‘Financial Help’ Archives
Save Money – Eat Your Weeds
Purslane Violets By MARY ELLEN KALUZA Eating well is expensive even without high inflation. Save money by foraging around your backyard, neighbor’s yard, or other overgrown areas. A small pile of free greens can easily save you $5. Here are a few common weeds that are delicious and nutritious. (Always look up the plant to safely identify and prepare. Harvest in areas you know are not treated with chemicals. Get permission, if necessary. Rinse thoroughly.) Lamb’s Quarter: My neighbor turned me on to lamb’s quarters years ago with quesadillas stuffed with them. Yum! They are also quite tasty on their own, lightly steamed with a little salt and pepper. Lamb’s quarters contain oxalic acid and you don’t want to eat too much of them raw. (Cooking removes the acid.) Purslane (verdolagas in Spanish): Purslane can be a pesky weed in the garden. Or in your sidewalk cracks. I get particular pleasure eating this weed because its stubborn tap roots and bazillion seeds [...]
Understanding Your Health Insurance and Medical Bills
By MARY ELLEN KALUZA Understanding your health insurance policy can be an exercise in crazy-making. Very few of us have insurance policies that cover everything. What isn’t covered shows up in medical bills. A little knowledge can help make sense of it all. INSURANCE PLAN TERMS Premium: This is what you pay to have insurance. Insurance through your employer is deducted from your paycheck. Otherwise, it's a regular bill like auto insurance. Copay: A fixed amount you pay for a medical procedure or an office visit. The copay amount may be different for different services. Not all insurance plans have a copay. Deductible: This is the amount of medical bills you must pay 100% before your insurance kicks in to pay expenses. This amount can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Knowing how much your deductible is will help you plan for medical expenses. Coinsurance: After you have satisfied your deductible, your coinsurance kicks in. Typically, plans will [...]
Got Heat and Electricity?
By MARY ELLEN KALUZA Can you imagine life without electricity and heat? During a Minnesota winter we’d be going to bed at 4 pm in December and sleeping under a pile of smelly bear skins. We take our access to electricity and heating for granted, but there is a lot happening on the other side of our utility meters that impacts the what, where, and how we get that access. Regulation Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is charged with regulating policies, rates, and services for utilities like electricity, natural gas, and landline phone service. This includes approving rate increases for our energy. The PUC members are appointed by the governor and their responsibilities are determined by state law. Most of the regulated utilities are for-profit entities whose purpose is to maximize return to stockholders - like CenterPoint Energy and Xcel Energy. You can imagine, then, the pressure they exert on the PUC to allow rate increases. Learn more about the PUC at: [...]
