Cheapo Groovo

Health Food Freebies

We went to the Healthy Horizon 15th anniversary party. And look at what we walked away with for FREE! Teas, cereals, spices, vitamins, supplements, food treats, even a couple of bag clips.

FREE First Aid Kit

freestufftimes | dealnews | fatwallet | absurdlycool | WalMart Freebies | Target Freebies

Cheapo Health Club

For a larger view, click the picture once, and then click the picture a second time. Mouse over and you should be able to enlarge one more time.

Cheapo_health_club

 

 

Easy Solution to Health Care Costs

Get insurance out of health care altogether, except for catastrophic, unanticipated injuries. After all, insurance is about managing risk. As Eric Peters pointed out a few weeks back, you wouldn’t have your car insurance pay for routine oil changes, or your homeowners insurance pay for a new coat of exterior paint on your house. The very idea is absurd from an economics perspective, cost-prohibitive, and goes against the very definition and purpose of insurance. So why the HELL is this insanity common practice in the medical and dental field? Having one’s insurance pay for a routine tooth cleaning or simple physical checkup makes no more sense than having insurance pay for a routine oil change or home termite inspection.

Obamacare in Action

This is my story. Take what you will from it.

My health care premiums went from $134.72 to $192.67 over the last 30 months. A 43% increase!

I called Anthem to see what I needed to do to lower my premiums. The first salesperson told me they have a HSA plan that was "similar" to my Blue Value plan. He said I would have to re-apply and go thru the underwriting process all over again! I was also told that I could not make any adjustments to my Blue Value plan since it was no longer being offered (sold). The salesperson closed our call by getting my email and sending over 4 lengthy PDF files.

I paid my new premium ($192.67) for the month of July. On July 3rd, I called back and got a different salesperson who contradicted the first bum on 2 issues. First, after being asked a series of questions, I was told I did not need to go thru another underwriting. Second, I could modify my existing plan as long as it put more risk on me (such as a higher deductible).

I'm supposed to be getting a new packet with new insurance cards by the end of the month as I went with the new HSA plan at $163 per month. If they don't come, I guess I'll have the taxpayer fund my emergency care and just pay the fines. Thanks Peggy!

FREE Resistance Band (exercise) + Basic Moves

Got this in the mail Saturday. Sweeeet!

And here are some simple moves using the resistance band

Make Your Own Soda

The dangers of high fructose corn syrup as well as aspartame are well documented. Blue Sky soda is healthier but expensive. So if you still enjoy soda (like I do), what are your options?

Make your own. The equipment is very basic and the key is choosing your extract. While there are many sites to get the goods, I use Leeners. It's a one stop shop for making all sorts of stuff - beer, wine, mead, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, even mustard and hot sauce. 

How to Negotiate Medical Bills

To maintain cash flow, “many doctors will knock 5 or 10 percent off if you pay up front. Uninsured patients can get even bigger discounts (50 percent or more). This is because medical practitioners are used to getting less than full price from insurance companies.

Find out what doctors and dentists typically bill for services and how much insurers pay. Negotiate the bill before your procedure. Offer to pay up front in exchange for a discount

Here Comes The Bike Tax

One idea that seems to be growing in support is a bicycle excise tax that would be charged at the point of sale of new bikes and/or bike parts.

Back in December, the bike movement's biggest champion on Capitol Hill, Rep. Earl Blumenauer told a crowd assembled for the Cities for Cycling launch:

"... he added that "investments from the bicycling community" to help pay for better road quality and more bike infrastructure might be a smart move. "In fairness," Blumenauer said, "we'd be better off if we had a tiny fee" on some cycling equipment, such as a bike tire tax."

A bike tax is already in use in several other countries and cities. Colorado has one. So does the U.K.

If we tax something, we get less of it. In this case, we get less exercise (healthy people) more pollution, more oil imports, and more black markets.

Freebies from the Health Food Store

You see a lot of "mommy saver" blogs advocating "super couponing techniques". Often that leads to their children eating sugary cereals or sodium laced TV dinners. What a shame. :<((

Building relationships with health conscious people pays off in the short run and the long run. Not only do we get $10 off for each $100 we spend, but look at what we received free of charge yesterday afternoon!!!!!

Healthy_freebies