I'm no stranger to debt...
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I'm no stranger to debt...
| Tue, 04-18-2006 - 9:02pm |
I've most frequently had difficulty managing finances, a problem which has plagued me throughout my life. I've already filed bankruptcy once, more than 10 yrs ago. I'm prone to cycles of good financial management then BAD financial management. I've noticed a pattern but I'm not sure how to prevent it! I'm in a BAD financial management cycle at the moment, more than $17,000 in credit card debt alone. I've also got approximately $10,000 in medical bills.
Does anyone have suggestions or words of wisdom? I'm depressed just thinking about it.
Thanks!

Hi, Diva. Well, I think we all go thru cycles. There is hope on this board. Yes, indeed. At one point, my medical bills were absolutely a nightmare! Ideas on medical.
l) Sort your medical bills. WRite to all concerned--x-ray, lab, hospital, dental, docs, billing offices, insurance, etc.
2) On the back of the bill, I wrote down whom I spoke with, when, any correspondence (certified, e-mail, snail-mail, calls, etc.
3) Set up payment plan. Had to work with the hospital on this. Initially, it was good. $200/month. No problem. Then, it dragged on to EIGHT months. No answer from insurance, etc. Finally had the x-ray people get ahold of them (contacted HR, main insurance folks, etc.) and they paid.
4) If you can pay cash for any of the bills, ASK if they will give a discount. Why? The billing person was surprised, shocked, bewildered, dumbfounded, etc., that no one at the hospital had bothered to ask if I could pay cash on any of it, and they deducted 10% of the total bill!
5) Get free samples of meds when you go to the doc. Hang in there. Whiz.