are more complicated and he did not feel the total joint replacements have been perfected to his satisfaction. So plenty of time to build up an medical emergency fund instead of throwing $199.00 a month in to the wind for "just in case." I still have to cut back on things to pay for Medicare B and Medicare D and it can be done just need to watch things closely.. no mink coat or diamond tiara's for me this year... Bummer..lol.So things are looking better in my part of the world.. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I finally had a phone call from medicaid. It took 10 days and they say they will return the call within 3 days and if you are not home too bad they will only call once. If you miss their call you have to start the process over again. I stayed in my house for 5 days. So on the 10th day had a call. The bottom line is my original letter was dated 09/17/2018 where I was told I would no longer qualify for medicaid or help with medicare premiums. Someone should have sent out a letter dated the 09/21/2018 but did not that stated I was being reinstated with medicaid due to my in home care aide qualifying me for assistance through the Department on Aging but with my current income I no longer qualify for medicare premium assistance. I am thrilled with the medicaid assistance. Still a bummer on the medicare premium but any kind of help is a good thing. Still need to work out the details for the rest of this year regarding my budget to accommodate the money being taken out of social security for my medicare B premium.

On the frugal front my aide has given me about 3.5 lbs of red potatoes for free. Her DD brought her a lot and she did not feel she could use them in a reasonable length of time so we skipped buying the russet potatoes that we had planned on buying and splitting. Also she said her other client was given a bag of white rice and he does not want it and told her to give it to someone else. Someone gave her two cartons of 1% milk in aseptic cartons and she does not want them would I like to have them. Of course I will accept all free food except anchovies..lol

I am using some of the free potatoes and will make potato salad tonight. Will use 3 eggs.. about .08 cents each. Chopped fresh onion and pickle juice from the fridge and some mayo from Dollar Tree so maybe about .36 cents. Also some free mustard from my SIL and celery seed from my pantry.
Our local chain is having a sale on bulk chicken. I had my aide pick up a package and last night separated them and wrapped for the freezer. The breast are so huge I put one to a package. After wrapping I weighed each package inorder to know much chicken is in them for a certain recipe. At first it did not seem possible but did each one separately and as a whole bundle and there was 4.5 pounds of chicken! I am going to go back tomorrow and buy more hoping to find similar sized packages. I prefer chicken over any other kind of meat. I am going to try to keep things updated more now that the medicaid fiasco is over. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

I am a little confused as to whether everything is good or there are still some lingering issues. However, free potatoes are always a good thing.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Dgflorida wrote: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:54 am I am a little confused as to whether everything is good or there are still some lingering issues. However, free potatoes are always a good thing.
Things are somewhat better. Will have a decrease in my income now due to medicaid will no longer pay for my medicare B premiums. However they will pay for any medical co-payments after medicare.. Which is a big help. The medicare rep told me that the medicare B premium for 2018 will be between 130.00 and 134.00 depending on how much I received with the COLA for 2018. That is a big chunk of money when you are living off of SS. My pension from work is 82.29.. do not blow that all at once...lol. In 2019 even with the COLA my income will be about $85.00 less than this year. I still have to wait to see if the COLA in 2019 will affect my medicare D premium. The medicare rep told me that due to my low income that medicare had determined I needed extra help and they pay the premiums for medicare D to the Walmart/Humana plan that I have. However with the COLA in 2019 not sure if that will still apply. That will be another $26.00 or so dollars.Anyway life goes on and I have been shuffling things around and think I will be ok. Things are tight but compared to others and what they are going though I have no complaints and just count the blessings I do have.
Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Did not make it to the grocery store yesterday. I did not realize it until my aide came but I had severe laryngitis. When I tried to speak to her my voice would not project. I felt ok and thought maybe it was my ALS. However around 11:00 AM began to have chills and a sore throat. Today I have a mild cold and sore throat but can talk.. I started vit C yesterday right away and had some sore throat lozenges in my medical closet and used them along with a couple of aspirin.

I threw one of the large chicken breast in to my crock pot and added water to make chicken soup. I also cooked a pot of rice to make it chicken and rice soup. Added dehydrated onion and celery later on. Before adding the onion removed some of the chicken for Teddi. By the time I was ready to eat dinner the dehydrated things had not completely hydrated so removed some chicken and added it to a bowl of rice with a tiny bit of broth.. It was yummy. Teddi had a bowl of chicken and rice as well. The rice was free from my aide and I figure the breast was free as well since I paid for 2.5 lbs of chicken and received 4.5 lbs. The breast was 15 oz. I will have the soup for dinner tonight and make some muffins to go along with it. Lunch will be grilled cheese made with some of the gf bread bought for a $1.00 so about .16 cents and canned cheese from my emergency pantry. I have had it for so long cannot remember how much I paid for it. Breakfast will be a bowl of cereal bought for $1.00 and a banana .15 cent for a pound. Not sure how much it weights...lol. Anyway eating well and cheaply.

It is about 43 F and sunny but we are expecting warmer temps up in to the 50's with high winds around 35 so have washed clothes and sheets to hang on the clotheslines. The wind is coming from the north and the garage door is to the south so things should stay on the clothes lines safely.

I have worked and reworked the budget and think things will work out but have had to drastically cut my food budget.. There are few areas where I have any budge in my budget and food is one of them. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Do you ever use a food pantry service? A couple of churches offer that here.
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