Tuesday, October 03, 2006

being sick is expensive

Yesterday I laughed about getting a bill from MDA for $29 and change. It was only that low because nearly everything was "pending insurance."

Today, I got another "statement of benefits" from BCBS, which gives me a head's up on what they're paying and what I'll owe. Needless to say, the new total for MDA will be well into 4 figures.

DH ran a report (we use Quicken, love it) to tally up the nearly unfathomable amount on medical expenses this year. Between my stuff and the two boys' tonsillectomies and all the other incidentals, the word "hemorrhage" comes to mind. Now I've got the lumpectomy coming up and that will be close to a 4-figure bill. And Christmas is coming, too. (Confession: I have already started my shopping.)

We're fortunate we've got the money. It's nothing to do with luck, really: we live well within our means, so we have the money. I don't need to worry about money, and that's good. But it upsets me that we've had to spend so much on so many different illnesses and conditions, and now we're going to have spend even more.

Can I catch a break, please? In the meantime: eating at home (except for Friday lunch dates with DH) has become my daily challenge. No matter how wretched I feel, I come up with something for dinner so we don't have to get the much-more-expensive takeout. It's one small area of our lives where I can have a direct impact on the budget. Even though it's tiny, it lets me think At least I'm doing something to control our spending!

1 comment:

Tracey said...

Okay, now you're starting to scare me. I could have written this post! I completely know where you're coming from. We've had so many mendical bills this past year and when I ran my own QuickBooks report I was sickened by how much it cost to be sick! I AM glad that you've had the money to cover it, but it's not fun. I too try to get my arms around the budget by eating IN rather than OUT. Hard though when everyone is running in different directions and time gets away from me.