Sticker shock, anyone??

Having raised two children to legal adults and still in the process of raising two more, I am well and goodly acquainted with the image of a sick child on the couch, puke bucket within easy reach and keeping one ear cocked in the dead of night for the sounds of wheezing, crying and/or retching. I am also intensely familiar with the worry of "should I take my child to the doctor or will rest, fluids and love make this better?"

We've been fortunate to have health insurance, but even still, co-pays for ER visits, urgent care visits and prescriptions are money out of pocket for us, and we try not to consult doctors for every little thing. So, when I read this line, "By changing to co-insurance, people are more aware of costs and the hope is that they'll be more careful about how they spend their [health care] dollars," said Schilmeister." in this article, Employees face 'shockingly higher' health costs, I was rather offended.

Our family eats healthy, gets lots of exercise and sleep. We try to be proactive about our health. I use homeopathic methods whenever I can (homemade chicken soup, herbal teas, lots of orange juice and apple cider) to build up our immune systems so that when the germs come knocking, it's not so easy for them to get in. We also go out of our way to play safely. The boys aren't doing things on a daily basis that would land them in the Emergency Room.

Our insurance costs will be going way up, because the HMO we were part of is no longer available. We'll have a deductible for the first time ever. The problem with this is that we most likely won't reach the cost of the deductible, so we'll be paying our healthcare costs out of pocket and a premium on top of that. It seems as though it would be smarter for us to just put the money we would spend on health insurance into a savings account and pay our own health care costs with no middle man involved.

The downside to that is what if, God forbid, I get breast cancer, or one of the kids needs to be hospitalized, or my husband is in a car accident on his drive to or from work? Then we'd meet the deductible for sure. And hospitals aren't keen on treating patients who don't have health insurance.

So, I guess, what it boils down to is we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. I'm off to make more chicken soup, at least that's affordable.

Halloween Costumes... on the cheap

Halloween is just around the corner. With the economy the way it is, and money being tight for just about everyone, I thought some frugal costume ideas might be in order. You don't have to spend a lot of money for your kids to have cool costumes, but creativity definitely comes into play.

The little boy above is my son, Cameron. Cameron was Harry Potter for three years running. His costume didn't cost me a cent. First off, he reminds me of a young Harry. Second, his older brother donated a flannel shirt. Cameron's costume consisted of too-short jeans, a t-shirt, a flannel shirt over that, a "wand" and the scar and glasses (until he actually needed them) were drawn on with eyeliner and lipliner by yours truly. Everyone who saw him knew who he was dressed up as - some people even addressed him as Harry.

My daughter went as a black kitten when she was little. She had a headband with cat ears attached, and wore a black turtleneck and leggings. Again, eyeliner and lipliner were used for face paint.

Other suggestions I can make are Farmer, Doctor, Chef, Painter - whatever your little ones want to be. Goodwill, thrift shops, friends' closets and yard sales are great resources for pulling together an original costume. If you're crafty when it comes to sewing, shop the clearance racks at textile shops. Or head to Target or Walmart after Halloween to pick up pre-made costumes at 75% off for next year.

What are your kids going to be for Halloween? Any other suggestions for costumes?