How Are You Coping?

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

Re: How Are You Coping?

Post by alliesmama4 »

Most of my bills are set in stone. The only flexible areas are food for myself and Teddi. My home landline, water for my house and gas for my car are the few areas that are not on budget billing or a fixed rate. I try to limit my driving and when out try to do all of my errands on the same day. I am fortunate that I can leave my house and go two different ways and hit the stores, gas stations and my bank without having to go out of my way. It is a complete circle through two different towns. My homecare agency has cut my aide down to 25 miles per month which is ridiculous because where I live it is at least a 24-mile round trip in to the nearest part of town from my house. I have put her on my car insurance so that she can drive me to my Drs appointments which are a minimum of a 50-mile round trip depending on which Dr I am going to. I am fortunate that my NP has decided that since I will be giving myself weekly B-12 shots at home she has can reduce me down to seeing her every 6 months. I had been going for monthly and sometimes weekly B-12 shots in her office and that will be a big savings on gas for my car.

I try to combine as much laundry as I can at one time to save on water. I have to pay for long distance calls but my friends and family all have unlimited long distance so when I call them, they will answer and then they will call me back and we can talk for longer periods of time. My brother had a special telephone line put in so that his friends and family in the US can call him and it costs no more than what would be locally. That is a relief.

Food is a concern because of being gluten intolerant and diabetic. I try to watch the grocery ads and work my menus around what I need and what is on sale. I do not have a menu plan because it just depends on what is on sale and what I might be getting low on. Teddi has a sever allergy to chicken so he has to have pork to eat. Beef is out of the question. I have started to add some boiled potato to his pork and cut back on the meat a bit and he is doing ok with it. The cost of pork has gone way up. Recently the cost of a pork roast for him doubled in price within two days of when I ordered one. It went from $6.56 to $12.00 +. I was lucky to see where another store had pork loin on sale at a deep discount.

I have been very careful with my electricity. I unplug my microwave after I use it. I have two TV's and when not in use they are unplugged. The light and exhaust fan over my stove are in combination with a microwave that does not work. I have it plugged in to a power strip in the cabinet above the microwave so that it can be turned on and off as needed. I use the microwave to store food items that are in soft packages like flour, crackers etc. I use drying rack for a lot of things and in summer I use clotheslines in my garage. Despite my being frugal my electric company is going to raise my budget billing next month to $125.00 per month. So, things are tight but there is not much more that I can do.
Janet Alliesmama
floridacatlover
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: How Are You Coping?

Post by floridacatlover »

Quilter51 wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 12:28 am I would not move to an advantage plan. My daughter is an OT and whe the plan is cheaper she can tell stories about folks on advantage plans bring sent hime from therapy to soon snd do on. We have to do what we have to do but if you can afford the supplemental, I'd stick with it. I had advantage one year and left.
No, I’m keeping my supplement. I have plan F which is no longer available and even covers the Medicare deductible. My mom had a Medicare Advantage plan and was happy with it and my friend has the same one from UnitedHealthcare (and I think Penny has it, too) and it is good but I want to keep my more flexible plan. Some of the MA plans offered here by companies I’ve never heard of sound very sketchy.
floridacatlover
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: How Are You Coping?

Post by floridacatlover »

MackerelCat wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 11:02 pm FloridaCat, don't drop the Medicare Advantage. You are very healthy, but if you start needing prescriptions, they will add up fast.
It is the Medicare Supplement plus Part D that I have. Both that and the MA plan cover Rx albeit at different costs. I already take four Rx for my glaucoma (2 free, 2 expensive) so I know that Rx can be very pricy.

BTW, many people may not know that the Build Back Better bill (passed in the U.S. House but not yet in the Senate) includes a provision to limit out of pocket Rx cost to $2k per year. That sounds like a lot but I know my friend with heart problems and good insurance pays $2,500 for Rx. The legislation also limits the cost of certain expensive drugs like insulin and 9 other Rx for Medicare recipients because it finally allows the U.S. government to negotiate with drug companies. If this is “socialism” (as decried by the GOP) I’ll take it!
HappyDaze
Posts: 4186
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 11:11 am

Re: How Are You Coping?

Post by HappyDaze »

That is a great question, Jackie. I am "coping" but seems like whenever I am able to save in one area, the cost goes up in another. My share of employer sponsored health insurance for 2022 is increasing by 10% - and it is a crappy, high deductible ($6,300!!!) plan. If I have a "good year", the Healthcare Reimbursement Account my employer provides (up to $650/year) will cover my out of pocket expenses. If I have another year like 2018 (my knee injury), I am sunk.

I am living on "last year's wages" because I put my entire pay increase into retirement funds so it's a juggling act to be sure. To save on food, I am wasting NOTHING - I'm back to saving veggie scraps to make broth, mixing leftover cooked beans into pasta sauce, everything I can think of to get max use out of what I've paid for.
One thing I am not being as frugal with is that I'm driving more places (like work) that I could walk to. If I need to I "can" go back to walking more - but the cold bothers me so. I got almost 350 miles from my last gas fill up before I felt I needed to get gas again - I could have gone further but I hate when that needle is near the empty mark.
I am trying to save every penny I can - I hate that so many things are a gamble and uncertain - like "I hope the dogs don't get sick this year", "I hope my car doesn't break down this year", "I hope I don't fall and get hurt again", etc. so I try to put money back just in case.
"All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. After all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog."

Charles M. Schultz
LogicsHere
Posts: 3126
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:49 am

Re: How Are You Coping?

Post by LogicsHere »

Inflation hasn't posed much of a problem for me as yet in some areas. I've managed to keep my food budget well under the $200 a month I allot myself and as I don't drive much, the cost of gasoline hasn't been an issue until now as gas prices are about $3.50 a gallon. But that too, I've been able to keep under a budget of $50 a month.

I didn't have much senior spending this year and I don't expect to this year either so I have what I budgeted for 2020 and 2021 that I haven't spent.

I did see an increase in my maintenance increase percentage which for the last few years was 1.5%. This year it's 2.5%. But this was only a difference of $10 a month more.

I saw a small increase last year in my Medicare Supplement, $5/mo. and a 30% increase in my newspaper subscription. I've also received increases in computer antivirus programs etc.

Next year will also see a small rise in my prescriptions, but since I only pay $87 annually for the plan, it's still significantly less than what I was paying 2 years ago.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: How Are You Coping?

Post by alliesmama4 »

floridacatlover wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 7:33 am It is the Medicare Supplement plus Part D that I have. Both that and the MA plan cover Rx albeit at different costs. I already take four Rx for my glaucoma (2 free, 2 expensive) so I know that Rx can be very pricy.

BTW, many people may not know that the Build Back Better bill (passed in the U.S. House but not yet in the Senate) includes a provision to limit out of pocket Rx cost to $2k per year. That sounds like a lot but I know my friend with heart problems and good insurance pays $2,500 for Rx. The legislation also limits the cost of certain expensive drugs like insulin and 9 other Rx for Medicare recipients because it finally allows the U.S. government to negotiate with drug companies. If this is “socialism” (as decried by the GOP) I’ll take it!
A friend of mine is $6,000. in debt due to the cost of her insulin was not covered while she was in the Medicare donut hole. That is almost half of what she receives from Soc Sec. Good thing her husband is younger and still working. Sad for those that do not qualify for Medicaid when receiving Medicare and still have to pay for food and shelter and other expenses.
Janet Alliesmama
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