Life is filled with unexpected situations. Some of them might be wonderful, but when unfortunate or negative events come your way it’s normal to feel confused and not know how to react. In this article, we sum up some of life’s most common unfortunate events and how to handle them correctly.
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Dealing with a Huge Medical Bill
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Double Check the Numbers
The billing offices for doctors and medical institutions do their best, but even they can make mistakes when creating your medical bills. Whenever you receive a bill, you should check it carefully to see if you are being charged for any procedures you did not have or any supplies that were not used.
If everything looks good on the bill, then it’s time to make sure your insurance company has paid for all the services that they should. Insurance adjusters can make mistakes too, so it is not uncommon for them to not pay a covered charge or to forget that you have already paid your annual out-of-pocket max.
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Try to Negotiate a Discount or Payment Plan
Most people are not aware that their doctor’s office and many hospitals offer discounts for those who pay their bills upfront in cash. This is something that you will want to look into, because it could get you a little bit of savings on what you would have paid in the end. A lot of times, medical practices do this, because they save the credit card fees and it ends up being a wash for them anyway.
Many doctors will also offer pay now rates when you are in the office, as it means that they do not need to send out any bills and it is less work for their office staff. They are still reaping the rewards because they are saving a little bit of money.
When it comes to a hospital bill, you can end up saving at least five percent of what you owe. This may not sound like a lot at first, but when you are talking about large bills, it could be hundreds of dollars.
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Ask for Legal Assistance
If you have tried everything that you can to get your debt lowered; create payment plans, and applied for a hardship consideration, and nothing has worked, there is only one option left. That option is obtaining legal assistance, as you may need to file for bankruptcy to get rid of the money that you owe.
No one really loves this route, simply because no one wants to have a bankruptcy recorded on their credit reports. However, it is better than facing massive bills that you have no other way of paying. The good news is that most of the time, a lawyer can manage to work out an agreement with the doctor or hospital, and you may not need to file bankruptcy to get a solution that works for you.
Related: How to Deal with a Huge Medical Bill
How to Survive a Breakup
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Talk to People Who Support You
It’s important to have a support system when you break up with your partner. Whenever you feel sad or confused about what happened in your relationship, call up your good friends or a relative and just talk things through.
Ask them their opinion, recall very specific points of your relationship or simply vent with someone about whatever’s going through your mind. Talking with people about your personal struggles helps you get a new perspective and lets you get your troubles out of your mind for a while. If you feel like the people who surround you don’t make you feel better, you can also go to therapy and get professional help.
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Block Your Ex from all Social Channels
For social media addicts and non-addicts alike, having your ex added as a friend is a very risky situation. You’ll be tempted to stalk them and check out what they’re up to all day long. We know it’s common to try and post exciting things about your new life such as your new haircut and partying with friends.
However, the moment you come across a new post of your ex with someone else you’ll feel your world fall apart. The wisest thing you can do to avoid temptation and start living a calm life is to break up “cold turkey” and block your ex from all social media channels.
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Get a New Hobby
When the sentimental aspect of your life gets empty, it’s time to fill that void with other wonderful things going on in your life. Start doing whatever it is that gives you happiness and pleasure, the most important things that you wanted to do but didn’t get a chance to do in the past.
Always wanted to jump from an airplane? Do it! Want to travel around Europe? Start saving! Do you want a job promotion? Start working to get it! It’s time to focus on yourself and whatever you want.
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Give in to “Healthy” Sadness
Keeping your emotions bottled never leads to anything good, that’s why it’s important to give in to sadness. Sometimes your emotions can be so intense they may be uncomfortable for others, so you might want to stay at home at first and cry and scream your pain out.
Don’t try to cover up your sadness, let it happen because that’s the only way it’ll eventually disappear from your heart. However, what does feeling sad in a healthy way mean? Don’t let your sadness turn into a severe depression or worsen it by starting to drink or take on a bad habit as a result of your emotions; that’ll only complicate things for you.
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Give Yourself Some Time
The first advice we have for you, no matter how much you think of it as a cliché, is to give things time. They say time is the best medicine and it’s true. At first, you might feel anxious, angry, and deeply hurt, but as the days and weeks go by, you’ll start seeing things clearly and get some perspective.
It’ll get to the point where you realize to break up your relationship was probably for the best. Even when things don’t make much sense, time will weaken the feelings and make you feel more optimistic.
Related: How to Recover from a Breakup
If You Get Hurt in the Workplace
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Report the Accident Right Away
It’s important to contact a manager or supervisor and notify them of the accident. They’ll be in charge of officially documenting the accident for company purposes, or for personal injury claims and future workers’ comp claims.
This is especially important if the area is still hazardous, and action needs to be taken. Work with the supervisor or manager to collect as much information as possible, but don’t venture outside known facts; for example, don’t speculate about whose fault the accident was.
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Document the Incident
While your supervisor or manager should take point on documenting the accident (including any conditions leading up to the accident), it’s a good idea to take point on documenting your personal injury on your own.
Take pictures, get witness statements, and write down exactly what happened. The more information you have, the better protected you’ll be. If the accident isn’t recorded properly, you’ll have backup data you can use to correct the situation. You’ll also need some independent evidence if you decide to pursue legal action.
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Get Medical Treatment
No matter how this case works out, it’s important for you to seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Even if you feel okay after the fall, it’s still a good idea to get checked out by a medical professional; they may be able to identify internal injuries you haven’t noticed, or at least document the current state of your body.
Schedule an appointment as early as possible and get official medical documentation on your injuries (and direct treatment, if necessary). Not only will this help you recover faster, it will also serve as important information for your personal injury case.
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File the Proper Personal Claim
Next, you’ll want to contact a personal injury attorney. It’s hard to tell exactly when it’s a good idea to seek legal action and when it’s better to file a workers’ compensation claim, but an accident lawyer/attorney will be able to provide you with solid advice—and most of them are willing to give you a free initial consultation.
Listen to any advice they tell you and consider the options they present carefully. If your injury could have been prevented by a negligent employer or coworker, it may be better to seek legal action.
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Consider Possible Compensation
Depending on the nature of your personal injury claims case, you may be forced to consider taking workers’ compensation benefits or pursuing legal action for even further compensation. Legal action can be complicated and take longer, but you’ll get a deeper sense of justice if your injury was due to negligence, and you may be entitled to a higher payout.
Your lawyer will be able to discuss the specifics of these options, including timelines, monetary value, and practical value – but ultimately, the decision on how to proceed will come down to you.
Related: 6 Scenarios Where You Can File a Personal Injury Claim
Saving Your Marriage
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Work on Your Communication
Remember when you first got married to your spouse – you were always talking about how you want to spend the rest of your life together. Now you only talk via text or phone and that is not very romantic. What happened to normal talking and chatting while together?
Although you may now have kids which are busy taking care of you, you still need to spare some time for your spouse and you to connect as a couple again and not just be busy parents who are always focusing on your jobs.
Take time to discuss more things together as a couple. This will help relieve the stress on both of you and prevent a broken marriage. One great way of doing this is to have a few fun date nights away from home to enjoy your time together to bring back the romantic lifestyle you once had.
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Rekindle the Romance
Do you remember the last time you went on a date with your spouse? To sustain a marriage, you should always keep the romance alive because if your spouse misses romance in life, they may tend to seek it somewhere else, so always find ways to be romantic — just because you are married does not mean your love life has to be stagnant.
Renewing the romance in your marriage can make a big difference to your marriage and save you from an unhappy marriage.
Here are ways to rekindle the romance in your marriage:
- Make your sex life a priority
- Laugh together
- Always share positive comments
- Hold hands more often
- Travel to new countries together
- Develop new feelings
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Get Some Professional Help
If you are in a marriage and things seem like they are not working, you may need to seek the help of a marriage counselor. Marriage counseling will give you the professional advice needed to save your crumbling marriage.
A falling marriage could be caused by lack of communication, trust issues, lack of time, addiction, financial problems, arguments, or lack of intimacy. If your marriage has reached this level, then this is the best time to seek professional help because you may be one step away from a broken marriage.
But as long as you and your partner want to save your failing marriage, then visiting a marriage counsellor, Relationship Coach, or attending marriage therapy is the best option. With these, you will definitely receive homework to do as a couple, couple activities, or some other things to learn from which will help promote marriage improvement.
Related: How to Save a Crumbling Marriage
Combating a Severe Depression
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Keep Being Social
Keep yourself busy with your social groups and with the projects you are implementing. By staying active with your social involvements, there won’t be any room for you to think negative thoughts, and sometimes being active socially will help you with your depression symptoms.
Just a caution, though! Social activities here do not mean that you have to go on a drinking spree with friends. Such action would not help you recover, and might only worsen your depression, especially when you eventually develop an addiction to it.
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Limit Your Social Media Usage
Being active on social media might not do good for you, especially because it has the potential to contribute to your low self-esteem. You must admit that you are influenced by what you see and read on your friends’ posts at times. There could be instances as well where you got upset because of your friend’s comments about an issue that is important to you.
There could also be a time when you see posts that are contrary to your beliefs and ideologies. In your sensitive state, limiting your social media time can help you cope with depression quicker. It is better, though, if you stay away from it during these times.
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Stop Overthinking
This is a sign of depression that often goes unnoticed and is also a form of anxiety symptoms like worrying about the past and future. When you overthink things, chances are you get so engulfed with negatives that you end up feeling extremely bad.
When this happens, you are just adding on to your condition. Regretfully, instead of helping yourself recover, you are only contributing to your worsening condition.
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Stay away from Toxic People
When you are surrounded by toxic people, your mood will be affected; you might even lose your self-esteem. You will know if someone is toxic if you see any of the following signs:
- The person sees to it that you will feel inferior when compared to him or her.
- The person will make it a point that you will feel bad about yourself.
- The person loves to talk about other people’s mistakes and misfortunes when talking to you. There is a big chance that he or she will do the same behind your back when you are away.
- The person has his or her way in abusing you. Does he, or she, keep on borrowing money from you but never bothers to pay on the day he or she promised to do so? Does the person take advantage of your kindness over and over again?
Related: 12 Ways to Combat Depression
How to Handle a Credit Card Fraud
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Report to Your Financial Institution
The very first thing that you should do when you discover that you are a victim of credit card theft is to report it to your financial institution. They can help walk you through the steps of closing your accounts and getting new ones opened up.
This is a good time to change the passwords on your accounts, as well as your pin numbers so that no one can access any of your new account information.
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“Freeze” Your Credits and Debts with Your Bank
You may also want to consider placing a hold or freeze on your credit accounts, as it will prevent someone from opening new accounts in your name. This is an excellent option, but it can be a slight inconvenience, especially if you plan on needing to ask for credit in the near future.
However, if a lender does need to access your information, you can request a temporary lift on the freeze. The only thing that you need to be aware of with credit freezes and holds is that you may be responsible to pay a fee to have them placed on your accounts.
Most times, that fee is waived when it comes to credit card fraud, but you will need to verify that when you make your phone call.
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File a Report to Your Local Police Agency
It may be necessary for you to report this fraudulent activity to your local police agency, as it will give you additional credit card fraud protection. The reason for this is that there will be legal evidence that the crime occurred.
There are many ways that you can file this report, but some areas have a preference as to whether you go down to the police station, file it over the phone, or have an officer sent to your home. There are times when one of these options is better for you.
A few people go to the police station, so they can show documentation of the fraud. However, others, especially the elderly, find that it is much more convenient to have a police officer go to their home, as it is too difficult for them to go anywhere.
Related: How to Deal with Credit Card Fraud
How to Deal with Bankruptcy
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Pay Your Bills on Time
Not only will this tip help you avoid creating big debts that you won’t be able to pay up in the future, but paying your bills on time will also slowly build your credit score again. Remember that this is crucial if you want to get a loan later in life.
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Look for Different Methods to Boost Your Credit Score
Bankruptcy can damage your credit score for up to 10 years, so it’s important that you find alternative methods to build your score. You might want to check with utility companies and even your landlord to see if they participate in any service that reports your on-time payments to credit bureaus.
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Use a Secured Credit Card
Secured cards have a credit limit that’s based on a cash deposit you must make and acts as collateral. By this method, banks might lower down the risk of “lending” you money once your credit score has been affected. Your bank will report your on-time payments directly to credit bureaus so you can rebuild your credit.
Related: How to Deal With Bankruptcy
Remember that being ready can make a real difference when facing unfortunate events. With this handy guide, you’ll be ready for anything that comes your way!
