Starting A Budget
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Medical Category

The medical category can be easily overlooked for those starting a budget, especially when you are young and healthy. This is an especially important time to start creating that cushion to assist with those expenses that your insurance doesn't cover.

Save For The Unexpected
The whole idea of starting a spending plan (or budget) is to have money available to meet your expenses when life takes you by surprise. When you set money aside every month for your medical expenses that your insurance doesn't cover you keep from going into debt to stay healthy.

But I Have Medical Insurance
These expenses would include things like your doctor's co-pay, buying your discount prescriptions or even getting your allergy medications. It would also include things like braces for your child's teeth and those doctor's bills that insurance doesn't cover.

Be Prepared
To the extent that you can prepare for those unexpected medical costs the better off you will be. Sometimes, however, there are health care issues that you know you will have to deal with on a regular basis. The medical category is where you want to set money aside so that you will be prepared when those expenses come due. Preparedness is the key.

Of course the other part to being prepared is proper management of your health on a regular basis. By paying attention to your family history and the potential risks to you, you will find yourself eating healthy regularly and teaching your children to do the same. Doing so will decrease family illnesses and avoidable medical bills for generations.

Get In On The Debate!
As a side note, in addition to creating a budget and being prepared for those additional medical expenses, it is important to join the current national debate on health care and keeping down health care costs. A friend of mine wrote a very good article on health care reform and poses several very good solutions for reigning in health care costs. While the article is a bit long, it is very much worth reading. Please do not use the article without permission.