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We are nearing the end of the month, and here you are left with no money for a rainy day...again! How many times has happened in the past? Well, chalking out a budget for home expenses makes greater economic sense than handling expenses unplanned or as `they present themselves'. Here are a few tips to save those precious greens:
• Draw up a budget that prioritizes spending and balances wants with limited earnings while making provision for savings (this must be a regular habit).
• Expenses can be broadly categorized into fixed (these could include monthly salaries to house help, grocery, etc), recurring (these could include provisions for birthdays, festive spending and other miscellaneous heads), emergencies (these could include last minute purchases that are generally go unaccounted).
• Ensure that you get `value for money' from your purchase.
• As far as possible stay within spending limits. Have a `sound' reason for over-spending.
• In case you are overstepping limits, consciously search for the reasons. Once you are able to find the cause you could curb that expense.
• Plan purchases from wholesalers and co-operative outlets. There could be a substantial difference in market prices and those offered by these bodies.
• Recycle envelopes, paper, jars and tins. Innovating interesting ways and means to reuse an old item is a good way of saving on resources.
• Saving on variables like electricity, telephone, petrol, water, etc is a good idea. Conserve these as often as you can.
• Budgeting is about living comfortably within your means, it is with patience and practice that one can master this art. .
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A number of hospitals fleece patients with an outrageous hospital bill. While some of the over charges are honest errors, many might be deliberate. That's because hospital bills are next to impossible for consumers to understand, which means hospitals can hide improper charges behind mysterious medical terminology and baffling codes.
Take note of these tips and make sure that you are not taken for a ride.
• If your hospitalization isn't for an emergency, check your insurance policy to find out just what it will cover and how much it will pay. Be sure to carefully review the section on exceptions and exclusions. It will tell you what your plan will not cover.
• Phone the hospital's billing department and ask them what you will be charged for the room, and just what the room charges cover. For example, if tissues aren't included, then you will be required to bring your own.
• Ask your doctor to estimate your cost of treatment. Also, ask if you can bring your regular prescriptions from home to avoid paying for medications administered at the hospital.
• Make sure that everyone who will be treating you - the surgeon, anesthesiologist, radiologist, pathologist, etc. - participates in your insurance plan.
• If you can, keep your own file of tests, medications, and treatments. If you are not able to, ask a friend or loved one to do it for you.
• At some point you will receive an explanation of benefits (EOB) from your insurance company (if you're on Medicare, you will receive a summary notice). It will say, "This is not a bill." Don't toss it in the trash. Examine it. It will tell you how much the hospital is charging, what your insurance plan will cover, and what you will have to pay out of your own pocket in deductibles and co-payments.
• When you get your bill, read it carefully. Compare it to the log you made, to the EOB, and to the estimate of costs you requested before you were admitted.
• If there are items you don't understand, call the billing department and your insurer, and ask them to explain. Don't accept bills that use terms like lab fees, or miscellaneous fees. Demand an itemization.
• If you are still in doubt, ask for an itemized bill as well as your medical records to confirm whether or not you received the treatments and medications you've been billed for.
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Thanks to the concept of malls, the potential buyer now has more options not only in choice but even in brands. While you can shop till you drop, it’s also the one place that designed to subconsciously burn a deadly hole in your pocket without you realizing it.
That doesn’t mean a definite no to visiting or shopping at malls. What you got to do is be a smart shopper. It’s vital that you get value for your Rupee. How? Well read on. Here are some of smart ways that can be used to snag those bargains.
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