Has the economic downturn affected yo...
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Has the economic downturn affected yo...
| Fri, 08-01-2008 - 11:58am |
Has the economic downturn affected your diabetes care?
- Yes
- No
- Maybe
- Somewhat
- A lot
- Other
You will be able to change your vote.

I had to say somewhat. Work is getting very busy, and management really wants
I said "No, it hasn't" from the perspective that good diabetes management actually will save money in the long run so we plan and prioritize for that (as well as DH's hypertension and apnea management). However, it is impacting our budget since we can't just buy the 5/$1 plain spaghetti and 3/89 cents loaves of white bread. The good thing is that we've got great insurance through my company - the rates are going up but we're switching plans (from an HMO to an HSA - higher deductible BUT the company kicks in $2000 per year toward the deductible, so they're paying for HALF our out of pocket expenses basically).
As far as stuff like oil, we are on a budget plan so that 11 months of the year we pay a fixed amount (and we can pay extra at any time if we have some to spare). The 12th month we zero the account - either we pay the balance remaining or they roll the balance in our favor into the next year, potentially reducing our monthly payments. It locks in the rate as well - sure, sometimes we've ended up paying a little more when prices dropped BUT we don't get stuck when prices rise. I had to wrestle with the oil company a little when we set up the plan because they usually do a 12 month budget - that twelth month, then, ends up with both the regular monthly amount PLUS any balance due - double whammy. So, we wrestled a bit, they wrestled with their software, I wrestled with them again, and eventually one very helpful customer service rep, the accounting manager, and I got it all sorted out.
I have budget plans for both oil and electric - I prefer to have as many of my bills as possible as 'fixed' costs each month - oil, electric, cable, phone, mortgage, student loan are all the exact same amount (within pennies) every month. Which is good since my paycheck is the same every month (within pennies) every month. Oh, and the propane would be on a budget plan except that's only for cooking so it's just a once a year delivery and payment - not enough for a budget plan with the company (I just factor in a few dollars per month in the budget so that over the year, the money is there when the delivery arrives).
--Deb
Do you use regular fuel oil and have to fill your tank?
I voted "somewhat" but want to explain what I think is really being impacted: my monthly expenses have skyrocketed (gas, utilities, food) which has essentially created a situation where I do not eat out as much as I was ... which in the long run should prove to be a plus for my health.
For example ... I used to go out for coffee (I'm a decaf/nonfat/sugarfree/vanilla latte girl) three or four times a week. Now on Fridays, I stop and get a iced green tea, half the price of a latte and a lot better for me.
Sue
Sue
Sue
LOL okay maybe overstated but if you go to bread company outlets you can get day old loaves for about that then freeze them to keep them for several weeks - both Wonder and Freihofer's have outlet stores for day olds - we've done that on occasion in the past but not any longer. And, on occasion, it IS possible to find grocery stores doing specials on the cheap store brand white breads where it's buy 1 get 1 or better (and add in coupons and it can be really cheap). FYI we're in one of the most expensive states in the country (CT). For us, it just makes no sense to buy bread any more (too hard to find actual whole grain bread with no HFCS that costs less than a new car lol). We buy organic whole wheat flour and organic unbleached white flour and make our own bread in the bread machine on purpose, deliberately, as in having guests over and make soup and a loaf of fresh bread. We don't 'default' to sandwiches most of the time now. We do make wraps using the Tumaro's low carb multi grain tortillas (there are also other low carb brands, we just have easier access to these than others and we like them) - the *large* ones (10 inch diameter) are 18 grams of carbs and 12 grams of fiber - ingredients (in order) are water, oat fiber, whole wheat flour, soybean flour, wheat gluten, canola oil, aluminum free baking powder , calcium priopionate, lecithin, mono and diglycerides from plant sources, salt, sesame seed flour, almond meal, xanthan gum, guar gum, fumaric acid, potassium sorbate, sodium metabisulfite. (oh and for those going "how do you handle school lunches without sandwiches?" we don't...DS is 10 and has never been sent to school).
--Deb
yes we use regular fuel and fill our tank BUT by being on a budget plan, we don't have to come up with several hundred dollars at a time to get it filled AND the price doesn't go up and down every time we need to fill the tank. We pay about $180 per month year round and that number hasn't changed in the last two years by more than about $2 per month. I expect the new budget plan to go up slightly but again, by dividing it up over more months (so that when we're not using much oil we can catch up) we keep things fairly even and don't get socked in the middle of January in New England. They come and fill the tank based on 'heating degree days' so that we should never (and rarely do) run too low on fuel nor are we just getting 'topped off' all the time. All in all, it stays fairly stable all around and I like that. I'd rather pay $180 per month in July and August when we use barely any oil (just enough for lukewarm showers) than pay $500 all at once in January to fill the tank.
Yup, when we bought the house 7 years ago, it had a 50 year old furnace that had almost no ventilation space - totally sucked on efficiency. We replaced that and had them vent directly to the outside so that it is much more efficient. And, yes, we maintain a basic (the lowest level they have) service plan on the furnace so that one tune up per year is covered (along with emergency service calls as needed).
--Deb
Our power company calls it budget billing.
When landlord just billed me, and he paid oil company i was on keep fill plan. not sure but maybe with him owning so many places, they were not charging him the 150 and 200% for getting less than 150 or less than 100
Yup, we aren't in that sort of uncertainty of layoff rehire layoff... but (a) knowing what the bill will be each month (b) not having to do big lump sums at irregular intervals and (c) being able to use windfalls (lots of overtime or a seasonal bonus or whatever) to 'get ahead' on the account is handy. Generally, regardless of whether it's 'settle up' month or not, if I see that we're within 'striking distance' of even (like if the budget payment is $180 and the balance is $200), I'll try to scavenge up the $20 or whatever to zero things out to make it easier to get ahead of them before the next delivery. We rarely owe anything more than the regular budget payment (+/- $ a little, usually <$50) come settle up time.
--Deb