Thrifty Thursday-How I Made $23,160 an Hour

As I wrote on Thrifty Thursday last week, I am still looking at small economy savings, but I have a biggie to share later in the post. With my thrift, it applies to other things than money such as trying to reduce waste and make the most of the hours in my days. My mind set for that last one is in need of a recharge though. We learned on Monday from HR that  we now will be  Work From Home at least until the end of the school year, so mid June. Another eight months! Regardless of your views on the pandemic, I'll do what I need to do to keep myself and family safer so as not to tax the health care system, while doing my part to not unknowingly spread the virus. If that means another eight months working from home so be it. 

      Time 

• I had a glorious 90 minute walk and tea meet-up with a dear friend. I haven't seen her in person in nearly a year, and virtual coffee has been a couple months as well. We had to keep rescheduling this due to work and she also had a cabin week before ours, but ended up with a perfect day for a long walk. 
• A quick pop into the Farmers market and then to get apples with my daughter was a nice venture out, supporting local  producers and farmers at the same time. 
• The time spent  with my daughter helping me set up a different work area was well timed, and I wish I had done it much earlier! Thrifty on the long run and a way to make my time working form home better, I splurged and ordered a ergonomically supportive desk chair to use with the desk. The different space is working well so far. 
• I made soup and apple crisp (vegan) on Sunday for the football game. My daughter joins her dad to watch the misery of the season. 
• DH offered to shop for me, and stay to my list, so I accepted and watched a cheesy fall themed Hallmark movie. I didn't even know they had a fall series of movies. Hokey, predictable, unrealistic, but man, sometimes, I like hokey, predictable, and unrealistic. . 

Resources

• Prior to all the snow, DH mowed the grass, mulching all the dead leaves finely and spread into the yard. We hate raking, unless it is for a good fun leave pile, and this is so good for our yard. 
• Do you remember my vegan boxed brownie recipe hack, where I used a mashed bananas for the egg? I froze half the batch last month but this week I was craving chocolate. The were OK but looked  a little sticky. I took a small handful of frozen strawberries, thawed them in the microwave, put on top of the brownie's and warmed them both again. OMG-this may be my new go to desert. Try it! I've had them every day this week for an afternoon tea break, and will have the last two today. 

Money

• I had a $5 credit to put towards the office chair. The chair itself was on sale, and because I got in brown, not the white or black, it already was $35 cheaper. I guess people don't like brown office chairs or there was a glut! I would have chosen brown anyway as it would be softer colored for the space than either black or white. It comes November 2.
• I layered a sale and 30% coupon to buy DD1 a long warm coat for her birthday gift. While a bit more than I might normally spend on birthday gifts, it was a need as much as something she has wanted as she works outside in all kinds of weather. I also earned $20 in Kohls cash, plus some more points towards Kohls rewards..
• The $20 Kohls cash was used to towards two pairs of Levi's for DH, that were on sale for buy one, get one 1/2 off. He only wears Levi's, has for probably 40 years, and he was in dire need of new ones. This also got me over the $10 mark for Kohls' rewards, so will have those after the first of the month. I was a bit shy for free delivery, but found bath towels, in green, on clearance and our downstairs bathroom uses green so ordered two. Most of our towels need replacing so this was a nudge to do so. 
• And the biggy-we had received a bill for the actual doctor that performed my throat endoscopy back in July-for a whopping $1960 that supposedly had already went through insurance. We had questioned back in July when bills for co-payments and deductibles came if everything was now in, and were surprised it was so low. Well, think again. Well, to phone calls, totally less than five minutes (amazing no hold times) and I found out insurance had denied the claim because it wasn't a referral, but when I called insurance, they had it coded as an out of network office visit. When I explained it was part of the same Emergency room visit and  surgery, of which they had already covered, it was quickly corrected, all but the $30 co-payment. Multiply that  savings for five minutes of a call, and I  earned $23,160  proportionately for my time. Always call on medical bills if you get an unexpected bill. 
• Now I need to figure out how to use $800 in my pretax account as only $500 will roll forward. I do need an eye exam and perhaps new glasses and sun glasses. DH's colonoscopy was deferred and he has yet to reschedule so will be next year as it takes months to get those on the books. When I planned my set aside, I put the Out of Pocket deductible amount, but also had carry over last year, and was planning both DH's procedure and my sleep mouth guard cost. That's delayed as well.

     With DH's shop, we're a bit over $400-I lost a couple details, but perhaps $410 for all food purchases, including take out and restaurant, health and beauty, and household. Considering we had a week of  vacation, I think we are doing OK. We will have odds and end purchases, some items I may need that DH wasn't able to get-or I'll do without. Of course we will have the bill for the items we ordered, but all were in the needs category, or just a twinge of want. How about your wins or  spurges for the week? Did you splurge on something but find a great deal? Will you select the lower cost version of the same item if you only had a choice of one color? What's you biggest win  from challenging a bill?  

P.S. I may have mentioned, but if not here it is and will be a note for my next few posts. If you have a small business you'd like to refer, particularly if they have an on-line presence, please share a link or e-mail me at samandcoffee65@gmail.com. I have a series of upcoming posts on Monday's to promote shopping and using our funds perhaps differently this year. If your own Etsy or E-bay seller spot, that's great. I'd love a little story about the proprietor-the why's of the business, what makes them tick. I know this seems counter to just sharing my Kohls' success, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to source Levi's or the kind of coat my daughter  needed elsewhere. My goal is progress towards steering my funds away from big business, but not expecting perfection.