Tips and Tricks to Afford Life’s Luxuries:

We all enjoy nice things.  A lot.  Unfortunately these little luxuries often come with a hefty price tag.  In the current economic climate I’ve felt torn.  I still want luxury items; yet saving has become so important and even chic.  How to balance the two?

My solution: Save money on the NEEDS to pay for the WANTS.  This has allowed me to enjoy occasional luxury purchases without guilt.

Yesterday started this 3 part savings series.     We covered Grocery Savings in the first post.  Today we’ll cover Medical.

Prescription Drug Savings

We all require medical care at one time or another.  Doctor’s visits are unavoidable.  But in addition, many patients are on long term prescriptions for conditions like: diabetes, blood pressure, depression, etc…  These health care costs add up quickly!

You probably already know to ask your doctor about the availability and safety of generic medications for your condition.  And if you haven’t already done this…start.

For even more generic savings, check out the 4$ Prescription Plan.  Many common generics are available through these programs.  See if your prescription is listed at Target or Wal-Mart.  They even offer some meds at 10$ for a 3 month supply.

If you have prescription coverage, you’re in a great place.  Find out if your benefits give you access to a mail order pharmacy.  Through these pharmacies you can normally get 90 days of meds for a considerable savings.  Just remember to have your doctor write a 90-day prescription.

Also remember that even if you have prescription coverage, the price of a generic can be less than the co-pay of the name brand.  Do your research to get the best savings.

Take Full Advantage of Employee Benefits.

Check to see if your employee benefits include a cafeteria plan.  With this option you can set up an FSA (Flexible Spending Arrangement or Account.)  An FSA allows you to set back a portion of your earnings for qualified medical and sometimes dependent care expenses, etc…  Money set aside in this kind of account is not subject to payroll taxes.  That means more savings for you.  With my FSA account I pay for contacts, many over-the-counter drugs, co-pays and more.

Savings on Contacts.

Do you wear contacts?  Order them online and I bet you’ll save money.          I recently compared the cost of ordering locally to buying lenses online at 1-800 CONTACTS.   I saved almost 30% by ordering online.  They are the exact same lenses, at a much better price and even arrived faster than I could get them locally.  For even more bang, I then paid for the contacts with my FSA account.  Cha-Ching!

***Update since post was published*** Receive a discount at 1-800-CONTACTS through 7/26/2009 by clicking link and entering code:   Save 5% off your $150 purchase today at 1800CONTACTS.com – Use Code Save354. We deliver. You save.

That concludes day 2 of our 3 part series.  And depending on your situation, the above tips can mean an annual savings of potentially hundreds of dollars.  Those savings go a long way towards an occasional splurge.  And we’re not even done yet.

If you have money-saving ideas, send them in.  We love to hear from you!  And check back for tomorrow for part 3 of this series.

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