Let's Talk Money (w/tips)

Yes, Money, the topic people don't like to talk about. However, I think CF and money obviously affect each other. For instance, we have an out-of-pocket maximum of $4,000 per person (8,000/family).  Luckily Andrew is very healthy, so we don't ever (usually) pay on him (except dental). However, I always will hit my full $4000. It's just a matter of how I will spend it. It doesn't matter whether it is over 6 months over the course of my prescriptions (co-pays) and doctors appointments, or if I pay it all at once with a hospital stay. I have to be prepared, we never know when I will end up on IVs. Plus I go to CF clinic every other month and it costs $200 per visit. I ended up paying my final $1,400 of my out-of-pocket this last week for my hospital stay in October. So I should be 100% covered (since met my out of pocket) until Jan 1, 2018, and then it starts over...

How? How can we afford that? We certainly can't take it out a lump sum of paycheck (he gets paid every other week). He doesn't bring home that much, so we have to plan ahead. Our take-home pay is quite a bit less than what he makes (shocker, I know. LOL). We put quite a bit into retirement, life insurance, disability, health insurance, and a critical illness plan, and a health savings account. The life and disability if unused by age X we can cash out. The critical illness plan we grabbed while he was working at HyVee. It was during open enrollment because they couldn't deny me and it carried over to any other job if he quit.  It gives us $20,000 for a transplant (among other critical things). Which I don't plan on needing, but it eases our mind knowing it is there (and only $15/month). We have a health savings account (the interest isn't amazing, but it IS more than a traditional savings account). We put X amount in each month to make sure we have the full deductible ready when the new financial year turns over.

I manage by budgeting. I have an excel (google) sheet where I keep track of all income and outgoing payments. We give ourselves a budget for everything. Groceries, Spending money, even special occasions.  Besides being organized and frugal about money, how else do we save money in this house? I will explain a few CF specific tips and a few non-CF related tips.

CF TIPS:

• If you take Pulmozyme ( other CF meds have the same type assistance). Check and make sure you are using the Pulmozyme co-pay card the company offers. We have United Healthcare and they don't allow that co-pay card (because they have their own). Here is why it matters! Blue cross blue shield did let us use it (before we switched). Pulmozyme's co-pay card will pay the majority of the med and you only pay $30. The best part was Blue Cross Blue Shield would allow the amount paid by card to go towards our deductible. United Healthcare doesn't, so we no longer have this money saving method. But you might! Check into it (saves you at least $1000 off deductible).


• If you have a lot of co-pays for CF specific meds (Tobi, Cayston, Zenpep, Orkambi etc) make sure you apply for the Healthwell grants. They really add up. Some smaller meds were easily $70 a co-pay per/month. While others over $100+. Healthwell offers 2 grants for CF patients. The CF Treatment grant covers up to $15,000 because it deals with higher priced treatments. The CF Vitamin and supplement grant  covers up to $1,500 for vitamins and supplements for nutrition. Together they cover a lot of a CFers needs. Did you know the second grant covers ENSURE and other over-the counter-weight gaining products?! AND you can apply for both. There are some criteria (income, etc). I have been receiving both grants for 2 years now. It helps a lot. The amount they pay doesn't go towards our deductible, we still pay the full $4000 per year. However, it does help to spread out the cost (unless there is a hospital stay).

Other (non-CF) Tips:

• Cashback apps: I use Ibotta! I tried out Check out 51, but Ibotta has more common items I buy regularly. Milk, eggs, cheese, lunchmeat, produce, and tic tacs! You take pictures of your receipts and the bar codes of the items when you get home. I usually scan the adds in the paper and then look through Ibotta before I make up my list. The trick is ONLY buying things that you really eat. Just because a pie is a .50 cent rebate, does not mean it is a deal if you re paying an additional $11 for the pie over your budget. Stick to your list!!! Sometimes this means I don't have any Ibotta items and other times I will have 6 or 7 items. Once you hit $20 cashback you can cash it out into a gift card or into your paypal account. I use a paypal account. I linked my bank account into my paypal account, so instead of it going into a giftcard I spend on something I don't need, it goes into my bank account (where I won't touch it). Link it with your facebook friends and you are considered a "team" where you can earn extra bonuses! If you want to try it out, please use my referral code (It gives YOU and Me a bonus)!:

Use this link: http://ibotta.com/r/drdtnsa 

• I also use Cartwheel for Target purchases! I don't usually have much that is on the list though.


• MoneyBack Sites: I have tried VipVoice and a few others, but they seemed to take forever to get points. Plus, they weren't cash back rewards. Instead, I now use swagbucks. You can take surverys and watch videos for points, sometimes I run the video clips while I am cooking or doing something. But I don't do that often, instead I found you can earn 2% at most stores if you shop online through the swagbucks site. I do all my buying online through the site (Diapers, Wipes, Clorex wipes, furniture, toys, etc). I don't buy often, but I let my points add up using it for purchases I need. Once a month you get a deal on $25 giftcards (using only 2200 points instead of the usual 2500). So I save up and a couple times a year I will earn a $25 gift card (code). I then go back in through swagbucks and earn 2% of that purchase (which was free, I don't spend over the $25). I'd say I earned $75 in the last 6 months, but it is no effort to shop through the swagbucks site!!! Really, I mean what does it hurt?  Swagbucks also has coupons listed that you can print and use!

Use this link: http://www.swagbucks.com/p/register?rb=34013670    (it gives you and me a bonus)

I have always been good about saving. I have never owned a single credit card. We still have student loans on Andrew. He went to Dominican University for one year and it was so expensive. 1 year of student loans at Dominican equaled all the other years of school he had combined! I'm glad he switched to Northern the second year. But I'm hoping to have them paid off in 2.5 years! Ambitious, but it's my goal!

Andrew works full-time, I am a Realtor (Part-time) and I recently got a 2nd (seasonal) job. So hopefully, we can build up that Health Savings Account again! If you have CF don't forget about Compass! I used Compass to get certain medications or supplies covered by my insurance! They can also help with Supplemental Security (for kids or adults under certain income) and SSDI (disability for adults who have worked full time). I'm not eligible for either and we get along fine (whew), BUT if you need it, call compass and they can help you apply! Sometimes we don't have a choice. I know my friend Laura struggled working part-time. She'd get sick and be out of work for 3 weeks, have no income during that time, etc. Over and over. Vicious cycles. So if you need help, look around! Ask questions!

Oh and if you are wondering my insurance paid: $1,011,800 on me last year!

I wrote a post a while back about how health policies can affect someone with CF, even condemn us to our grave: "Do not send me to my grave" was posted shortly after our elections last year. Give it a read and thanks!!! I'd love to hear from others about how they manage medical bills and other tips people have!