Consumers today are being battered by high fuel costs and a sharp rise in groceries, while seeing wages remain virtually stagnant. When consumer confidence is down, the whole country suffers as people look for ways to cut costs and save money.

One huge expenditure that continues to grow at a pace outstripping the rate of inflation are healthcare costs. Monthly insurance premiums, prescriptions costs, doctor co-pays, and lab charges are just some of the many components of healthcare expenditures, what every American needs but are finding it increasingly difficult to afford.

Federal government intervention may be forthcoming, but with the current state of the economy what form that will take remains unknown. Both presidential candidates, Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama, have discussed the issue at length, but any sort of plan is months, if not years away from implementation.

Instead of waiting for outside relief, there are a number of ways that you can save on healthcare right now. Please read on and we’ll ten cost saving measures you can start today:

Shop For A Plan – If your place of employment doesn’t offer healthcare coverage, then like millions of Americans you’ll be shopping for your own plan. Your age, gender, medical history, genetics, and even your personal behavior (smoking, for example) will all be taken into consideration when shopping for coverage. Compare various plans from leading providers including HMO and PPO plans. If you are in good health, consider accepting a high deductible; you’ll pay more for doctor visits and hospital stays, but you’ll save hundreds of dollars annually in premiums if you shop around.

Consider Generic Equivalents – Many of the prescription drugs on the market have generic equivalents, medicines which provide similar relief but at a fraction of the cost. Consult with your physician as to whether a medicine can be substituted and, if so, go with the cheaper drug. Shop at Wal-Mart pharmacies and you’ll pay just $4 per month or $10 for three months for select drugs. Other retailers including CVS and Target have similar programs offering great savings too.

Get Samples – One way to avoid the pharmacist altogether is to ask your physician for drug company samples. Pharmaceutical representatives try to win over doctors to write prescriptions for their products, by offering samples (and other incentives) to doctors who can give them to their patients. The next time your son or daughter gets bronchitis, ask your child’s doctor for free samples. Some doctors will even have a coupon available that can be redeemed at the pharmacy for reduced cost or free prescription drugs.

Split Your Prescriptions – Maybe you only need 10 mg of a particular drug but your physician is willing to write you a prescription for 20 mpg, provided you cut your pills in half. Pharmacists usually charge the same rate for higher dosage drugs, but you can cut your costs in half if you are willing to split your pills in half. Drug stores even sell pill splitters; you’ll pay about five dollars for this nifty little device that pays for itself right away.

Stay In The Plan – Your health insurer encourages you to use doctors in their plan as they negotiate special rates with each one. If you go outside of the plan, your contribution will be significantly higher, a possible budget-buster if you’re not careful. If you must go outside of your plan, contact your insurer first to find out what you share of the cost will be.

Avoid the Emergency Room – If you have an emergency, do you really need to go to the hospital? Certainly, life threatening and traumatic injuries require emergency care, but if you have a strep throat, twist an ankle, or some other less serious illness or injury comes up, visiting your doctor’s office can be the smart way to go. “Doc in a Box” urgent care facilities can usually provide the same care as a hospital emergency room and at a much lower cost.

Open A Health Savings Account – A health savings account (HSA) can be one way for you to cover some of your healthcare costs while providing a tax deduction. An HSA can be especially helpful if you have an insurance plan with a high deductible – these funds can cover those costs as needed.

Declare Your Deductibles – Instead of settling for the standard deduction when you file your federal tax return, consider itemizing to reduce your tax burden. Health insurance premiums, your share of doctor’s visits, prescriptions, dental visits, and so many more other health-related expenditures can be deducted. Although your expenditures must be 7.5% of your gross income, you may find yourself exceeding that amount with ease. Tip: Keep excellent records of all of your health-related spending.

Go To Dental School – No, I don’t mean you should become a dentist, but if you need to have expensive dental work done, then consider going to a local dental school for care. You’ll have your smile worked on by students who are supervised by instructors, people who are licensed dentists themselves. Have your teeth cleaned, cavities filled, a crown molded, or other dental work done at a fraction of the cost of visiting your own dentist.

Change Your Habits – Preventive care is the chief way you can reduce your healthcare costs which can be realized by changing some of your habits. Quit smoking, drink in moderation only, exercise, eat right, and learn how to handle stress properly. Take an aspirin a day, keep your teeth clean, check your private parts for lumps, and keep an eye on your skin for odd looking moles. Get an annual check up to test your blood sugar, heart, liver, and overall health.

Saving money on healthcare costs will help keep your budget balanced while helping you to live a life filled with good health. Carefully check each medical invoice, question unverifiable charges, and actively seek the help that you need. You don’t need to rely upon federal intervention for your individual healthcare, something that may or may not come in the years ahead.

Tags: dental, dentist, doctor, emergency room, healthcare costs, insurance premiums, medical care, medical insurance, physician, prescription drugs, quit smoking, vitamins

The Chevrolet Volt will likely garner an IRS tax credit of $7500 for buyers when the car comes to the market in late 2010. Most hybrid models receive some sort of federal government credit, an allowance buyers should take into consideration when selecting a new car.

Federal Intervention To Help You Buy The “Right” Car

Never underestimate the federal government’s desire to steer consumers to purchase much more fuel efficient cars and get away from buying gas guzzling trucks and SUVs.

For the past several years, buyers of hybrid vehicles — those cars designed to run on either gas or electric power — has helped some consumers make the switch. As it stands right now most hybrids carry a price premium of $2500 to more than $10000 over the cost of a comparable gas-only powered car, making them only worth it for people who drive a lot. But, with an IRS tax credit of $250 to $3000 on select models, that differential is reduced, making hybrids a logical choice for more and more drivers.

Some Vehicles Qualify, While Others Do Not

Not every car qualifies for the tax credit as the IRS has created a formula which determines how much credit a car will get, if any. Some Toyota Prius owners have found themselves to be ineligible to receive a tax credit because the IRS phases credits out when a particular model sells more than 60,000 units in a year. The Prius is a popular car, but the US government doesn’t want to give industry leader Toyota too much help in this area.

Under consideration right now is a new legislative package which will offer even greater incentives to a new type of hybrid vehicle expected to become available by 2010. Plug-in hybrids, cars which can get the bulk of their energy from the electrical grid, are currently in the pre-production stage, most notably the Chevrolet Volt, a car with a range of 40 miles on electric power only. These cars will also be equipped with small gasoline engines to help extend their range, but the bulk of the people who will be buying plug-in hybrids will be commuters, particularly those whose commute falls within that 40 mile round trip range.

A Handsome IRS Tax Credit Coming

The federal package zipped through the Senate earlier this week, approved by a 93-2 margin. The house will be taking up the legislation shortly and is expected to pass the bill. President Bush is expected to sign the measure into law, paving the way for what will be a generous IRS tax credit.

Under the proposed legislation, plug-in hybrid owners will receive a significantly larger credit thanks to their vehicle’s ability to store more electricity than conventional hybrid vehicles. That credit will range from $2500-$7500, which will come in handy as the chief vehicle it was designed for, the Chevrolet Volt, will retail for about $40,000, some $15,000 more than a Toyota Prius. The price differential is due in part to GM using a lithium-ion battery to power the Volt while the Prius uses older technology, a nickel-cadmium battery.

Buy Now Or Wait?

For consumers wanting to save money on their next car purchase, the temptation to wait ’til 2010 looms large, especially if other incentives packages to buy a plug-in hybrid are announced. Some large corporations have talked about offering incentives to employees to purchase cars like the Chevrolet Volt including providing free recharging stations which could recharge employees cars while they work. This would be an attractive option for the person who lives beyond the Volt’s electric range, effectively allowing them to tap into the power grid while at work and again once they return home at night. Some states, including California, are studying additional incentives which will help ease the financial burden owners.

But, waiting until 2010 may not be right for every buyer, particularly for the motorist who needs a new car before that time. Fortunately, Honda will shake the market up again when its new Insight hybrid is released, a car with a proposed base sticker price of $18,500, not including IRS tax credit.

Regardless of what decision you make when buying your next car, hybrid vehicles are looming larger than ever before. Standard hybrids offer fuel economy numbers from 20 to 60 mpg, while plug-in hybrids push that figure up to the 150 to 250 mpg range. Clearly, reducing your pain at the pump is an excellent reason to consider hybrid powered vehicles and beginning in 2010, that picture suddenly brightens considerably.

Tags: Chevrolet Volt, hybrid cars, IRS hybrid tax credit, plugin hybrids, tax credits, Toyota Prius

Nervous investors may be tempted to take what cash they have and stash those funds in a mattress, figuring that this is one place that their money won’t be at risk. With the stock market fluctuating widely, confidence in investment banks dropping through the floor, and big questions remaining about just how bad the current crisis is, the temptation to stash your cash somewhere in your home looms large.

But, as we all know, cash on hand can easily be lost, stolen, or destroyed in a fire, a move that can have devastating consequences.

Instead, battered consumers are taking a fresh look at an old-time, but reliable investment option: safe certificates of deposit (CDs). Yes, these low-yielding, FDIC insured deposit accounts are back in favor again thanks to a shaky market and consumers who cannot stomach sharp losses.

A Certificate of Deposit Sampler

Rates for CDs are nowhere near what they were in the early 1980s, when returns of 15% or more were common. Then again, mortgage rates aren’t high these days either, therefore finding a decent return means anything above 4%.

For the record, CDs are FDIC-insured for up to $100,000 or $200,000 if jointly held. Most financial institutions pay a base rate for a minimum deposit (such as 1.50% for six months) while increasing their rates for larger deposits and longer terms.

ING Direct, an online banking institution is one company offering tiered interest on certificates of deposit. For six-month deposits of under $50,000 the rate is 1.75%, but jumps to 3.20% for deposits of $50,000 to $99,999. For deposits of $100,000 and above, the rate peaks at 3.4%.

The best rates are paid for long term deposits, particularly those of a year or longer. A twelve month CD at ING currently pays 4% while an eighteen month CD tops out at 4.5%.  Longer term rates are lower, which reflects both a promotional on ING’s part and possibly a hedge by the bank on midterm rates.

Other institutions offering higher rates include GMAC Bank (4.35%, $500 minimum, 12-month term); Nationwide Bank (4.05: $500 minimum, 12-month term); and Pacific Mercantile Bank (4.5%, $500 minimum, 12-month term). If you’re worried about a bank’s health, check out Bankrate.com’s Safe ‘n Sound bank rating system to find out who is at risk. As long as your money is in accounts covered within FDIC parameters, you’ll be okay, but going through a bank crisis is unnerving and can be a hassle.

Strategy Based On Your Age

The best financial planning strategy is often based on your age. People in or closer to retirement will often flock to the safest investment choices while younger savers are more willing to take a risk, knowing that they can still recover from a market turn down some 20,30, even 40 years later.

Check out a smart saving strategies by age segmentation chart to learn just how you should proceed, especially during these times when financial upheaval looms large. Get equipped to make right decisions and avoid panicking which can cost you dearly.

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