From the article: Money-Saving Tips for the Cost-Conscious Mental Health Patient
Healthcare for bipolar disorder is expensive! Give us your tips for saving money, be it on prescriptions, therapy, or something else that you can cut back on so you have more money to spend on essentials like healthcare. Share Your Tips
food savings
- look for a quantity food buying program. some states have fareforall.com (they take food stamps), or www.angelfoodministries.com, check out TipHero.com for printable coupons updated weekly, john ewoldt's weekly column at startribune.com. Consider a community garden, I'm working on one with my neighborhood association. Grow a few veggies with your flowers. Have a friend over and each cook a favorite dish, package in plastic containers and freeze.
- —Guest cribwinner27
Clearance
- In the start of fall, I shop for summer items. Early spring, winter items. I check all Clearance Items esp at 1 store that has BIG markdowns. If my niece has begged for 4 a toy @ Christmas but didn't get it, I buy it for her b-day, I shop the toys clearance aisles, esp in the early fall & Spring . I've saved $30 or more. I never buy a clearance item the 1st time I see it so that I reduce impulse buy & the px is usually lower the next time. Esp on items that they overstocked. Coupon shop, trade, px match with the 1 large store that does so. Go to a food store that ups my coupons that are below 50 cents . BOGO doesn't always mean you have to buy two; you can get half off one item. Meat gets reduced Mon AM. I read my neighbor's local paper, I buy my gas when the price drops; esp if I have a half a tank. Gas evaporates in your tank more quickly than you'd think. Use the slowest notch on the gas handle; it stops vapor return. Buy the Sun Paper 4 cpns. I have alot more tips, but no room!
- —Guest SnoopyShorts
Joined a book swap
- Instead of buying new books - sometimes I can't bear to return checkouts to the library! - I joined a couple bookswap sites. Now I just pay the post to send books requested by other members and get books I want from other folks. I got a book that would cost $35 new for the cost of postage on one of mine -- $2.19.
- —grammarchick
Buy in Bulk
- We take a lot of vitamins and diet supplements. We wait for them to go on sale -- buy 1, get 2 free, for example -- and then we stock up. It's not a lot of money, but every little bit helps these days!
- —waders
Internet savings
- I get my news online for free -- no more daily newspaper. I switched to an internet phone, and that's a big savings (got a deal by bundling it with cable and internet. I did some online insurance comparisons and cut my insurance costs for house and car. I also comparison shopped for my credit card, so I'm getting miles and no fees.
- —susehahna
Be Savvy About Prescriptions
- I don't have insurance, so I get my prescription filled at a pharmacy that offers $4 prescriptions. My doctor had to alter several of my prescriptions a bit, but it ended up saving me over $80 a month.
- —cdgthomas
Pay all the bills first
- I pay all the bills as soon as the checks come in. I also deposit my monthly contribution to the savings account. Once that's done, whatever's left is fair game. If I'm going to make more money than usual, the savings account gets a bigger share.
- —brouhardr
Books and Videos
- To expand on the library idea in the article: I use to spend way too much money on books and videos, but I've found that even if a library doesn't have what I want, they can get it. Most libraries have inter-library loan arrangements with many other libraries, and many libraries will even buy books and videos if you request them.
- —college_admissions
Buy Online
- I purchase almost everything online. Even if I don't have a discount coupon, not having to drive or take the time to go to multiple stores is a huge savings.
- —Guest Susan
Make good choices
- I have allocated a certain amount of money I'm allowed to spend on myself everyday. It's not a huge amount, enough to buy maybe one fancy coffee or a paperback book (which granted are both getting a lot more expensive, sigh). Then when I want to buy something, I think about my budget. Am I willing to give up buying a book or coffee for the next x days to buy that item? If I am, I mark an x on my calendar for each day I'm forgoing my treat. Then, when I get to the day that I have saved all the money, if I really did forgo a treat for those days, I buy the item. Many times, by the time I get to that day, I no longer want it. That's always nice! :-)
- —Guest Jenn
Creating Spending Limits
- I suppose part of "saving money" is not spending money foolishly. A friend of mine who was bipolar would once or twice a year blow thousands of dollars in wild spending when he had gone into a really manic phase. He and his partner worked out an arrangement with their credit card company and bank to put triggers or limits on expenditures - no more than $XX per day...or no more than $XX per week without the partner being notified. It gave the partner some peace of mind to know he'd be notified...and it gave my bipolar friend a bit of a safety net.
- —candleandsoap
