I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

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Just a quick mini review on Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom. It was awesome!!!!

We had the 11:45am slot yesterday. Arrived at the park at 10 and jumped on FOP with a FP (my all time favorite ride). A quick stop at Creature Comforts for an iced coffee and then we walked back to the safari area. There’s a separate check in area between standby and FP queues for the trek.

Some basic check-in paperwork, they weighed DD to make sure she was over 45 pounds and then we got into our gear (similar to zip lining harnesses). They had bug spray and sunscreen available to apply before heading out (we put on bug spray but didn’t really have a problem). There are also free lockers to store anything you can’t take with you. They handed out straps to put on cell phones and sunglasses if you wanted to keep them on the Trek.

The first 1/3 of the Trek is walking. We started out through Gorilla Falls trail and then cut over on a dirt path into the safari. There were several stations where we clipped in to allow us to walk right up to the edge of a habitat (hippos and crocs) and a set of rope bridges over the crocs. It was so much fun.

After the Trek you board a special safari vehicle and do a modified version of the regular safari. We pulled off over to a small hut for a snack and more wildlife viewing. What they call a snack kept me full until well past dinner. Lots of good finger food prepared at Tusker House. Hummus, curried chicken salad, pita, dried meats, fruit, and a few other things. All delicious. They gave my daughter a kids meal with cheese cubes, a ham roll up, fruit, trail mix, carrots and dip and a few other kid friendly foods. All served with an amazing juice blend similar to what they have at Boma.

Up until this point it was crazy humid hot but in the shade. After lunch the skies opened up and the rain and wind were so strong they put the canvas flaps down on the hut. We waited it out a bit and then they handed out free ponchos and we boarded the truck. We drove through the safari to see some additional animals and then ended a bit further down than the regular safari trucks do. We had a short walk through the park to get back to the entrance where we picked up the items from our locker and they handed out a postcard with the link to the photos they took (included).

All in all it was one of the very best adventures we’ve had at Disney so far. We all absolutely loved it, heat, humidity, rain and all. It was worth every penny of the ~$444 we paid for the 3 of us. If anyone has any questions or would like more info just let me know.

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That sound like so much fun!

I've been putting off buying my prescription meds from my online pharmacy service because it was depressingly expensive - what cost me $48 last year for a 90 day supply became $2,560 for the same stuff. 😕 I don't know if it was because our insurance company changed at the start of 2019, or if it was because we decided to go with a HSA plan, or what. But I spent an hour on the phone yesterday with the pharmacy company to clarify the costs. I decided to check out the price at Walgreens since that is the retail pharmacy partner to this online pharmacy before ordering online. It ended up costing me $95 for a 90 day supply through Walgreens! What the everlasting *%$!? That just boggles my mind. That's a savings of close to $5,000 just on these meds for the remainder of the year. Maybe we won't meet our high deductible this year after all.

To make this churning related, I put the $95 on DH's new Hilton Biz MSR. 😀
Yeah, total crap. The high price with the HSA is because you pay full price until you meet deductible, which of course is high. Ours was $4k but I have friends with deductibles of $12-15k which is outrageous. The not getting a price without prescription is crap too. I used to have dog meds bought at human pharmacy and I always called around for cheapest price. I’d just ask “How much for 50 Valium 10 mg?” And have no problem. Now, everything’s a secret so they can gouge you more.
 
I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun to do here. Name one place you've travelled to that you wouldn't return. For me it would be the Bahamas. Been there, done that. Not impressed. There are much better islands in the Carribean to visit such as Turks and Caicos, Aruba and Grand Cayman.

The blog responders said :Thailand, Dubai, Qatar, Bahamas and Ireland.

Los Angeles. Once was enough. Hollywood was a dump.

Thanks! I actually getting ready to give the soaking in the bath another try.

The only prescription pain reliever I have ever tried was something when I got my wisdom teeth out and it made me horribly sick to my stomach. I’ll try the Aleve for now.

For your teeth was probably something like hydrocodone or vicodin, which is generally a Schedule substance and a lot harder on people. My DH has taken hydrocodone too and it made him super sick and he hated the way he felt on it. He said the Flexeril made him kind of tired, but he wasn't sure if it was really that or from just not sleeping well from being in so much pain. I hope you feel better!
 
I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun to do here. Name one place you've travelled to that you wouldn't return. For me it would be the Bahamas. Been there, done that. Not impressed. There are much better islands in the Carribean to visit such as Turks and Caicos, Aruba and Grand Cayman.

The blog responders said :Thailand, Dubai, Qatar, Bahamas and Ireland.

I tried to narrow it down but am torn between Japan and HI. Expensive, food isn't to my liking, long travel days to arrive and nothing there I really enjoyed (I know, heresy!).
 
I know we had some Dis’ers giving awesome advice for back strains. I decided my yard needed to trimmed before we go away so I was out there for about 1-1 1/2 hour on Sun doing despite my arms telling me I should give in but I persevered and completed the task. Yesterday and today I can barely walk and if I do, I look like an old lady. I tried ice all afternoon and evening along with Motrin and Aleve. And decided to try a warm bath yesterday and that made it feel worse. And today is miserable. I need it cleared up by Thurs morning since we fly to Universal that afternoon. Any suggestions? It’s mainly my lower back area.

Sounds like what I did right before our Disney trip last week. The thing that helped me most was a heating pad at first, ibuprofen, and then when I felt up to it about 12 hours after the onset of the pain I started doing some light stretches as suggested by @afan . I found some specifically for the lower back on YouTube and did those for about 5-10 minutes several times a day. I took short slow walks starting the next day along with the stretches, but didn’t lift anything heavy (specifically, full laundry baskets) for about four days. That’s about how long it took for me to feel mostly normal again. Not sure if that helps any, but that was my experience.
 


I used to have dog meds bought at human pharmacy and I always called around for cheapest price. I’d just ask “How much for 50 Valium 10 mg?” And have no problem. Now, everything’s a secret so they can gouge you more.
Booo. I always used to call around for insulin for people when I worked at a vet clinic. That's annoying they make it so hard.

Also I feel the same with the HDHP deductibles, mine is $3k even with DH on there. DHs workplace is $6k. Everyone else I know is at least $10k

What's really crazy to me are the choices at DHs work. The HDHP deductible is the same as one of the other plans, and all of the OOP Maxs are within $1k of each other. Pricing is insanely different. You really have to predict how you'll use your health plan to pick the right one. DH is in insurance choosing time right now, I haven't seen the prices yet. Since we've been married it's been cheaper to have him on my insurance even though it's an extra $70 a month because he's eligible for his own. Plus my workplace will put $500 into my HSA for each of us. His coworker messed up last year, he has expensive medication and usually pays a co pay but didn't realize changing to the HDHP plan would mess that up for him.
 
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Booo. I always used to call around for insulin for people when I worked at a vet clinic. That's annoying they make it so hard.

Also I feel the same with the HSA deductibles, mine is $3k even with DH on there. DHs workplace is $6k. Everyone else I know is at least $10k

I'm so thankful DH and I both have good insurance. He's on a high deductible plan with an HRA now because (knock on wood) I can rarely get him to go to a doctor for anything and he doesn't take any prescriptions. His deductible is $2500. I told him he's switching to the standard PPO insurance plan when he turns 40 though after his dad's heart attack at 52 with no warning signs. I'd rather pay more each month and have peace of mind than have the medical bills his parents had after his dad was on a high deductible plan and could no longer work.
 
Nassau for sure. Done now.

Los Angeles. Once was enough. Hollywood was a dump.
Yesssss. I have absolutely zero interest in seeing the typical LA things like Hollywood etc and I've gotten so much crap for that. I saw the sign from Griffin Observatory, we enjoyed the observatory and the tar pits. Santa Monica was fine for a few hours, but all of the beaches... Venice, etc nah I'm good, don't care.
 


Unrelated: Great Southern Bank. Any specific account I need to open for CC funding? I see the GS Checking is $25 minimum deposit and no fees or minimum daily balance. Also, is it recommended that you only use Visa for this? I know Amex is a no-no, but didn't know if it would work with Citi AA Biz if I was to wait and get another of those. I have a CIP I can use and I have about $3500 left towards MSR on that.
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Citi AA Biz didn't work for me, I got a message that there were insufficient funds, so I assume it was running it as a cash advance.
 
Yesssss. I have absolutely zero interest in seeing the typical LA things like Hollywood etc and I've gotten so much crap for that. I saw the sign from Griffin Observatory, we enjoyed the observatory and the tar pits. Santa Monica was fine for a few hours, but all of the beaches... Venice, etc nah I'm good, don't care.

I get it lol. We did a celebrity home tour which was kind of cool, but otherwise we were pretty grossed out by Hollywood. It was kind of sad, honestly. We saw the tar pits, which was interesting, but not anything I felt compelled to spend more than an hour or so at. I think I'm a little too east coast to enjoy the west coast haha.
 
Unrelated: Great Southern Bank. Any specific account I need to open for CC funding? I see the GS Checking is $25 minimum deposit and no fees or minimum daily balance. Also, is it recommended that you only use Visa for this? I know Amex is a no-no, but didn't know if it would work with Citi AA Biz if I was to wait and get another of those. I have a CIP I can use and I have about $3500 left towards MSR on that.

Citi AA Biz didn't work for me, I got a message that there were insufficient funds, so I assume it was running it as a cash advance.
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Thanks! I'll just keep it simple and use my CIP then.
 
I'm always annoyed but very grateful for my prescription plan. I pay $40 for 2 of diabetes meds for a 90 day supply - Jardiance and Janumet. My other two scripts are bp and cholesterol med and they are $5 for 90 days. So, my meds cost me out of pocket copays of $30 per month.

That said, in January I walk in to fill my script and they say $1200 plus. I had been on Invokana for about a year or two and the 'plan' decided it was too expensive and wouldn't pay for it. They had done this with the Jardiance prior to that - after taking it for a couple of years, they wouldn't pay. So called my doc who writes a new script for Jardiance and now they will pay for that. The plans and drug companies play their little games.

My plan is from my former employer and one of my retirement benefits. They take about $91 out of my monthly direct deposit to pay for the med, prescription, dental and eye insurances.

And, my bp was low today - 110/60 - so - don't take your med until the evening and check your pressure before taking it. All in all, I'm healthy but if I had paid attention a little earlier, I wouldn't be taking diabetes 2 meds - that is preventable. Late 40ties to mid fifties are what did me in - gained weight and did no exercise, but of course it's different for everybody, but 30 pounds made a big difference for me. My doc talked at me every visit but I didn't listen until I had to.
My mom has inhalers that cost $450 every 3 months. Plus her other meds. Between the meds and her property taxes she’s met MSR for her CIP in about 6 weeks.
As for the diabetes, yes much of it is lifestyle, but not all. My dad was never fat, maybe a few pounds overweight, with BMI still less than 25, but always active golfing and gym 3 times a week. He developed diabetes in his 60’s, progressed to insulin quickly (there’s another ridiculously expensive med) but controlled it well with an A1C less than 6. No family history, not overweight, still active, just unlucky I guess.
Unrelated: Great Southern Bank. Any specific account I need to open for CC funding? I see the GS Checking is $25 minimum deposit and no fees or minimum daily balance. Also, is it recommended that you only use Visa for this? I know Amex is a no-no, but didn't know if it would work with Citi AA Biz if I was to wait and get another of those. I have a CIP I can use and I have about $3500 left towards MSR on that.
I opened the GS checking with $3500 on a Chase SW Biz, no problem. Applied for a Money market today, funded $5k with CIP. Not approved yet, but hopefully. You do have to make sure they are in your area, by zip code (who knew there’s a GSB in Chicago) and the application online is completed by phone when they call you to confirm and read you some T&C’s.
 
I get it lol. We did a celebrity home tour which was kind of cool, but otherwise we were pretty grossed out by Hollywood. It was kind of sad, honestly. We saw the tar pits, which was interesting, but not anything I felt compelled to spend more than an hour or so at. I think I'm a little too east coast to enjoy the west coast haha.

DH lived in SoCal for the 2 years we were engaged so I did a lot of flying back and forth and other than La Jolla and the GC at DL, it wasn't my favorite place. I do feel I've given it multiple opportunities, though :)
 
Now I'm curious... Does anyone here have experience with Kaiser? Everyone here at work has this deep deep love for it... I was going to use a Dis-inappropriate phrase here :rotfl: But really I'm just curious, we have 4 plans here and individual costs are $38, $62, $82, or $119 per pay period. Everyone has the option to earn $500 off of their deductible if they do a health checkup, and if their spouse is on their plan and does a checkup another $500 (got that wrong in my last post). Then if you do the HDHP you get $500 in your HSA, and another $500 if it is a family plan. Our OOP max is pretty low on the HDHP plan, currently it's a no brainer for us but I was playing with numbers last year for a theoretical childbirth down the road...

But Kaiser just makes me curious because I have all these people around that think it's the best thing since sliced bread, then ILs are on it and have had horrible coverage/experiences. And the times I've been along with ILs or DHs grandparents I haven't been impressed...
 
Don’t forget the resort fee should be added to your room charges and count towards your cc offer.
Dh and I each have the offer so I added one card to each room. Think the resort fee is $34 with tax per night..? So that’s $170 on each card. I need to put $30 more to each room. We’ve spent way more than that already but it never occurred to me to do the room charge. Well, until last night when it did occur to me lol! We still have dinner tonight and lunch on Thursday that will most likely both be here at swolphin.
 
Nothing wrong with starting slow (or continuing slow!) if that keeps your current momentum going. Anything you can do for discounts is better than nothing
Well...I'm starting slow enough that I had to read your reply out loud a couple of times to get the lingo and make sure I understood. I'm not jumping into the deep end of the pool with this, so it sounds like your suggestion for Chase is up my alley.
If you're open to business cards that would extend your Chase UR run as well and you could both get many UR sign up bonuses in the next couple years.
I do have a small business. I've never even contemplated business cards and will learn more about them before deciding.
I don't like to presume but generally people getting out of debt got there in one of two ways - over spending, or unforeseen circumstances that couldn't be covered with savings.
A little of both, in my case. I also never learned/was taught how to budget. That, on top of unexpected monumental medical bills, pulled us under. And we stayed there, overspending until I cut the cord. If you pop over to the Debt Dumpers board, I've been (and will stay) active on that board. I learned so much and the posters there have a heart for helping others. But having gritted my teeth and laying out several snowball charts until I'm finally here on this board, I've learned that debt happens in many different ways. I'm grateful to be looking at the finish line with ours. Technically, if I wanted to just grind it out, I could pay off our house next year. But we are choosing a few different options, since that will happen within three years (because of our planning) regardless.

I just would like to earn rewards, at this point, moving forward, while we continue to build our savings and pay off the car and house.
 
I'm so thankful DH and I both have good insurance. He's on a high deductible plan with an HRA now because (knock on wood) I can rarely get him to go to a doctor for anything and he doesn't take any prescriptions. His deductible is $2500. I told him he's switching to the standard PPO insurance plan when he turns 40 though after his dad's heart attack at 52 with no warning signs. I'd rather pay more each month and have peace of mind than have the medical bills his parents had after his dad was on a high deductible plan and could no longer work.

We've been on a HDP for 2 years now. I will say it does what its supposed to in that it makes you think before running to the doctor. Ido think that it works in the negative at times as there are preventative visits/meds that people probably should take but don't because they can't afford paying for them full price on the HDP. I thought about moving back to the PPO in a few years when we get older and may need more meds but my suspicion is that my employer won't offer the PPO much longer. I think they are trying to shove us all to varying levels of HDP's.
 
Ohhhhh thought of another one. Sea World.

At least San Diego... maybe San Antonio...
We went to San Antonio in... early 2000s? Fond memories of show as a kid, like the trainers being in with the orcas :rolleyes: DH and I did San Diego in 2015 and I was like, I think I'm good for about 5 years... And see, now we will visit Orlando with the Daily Getaways tickets :rotfl: I have higher hopes for Orlando though.
 
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