A week ago a friend from church stopped me and said that because of everything our family has been through (medical issues and expenses, emergency house repairs, car dying, etc.), he was trying to line up some individuals to help us reshingle our roof that needs done! Wow! What a wonderful surprise. By having these individuals do our roof, he estimated that we could save about 40-50% on the cost of doing the roof (labor is about half the cost of any project like this). He was hoping to do it this fall when the weather is cooler.

If everything comes together, I would just need to order the supplies – actually I think two of the volunteers are self-employed consturction workers so they would order the supplies which is good since they could maybe get a discount plus they would be more accurate ordering than I would be. I am estimating that the cost of materials will be around $3000.

Because my emergency fund and house fund is tapped out, I will probably need to get a short term loan. So I have begun looking around locally and online to see about a line of credit. Since I will not know the exact cost, and I need to have something in place so I can pay for the materials, a line of credit is my best option. That way I can tap as much, or hopefully as little as I need. If we don’t have any more “emergencies”, I should be able to pay off any loan in about 6 months. Although I hate the idea of going into debt, the savings of having volunteers do the roof will far outweigh the interest I will pay – I will still be saving thousands of dollars!

Hopefully I will know one way or the other by August so I can line all the financing up!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. New Roof in our Future? is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

Usually when you think of Anniversary’s, Birthday’s, and other Special Occasions, you think of spending money. That is true. But you can also save money while you are spending it! I think back to our Honeymoon. One day on our trip we went to a special restaurant that had a wonderful view overlooking a bay. The waitor headed us to a table with a not so great view – I spoke up and said it was our honeymoon could we have a better seat. Immediately he gave us the best seat in the room, and even gave us a free bottle of wine.

As I have mentioned before, in our area, there are a lot of restaurants where you can eat free on your birthday (or at least get a free desert!). It never hurts to let the waiter (or manager) know you are celebrating a special occasion (now be truthful!). This works for other places than restaurants. When I was younger I was buying a birthday present for my mom, I was just short of the amount I needed to buy a particular gift – I mentioned to the clerk that this was a present for my mom, the clerk gave me a discount and I was able to buy it. You just never know – so why not let them know and ask! Maybe you could save a penny!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Anniversary’s and Special Occasions is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

Because I am a gardener, there are a lot of things I would love to have – tiller, thatcher, edger, etc. But for me, it is cheaper to occasionally rent the equipment than to purchase it. It saves me the upfront cost, the maintenance costs, storage costs, etc. Many times I can go together with a friend and we can split the costs for renting for a day. Even better is borrowing pieces of equipment!

On the flip side of renting from others is renting to others. The other day we received an email from a home-school email group we are a part of. A couple was looking to rent a pop-up camper for a weekend. They had called around to RV places and they wanted to charge $400 for a weekend to rent a camper! My wife and I talked about it and we called to meet the couple. So over Father’s Day weekend this couple will be using our pop-up! Now we are not “renting” the pop-up out – too many liabilities with insurance, etc. But it is still a win-win – they get the pop-up for a weekend, and we will get a few things fixed on it (he is a handyman)!

What items could you be renting instead of purchasing yourself? Or, to make money what items could you rent out? I would love to hear your ideas!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Renting Equipment is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

The other day I received a bill from a medical provider regarding my wife. The bill said that they had submitted the information to the insurance company and that they had denied the claim. So I checked online with my insurance company to see the Explanation of Benefits (E.O.B.) to see why the claim was denied. There was no E.O.B.

So I called the provider and told them that I had not received an E.O.B. yet and that it was not online yet. They reviewed their records – here they had keyed some information in wrong, which is why the claim had been denied, and why there was no E.O.B. So the medical provider  resubmitted the claim, and it went through.

The bill is for $160. Taking 10 minutes of my time and checking for the E.O.B. will probably save me over $100, maybe the whole $160 (we have met the deductible).

It pays to check on medical bills. This is not the first time I have been billed incorrectly for something. And once you pay a bill, it is extremely hard to get the money back!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Update on Medical Bills is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

Medical Insurance can be confusing. Plan Allowances, Deductibles, Co-Pays, Write-offs – it can make your head spin! With my wife’s sinus surgery coming up next week, we are right in the middle of all the paperwork and billing. How does one keep it all straight?

The way I am doing it is by checking the E.O.B. – the Explanation of Benefits that our health insurer gives. The basic information included on an E.O.B. is:

• Provider and Date of Service: did we actually go to that doctor on that day (it has happened to us in the past that we were getting billed by a doctor that we didn’t see!)
• Provider’s Charge: this is what the doctor charged for you seeing them / procedure being done
• Non-Billable: this is the write-off that the insurer “negotiates” with the provider
• Plan Allowance: what your insurance allows for a particular procedure (therefore the non-billable to member part)
• Your Deductible: depending on your health insurance plan, you will have a deductible to meet before the insurance kicks in.
• Your Copay: some services, like prescription drugs or doctor office visits have a part you always pay regardless if you meet a certain deductible. For example, our copay is $20 for office visits – we will always pay that every time we go to a doctors office
• Amount You Owe: this may be the bottom line that you need to pay (but not always!).
• Remarks: this is where I check carefully. Sometimes something is entered wrong and the codes here can help you see or explain why something was denied, etc.

Right now we have used over $1000 of our $1500 individual deductible (my wife). So after a little more than $500 in expenses for her, our insurance will pick up everything but copays. Except that (there are always exceptions!), my place of work splits the deductible with us (kind of like a company partially self insuring themselves to save some money), so in reality we will be getting $250 back ($750 is 1/2 and we were at a $1000). The EOB let me know that. Confused yet? It’s enough to make your head swim.

But by checking my EOB I can save money. I have caught errors; for instance one time a billing code was entered wrong and that service was denied, but with the right code it was then approved. I have received bills from providers (doctors) where they were supposed to send it to health insurance first, but either through a mistake or hoping to get their money quicker, they billed me first. By checking my EOB’s, or in this case not finding one, I can tell them to send the bill to my insurance, which in turn paid the bill. If I would have just paid the doctor without checking, I may have never gotten the money back, or at least had a hard time getting it back!

The time part that checking EOB’s saves me is that everything is in one place. For us, I can go online and check all the claims that are coming in, see where the insurance company is in the process, etc. It helps keep me organized, and that always saves time and money!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Checking Your E.O.B. can save you Money and Time! is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

Like others, if  I see something in a catalog, I want it! I used to get a computer magazine “for work.” And every time a shiny new model or gadget was displayed, I wanted it! And most of the time I didn’t get it, but sometimes “resistance was futile” and I would purchase something. The answer to overcoming this temptation was to cancel the magazine! That sounds sort of extreme, but it saved me money, not just on the subscription, but also in computer spending sprees. Did I really need those computer items? Not really. My current computer is 3-1/2 years old and is working nicely. It is sufficient for what I need. And since I am not seeing all those shiny new sleek machines, I am not as tempted to upgrade.

I do the same thing in other areas of my life. I love to garden. But I only get one gardening magazine, one that does not have outside advertisements (it only advertises its magazine, products and books). I also only look at a few gardening catalogs. There are four catalogs that I will look at, the rest I pitch. It’s easy to get gardening fever with all the beautiful pictures. So I reduce temptation by only looking at a few.

The eye is the window to the soul. The eye also has a direct connection to your wallet or purse! Sometimes not seeing means saving!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Avoiding Spending Temptation is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to do what I call a triple play – make a purchase and utilize three different savings/earnings opportunities.

First I lookecd on the web for internet savings codes for the gardening company I wanted to make a purchase from. I knew about how much I was going to spend, and I found several codes – the best one was for free shipping which saved me almost $15!

Secondly, I did a search through the mypoints toolbar (even though I knew the website, etc.). It listed the gardening company and if I clicked to the site through mypoints I could earn 3 points per dollar spent (which can be used for gift cards – I usually choose restaurants). I don’t do a lot through mypoints, but it is an easy way to get some gift cards with little effort.

Third, I paid for the purchase using my Wells Fargo Visa credit card which gives me one percent back to be used toward paying off my mortgage.

So for one purchase, I was able to save ($15) and get rewarded (points toward gift card and points toward mortgage). Not bad for something I was going to buy anyway!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. A Triple Play Purchase! is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

I was reading Better Homes & Gardens because I was in a doctor’s waiting room (waiting for my wife – sinus infection). Anyway, I came across an article talking about hosting  a “swap party”.

The basic idea is that you invite 5-8 friends to your house, and each person brings up to 10 items that they want to give away (the number of items should be predetermined). After arriving, tags are placed on each item, and then each individual is given tickets to “purchase” items. Ideally, each person could leave with up to the same number of items as they brought (but they don’t have to take that many). You will have to work out if more than one person wants the same item (bid with your tickets, etc.).Any items left unclaimed are then packed up together and given to a charitable organization like Goodwill.

This can be a win-win for everyone – you get rid of things that you no longer need and declutter your house. You may bring home some items that you want, and charity gets the rest. And everyone can have fun!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Swap Party is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

It’s that time of year again (we do it twice a year, Fall and Spring) when we do a thorough cleaning of the girls rooms (ages 7, 8, and 9). We try to strike a balance between having them keep their rooms clean and not being clean room Nazi’s. It’s a hard balance to keep! But twice a year we do a thorough cleaning, and at the same time encourage them to give away toys they are too old for or are no longer playing with.

Well, my wife just called me at work. She was furious! She said she must have found over a dozen pairs of socks stuffed in various places. And we just bought socks because the girls were low on them! I’m glad I am at work, I know there are three girls in trouble right now. They were too lazy to put things away (common for children) and they hid it from us (also common) and we ended up spending money on clothing we wouldn’t have had to (probably also common).

So now my wife wants to come up with some system where we check their rooms more regularly. We ask them to clean up their rooms daily, but we only check thoroughly weekly – that is about to change!

After the Great Toy Clean-out is finished I will let you know the results!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. The Great Toy Clean-out Has begun! is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.

I had to run my wife to the doctor yesterday – she has an infection in her lungs. Yuck! Afterward, I stopped by our local grocery store to pick up something for the family to eat that would be easy and quick to make. I decided on soup. There,in the soup isle,  sitting on top of some cans of soup was a coupon for a dollar off! A “coupon angel” left it there for someone else to use – and I did!

That was a little pick me up in an otherwise down type of day. It was a reminder to me that little thoughtful things like that can make a big difference in someone’s day. Have you been a little “financial” angel to someone recently? If you have – thank you!

Hi there - could you help spread the word about A Penny Saved? We rely on word of mouth to get new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would truly appreciate it. Coupon Angel is a post from: A Penny Saved, the best darn personal finance blog around.