Funky Frugal Mommy

Many families are struggling to find viable and affordable healthcare options, and a recent study by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine showed that patients are being overcharged for ER services by over $3 billion each year . The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey reports that the average ER visitor pays total costs of $1,318 and a mean cost of $615. However, the study showed that the charges for emergency physician services can be anywhere from one to 12.6 times more than the Medicare allowance. "There are massive disparities in service costs across emergency rooms, and that price gouging is the worst for the most vulnerable populations," said senior investigator and professor of surgery at JHU's School of Medicine, Martin Makary. "Our study found that inequality is then further compounded on poor, minority groups, who are more likely to receive services from hospitals that charge the most." To add insult to injury, a private study conducted by Milliman f

For many of today's professionals, working on vacation is simply part of the job. In fact, about 60% of people have worked while on their getaway. Perhaps you are telecommuting and don't want to take time off, or maybe you are an entrepreneur simply keeping tabs on your company while you are away. Either way, it is all too easy to let working ruin your vacation, robbing you of that relaxation you so need. Fortunately, if you absolutely have to punch the clock while you are away, there are more productive ways to get your work done while still basking in the sun. Studies show that 37% of families say that vacation makes them happy, making it the most happiness-inducing activity. So, how can you reap the joy and benefits of your time away while still doing the work you need to do? Use this guide to integrate work into your vacation without stressing too much, ultimately returning feeling more refreshed. Block Off Work Time : Block off specific times of the day that you are

Financial storms are something that many families face in their lifetimes. Whether they are due to a crash in the market, an unexpected illness, or being laid off. However, just because you feel the wind pick up and the rain starts to fall; it doesn't mean it’s time to panic. Especially if you follow the guide below on how to keep the family's finances afloat, even when it's blowing a (metaphorical) gale. Protect One way to keep your family's finances afloat is to make sure that they are protected as much as possible. Do this is by having adequate insurances in place. Insurances work by covering you in certain situations if you can no longer keep up the payments on your home, credit cards, or other big ticket items. All you have to do is keep up the small monthly premiums to be protected, just in case the worse doesn't happen. Repair Another way to keep the family finances afloat when things are difficult is to investigate how to repair a low credit

What can you do if you're born with bad dental genes? Thanks, Mom and Dad. From overbites to too-small mouths to buck teeth, there are plenty of dental issues that could force you indignantly into the orthodontist's office for your braces. Braces are a teenage thing for most folks, but for some of us, they come later in life after we're well into adulthood. The proposition of wearing braces as an adult can be terrifying. You might worry about how to take care of them. They can make you feel self-conscious and unattractive - but only if you let them. Here are a few tips for dealing with life as an adult with braces. Following these pointers will make daily life easier and might make you think that maybe, just maybe, it's not so bad after all. 1. What Braces? Aside from proper care and maintenance, those braces aren't there — they just don't exist. What braces? Where? Channel your "Fairest of Them All" bad self, and strut your stuf

Image from Pexels According to oDesk, there are more than 3.7 million Australians who are in the freelance industry. With the advent of technology and the Internet, we now live in a more liberated workforce. More than 51 percent of those Australians who left their traditional day job now earn 69 percent of their previous income within a year. Additionally, 58 percent of them refused to go back to their traditional corporate job no matter the amount of money to be offered. Why are Australians lured into the freelancing world? Australians are known to be the laidback type. Thus, it makes total sense that they resort to freelancing as their job and sometimes their way of life. Every year, there are a lot of Australians who will trade the job security for the perks of a more flexible working way of life. With millions of Australians resorting to freelancing, a lot of people are wondering why a lot of people are into freelancing these days. The freelancing realm is so

Please do your part in keeping our community safe by managing the wildlife attractants around your home. As bears prepare for winter denning they are in search of easily accessible food sources. Don't put your community and the bear at risk by allowing them to access your garbage! Bears have already been spotted in several West Kelowna neighbourhoods. WildSafeBC has tips that residents can follow to keep wildlife wild; help prevent conflicts by: Putting out garbage only on the morning of collection Kindly encouraging neighbours to put out their garbage at the appropriate times too, and offering to help out if they are unable to do so Securing garbage on non-collection days Keeping your garbage bin clean Not depositing food in un-secured garbage bins in parks or construction areas Keeping barbecues clean and covered Picking ripe fruit, cleaning up any fallen fruit, and mixing these attractants well into your compost Putting away and cleaning up any bird seed and

Colorful pompoms If you  think that craft is also coloring books and bright woolen pompoms, then you probably need to sit down and consider everything that craft has to offer in your world and how it can change your lifestyle for the best. For a start, the craft has more than one meaning, so maybe it’s worth exploring how each can make your life better. Craft lunches and meals: Healthy food for less There’s something at the core of the world of craft that refers to homemade food and drinks. While you may not embrace the life of a beer brewer, you can certainly adopt some of the principles of craft food into your everyday life. For a start, preparing your lunch box means that you are in charge of the nutrition and the budget you invest in it too. l There is no denying that bought meals will always be more expensive and less healthy than homemade ones. Additionally, this allows you to be more playful with your menus and to stay away from junk food. A healthy diet for less,

Ah, bad habits! We all have our fair share of them, and sometimes it comes as a surprise that we can’t fully manage them. Which is funny, when you think about it because bad habits are exactly that: The unmanageable dark side of your personality. Well, in reality, while you can’t ditch your bad habits overnight, you can certainly learn to outsmart them and to replace them by something better. Because that’s the thing about bad habits: They’re habits. It’s a pre-learned behavior, so the only way to get rid of it is to learn something new to replace it. Bad habits #1. Sell what you don’t need any more If you’re one of those people who easily fall for the materialistic trap of buying too much and mainly things you barely need, then you’ve probably come across the challenges of heavy shopping on your budget. Credit card debts are a common consequence of the shopping waves of ‘I want’ and ‘I need.' When it comes to managing debts, https://consolidation.creditcard can recomme

Swagbucks is holding their monthly Swago promotion starting Monday, 28 August at 9am PDT! It's just like bingo, but in this case you're filling out squares as you earn points on their site for doing things you already do online. If you're thinking of trying Swagbucks, this is a great chance to learn all about how the site works and earn bonus points while doing it.     The best part is that the points you get can be used to get free gift cards to places like Amazon, or PayPal cash!  Fill up your board and then submit your pattern to get even more points - if you can fill in the whole board, you get a 300 SB bonus!  Click here  to sign up and get started! If you sign up through my link and earn 300 SB before the first of next month, you'll get a bonus 300 SB!

Have you ever been a victim of a thief? I was last night. Sadly with all the other things I have on my mind at any given time I forgot to lock my van doors. Then at 4:27 am while I was fast asleep some rotten piece of garbage went into my van and stole my belongings. The moron didn't even notice he was on camera and my video sealed his fate because he is now sitting in city cells.   He was silent when he was in there even though he remained in my vehicle for over 3 minutes. He even had a lookout watching his back up the road, we watched them both approach the house in the video. So what do I suggest you do to avoid this scenario? LOCK YOUR DOORS! Install an alarm Make your home well lit (I have a motion sensor light near the other side of my house) Install security cameras Never leave valuable items in your vehicle Luckily I never keep anything valuable in my van, as I know what kind of people are lurking. The thief got away with my garbage can, mail keys, and

THE GODFATHER TRILOGY: OMERTÀ EDITION Street Date: November 7, 2017 Overview: Celebrating its 45th anniversary, director Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER is widely considered one of the most influential films in cinematic history. Now the entire epic trilogy will be available on Blu-ray ™  in a spectacular 4-disc Omertà Edition, which includes the Coppola Restoration of THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER, PART II, as well as the remastered version of THE GODFATHER, PART III. A stunning gift for any fan, only 45,000 of these limited edition, numbered sets will be made available beginning November 7, 2017.  THE GODFATHER TRILOGY: OMERTÀ EDITION includes commentary by Coppola on all three films, a full disc of previously released in-depth special features, as well as exclusive new collectible Trivia Cards, Magnetic Poetry, an Anatomy of a Scene fold out and Quote Cards. # # #

Everyone is talking about decluttering.  In fact, decluttering is so important it now has it’s own day: September 23rd is National DeClutter Day.  Why declutter? The answer is easy: Decluttering saves you time and saves you money. It also improves your health and happiness.  Being cluttered eats up a lot of time: Time looking for your keys, looking for the mail to pay the bills or trying to find an outfit to wear to work that day.   And think about the real cost of clutter.  How about all the clothes in your closet with the tags still on them?  Or the pantry items you buy again and again cause you can’t find the mustard you bought the last time you went to the store?  And let’s talk what you are paying for off site storage spaces: $100 a month? $150 a month? It’s no wonder everyone is talking about decluttering! Ahead of National DeClutter Day on September 23rd, there’s no better time to share some of my favorite tips to tackle the clutter room by room, and in turn, living a