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Sep 3, 2008    |       19 comments

The Streets Look a Little Different Now

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While driving down the main highway through town over the weekend, I noticed something. There were many houses with things for sale near the curb. One house was having a garage sale. One was selling some furniture. Another had a truck and another had a boat. Turning the corner, there were a few more trucks for sale and another boat.

I think people are really feeling the pinch of higher prices, and in Michigan – the unemployment rate continues to be high here (in July it was 8.5%). I don’t think I have ever seen so many things for sale on the sides of the roads. Even websites for buying and selling seem to be flooded with items for sale. We are still on schedule to have a monster of a garage sale soon but now I’m wondering if there will be many buyers!

We are definitely feeling the pinch especially with our groceries. I haven’t found one thing that we normally buy that hasn’t gone up in price. The one type of cheese that we buy went up 50 cents. Eggs went up by almost a dollar. It’s tough to adjust to spending even less when we were trying to cut our spending to begin with. It seems like a big uphill battle, but I have hope we will make it work.

Sep 2, 2008    |       100 comments

So How Much Did My Physical Therapy Cost?

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I still haven’t received my bill from my physical therapist yet for my knee problem. But, I did get my explanation of benefits from my insurance provider so I know how much my bill is going to be. I cannot believe how much it cost!

$222/visit

The first visit I had, I can understand that cost and I’m okay with that cost. My condition was evaluated and that was some real one-on-one time. The second visit, well, it was cut short for one so it was less than an hour (50 minutes). Then I spent 10 minutes on an exercise bike while the trainer sat and pedaled next to me. Then I was given an ultrasound treatment (which did feel nice for a few hours after the visit) and the trainer taped me knee (only to have it unravel by the time I went to bed). The last five minutes were spent reviewing my homework exercises. To me, it wasn’t worth the continued visits since the trainer said they would be the exact same thing.

After my insurance, each visit cost almost $65. Let’s say that I stuck with the program for the rest of the five weeks at two visits/week. That would have been $650. I knew I had to fess up to my doctor since I saw her again a little bit ago. Her response? She asked if I received some exercises to do. I told her that I did and I have been doing them and I am also trying to be more active overall. I also said I was concerned about the cost. She understood and gave one of those smiles like, “Yeah, I know they are pretty ex-pen-sive!” but she couldn’t say that LOL. But she approved.

A few changes have made a huge difference. My weekends are basically pain free now. During the week is a different story, though, since I still sit for long periods and it hurts my knees. Inactivity has taken a toll on my body and it is going to take some time to reverse it but it can be done. I am making progress, though 🙂

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