You Are Your Best Advocate

After I had the Peanut, the hospital's billing company would send stacks of bills. The closer I looked at them, I realized they were trying to charge me for days I wasn't there, for procedures and testing that never happened and had multiple account numbers on what appeared to be identical bills.  After an unproductive discussion with the billing company, I wrote the hospital and threatened to have them audited.  I received a call from the hospital immediately and everything got cleared right up.  Although, ever year for the next three years, that billing company would send me a bill for some random something, with an account number that was attached to several people, and I'd have to go through the whole process of threatened to have them investigated to get it resolved.

It made me wonder, how many other people just paid those bills?  How many people who are drowning in debt from medical bills wind up paying three times what they should because unethical billing practices?

What brought this up?  Well, I received a bill from the school for a school lunch...the Peanut always brings her own lunch.  I talked to her about it and she very adamantly assured me that she has not bought a water, a lunch, a snack or anything ever.  She knows she's allowed to, so she had no reason to lie.  Plus my daughter narcs herself out, she's not one to keep secrets.

The school informs me that the kids punch in their own PIN numbers so there's no way someone else used hers.  I know adults that screw up entering data, but a small child can't?  WTF?  Long story short, she wanted me to pay it.  I said absolutely not.  We argued.  She said she'd look into it.  Later, the lunch lady brought my daughter up to this woman, who realized she had never seen my daughter ever so perhaps there was a mistake.  You think?  I won't hold my breath for an apology.

My point wasn't that $2.30 was a big deal.  The point is I'd bet, much like the hospital, they make hundreds of thousands a year on incorrectly billing people.  And why should they fix it, right now this system is allowing them to get paid for food they're not serving.   Big businesses are screwing us because we let them.

You have to advocate for yourself.  Don't allow all these companies to make you feel powerless.  If you're reading this, then obviously you have internet access...stop messing around with apps and start educating yourself.  Learn what your rights are as a consumer.  And stop paying bills you don't think you owe!  Fight, ask for supervisors, write down the names of who you talk to, and file complaints with the government agencies that are suppose to police this stuff.  They will call you back. 

And before you say, who has time for that?  Think about it like this....if you get a $5 bill you don't actually owe, but you just ignore it instead of calling and fighting with them, they'll send it to collections and in a few years that $5 will turn into $5000.  If this post wasn't already so long, I'd go into the time and energy it takes to fix that mess. 

Start advocating for yourself, you can't afford not to.

The Terror in Transitioning from Homeschool to Public School

The Peanut's first day of school was nerve racking.  For me, not her. 

When she was homeschooled by my NLCP I knew where she was, what she was doing and that she was somewhere safe, loved and well fed all day long.  The thought of sending her to public school was terrifying for me, full of constant what if's.  What if someone hurt her?  What is someone tried to steal her from the playground?  What if she gets bullied?  What if she doesn't make any friends?  What if she has problems learning the curriculum?

The Peanut on the other hand was super excited about school.  She had a brief experience in school during a visit to my sister's in Alabama, so this wasn't her first time at the rodeo.  But that school was different.  It was a private Christian school run by a bunch of local moms...not really the same thing as public school in Jersey.

We bought a special outfit for the first day, along with an iCarly bookbag and lunchbag.  She had full and total input in everything she needed for school.  The first day, she was excited but also a little nervous.  I was barely holding it together.  I literally almost threw up in the parking lot after she went inside the building.  I spent the whole day nauseous and panicked.  I lamented to the Hubby that they should give you an itinerary so you know where they are and what they're doing every minute of the day!  He was very supportive and kind all day, but even he had to hold back laughter at that one.

We're now five months in and she loved it from the first day and continues to love it now.  She has friends who scream her name when they see her.  She even tells me long, convoluted stories about her day and what she did after I pick her up.

I know public school can be scary for us overprotective, helicopter moms; but, just know much like the rest of us, they'll survive and thrive and learn all about being social, as well as independent.    And you?  Don't spend your day curled up in a ball in the corner.  Relax, have a cup of coffee, read a grown up book or watch something that doesn't involve Spongebob.  Don't be scared to let them detach and be their own person.  It'll be good for both of you.

Now I Know Why There's So Much Unemployment

I am officially a licensed social worker in the fabulous state of New Jersey.  I have a great resume.  I have many qualifications many of my peers do not have.  I am a great diagnostician, have previous legal experience, tons of sales and marketing experience and I can even do all the paperwork to turn your organization into a federally recognized non-profit organization.  I am a hard dedicated worker with a can do attitude.  So why am I still unemployed? 

Probably the same reason so many other people are.  The application process for jobs has become ridiculous.  First you search only to find most of these listings are over thirty days old and have almost no information about what they're actually hiring for.  Then you find one to apply to and they want you to first upload your resume, then cut and paste all your resume information into their fields, and some even require a litany of questions to be answered that I cannot imagine anyone is actually reading.  It takes about an hour to find and fill out most of these applications and the only response you get is along the lines of, "Thanks for your interest...we get lots of applications...don't call us, we'll call you."

Remember when you could meet people face to face when you applied?  You even had an actual person to call and talk to a week after so you can find out where they were in the hiring process?  What happened to all of that?  I know if I could actually get in the door somewhere, they'd hire me.  Perhaps I need to look into job fairs.  It's just very frustrating because not only do I love what I do, but I am really good at it!  Think some good thoughts and send them my way please.

Just Buy It

I know many women would love this problem...anytime I mention something I'd like, the Hubby says, "Just buy it."  He'll even come up with ways to justify spending the money for me.  He always says he just wants me to be happy.  The problem is that I am a big believer in fiscal responsibility.  I hate spending money.  It doesn't bring me joy.

Now a chicken rubbed with reserved bacon fat and roasted to perfection...that brings me joy.  Watching the Peanut do pretty much anything brings me joy.  The Hubby disposing of the dead opossum on the patio...well, that's more relief that I don't have to do it than joy.  People make fun of my hoarding stuff, but I restore, repurpose, reuse everything.  Who cares if I have a lot of crap in my basement?  Pulling stuff from there instead of buying new stuff saves us thousands every year.

My dad is the most fiscally responsible person I know.  He always said, you can't count on Social Security, it may not be there.  If you get it, it's like a bonus, but don't think you're going to live on that.  You need to save money.  Once you retire, what are you going to do?  You'll have no way of making extra money, so you have to save it for retirement when you're young.  Smart man my dad.

I think our problem is like everyone else's...finding balance.  I'm teaching him to be more responsible in his spending decisions and he's teaching me to actually spend some of the money we've worked so hard for.  I think once I get back to work I'll be less stressed about our finances...who am I kidding?  I'll still freak out every month.