http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/ A rich life without a lot of money Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:29:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/comment-page-1/#comment-1314 FrugalBabe Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:00:51 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/#comment-1314 Good point, Him. My husband and I are health insurance agents - we sold the policy to ourselves, and made sure we got a good one. But there are some truly bad ones out there - some only cover TWO VISITS to a physical therapist per year (??!) Not much use if you're in an accident and actually need PT... We've found that in general, if the price sounds too good to be true on any individual health insurance policy, the policy will be a mess of gaps and holes. Good point, Him. My husband and I are health insurance agents - we sold the policy to ourselves, and made sure we got a good one. But there are some truly bad ones out there - some only cover TWO VISITS to a physical therapist per year (??!) Not much use if you’re in an accident and actually need PT… We’ve found that in general, if the price sounds too good to be true on any individual health insurance policy, the policy will be a mess of gaps and holes.

]]> http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/comment-page-1/#comment-1296 Him Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:14:05 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/#comment-1296 Make sure you read the fine print very carefully of your HDHP, especially on what is covered after you meet the deductible. For example, I found out that my insurance covered up to $5,000 of physical therapy after the deductible was met; the rest was up to me to pay for. Make sure you read the fine print very carefully of your HDHP, especially on what is covered after you meet the deductible. For example, I found out that my insurance covered up to $5,000 of physical therapy after the deductible was met; the rest was up to me to pay for.

]]> http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/comment-page-1/#comment-1119 Frugal Babe » Almost as Frugal as America’s Cheapest Family Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:07:53 +0000 http://frugalbabe.com/2007/03/21/baby-steps-towards-building-an-hsa/#comment-1119 [...] The thing that most impressed me about their strategy - which we aren’t even close to - is how huge their emergency fund is.  They don’t just have an emergency fund, they have it divided into 5 pools of money.  They have backup money for emergency travel, home repair, unemployment (and yes, they have 6 months worth of living expenses in this one), car replacement and medical expenses.  Wow.  We have an ING account that we put $100/month into, and we’ve just set up an HSA where we’re also putting $100/month.  So we’re working on our medical expenses fund and a general emergency fund.  We’re also putting $100/month additional premium towards our HELOC, which is helping to pay it down, and also is available as a worst-case-scenario emergency fund.  I have to say, the Economides family has got some serious budgeting and planning-ahead skills.  There’s pretty much nothing that could happen to them financially that they wouldn’t be prepared for.  There’s no reason for them to ever have to go into debt.  [...] [...] The thing that most impressed me about their strategy - which we aren’t even close to - is how huge their emergency fund is.  They don’t just have an emergency fund, they have it divided into 5 pools of money.  They have backup money for emergency travel, home repair, unemployment (and yes, they have 6 months worth of living expenses in this one), car replacement and medical expenses.  Wow.  We have an ING account that we put $100/month into, and we’ve just set up an HSA where we’re also putting $100/month.  So we’re working on our medical expenses fund and a general emergency fund.  We’re also putting $100/month additional premium towards our HELOC, which is helping to pay it down, and also is available as a worst-case-scenario emergency fund.  I have to say, the Economides family has got some serious budgeting and planning-ahead skills.  There’s pretty much nothing that could happen to them financially that they wouldn’t be prepared for.  There’s no reason for them to ever have to go into debt.  [...]

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