When electricity companies won’t let go

ENERGY Australia has sent a family an overdue notice for an outstanding bill of just four cents. They want to pay up, but there’s just one problem.

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America’s bizarre reaction to mass shootings

IF there’s one thing we can be sure Americans don’t need any more of right now, it’s guns. But it looks like, somehow, they’re getting the opposite message.

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Dick Smith kicks off ‘suicidal’ sale

DICK Smith has kicked off its ‘mammoth’ fire sale offering discounts of up to 80 per cent off unwanted stock.

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Accidental tweet rocks world markets

TRUSTED financial newspaper quickly apologised for tweeting the wrong story — but not before billions of dollars changed hands.

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The front page dividing America

AS THE US struggled to come to grips with yet another shooting, one paper’s provocative front page caused shockwaves.

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Can You Really Earn 6 Figures After a 12-Week Coding Bootcamp? We Investigate…

What if someone said that you — a regular person who’s never programmed before — could become a software developer in three months and earn over $100,000 a year?

Would you believe them?

Though you might be shaking your head, that’s the promise made by the “coding bootcamps” springing up all over the country. After 12 weeks of intensive training and an investment of over $10,000, they say you, too, can learn to code software and land a high-paying job.

It sounds like a great way to jumpstart a career in the quickly growing tech sector — but is it realistic?

We wanted to find out whether these coding bootcamps are worth your valuable time and money, so we dived deep into the industry and talked to both graduates and insiders.

Here’s what we learned:

The Explosion of Coding Bootcamps

You may not have heard of coding bootcamps — sometimes referred to as “hack schools” — but they are booming businesses. The first bootcamps appeared in 2012, in response to demand.

“A lot of the original bootcamps were founded by developers and people who had been trying to hire,” says Liz Eggleston, co-founder of Course Report, which offers comprehensive bootcamp reviews and resources.

“They realized they needed to invest in junior talent as opposed to trying to find and recruit all these senior developers,” Eggleston explains. “[Bootcamps] sort of launched as a response to that very real feeling that people just couldn’t hire developers fast enough.”

When Eggleston launched Course Report in January 2014, there were about 40 bootcamps; today, there are more than 200. “It grows every week,” she says.

This year, more than 16,000 students will graduate from full-time, immersive bootcamps, according to a recent survey. That’s more than double the number that graduated in 2014 — and doesn’t even account for part-time or online students.

With numbers like these, it’s easy to wonder if the job openings can possibly keep up.

“The demand is there,” she explains. “Every company, no matter how non-technical it seems, has developers.”

The stats back her up. A recent CompTIA study found 667,200 open tech jobs in the US, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted in 2012 software development jobs would increase 22% by 2020.

The industry is growing so fast — and with so few qualified candidates — that even the White House is getting involved.

In May 2015, President Barack Obama launched the TechHire Initiative, a $100 million program to work with traditional schools and coding bootcamps to train more high-tech workers.

Could You Triple Your Salary?

Software development jobs are plentiful, and growing — but do coding boot camps help you get them? The answer appears to be yes.

In a 2014 survey of 500 bootcamp graduates, 75% reported “working in a job requiring the skills learned at bootcamp,” compared to the “5% working as full-time programmers beforehand.”

One such success story is Maigen Thomas.

She only attended one semester of college, which in her words, “didn’t go well.” (The only class she passed was marksmanship). Then at the age of 32, after six years as a flight attendant, she experienced “somewhat of a mid-life crisis.”

Though she’d never programmed anything before, she took a few online coding courses and discovered she “enjoyed the process of figuring out how things worked.” She decided to drop $3,400 (a bargain among bootcamps) and attend Epicodus in Portland, Oregon.

Now she works as a front end developer/UX designer for Unigo, earning three times what she did before.

“I love what I do,” she says. “I get paid well and I work with an amazing group of people. I feel really, really lucky to be where I am.”

However, Thomas’ background isn’t ordinary; according to Course Report’s Eggleston, only 12% of bootcamp grads didn’t previously complete a four-year college degree.

A more typical bootcamp attendee is Cody Norman, who earned a bachelor’s in economics in 2009. Frustrated with life as a mortgage loan officer, he enrolled in a programming course at his local community college.

“But the course progress was really slow,” he says. “Everything seemed kind of outdated.”

To accelerate his learning, he moved to Mountain View, California to attend Coding Dojo (current tuition: $13,495).

After nearly 12 weeks of grueling work, he was offered an internship at a startup in his hometown of Philadelphia. He stayed for nine months, and in July 2015, was offered a full-time backend developer job with WebLinc Commerce.

“It’s definitely not for everyone, and it’s not a silver bullet,” he says. “It just gives you a good foundation and kind of springboards you into the new career… It allowed me to get jobs that otherwise would’ve been pretty tough.”

Believe the Hype… Sometimes

Coding bootcamps appear to offer a smart solution, but it’s important to be cautious when reading about people who go from waiting tables to suddenly making a six-figure developer salary.

“From the outside, that looks really appealing, right?… But everything has another side to the story,” warns Jeff Winkler, co-founder of Origin Code Academy.

“In my opinion, I would almost guarantee that guy wasn’t working at that startup three months into it.” (Winkler is speaking in general terms and not in reference to the article hyperlinked above.)

Winkler says that, after receiving funding, startup founders often scramble to find developers. If they can’t find experienced candidates, they turn to bootcamp graduates and “pray they’ll know code.”

And when the bootcamp grads aren’t prepared enough? “They’ll get fired after 60 or 90 days,” he says.

In regard to the 90% or higher job placement rates touted by many schools, Winkler explains, “I’m a little skeptical… I think a much more telling stat would be six or 12 months later — how many people are still working?”

Another strategy to boost job placement rates, Winkler says, is schools hiring their own graduates.

After graduating from The Iron Yard in Orlando in April 2015, Winkler witnessed these “underwhelming” job placement results first-hand.

“A lot of the marketing I came in contact with made the assumption that you’re going to get a job,” he says.

But only one of the eight students in his class found a developer job afterward, which Winkler blames on a lack of job placement support: “no direction” about where they should apply and how to prepare for interviews.

This experience motivated Winkler to co-found his own bootcamp, where he says they’ve “reverse-engineered” the curriculum to focus solely on what employers are looking for in new developers.

If you’re considering bootcamp, ask questions (we share suggestions below), read beyond the headlines and remember that — unlike traditional educational institutions, which are almost all non-profit — coding bootcamps are businesses.

Course Report estimates tuition revenue will reach $172 million in 2015 (more than three times the $52 million earned in 2014).

Should You Go to Coding Bootcamp?

So you want to be a developer? Before running off to drop half your salary on a coding bootcamp, ask yourself several questions:

Have You Taken (and Enjoyed) Free Coding Courses Online?

All of the bootcamp students we spoke to took free or inexpensive online courses prior to applying.

“Take a long weekend and maybe spend $20 on a class on Udemy,” suggests Norman.

“See how much you can get done and see if it’s something you enjoy… A couple days of doing it eight plus hours a day — of being frustrated and trying to get something done — is probably a good gauge of whether it’d be a good fit for you in the long run.”

Not only will online courses help you assess your interest, they’ll also help you prepare for actual bootcamp.

“The in-person [course] will be fast,” says Marquina Iliev, digital marketing director for Riffle, a book sharing and discovery platform. “It’s good to have a basic idea of what you’re going to see before you actually have to produce homework and projects.”

Before taking an in-person class from General Assembly (which she loved), she took an online Ruby on Rails course from One Month; she also recommends Free Code Camp and Codeacademy.

Can You Afford It?  

Let’s get one thing straight: bootcamp isn’t cheap.

The average tuition is $11,063, according to Course Report’s most recent survey, not including lost wages or room and board. Though that’s significantly less than a four-year college degree, you won’t be eligible for federal education loans.

Several lending programs exist — like Pave, Affirm, LendLayer, Earnest and Climb — but it’s still a big investment without a guaranteed return.

So, it’s essential you go into bootcamp with realistic expectations.

It will probably take two to three months after graduation to find a job, and when you do, it probably won’t come with the highly-advertised $100K salary. On average, bootcamp attendees increase their salary by $25,000 per year.

“[Don’t] count on making a six-figure salary the day you graduate,” Winkler says. “It’s really more of a process.”

If you can’t afford the upfront investment (or uncertainty), a few schools — most notably, App Academy — only require payment when you get a job as a developer. However, this means their acceptance rates are low and attrition rates high.

Are You Prepared to Work Really Hard?

To be a good programmer, you don’t necessarily need to be a math whiz or computer geek. What you do need? Drive.

“I was horrible at Spanish and I was horrible at calculus, but programming is completely effort-based,” says Winkler. “In my personal experience, the people who did the best in the class were the people who worked the most.”

Eggleston agrees. “There isn’t a certain background that indicates you’ll be really good in a bootcamp,” she says. “I’ve talked to people who were teachers, poets and baristas before.”

What matters, she says, is “grit.” And, of course, a strong desire to actually program software.

“This has to be a career you really want to do,” she says. “Developers spend all of their time behind a computer, so if you don’t want to do that, this is probably not the job for you.”

How to Choose a Coding Bootcamp

Did you answer “yes” to all of the questions above? Then coding boot camp might be a smart career move.

But with more than 200 programs available, how do you choose one?

Coding bootcamps don’t receive accreditation like traditional schools, so research is essential. Winkler says the most important thing is to talk to previous students. He also recommends Course Report, which he calls “the industry standard for reviews.”

Eggleston urges prospective students to visit the school to see if you jive with the culture, and then to “ask one million questions.”  

Here are some you can start with:

Where Is It Located?

One of the biggest benefits of in-person bootcamps is the opportunity to network and use local job placement services. So it makes sense to attend school in the city where you’d like to work.

Also keep in mind that, although we’ve focused on immersive in-person bootcamps here, many schools also offer online or hybrid options, which are good alternatives for people who have tight budgets, families or both!

If you’re interested in a purely online school, Eggleston recommends Bloc and Thinkful.

What Are the Admission Requirements?

Different bootcamps are meant for different people. “Zero to 60” bootcamps are targeted at people with little or no experience, while “20 to 120” bootcamps require some programming experience.

If you’re not sure which category you fall into, look online. Some schools, such as Flatiron, post their pre-enrollment work online.

Admission rates vary widely among schools. Some of the extremely competitive programs, like Hack Reactor and App Academy, only accept 3-6% of applicants, Eggleston says.

On the other hand, she notes, “Some bootcamps are actively trying to get people in the door.”

What Language Do They Teach?

Developers use several different languages to program software. Before choosing a school, it’s good to know what type of work you want to do when you graduate.

Norman, for example, specifically chose Coding Dojo because it taught three languages in just 12 weeks.

“A lot of the other schools focus on one language or one tech stack,” he says. But with Coding Dojo, “you had a little bit of experience in a lot of different sectors.”

One other note: Programming language is heavily geo-specific.

“If our code school was in Austin or San Francisco, we’d be teaching a completely different language,” says Winkler, whose school is located in San Diego. So be sure to learn which language is popular in the city you hope to eventually find a job.

Alternatives to Coding Boot Camp

Don’t forget: Coding bootcamp isn’t the only way to become a developer.

You can still follow the traditional route and earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science. It’s a significant time commitment, but federal funding might help offset the cost.

But, during those four years, you won’t earn any money — and you probably won’t learn the latest technologies.

“Even now, employers will tell me they’d rather have a 12-week bootcamp student than a four-year computer science degree,” says Winkler. “The old style of education just can’t keep up with what the job market needs fast enough.”

That being said, computer science degrees are still in high demand — so if you want the college experience, you certainly won’t lack for a job if you graduate with one.

“We’re sort of in a transition phase right now,” says Eggleston. “Hiring managers are getting more and more comfortable hiring people who have experience over a computer science degree… [but] we’re not at a place where job listings say you can have a four-year degree or you can graduate from Hack Reactor.”

Another alternative? Teach yourself. With all of the online resources available today, this is becoming more and more of a viable option.

One successful example is Laurence Bradford, who learned to code independently. She’s since created Learn to Code With Me, a resource for others interested in doing the same.

“I looked into intensive coding programs — don’t get me wrong,” she says. “But at the end of the day, I could never justify spending (over) $12,000 (and living expenses) on a coding bootcamp. In my opinion, coding bootcamps are ideal for people who want full-time jobs as a developer and/or software engineer.”

And since she didn’t want to be “full-time anything,” she decided to teach herself. Her favorite resources were Girl Develop It, Udacity, Treehouse and Code School.

Self-education worked for her (albeit “slowly and painfully at first”), but she acknowledges that progress at a bootcamp is quicker, and is also accompanied by “hand-holding” and career development.

“If you have the flexibility, the finances, the dedication and an intensive program is a direct line to hitting your goals — then it is for you,” she says.

Still interested in coding bootcamp? Try some free online classes.

If you enjoy programming, then begin the research process. Take your time reading reviews and visiting schools, and then carefully consider whether this big leap is right for you!

Your Turn: Would you ever invest in a coding bootcamp to become a developer?

Disclosure: We have a serious Taco Bell addiction around here. The affiliate links in this post help us order off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

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FCA to force insurers to show renewal price hikes

Tom Wilson

insurance details.jpg

Insurance companies may be forced to include details of last year’s premiums for insurance renewals, under proposals being considered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Insurance companies may be forced to include details of last year’s premiums for insurance renewals, under proposals being considered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

This would address concerns that some consumers face much higher insurance costs if they stay with the same insurer, particularly for if they do so for several years.

read more

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Passwords and Powers of Attorney: Your Digital Estate Planning Options

With digital estate planning sites, you can upload wills, trusts, health care directives and even appraisals of your valuable items.

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Making a Gift Registry? These 20 Items Could Help You Save $2,800 a Year

Can’t figure out what to register for? Don’t make the mistake of filling your registry with gadgets you’ll never use.

Whether you’re buying your first home, moving, getting married or even having a baby, consider using your registry as an investment in saving energy and money.

Most of what we pay for in utility bills is wasted, so it’s smart to invest in energy-saving items — and it’s even better if you get them as gifts. Below are 20 money-saving products to consider adding to your registry.

1. LED Light Bulbs

CFL light bulbs are cheap, but for your registry, ask for the best technology that will last the longest.

Register for $3 60 watt replacement bulbs or $9 100 watt replacement bulbs.

New studies suggest the average home has more than 40 light bulbs. Using the study’s formula, a conservative estimate of 30 bulbs at 100 watts, the national average cost of 12 cents a kWh and an average daily usage of only five hours, you’ll save $47 a month versus using incandescent bulbs — or $564 a year.

Cost: $180 (for 15 bulbs of each wattage)

Life: 12-20 years

2. Smart Power Strip

Start your new entertainment center, computer desk or video-game corner off with the right power strip to save you money. The average American household has 30-plus devices plugged in using “vampire” load, which costs them about $930 a year in unused energy.

Take a peek at this infographic from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to decide which works best for you.

I prefer the programmable timer units because I’m a creature of schedule. This one provides different times for different days of the week.

Cost: $75 (assuming 5 for 30 outlets)

Life: Five years    

3. Outlet Timers

For smaller installations, use small timers.

Make sure you get the correct number of prongs and outlets. The one I’ve linked to above has two three-prong grounded outlets with a 24-hour clock, which will handle just about everything.

Attaching two of these to your DVRs and eliminating their “standby” usage saves you $87, according to the DOE.

Cost: $18 (assuming you buy two)

Life: Five years

4. Water Heater Blanket

They cost about $25 at hardware stores and pay for themselves quickly. Some utility companies provide them for free during home audits.

New water heaters may not benefit at all from a blanket so read the manual or Google your model before you add this item to your registry.

Properly installed water heater blankets can save you between $20 and $45 annually.

Cost: $25

Life: 15-20 years

5. Water Pipe Insulation

Insulating the first few feet of hot water pipes from your water heater decreases the time hot water takes to come out of the tap.

This makes the water heater work less, decreases waste waiting for hot water and makes it more confortable to reduce the temperature of your water heater from 140 to 120 degrees, resulting in a combined savings between $32 and $72 a year.

Cost: $5

Life: Eight to 10 years

6. Pipe Putty

A small drip in your pipes can cost you $1 per month on your water bill.

If your pipes look discolored, wrapping a paper towel over joints returns a damp towel or you can see water damage in vanity cabinets, wrap pipe joints in pipe putty to put a stop to the problem.

In addition to the damage leaks can cause to your home, three small leaks would cost you $36 a year.

Don’t wait until you have a problem to buy the putty; you’ll often leaks when you try to turn off water valves. You’re going to want it to have it on hand when that happens.

Cost: $4.

Life: Three to five years

7. Faucet aerators

Reduce the usage of your faucet below 1.5 gallons per minute (GPM) with an efficient faucet aerator.

Some attachments can get you down to 0.5 GPM, but for a better look, you can also buy replacements made by Kohler and Delta.

Each aerator reduces the fixture’s average water use by 30% or more. The older the faucet, the higher the savings.

Using the average water bills of 30 major U.S. cities, and assuming 40% of those bills are fixed charges, that’s a $25 monthly savings, or $300 a year.

Cost: $11 (assuming you get six)

Life: Five to 10 years

8. Efficient Toilet Fill Valves (or Quick Fixes)

Depending on your toilet, you can adjust the screw at the top of the fill tube, adjust the float ball or change the clip lock setting. Set it as low as possible and work backwards until you can flush all waste with the smallest amount of water. This could cost only a few minutes of your time.

If necessary, add a replacement valve to your registry.

The EPA estimates bad toilets and settings cost consumers $110 a year from unnecessary water use, so it’s worth taking a few minutes for these tweaks.

Cost: $0-$48.60 (assuming you have three toilets)

Life: Five to 10 years

9. Tin or Aluminum Wrap

Here’s a crazy statistic: 20% or more of the air you heat or cool in your home never reaches its intended destination or is unconditioned upon delivery.

To trap that air back into the system, seal every ductwork joint with aluminum tape. Couple your efforts with number 10, pipe insulation tape.

10. Pipe Insulation Tape

Wrap as much duct as you can in DIY pipe insulation. Not every pipe can be taped or insulated in a finished home, but getting just 5% of that air where it’s intended to go at the correct temperature can save you $55 a year.

Cost: $19.55 (assuming you get both wrap and insulation tape)

Life: 10 years

11. Programmable Thermostat

Programming a thermostat correctly can save you 1% of your heating and cooling costs per sustained degree you set it back. Buying a programmable thermostat and learning how to use it can save you an estimated $180, according to Energy Star.

If it’s part of your registry and you’re not paying for it, consider a smart thermostat like Nest or EcoBee that will program itself.

Cost: $20-$250

Life: 15 years

For best results and savings, ask for items 12 through 15 as an air-sealing package.

12. Foam Spray Insulation and Caulk

Use outdoor sealants for intentional holes like around plumbing and electrical holes.

Window and door frames are frequently shimmed into place, leaving gaps for air to escape. Use spray foam to seal these gaps. Follow that with indoor caulking on both sides of the trim.

13. Outlet Insulation Patches

Outlet foam sealers are cheap and easy to install. Put them inside all outlets and switches on exterior walls. These are the weakest points of an insulated wall.

You can use the aluminum tape mentioned earlier to join them for multiple switch plates.

14. Window Film Covers

I get asked this a lot. “Will a thin sheet of plastic actually reduce my bill?”

Yes!

When properly installed over the trim, the plastic creates an air gap between it and the window — which reduces drafts and the transfer of heat through the window.

15. Draft Guards or Door Sealers

You can always DIY draft guards, but your best option is to register for proper door weather stripping.

Energy Star estimates 15% of your heating and cooling costs are going right out openings in your walls. At the Energy Information Administration average gas heating cost of $679 a season, air sealing can help you save $101.85 a year, or $20.37 a month for the five months most people use the heat.

During hotter months, the EIA estimates an average cooling bill of $406, so a 15% savings is about $61 over three months, or $20.33 a month. These savings repeat, season after season, from the upfront work.

Cost: $41.17

Life: Five to six years

16. High Efficiency Curtains

Efficient, insulated draperies can reduce summer sun heat gain by 30% and winter heat loss by 10%.

At the EIA averages, that’s about $190 a year.

Cost: $150 (assuming five large windows or glass doors)

Life: 10 years

The following items arguably help you save money in the long run, but there’s some disagreement over these claims. Many people believe these items help you maintain thermostat changes instead of providing anything additional — which is still a win in our book.

17. Air Deflectors

Deflectors force conditioned air away from walls and windows to the parts of the room you actually use, making it feel more comfortable.

Cost: $3 each (assume you’ll need six, so $18)

18. Circulation Fans

I just love a good fan. If you have kids, ceiling fans are safer for fingers. Most come with a reverse (clockwise) setting to make heated rooms more comfortable.

But a good pedestal fan makes a room more comfortable and if it feels cooler, maybe you’ll leave your thermostat alone.

Cost: $40 to $60

19. Infrared Space Heater with Thermostat

Same idea as a fan, but for a different season. Heating a room with an infrared heater is better than cranking up the thermostat for the whole house.

Cost: $164 for two

20. Maintenance Gift Certificates

Unmaintained water heaters, furnaces and air conditioners lose 5% or more of their efficiency every year, costing you an extra $120 per year, based on EcoBee metered usage costs at 10% loss.

Plus, regular maintenance helps extends the lives of these appliances and stretch the savings you’ll get from every other item on this list.

If you’re buying a house, use these gift certificates while it’s in escrow and talk to the seller about any problems before closing.

Accompany your home inspector and count the light bulbs, outlets, fans, faucets, toilets, windows and doors. Have them show you the ductwork and see if it needs sealing. Check the water heater with them for a blanket and pipe insulation. That way, you’ll know what to buy (or register for) before you move in.

Have the inspector check the water meter size as well, to see if you can save money there too.

Making a Registry?

It takes a special kind of saver to use a registry as an investment, but it’s very possible. The items on this list could help you save $2,800 a year on utilities.

(If you don’t have a reason to create a registry, you can buy them all yourself for $1,000 — still a pretty great deal.)

For easy reference, I created this public Wish List for all listed Amazon items, including several types of aerators and both types of thermostat.

Whether your friends and family members want to spend $3 or $250, they can help you save money on your utility bills — definitely a gift you’ll appreciate more than that fondue set.

Your Turn: Would you add any of these items to your registry?

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. We would have shared them with you anyway, but a true “penny hoarder” would be a fool not to take the company’s money.

Cade Simmons works in energy efficiency oversight and has a Master’s degree in Economics specializing in public utility regulation from New Mexico State University. While I too love Taco Bell, I am not compensated for links or recommending products.

The post Making a Gift Registry? These 20 Items Could Help You Save $2,800 a Year appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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4 Stock Sectors to Watch in 2016

The Fed is expected to raise interest rates, but experts believe the market will continue to prosper.

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Don’t Make These Mistakes When Filing an Insurance Claim

From not getting enough documentation to saying too much, there's a lot that can go wrong.


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The Perils of Skipping Loan Payments This Holiday Season

Skip-a-payment programs are popping up in time for the holidays, but some finance experts say they aren't necessarily a gift. 

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6 Things to Consider Before Paying Off a Mortgage Early

Directing excess cash towards paying down a mortgage means those funds aren't available for investing.

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Are You an IRA Hoarder? Everything You Need to Know About Owning Multiple IRA Accounts

Confess.

Are you an IRA hoarder?

A client of mine once had over 8 IRA’s spread out at various banks and brokerage firms until I finally had an intervention.

They were clearly aware you can own more than one IRA, but it’s a common question I get asked.

Let’s avoid a long wind-up on this post, and answer the question right up front – you can have multiple IRA accounts, and you can have as many as you want – there is no limit.

The only real limit in regard IRA accounts is the annual contribution limit, which is $5,500, or $6,500 if you are age 50 or older. But within those limits, you can allocate your money into as many IRA accounts as you like.

But the more relevant questions are: why would you have multiple IRA accounts? Or, why would you want to?

Could having multiple IRA accounts present any problems?  And you need an intervention because you’re an IRA hoarder?

Those are the questions that I really want to cover in this article.

I see a lot of clients who have multiple IRA accounts, and they don’t always have solid reasons why they do.

Why You Might Have Multiple IRA Accounts

It seems that people often build up multiple IRA accounts on something of a passive approach, which is to say that it seems to just happen, almost by default.

Here are some of the common reasons:

• Leaving a job. People go from job to job, and each time they leave there’s an employer-sponsored retirement plan that gets rolled over into an IRA account. They may have an IRA account for each employer-sponsored plan that they leave.
• Multiple IRA types. If you have a married couple, and each has both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, that will be two IRAs each, or four IRAs for the couple.
• Investment broker special promotions. It seems that there’s always an investment broker somewhere that’s offering an IRA transfer deal that’s too good to pass up. Taking advantage of those promotions, you might have $6,000 and one IRA, $12,000 in another, and $7,000 in a third. It just happens!
• Different investment vehicles. You may have one IRA account invested in certificates of deposit at your bank, another invested in a single ETF, and a third in a self-directed brokerage account. Each serves a unique purpose, and you haven’t found a compelling reason to merge the three account types into a single account.

These are just some of the reasons, and they can help to explain why individuals, and particularly married couples, might have a portfolio of IRA accounts.

Is that a good arrangement?

The Benefits of Owning Multiple IRA Accounts

There are times when having multiple IRA accounts can be a clear benefit.

Here’s some examples:

SIPC or FDIC insurance limits. If you are a fixed income investor, and prefer the safety of banks, there is a $250,000 FDIC insurance limit for bank accounts. If your IRA balances are higher than this, you may need to maintain an IRA at two or more banks. The same is true of SIPC insurance. The limit is $500,000 in cash and securities per account, which includes $250,000 in cash. If your IRA balance exceeds $500,000, you might have more than one account.

You feel safer not having all of your “eggs in one basket”. Apart from either FDIC or SIPC insurance, you might just feel safer having your retirement assets spread across two or three accounts, rather than in a single account. Even though your funds are insured, the thought of bank or broker default can be unnerving in connection with something as important as your retirement savings.

Diversification into very specific investment accounts. There may be certain investment vehicles that specialize in certain investment types. For example, you may have one that’s a low-cost trading account, another that’s a family of funds, and still a third that invests in specific sectors, such as real estate or natural resources.

Different types of IRA accounts. As mentioned earlier, you may have a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA. And if you’re self-employed, you might also have a SEP IRA. It largely depends upon personal circumstances.

Different IRAs for different retirement purposes. As you get closer to retirement, you may decide that you want different IRAs that each serve a certain purpose. For example, you can have one IRA account that functions primarily as a source of regular income. A second account could be dedicated to growth investments so that your retirement portfolio never runs dry. Still a third IRA could function as a large emergency fund, so that you’ll have an account to tap when a large expense comes up, such as an uncovered medical expense, the replacement of a car, helping your adult children or even major work to be done on your home.

Managed account vs. self-directed account. A lot of people are hybrid investors – they prefer to have most of their money professionally managed, but still want to dabble in do-it-yourself investing. Such an investor might have most of their money in a managed account, such as Betterment or Wealthfront, with a DIY account set up through E*Trade or Scottrade. It’s nice to have choices!

Depending on your own personal circumstances, one or more of these could be a real benefit to your financial situation.

The Potential Problems

Despite the advantages that can be had from having multiple IRA accounts, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Here is where having several IRA accounts could hurt your situation:

Each IRA account as its own set of fees. If you have five IRA accounts, and each has an annual fee of $100, you’re at $500 per year in fees, rather than $100 per year with a single account. That’s an extra $400 a year. Over 20 or 30 years, that starts to add up to become Real Money.

Confusion. Unless you invest money on something like a full-time basis, it can be very difficult to effectively manage multiple IRA accounts. The problem will be even worse if you also have multiple taxable investment accounts. You may find yourself doing particularly well with some accounts, but very poorly on others, and maybe losing money on some.

Lack of consistent diversification. It can be tough enough to create and maintain a reliable investment allocation in one account. But if you’re trying to juggle four or five it can be a certified nightmare. Think about how difficult that becomes when you’re trying to rebalance your accounts? Most likely, the combination of all of your IRA accounts look more like a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, rather than a well-balanced investment portfolio.

You only have so much money to invest each year. If you have five IRA accounts, you can still contribute no more than $5,500 each year. How do you handle that? Do you fund one account each year? Or do you divide the contribution by five, and put $1,100 in each account?

Tracking issues. If you have multiple IRA accounts, it may be difficult to know at any point in time exactly how much money you have saved for retirement. Will you know if you are on track with your retirement savings? Every time you want to find out, you’re going to have to do a calculation. And what happens if the market takes a big hit? How will you know how extensive the damage is to all of your accounts collectively? In addition to being a math problem, that kind of complication can make it difficult to make rational investment decisions.

So what’s the answer?

Reduce Your Multiple IRA Accounts to a Manageable Level

It can make sense to have a limited number of multiple IRA accounts for specific reasons. A married couple in which each spouse has a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA would certainly justify the couple having four IRA accounts. And you can certainly make the case for having a managed account and a truly self-directed account.

But if the reasons why you have multiple IRA accounts is more because of passive accumulation (taking advantage of promotions or 401(k) rollovers) you’ve probably created a web of complication for yourself that has no real benefit.

Cut your IRA accounts down to no more than two or three per spouse, and only for the best reasons. Then consolidate the others into the most important accounts.

That will enable you to save on fees, to get better control of your investments, to properly diversify your retirement portfolio, and have a better handle on tracking your progress toward your retirement goals.

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Holiday Gift Ideas for the Frugal People in Your Life

Mary writes in with a great question:

I am a 29-year-old single female with a good income and have become very interested in personal finance over the past few years, opening up a Roth IRA, paying down credit cards, and even opening a 529 for future needs. My family and boyfriend really want Christmas gift ideas for me and I don’t want to ask for gift cards or cash to further my debt repayment. Do you have suggestions for Christmas gifts for folks trying to adopt a more frugal lifestyle? One example I was thinking is an at home pedicure set since I’ve cut salon visits out of my budget.

This is something I struggle with, too. I actually don’t want very many things at all and the things that I do want are usually very practical items that I end up purchasing for myself – things like LED light bulbs and the like. Since most of the people who give me gifts seem to be mystified as to what to get me, I usually end up making an Amazon wish list with items on it that I only vaguely want. Sure, I’ll end up using the things I put on there, but it’s usually odd things I’d never buy for myself. (For example, this year I asked for a box of Palomino Blackwing 602 pencils. Yes, I (sort of) want pencils for Christmas.)

It’s not only frustrating for me, it can also be frustrating for people who want to give me gifts. A frugal person can be very hard to buy for because they’re usually mostly expressive about activities and very practical things – that’s just part of being frugal. However, those types of expressions don’t really give gift-givers very good clues about what to get you. It can be frustrating and confusing.

Never fear, Trent is here. Here are a bunch of great gift ideas for the frugal people in your life – and some ideas for your “wish list” if you’re a frugal person.

A Few Basic Principles

First of all, here are a few principles that are always good for giving gifts to frugal people.

Items that enable greater frugality are always welcomed. An item that leads directly to saving money and/or time is almost always appreciated (provided of course that the person doesn’t already have the item).

Homemade or handmade items are almost always welcomed. Such items usually require an investment of time rather than money, and that’s an investment that frugal people usually really appreciate. Of course, you can always find something homemade that’s weird or tacky or tasteless or causes allergies, but knowing your recipient can help with that.

“Splurge” items that aren’t useful are usually a bad idea and will wind up being sold or “regifted.” The impression that many people have of frugal folks is that they’re intentionally denying themselves things that they secretly want and that it’s a great idea to give them gifts that fulfill those secret desires. The truth is that many frugal people don’t have those desires at all and they’ll feel really awkward if you give them an expensive “splurge” gift, as they likely don’t want it so they have to act really appreciative and then quietly sell or re-gift it.

When in doubt, “reliable” and “sturdy” are always good things to look for. Frugal people always appreciate well-made stuff that will last for a long time and that they’ll actually use regularly. Long-lasting stuff that will be used regularly is always going to earn a genuine smile and thanks.

Take the time to know the person’s actual interests and hobbies. Frugal people have hobbies and interests just like everyone else. Those hobbies and interests always point toward great gifts, but you have to really pay attention to the person. I love giving people who are interested in a particular hobby a gift certificate to a store related to that hobby, as it ensures that they’ll have fun.

Gift Ideas for the Frugal Person

Here are a bunch of specific gift ideas that will work well for frugal people. As always, be sure that they don’t already have the item before you give a gift!

A Slow Cooker

I can’t tell you how many times a slow cooker has made it possible for us to eat a family dinner at home together without having to order expensive and unhealthy takeout. The ability to just load up a slow cooker in the morning and have a hot meal ready to serve in the evening when it’s most convenient for us is incredibly useful and has saved us a lot of money and time over the years. Plus, it’s helped us to get our whole family around the table, which is a great thing for families.

If you want a specific model recommendation, this six-quart programmable Crock Pot works really well for our family. We’ve been using it twice a week (at least) for a couple of years now and it keeps working like a charm, churning out perfectly cooked hot meals for our family.

If you really want to amp this gift up, buy some slow cooker meal kits to go along with the gift. Many stores sell kits that you just pull out of the freezer and put in the slow cooker.

Freezer and Oven-Safe Storage Containers

Containers that allow you to easily store food in the freezer and then use that same container to bake or microwave the food are invaluable to frugal folks like myself, especially when those containers are highly reusable. They make it possible to freeze meals for the future and easily just pop them in the microwave for a quick lunch. They also make it possible to get additional uses out of leftovers, like stowing away those last couple of squares of lasagna.

Our freezer is currently loaded with a variety of these containers. We use them constantly for storing whole meals, individual meals, good individually packaged leftovers, and even some ingredients we’ll use later for other meals.

I particularly like this package of glass containers with snap-on lids. They work very well in the freezer, the microwave, and the oven as long as you don’t rapidly heat them (I probably wouldn’t move them directly from the freezer to the oven, in other words). A large pack of those in varying sizes works great for storing pre-made meals and leftovers.

A Chef’s Knife

There’s one single knife that I use daily in our kitchen and that’s a chef’s knife. It has a point that works for paring most things, a blade that’s wonderful for chopping big and small vegetables and cuts of meat, and it fits wonderfully in the hand. I’m convinced that all you really need for knives in a kitchen is a good chef’s knife and maybe a small paring knife for very fine paring jobs. I’d far rather have just those two options (and maybe a bread knife) than a block full of knives that I rarely use.

Not only that, there’s a skill factor involved. With a block of knives, you have to learn about how to best use several different knives and, in a home kitchen, you’re never really going to get adept with any of them. With one good trusty knife that you keep honed and sharpened and really learn about in terms of the balance and weight, you can get extremely adept, making it easy to handle almost any cooking task before you.

So, what’s a good chef’s knife? I personally love my 8″ Global chef’s knife and have been using it almost daily for years, but it might be pricy for some. A very, very good reasonably costed chef’s knife is this model from Victorinox, which a friend of mine owns and I’ve used before. It is an excellent budget chef’s knife.

A Knife Sharpening Stone

Many people have a honing steel at home which is incredibly useful for maintaining your blade and keeping it as straight as possible, but it doesn’t maintain sharpness. Over time, every blade becomes less sharp and eventually all the honing in the world won’t help. That’s why a sharpening stone can be very useful, as it actually sharpens your blade. Honing your knife once every few days is great, but every few months to a year, your knives need sharpening.

My preferred knife sharpening stone is this triple-sided one from Wusthof, which is amazing when it comes to maintaining an edge on a knife. It goes far beyond what a honing steel can do and will make your knives have a very, very long life if you sharpen them occasionally.

A good blade just makes everything easier. A well-sharpened and honed knife that’s of even the slightest quality will cut right through pretty much any food you put in front of it, and go right through most things almost without resistance. The simple act of sharpening makes a world of difference.

A good chef’s knife and honing stone makes a great gift for the frugal folks in your life.  Photo: Didriks

A Cast Iron Skillet

I love non-stick skillets for their convenience, but when the Teflon starts to wear off, those skillets become worthless as you can’t exactly eat food with chunks of Teflon in it. That seemed to happen to me about once every couple of years, meaning I was constantly getting new pans. The best solution I’ve found for having a pretty good non-stick surface is to have a well-seasoned cast iron skillet.

Cast iron is pretty much the same no matter where you buy it (unless you buy something extremely cheap), so I’d go with this conveniently priced Lodge 12″ cast iron skillet, which will do the job like a champ.

If you really want to go the extra mile for your friend or loved one, do the work of seasoning that cast iron skillet yourself. It’s not hard – you mostly just coat it in some sort of fat like butter or vegetable oil and bake it in the oven for an hour, then clean it thoroughly with water and a brush, then do that same process again a few times. That way, when they receive the cast iron skillet, it will be ready for them to use immediately in their kitchen.

A Safety Razor (and a Box of Blades)

Shaving my face is a conundrum. An electric razor does a decent job, but it never feels like a really close shave and you still have to occasionally replace the fairly expensive blades. Cartridge razors do a fairly good job, but replacing the cartridges gets pretty pricy. The best solution, really, is the way my grandfather used to do it, with an old fashioned safety razor and single blades that cost a few pennies apiece. It gets a very close shave and has very, very little upkeep cost.

This Merkur safety razor is a very good choice, as it has the heft that you need from a safety razor to get a good shave. A box of double-edged razor blades goes well with it, too.

Another approach along these lines is to get a sharpener for disposable razors, which enables you to greatly extend their lifespan. I’ve used this particular sharpener for years with great success.

Good Rechargeable Batteries (and a Recharging Kit)

We’re constantly using batteries for all kinds of things, from television remotes and children’s toys to digital outdoor thermometers and flashlights. That also means that we run through batteries quite often and buying more and more and more batteries is not only expensive, it’s also kind of wasteful. Do we really need to be dumping tons of these things in the trash?

The solution to that problem is rechargeable batteries. When a rechargeable battery runs out of juice, you just pop it in the charger and a few hours later it’s as good as new.

I have had great experiences with eneloop rechargeable batteries, which come in a variety of sizes and even come already charged. Here’s a great eneloop starter kit that provides a charger and a bunch of rechargeable batteries of different sizes.

Bed Sheets

A set of quality bed sheets that are comfortable to lay on and breathe well is something that almost anyone can appreciate. It’s a personal gift in a way, but it’s also a practical gift.

If the recipient lives in a colder climate, consider giving them a set of flannel sheets, which are wonderful in the wintertime. In a warmer climate, high thread count cotton sheets are almost always welcome as they breathe wonderfully at night. Obviously, sizes vary, as do desired colors.

Simply having an extra set of sheets is also convenient as it removes some of the pressure of having to immediately wash sheets, plus it provides a backup in case of an emergency situation. Trust me – if you have children, there’s likely going to be some kind of emergency situation at some point.

Good Food and Beverage Items

Consumable items – food and drink – are another item that’s a great gift for anyone, especially when you are aware of the recipient’s tastes and are willing to go the extra mile to find something quality that caters to those tastes.

This is especially true for frugal people, who often won’t splurge on expensive food and beverage items but can certainly appreciate those items.

Take me, for example, I love it when someone gets me a piece of well-aged cheddar cheese (seven or ten years) or a bomber or a six pack of an unusual and flavorful craft beer. Those are things that I deeply enjoy the flavors of but won’t usually buy for myself, which means it’s a perfect gift.

Specific High Quality Tools

Like many frugal people, I like repairing things myself and making them work. There’s nothing better than extending the life of a perfectly good item just because I spent a few minutes taking it apart and fixing the problem. Little tasks like replacing a doorknob or fixing an old toaster are well worth spending a little bit of time because it keeps you from just needlessly throwing money at a problem and being wasteful.

Of course, doing this means that you have to rely on some common tools. Screwdrivers. Drills. Claw hammers. Files. Hacksaws. Ratchets. Crescent wrenches. These tools come up fairly frequently if you’re fixing things and building things around the house.

Frugal people appreciate frequently used items that do their job well, so we appreciate good tools. Of course, we may already have these tools, so spending a bit of time to feel out a frugal person about what he/she has and wishes he/she had, as well as any tools that are maybe on the verge of failing or don’t work well, will give you some great insight here.

Specific Camping or Hiking Gear

Most of our family travel is centered around camping out of a car. We’ll go to a campground, pitch a tent, eat over an open fire for days, and enjoy the outdoors.

Thoughtful gear that makes those trips more enjoyable are always appreciated. Items like a cast iron Dutch oven or a good easy-to-light lantern are going to immediately find a home in our camping kit… speaking of which, a large container to store a camping kit for easy retrieval can also be useful.

As with the tools, getting a sense of the recipient and the things they have really pays off here. Look for things that the recipient has that doesn’t work well or that the recipient would actually find useful on a camping trip. Would they like to try cooking in a Dutch oven over an open fire, for example?

Homemade Items

Do you have the skill and/or the interest to make items yourself? Homemade gifts are almost always appreciated by frugal people because they really understand what goes into making them and the care involved.

Make some homemade jam and give that person a jar. Make a batch of homemade soap. Maybe you could knit or crochet something for that person. Produce some of your own stationery by attaching photo prints tastefully to blank cards. Make a batch of homemade beer for that person. You can even do something as directly thoughtful as making a bunch of freezer meals for a busy family.

I’ll give you an example: my sister-in-law spent quite a bit of time making us some handmade Christmas ornaments a couple of years ago that are just gorgeous. They look simple at first glance, but when you look closer, they’re amazingly intricate. They’re also a bit personalized as well. Those ornaments mean more to us than pretty much anything she could have bought us.

Final Thoughts

The best gift for a frugal person is a practical gift that shows some knowledge of the recipient. Simply taking the time to have a conversation or two about that person is really the valuable part of the gift, because it shows that you took the time to care, and that means far more than just throwing money into a gift that doesn’t really match up with what the recipient might want.

Once you do that, the gift giving is easy. Just think of something practical that they’ll actually use that connects to what you’ve learned, and if you can’t come up with anything, do a little homework.

If you do that, it’s almost impossible to give a bad gift. Not just to a frugal person, but to anyone.

Good luck, and happy holidays!

The post Holiday Gift Ideas for the Frugal People in Your Life appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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10 Ways to Save Money on Medical Costs — Even on Bills You Already Owe

It’s happened to many of us: You slip and fall, or wake up in the night with some unexplained, foreboding pain. You sought medical care you needed, and now you’re being penalized with a ridiculously high bill.

The statements slowly stack on your counter, the print getting bigger, redder and angrier as time goes by. You’re feeling better, so you do the best you can to ignore them — who has an extra $1,200 lying around for a night of no sleep under fluorescent lights and an injection of Benadryl or Penicillin?

Paying the Price for Medical Care

Americans pay more for medical care than almost any other industrialized nation — about $10,000 per capita, in fact.

When you finally take a deep breath and face those crazy-high bills, the bottom line can feel insurmountable. But luckily, we found some ways to help cut those high medical costs, even for care you’ve already received. You can pay less for the same treatment, from high-cost medical procedures like surgery to bills you already owe.

A little bit of time and effort might save you thousands of dollars and a negative mark on your credit score if you struggle to come up with five figure sums on the fly.

If you need help with medical bills and procedures, here are 10 ways to spend less on personal health care.

If you’ve already received the bill:

1. Negotiate Your Medical Bill

Even folks who negotiate in other scenarios might not know medical bills are one of the most negotiable debts you will ever owe.

If you’re facing a staggering, scary number, you probably don’t have to pay as much as they’re asking. You can negotiate the price of treatment with your both your provider and your insurance company, and you can approach the negotiation from a number of angles.

If you simply state the total is too high for you to afford, you might be able to score a discount if you can pay a large chunk — or all — of the bill up front or in cash. Don’t be afraid to make an aggressive offer — ask if the hospital will write off 70% of your bill if you hand them 30% right now.

Even if they say no, your lowball starting move primes the negotiation for a lower endpoint. And with the ridiculous premiums charged, 10-20% off the bill isn’t much to the provider, even if it’s a sizeable chunk of your lifetime savings.

If you don’t have a lump of cash to hand over in exchange for a deduction, you can probably get on a payment plan with the hospital. Although doing so may not lower your total significantly (or at all), you’ll avoid a negative factor on your credit report and have a concrete, manageable plan for getting rid of your debt.

You’ll have more luck if you start your negotiation first thing in the morning — and a few weeks after you first see the bill, according to Money Talks News’ interview with board-certified physician Steve Neilman.

But don’t wait too long — you don’t want it to go to collections!

2. Don’t Pay With Credit

I know it’s tempting when the bottom line is so high — but that’s exactly why you shouldn’t pay for medical (or these other) bills on credit.

You could end up paying hundreds of dollars on top of the bill in the amount of interest you’ll be charged. That total is big enough already, right?

You’re better off taking on an installment plan through the medical facility — which might not charge you any interest at all — than carrying a revolving debt that stands to make Visa a lot of money.

3. Make Sure You’re Using Your Insurance

You might also explore the possibility of putting the onus on the provider — that is, carefully examining your bill and the codes associated with each treatment to ensure they match the ones in your insurance plan.

It’s possible that an error — or an intentional case of upcoding — could cost you big time if the treatment is miscoded.

Your insurance company uses CPT codes to determine how much to reimburse the provider. Your plan will specify what procedures, under which codes, are included and at what cost. If your care is coded incorrectly, the procedure you see itemized for $842 might actually be $40 on your plan — or even free!

Also, don’t hesitate to file an appeal to your insurance company on denied claims. If you believe a service should be covered as per your plan, it’s worthwhile to reach out and ascertain what happened.

4. Make Sure You Actually Received the Services You Were Billed For

Request an itemized bill and review each line carefully. You might be surprised by what’s contributing to the summary total.

Ensure you were actually given the $25 aspirin you’re being charged for. Consumer reporter Caroline Mayer writes patients are sometimes charged for medication they brought themselves.

Duplicate items have also been known to appear on medical bills. (You probably didn’t have your gallbladder out twice.)

Were you charged as an inpatient or an outpatient? If you were only admitted for a few hours or a night, you might try to appeal your insurance company or the medical facility, as inpatient status is tied to significant increases in expense.

For this reason, it’s important to keep detailed records of your experiences with medical providers from the first moment you step into the lobby as well as records of all your interactions with the billing staff by telephone afterwards.

5. Get Help Negotiating Your Medical Bills

Backend errors like the ones I’ve listed above happen so frequently, in fact, that companies like Copatient — devoted to the singular task of helping you negotiate your medical bills — exist. What’s more, they find wiggle room in the bills they look at 80% of the time.

Copatient will pour over your documents to find loopholes and errors on the backend, and they charge only a small percentage of what they save you for their services. That’s right: If they don’t save you anything, you don’t spend a dime.

Patient advocates and attorneys can also help you figure out convoluted medical bills. But you’ll want to shop around carefully so you don’t funnel all the money you save directly back into paying for those services.

You might also consider sourcing funds to pay for existant bills from organizations like Modest Needs, which provide grants to self-sufficient individuals who can usually cover their expenses, or other charitable organizations that are sometimes available in-house at the hospital. If you have access to a strong network that would respond well to a crowdsourcing campaign, try GoFundMe or YouCaring.

But again, don’t wait too long — depending on whose help you seek, you may need to apply within a certain timeframe from the bill’s issuance to be eligible.

If you’re trying to avoid future medical expenses:

6. Make Sure You Need Medical Care Before You Pay for It

As the type of hypochondriac who never misses an annual exam, I’m certainly not recommending you don’t seek medical treatment.

But there is such a thing as overdoing it. I learned this the hard way when I ended up with a $1,500 hospital bill after going to the ER thinking I had appendicitis. Turns out it was just (really) bad gas. I should have known when the triage nurse asked me to jump up and down. When I could do so with relatively little discomfort, she rolled her eyes — and let me sit in the waiting room for four hours.

Reap the benefits of my expensive lesson: Avoid emergency rooms if possible. If you’re suffering symptoms that aren’t actually acute, treatment from your primary care physician is going to be much more affordable — exponentially so if you’re uninsured.

If you do have an emergency, supply your own transportation to the ER if you can, so long as it doesn’t put the patient in danger. An ambulance ride alone can cost over $1,200 if you’re uninsured, and is still an extra $50-$100 out of your pocket if you aren’t.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a health issue that requires an expensive procedure, you might actually stand to save money by getting a second opinion.

Although you’ll spend more up front by undergoing two exams and duplicates of any tests the doctor wants rerun, a second opinion might save you thousands of dollars in surgery and hospitalization fees — not to mention the fact it might even save your life.

7. Shop Around for Medical Care

It might seem difficult to figure out which doctor’s office will charge you the least for your annual exam or routine procedures.

But the power of information-sharing technology is revealing price differences that used to be invisible to the consumer. Check out this amazing tool that measures how much hospitals in your area charge for a given procedure against other local hospitals — and the national average.

Lots of variability, huh? I was surprised by the extreme difference in mark-ups between for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals — try 1,200%! Considering the high price of even “cheap” medical care, this is information you want to be privy to well before you wake up at 2 a.m. with chest pains.

If you’re facing down a relatively minor surgical procedure, consider going outpatient. Jeff Rice, CEO of Healthcare Blue Book (another invaluable resource for figuring out where to get medical care), says one patient saved upwards of $5,000 on his knee surgery by asking if he could have the procedure done in an outpatient facility.

8. Save on Medication by Going Generic

In case you harbor any delusions to the contrary, let me clear the air once and for all: generic drugs are exactly the same as their name-brand counterparts. There is absolutely no reason to pay the extreme premium on a branded pill.

Plus, generic prescription drugs are available for free — or steeply discounted — at vendors like Target and Publix. Walmart offers a wide range of generics for $4 in many states. Here’s a good comprehensive list of free and low-cost drugs.

9. Open a Health Savings Account

An ideal financial situation includes having a stash of cash specifically for the medical bills that will arise throughout your lifetime.

You might set aside some of your emergency savings for this purpose, but if you have a high-deductible health plan, consider opening an HSA through your insurer or bank. That way you know you have a certain amount of money that’s only to be used for medical expenses.

Plus, the cash in these accounts can be invested, so you can generate even more cash, especially since the contributions are pre-tax/tax-deductible. That means your money grows — and comes out of the account — tax-free.

10. Take Care of Yourself

Preventative medicine is totally free.

It’s old advice and not sexy or exciting, but if you eat well and exercise regularly, you’re less likely to require medical treatment in the first place.

Take advantage of the checkups covered under your insurance plan. Your annual exam might be a pain for your schedule (and your blood-drawing arm), but you stand a better chance of catching would-be expensive (and, uh, terrifying) medical issues before they rear their ugliest heads.

You might also receive chiropractic care, acupuncture and massage through your insurance plan. Understand your benefits, and take advantage of them!

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be overwhelming or expensive, and I promise you don’t have to give up every food but kale for the rest of your life. There are lots of apps to make living more healthfully easy and even fun.

In The Penny Hoarder office, we love Standapp, which reminds you to stand up every 20 minutes you’re seated at your desk. Standing just two minutes for every 20 you sit is thought to do away with the detrimental effects of sitting all day! That’s not too hard, is it?

You could even earn money to eat well and exercise with apps like Pact, which pay out real cash rewards when you commit to tracking your food intake and hitting the gym three or more times a week.

I’ve been using Pact for years and make about $50 per year just for recording habits I’d be keeping up with anyway. Plus, it provides a little extra motivation on those days when a run just doesn’t sound so appealing.

You only get one body; so, take care of it. Plus, you’ll have more money to enjoy over the course of your long life!

Your Turn: Which of these tactics do you use to save money on medical expenses? What have we missed?

Jamie Cattanach is junior writer at The Penny Hoarder and a native Floridian. She’s passionate about learning, literature, chocolate and finding ways to live the good life as cost-effectively as possible. You can send smoke signals (or, you know, friendly greetings) to @jamiecattanach on Twitter.

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