<p>Way to make the teenagers cringe…the thought of all the parental units here taking part in the necessary habit of sex! ROTFL!</p>
<p>“AND…it’s FREE!” </p>
<p>depends who you ask…</p>
<p>Allmusic:</p>
<p>Shhhh… The kids are not supposed to hear. For them, it’s “Just say No.”</p>
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<p>Remember to use a condom…are they a costly and unnecessary habit?</p>
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<p>But how was the quality of your sleep?</p>
<p>Movies are $12.75-$14.00 around here. Of course, if you measure that by percentage of average income, that’s actually cheaper than a lot of places. There are some interesting distortions living in a high cost-of-living area.</p>
<p>Hmmm…wonder what RE Lee would make of parking costing $8-20 for the day.</p>
<p>Burlap is awesome. I used it to make my sandbag.</p>
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<p>I lived a year without central air and heat in a climate that had both snow and sweltering heat. You don’t “need” it. It’s just nice to have. </p>
<p>Oh, and I lived in Japan.</p>
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<p>Excellent, in fact. I don’t mean one of those silly American-style futon, but the actual “on the tatami mat” Japanese-style futon. Most Americans cringe at the thought, but it’s very rest.ful. (Wow, the stupid profanity filter really went overboard this time!)</p>
<p>Minus the bugs of doom.</p>
<p>Maybe I am a bit older than many here, as I was surprised to read the remarks on nursing homes. Someone seemed to think they were all the same; that the insured would be alongside the uninsured. Another person thought that when they were that old they wouldn’t “care” what kind of nursing home they were in.</p>
<p>I’m nearing 60, and just putting two kids through school, my H and I realize we’ll have to put into our budget to get long term insurance. We base this on three of our parents living and dying in nursing homes. Here’s what happened:</p>
<p>Parent #1, no insurance: Suffering from stroke and dying of bone cancer, she was painfully removed from the hospital and put into a van to be carried to a substandard nursing home. As a Medicaid patient, she was not allowed to go down the elevator to the hospital’s nice nursing home below. Her nursing home’s carpet had urine smells. A few weeks after her arrival, a newly hired CNA (who it turns out had been released from state prison a few months before) tried to pull her rings off her fingers. And no, the state doesn’t really act on the complaints. There were a long list of violations in view (as required by law) at the front desk. But the nursing homes are given forever to slowly fix them (meanwhile, new violations). </p>
<p>Parent #2, no insurance: ended up in a small town facility where it didn’t matter who was on Medicaid or not; they just wanted to fill the beds. He lucked out; his care was good.</p>
<p>Parent #3, had insurance: Was admitted to a well-run Lutheran nursing home. Wouldn’t have been admitted without insurance, as the nursing home limits how many of the low-paying Medicaid patients they will allow.</p>
<p>That’s why my husband and I are buying long-term care insurance soon. Sure, it will save our home and savings for our kids, but also it will buy us a ticket into a good nursing home.</p>
<p>* don’t need to go to college (think how many people in this world do not go to college!). *
Niether I nor my H have been to a 4 year college- the only loans we have are for my D college and for our house- no credit cards.</p>
<p>Money I have saved
Only had two kids- yes they both had to be in NICUs but I didn’t anticipate that- however- I am being both economically, and environmentally correct, by only replicating myself, not multiplying.
Additonally environmentally correct because * neither * of my children are planning on procreating- so I have already saved money by not having the extra expense of grandchildren</p>
<p>But to use my mother inlaws logic because I have “saved” all this outlay, I can therefore reason that I have extra money to spend on going out to eat.
I already went out for lunch today ( I had a BLT w pepper bacon and $1.25 bottle of water, H had a bacon cheeseburger and a chocolate milkshake total $13.65), and since my D is gone I was thinking it would be fun to go play pool and have a couple $9.00 drinks, but I am just * too tired*.
THat is the problem- time but no money or money but no time ( or energy)</p>
<p>FAP, I’ve read a financial analysis that says setting up an account for long-term care expenses is better than buying the insurance: coverage can change, etc., and you find that you’re locked in…and getting new insurance is then prohibitively expensive. It was in either MONEY magazine or one of the Consumer’s Union money magazines.</p>
<p>Agree with TheDad, FAP. My son is a financial advisor and he says that long term care insurance is a poor buy–but good commission for the person selling it. Much better to set up an account as TheDad recs and the money can be used for your individual situation.</p>
<p>mkm, If you needed a nursing home in the NE it costs about 70,000/year. We have a relative that has lived in one for 5 years (above the average length statistically). Most people could never save for this kind of expense.</p>
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<p>Nothing like the good ol’ US of A! Praise the Lord that we live in a country today where AC and heat are commonplace. By the way, if anyone is interested, I have some good money saving tips for AC and heat.</p>
<p>Yes, one has to look at individual financial sit. But long term care insurance is very expensive and most people do not end up using it–an investment account is not money wasted. You have to remember that if you go to LTC, you may have SS, ret. income, sale of house and other assests, IRAs etc. An annuity that pays an income might be a better choice.</p>
<p>Interesting article from Penn State:
“While on average people would have to invest $21,000 at age 65 to pay their future LTC bills, individuals will experience very different futures: half of 65-year-olds will incur no out-of-pocket costs, yet an investment of $100,000 at age 65 will not be enough to cover all out-of-pocket LTC costs for 6 percent of retirees.”
<a href=“http://www.pop.psu.edu/searchable/press/mar0206b.htm[/url]”>http://www.pop.psu.edu/searchable/press/mar0206b.htm</a></p>
<p>Robert, I don’t have AC and it is not as commonplace as you think. Guess what? I do eat out, about once/week on average. I used to heat with wood, though no longer do. My kids are in college and even they eat out some times. My kids lived away from home this summer and neither had AC. </p>
<p>Nothing wrong with saving money. But what I do not think you have caught onto is that we all make our choices as to what we will spend our money on and not everything is a necessity…AC isn’t, nor is eating out. You should spend your dough on what you wish and same with the rest of us. If you feel eating out is a waste of money, don’t do it. I know people in all income ranges that eat out as it is also a social or entertainment sort of activity, not just nourishment. You obviously have AC and I don’t and I ain’t questioning the fact that you “waste” money on it when you could use fans now, am I?</p>
<p>Thanks to MKM and TheDad for their ideas on long-term care insurance. I guess I need to research more. Though we haven’t been impressed with many companies’ insurance, we have liked the plans offered through AARP (Hartford). We have already jumped to AARP-Hartfor auto insurance and are paying half of what we did with Allstate. Anyway, the AARP plans have cost-of-living increases, and also have flexible in-home care payments. The price is quite reasonable. Our idea is to have enough of the nursing home cost–say half–provided by insurance so that the remaining spouse won’t be reduced to living in near-poverty as Medicaid demands. (I’ve filled out their l5-page form scrutinizing my parents’ assets!) </p>
<p>We haven’t any wealth to speak of in our $ll5,000 house (rural West) that might pay nursing home costs. I lost my inheritance (parents’ farm) when they went into nursing homes. We’re determined to give our money to our kids instead. Anyone else with an opinion on the matter?</p>
<p>Robert,</p>
<p>AC is practically non-existent in San Diego. Those heathens!</p>
<p>The Japanese don’t have AC because they’re quite content without it. That and the type of houses they live in aren’t really designed for central air. God forbid people not live EXACTLY LIKE YOU.</p>
<p>“By the way, if anyone is interested, I have some good money saving tips for AC and heat.”</p>
<p>Such as…not using them when they’re not needed?</p>
<p>faraway, i work for the hartford if you need any information sent to you on the aarp ltc insurance.</p>