Open Enrollment -- Two Articles

Image courtesy: sxc.hu

Two articles discussing new laws affecting benefits elections. The first focuses on 2012, while the second is a two year plan.



My Open Enrollment Action Plan
Like many other employees, my husband's benefit elections enter the annual open enrollment period in November. Here are some changes I am making to 401(k) contributions, medical, dental and vision insurance, FSA withholding, and commuter expenses for 2012 because of new laws and a new family member.


Maximizing My FSA Benefit and Lowering Taxes
President Obama's health care reform has made two significant changes to FSA. Since 2011, OTC medications require a doctor's prescription for reimbursement. In addition, for 2013, the maximum FSA contribution is reduced to $2,500. Health care expenses are tough to budget, more so if you are budgeting two years out. However, by front loading some of the known spending in 2012 and getting a master prescription list, I plan to partially offset the negative impact of FSA reform. 

Happy Thanksgiving! A Couple of Articles on Being Charitable

Americans are a generous bunch--we cumulatively donated $212 billion (73% of total giving) in 2010 to over 1.28 million charities in the United States.  As we get ready to open our hearts and our wallets this holiday season, here are a couple of articles about charitable investments, and volunteering.

My Investment Approach Toward Charitable Giving
I use a disciplined investment approach toward charitable giving. This ensures the intended recipients get the maximum bang out of my buck and I see savings on our tax return.

Working for Free Worked for Me
Volunteering my time and working for free brings me a unique sense of fulfillment. However unpaid work has also provided tangible benefits that led to higher income potential down the road.

Hey Baby--Top Baby and Kid Related Articles

A selection of my household finance articles pertaining to children's purchases and saving for college. Also included are parenting articles.







Yahoo Finance Articles

• What Not to Buy for Baby
• How I Saved Over $1,000 on Baby Gear
• When I Splurge, When I Save
• No More Splurging on New Baby Purchases
• Building a Tax-Advantaged College Fund for My Children

 
Associated Content Parenting Articles

• How I Am Preparing Myself and My Older Child for a Second Baby
• Traveling with a Child? Find the Closest Public Restroom
• What to Pack when Traveling with Kids
• Ease Your Child's Transition to Preschool

Looking for my missing articles?

Due to a Yahoo glitch, some of my recent articles are not appearing on my profile and some others have gone missing. The links below should work (for now)!





 
Recent articles published in November
What I Learned as a First-Time Home Seller
Learning to Be a Landlord
Working for Free Worked for Me

Some older articles with broken links.
Building a Tax-Advantaged College Fund for My Children
Financial Lessons From My Friends
Managing the Risk and Cost of Food Borne Illnesses in a World of Food Recalls
 

Where to Get a Flu Shot for Cheap (or Free)!

Flu Shot--Free or Cheap Flu Shots in Your Neighborhood


The 2012 winter flu season is being called the worst in many years. The CDC is expected to provide an update on the epidemic on Friday. Shortages are periodically being reported across the country.

 Every year in the fall, I call around my local pharmacies to see if the flu shot is in stock. I also ask about prices and if they accept insurance (in which case they would be free). Last year, I found a local family pharmacy to be the cheapest, at $25 and an urgent care facility, to be the most expensive, at $40.

Most chain store pharmacies like Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Duane Reade etc., supermarket pharmacies like Shop Rite, A&P and big box retailers like Wal Mart and Target offer flu shots. The price range for flu shots at most appear stores to be $28-40.
Many local hospitals and senior centers also offer free flu shots starting in October. Such information is usually available on the City Hall website. Large employers often offer flu shots as well, although it is typically offered on only one day.

You can always go to your general physician and get a flu shot. Your charge will most likely be your co-pay ($5-30), unless you time it with your free annual well-visit. As long as you do not ask the doctor questions regarding other illnesses (which may cause they to bill as an office visit versus a well visit), most pediatric patients do not have to pay a co-pay for well-visits, like a flu shot.

If you have insurance or Medicare Part B, your flu shot may actually be free! Wal Mart has a list of approved insurances. For example, if you have Blue Cross, your out of pocket expense will be zero. Walgreens also accepts several insurance plans, including Cigna. However, many CVS locations use a third party provider (Minute Clinic), which is usually considered out of network by insurances, and therefore you will be charged.

Remember, if the provider hands you a reimbursement form, chances are that the amount to be reimbursed will be lower than your out of network deductible, in which case you will be responsible for the entire amount.

Information on the seasonal flu vaccine and mist is available at the CDC website.

Yahoo Finance Budgeting and Household Cost Cutting Articles

Looking for a master list of my budgeting and household cost cutting articles? Here it is! I will continue to update as I publish more on the topic. Hope you find them useful. Please email me if you have any topic ideas.

Here are the links individually, by topic.

• Common Household Items That Save Me Hundreds of Dollars
• Saving Without Sacrificing Brand Loyalty
• How I Cut My Entertainment Budget by 50%
• Saving Up to 40% on My Major Appliance Purchases
• 10 Ways I Save on My Cellphone Service
• Putting a Cap on My Dental Costs
• How I Save on Prescription and OTC Medications
• Chasing Discounts on TV Service
• How I Reduce Electricity Use by Up to 25% and Lower My Energy Bill
• How I Save Up to 50% While Dining Out at Restaurants
• How I Saved Over $1,000 on Baby Gear
• I'm Saving Up to 50% on Halloween Costumes
• I Saved Almost $6,100 a Year by Not Owning a Car

Casualty Insurance Articles and other related links...

New articles on Yahoo Finance... 

My Experience Filing a FEMA Flood Insurance Claim

What My Homeowners Insurance Covers, and What it Doesn't

How I Am Preparing to Protect Financial and Tax Records Ahead of Hurricane Irene

Managing the Risk and Cost of Food Borne Illnesses in a World of Food Recalls

Tiny Mile Square Town of Hoboken Battles Hurricane Irene

Hope you find them useful.

Some more recent finance articles... scroll to August for a complete list...

Where Can I Save My Cash?

Why I Am Preparing for Another Crunch in the Credit Card Sector

 How I Saved Over 50% on My College Textbooks

Building a Tax-Advantaged College Fund for My Children

Saving Without Sacrificing Brand Loyalty

Lack of Money Did Not Stop Me From Going to College

Common Household Items That Save Me Hundreds of Dollars

Property Tax Bill for Hoboken 2011-12

I was wrong. But I am happy.

In October 2010, I wrote that property taxes could go up starting in August 2011 despite the Hoboken mayor's promise to cut 5% taxes. The results are in.

For Aug (3Q11) and Nov (4Q11), my taxes are down 5% compared to what I paid in May (2Q11).
However, for Feb (1Q12) and May (2Q12), they are 3% higher than the 3Q11/4Q11 amount, but still 2.5% lower year over year (compared to 2Q11).

The 25% promise of tax cuts might not happen, and the property taxes would probably still go up medium to long term, but short term, I am a happy homeowner. It is one ray of joy on a dark day for the U.S. markets.

My new home on Yahoo Contributor Network

10+ of my articles are now on Yahoo's Associated Content (including a couple on Yahoo Finance). Here is a link to my public profile, which has a list of all the articles. You can subscribe to using a RSS feed.

Dalia's Yahoo Page

Personal Finance articles:


How I Save Thousands of Dollars in Income, Sales and Property Taxes
10 Ways I Save on My Cellphone Service
How I Reduce Electricity Use by Up to 25% and Lower My Energy Bill
How I Save on Prescription and OTC Medications
How Packing the Right Credit Card for Foreign Travel Saved Me a Bundle
My Investment Approach Toward Charitable Giving

My goal was for my longer shelf life, broad reaching and general interest articles to reach a broader audience, which I hope to accomplish with the new platform. The majority of articles will be cross-linked here as well.

For many who don't know me personally, I also have a photo uploaded. Hopefully, you can now put a face to the name. Maybe, I've bumped into you somewhere in town!

And finally, some parenting and lifestyle articles. I am hardly an expert, but given I do write these, I figured I might list them here as well.


What to Pack when Traveling with Kids
Ease Your Child's Transition to Preschool

Happy reading (and saving).

Dalia

Relocating: Please pardon our appearance!

Looking for a recent (or old) blog post and it has disappeared?

I am in the middle of relocating SOME of my content to another platform. As you know, I love writing about Hoboken AND general finance articles.
In the future, I will use my Money Matters blog to publish local interest articles, however, broad reaching and general interest articles will be published on another website.

All content, on this blog and on the new website, will continue to be original and hopefully informative, although you might see some familiar topics updated and rewritten with a fresh perspective.

Happy reading!

Dalia