Friday, April 16, 2010

Doctor visits and extra money

It's been busy with some doctor appointments for Ds.  He got an ingrown toenail. We tried the "home remedy", which didn't much help so went in to the doctor.  They didn't have anyone on staff that day who could cut the nail back, so the PA ended up giving him some antibiotics and the "home remedy" we had already been doing.  He tried that for 9 days and then I called the podiatrist office that was recommended by the PA and they had a wait until May 7th! (but would put us on the call list because they always have cancellations, said the lady).  So then I called back the pediatricians office to see if someone would be in who could remove part of the nail and they had someone on Wednesday.  So, it's on the mend now, with more antibiotics.  At least the antibiotics were only $4 each at Walmart.  The antibiotic ointment from the first visit ended up being $12.60, but still not too bad.

I've already been online with our insurance company to see that our deductible share of the first office visit will be $87.  I don't even want to know how much the 2nd visit will be! I used to work at this pediatricians office in the billing dept and I recall this type of procedure is expensive.  We have a large deductible to meet, but at least there is a negotiated rate with our insurance to bring the cost down some.

I've been working a little side accounting job and just got a check for $600, so can use that towards the doctor bills to come, without having to dip into our regular budget/income.  I thought this little side job would be complete after I billed for this $600, but they want me to continue to help out a bit for awhile, so I'm thinking it will probably be at least another $200-300 per month for the next few months.

Dh sold some more things off the old piece of equipment so offered to give me $500 of it towards a new dresser for our bedroom.  We purchased the bed about a year and a half ago and knew we would just have to buy the other pieces as we got the money available.  I'm going to use $270 our of my $600 extra income to add to it, as with tax the dresser will come to $870.  Pricey piece of furniture, but I want it to match the bed. We've never had anything match before and this is heirloom type of furniture that will last many many years. The current dresser we have is something I got as a teenager! And it's made of particle board! The handles have broke off most of the drawers and dh has been just stacking all his clothes on top.  Not very nice to look at.  Ds and I will go down to pick up the new dresser tonight :-)

Our income tax return of $972 was direct deposited today, so that will be used to pay our 6 months of auto insurance premiums.  I am always so glad when I am able to pay the full 6 months up front. It saves $20 a month off of the monthly payments option and frees up almost $200 a month out of my regular budget, which gives me some breathing room for those unexpected expenses that always come up each month.

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