Saving lots of monies.....

I was watching Oprah the other day. Actually I was watching Suze Orman, on Oprah. She was talking about how you can call up the credit card companies, and ask if they will lower the pay-off amount for you, as long as you are sending in a payment to pay it all off. She said a lot of times, they just want what ever money they can get from you, so they will lower it just to get a lump sum. As I thought about this, I thought about all the Dr. bills we have. (Pediatrician, OB, fertility Dr., emergency room for kidney stones) Needless to say, we have a bunch. I wondered if it would work for the Dr. bills......so I tried. I got on the phone, and started calling one Dr. after the other. The first one I called, the balance was about $130 (I know, probably TMI), anyhow, I simply asked her if I was to send in a pay-off amount, if there was any way they could lower the pay-off amount or give a discount of some sort. She said she would need to call me back. Well, I got a call about ten minutes later saying for some reason a few payments from my insurance company didn't get posted until this year that were suppose to be paid last year and now they owe me $94. What??? Ok, I am fine with that. Next Dr. I call, the bill was $324.....now I know this was not the right charge. I have had these services before and they cost about $60. So I spoke with the lady for a little bit about how this doesn't seem right. She looked at my account and said it didn't look right to her either, and that it should have only been a charge of $50. Fine, I could pay $50. Well, ten minutes later, they call back saying, it was posted wrong and now the charges are $0. What??? Zero balance.....OK, I can handle that. Next Dr. I call, they can only give me a ten percent discount, but it's still something. Next Dr. I call, the lady was very nice and she said she would cut my bill in half (which was over a $150 savings people). I was feeling stoked by this time. I called a few more and they all worked with me but one, which was fine. I tell you this not to brag (ok....maybe a little), but to let you know that this is possible. Also, that sometimes Dr.'s offices make mistakes, and it is up to us to point them out. A couple of these, I would have normally just paid, and not thought anything about it. Glad I called. Now you can do it too. With the hard times, I think Dr.'s just want to get paid something, rather than nothing at all. I added it all up, and saved us over $600 in Dr. bills....and it only took about a half hour. I think that's pretty good pay. My husband was pretty proud of me, and I could now say I contribute financially to this family......ok, kind of .... :)