Archive for the Category »health «

16
Oct 2008

No-Spending Days And A New Grocery Store

Bookmark and Share

We got home from my husband’s knee surgery adventure on Tuesday evening, and other than several walks with the dog, we haven’t left the house since we got back.  Working from home makes the whole knee recovery process so much easier.  Especially with both of us working from home, since I’m able to take care of things that my husband can’t do on crutches.

The last couple days have just involved work, housework, cooking, taking care of the baby, and physical therapy (which we do at home for the rest of the week – he’ll be going to a therapist near our home once a week starting next week).  Entertainment has mostly revolved around a good library book, going for walks with the dog, and hanging out with our son.  All free, and all rewarding.  So we’ve had a couple of no-spending days, and there will probably be many more over the next few weeks.

Yesterday I noticed that we had accumulated 10,000 points on our credit card, and I cashed them in for a $100 credit to our statement.  I always take the cash reward instead of gift cards to stores.  When I went on the card website to redeem our points, I noticed that they were offering $10 gift cards to various stores, for 1250 points.  Or I could cash in 10,000 points and get $100, to spend any way we like.  So of course I took the cash.  With that little bonus, our no-spending days look even better.

A great new health food store is opening less than a mile from our house tomorrow.  We’re both very excited about this, and have been waiting for months for the grand opening.  I always ride my bike or walk to the regular grocery stores near our house, but having a health food store just around the corner is going to be awesome.  We had planned to bike there tomorrow, but my husband won’t be able to bike for at least three weeks, and crutching a mile each way to the store would be a painful endeavor.  So we’ll be loading up the car and heading over there tomorrow to scout out the store.  I’m especially excited to check out the bulk bins and stock up on organic dry goods.  We’ll be budget conscious though, and limit the pricey stuff to a few splurges.  But for me, going into a health food store is like Carrie Bradshaw going into a Jimmy Choo store.  It’s a good thing that most of my trips there in the future will be on foot or by bike – it will limit the amount I buy to just what I can carry.

Pin it
Category: family, food, health  4 Comments
15
Oct 2008

Back Home Again

Bookmark and Share

We’re back home, after a very successful knee surgery for my husband.  We spent two days in my sister-in-law’s condo in a town about 30 miles from the hospital where the surgery was done, and managed to do so without spending much money.  We packed food to take with us, and I went for walks with the dog and the baby to pass the time while we waited.  All together we spent $24 on a pizza last night before we came home (a splurge, but the leftovers were today’s lunch), $7 on a sandwich from Subway as a treat for my husband when he woke up from surgery, and gas money. 

I had grand ambitions of working on the computer while I waited in the hospital – that’s what I did back in January when my husband had his other knee worked on, and I was able to get a lot done.  But during that surgery, I was pregnant.  This time, I had a five month old baby.  I guess it was a bit naive of me to think that I would get anything done on the computer.  At home, I’m able to set him on his mat on the floor by my feet while I work on the computer, but I didn’t want to put him down on the floor in the hospital.  Plus, I figured that I should keep him close to me since his normal routine was turned upside down.  So I spent the last two days holding him, carrying him around in the sling and showing him the sights.  He was a big hit in the physical therapy room, making everyone smile. 

But now we’re back home and getting back to normal (plus crutches and an ice machine).  I participated in the Carnival of Money Stories this week, hosted by Mrs. Accountability at Out Of Debt Again (one of my favorite blogs).    I really enjoyed Money Ning’s story about cancelling cable TV and cutting back on cell phone minutes and saving $100/month in the process.  There are so many things to do with our time besides watching TV.  Well done!  I also enjoyed the article from Free Money Finance about a family they knew who went through a foreclosure.  It sounds like a complicated situation and makes me glad that we’re planning to stay in our first home with a mortgage that gets relatively lower ever year, thanks to inflation and a fixed interest rate.  Another great post is ay Affiliate Marketing Xpert, discussing the things he’s learned from paying attention to personal finance.  A great refresher for all of us.

Pin it
Category: carnivals and festivals, health, travel  4 Comments
11
Oct 2008

Going Out Of Town Checklist: Food And Diapers

Bookmark and Share

My husband is having knee surgery on Monday (the other knee this time), so we’re going to be away from home from tomorrow until Tuesday evening.  It will be the longest we’ve been gone since our son was born in May (I guess we’ve really been homebodies the last few months…)  My husband’s sister owns a vacation condo in a town near the hospital we’re going to, so luckily we have a place to stay.  I made a lasagna and a batch of muffins a couple days ago, and froze them to take with us.  Today I made a batch of granola and harvested some bell peppers to take along.  We’ll only be gone about 48 hours, so I think we have the food situation covered.

I normally wash diapers every other day, but our son spends a few hours each day with no diaper on, just hanging out on the kitchen floor with a baby blanket under him.  Works great in our house, but I don’t think we can get away with that in the swanky condo with fancy new carpets.  The finer points of naked baby time might not be appreciated as much there.  I needed a few more diapers in order to have enough for two full days, so today I made two new diapers and altered the last two small diapers that we made last spring.   That adds four diapers to our stash, so we should be just fine.  And there is a washer and dryer at the condo if I end up needing to do a load of diapers.  The diapers I made today turned out really cute.  I used pajamas that I found at the thrift store for the outside (they were “cat in the hat” pajamas), and yellow fleece for the inside.  I’ve switched to making pocket diapers, with an opening between the two layers where I can stick the absorbent layer.  That way I can take the middle of the diapers out when I wash them, and they’ll dry a lot faster.  I’ll try to make one diaper per week until I get a good stash of larger diapers built up, since he’s outgrowing the his current diapers (I altered all of them this summer, but I knew that would only get us through a few months).

Other stuff…

My blog just got featured on Alltop (All the top frugal news).  Check out their site – lots of good frugal blogs and great for people who don’t use feedreaders and want a good selection of blogs all in one place.

In the Frugal Blog Network, Andy from Tight Fisted Miser writes about refilling your printer ink cartridge.  My husband keeps a pair of latex gloves, some tissue, and a bottle of refill ink in a drawer in his office.  I can’t remember the last time we bought a new ink cartridge.  Although these days, our office is pretty much paperless, so we hardly ever have to refill the ink either.

Kelly From Almost Frugal has a great list of 13 frugal things you can do in just a few minutes.  I’d say they’re not only frugal but also great for eliminating stress and being organized.

Frugal Zeitgeist has a fantastic post about affluenza.  Check it out – it’s well worth the read.  And then turn off your tv and go for a walk.

The Frugal Duchess is going on an online book tour.  I love this idea.  Rather than go into debt paying for a rubber-meets-the-road tour (and risking her job in the process), she’s going to be meeting and greeting people through blogs and websites for the next month, to promote her Frugal Duchess book.

At Not Made Of Money, there are some good ideas for frugal birthday gifts.  With the holidays right around the corner, these ideas work there too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Pin it
Category: baby, health  6 Comments
06
Sep 2008

Tomato Watermelon Salad

Bookmark and Share

A patron at our library gave me the idea to mix watermelon and tomatoes in a salad. Sounds odd, but tastes fantastic. I added a few other ingredients, and we loved how it turned out, so I thought I’d share. And if your garden has tomatoes, basil, and watermelon, this will be a very inexpensive salad. It only takes a few minutes to come together. Just mix everything together and enjoy:

  • equal parts tomatoes and watermelon, chopped
  • fresh basil, chopped (I used 7 leaves for a salad to feed two people – use as much as you like)
  • a small amount of goat cheese, feta, or soft mozzarella
  • a few drops of balsamic vinegarette

If you’re eating vegan, just leave out the cheese – the other flavors will still be great together. I used basil from our hydroponic garden, and tomatoes from our outdoor garden. This salad is perfect for those end of summer days when the weather is still warm, and the garden is producing all sorts of wonderful things.

Pin it
Category: health, organic living  8 Comments
11
Jul 2008

Creative Cooking – Use What You Have

Bookmark and Share

I love to cook.  Trying new recipes and putting together interesting and tasty meals is one of my favorite things.  But trying new recipes can get expensive, since it seems like there’s always at least one thing that I don’t have on hand.  So I’ve learned to improvise, and it usually works just fine.

Yesterday, I came across this recipe for raw strawberry cobbler at Kristen’s Raw – a blog that I’m loving.  Yum.  The picture alone was enough to make me want to try it.  I eat a lot of raw food, mostly in the form of veggies and fruits.  I’ve done some experimenting with making more complicated raw things, but I’ve found that the grocery bill that goes along with them can be painful.  Things like organic dates and cashews are not cheap – but they sure are tasty, so I buy them every once in a while as a treat.  Anyway, last night at 10pm I wanted to make this strawberry cobbler.  But I was missing about half the ingredients, didn’t want to make a trip to the store, and didn’t want to spend any money.  So I improvised.  For the cobbler part, I used about a cup of almonds, half a cup of oats, half a cup of raisins, and a tiny scoop of dark chocolate chips.  I put them in my food processor with a few teaspoons of water and processed them until I had a crumbly concoction.  I put that into bowls, and started on the strawberry part.  I had a pint of organic strawberries, and an orange.  I put them in the food processor with a teaspoon of honey, blended until it was smooth, and poured it over the cobbler.  Turned out fantastic.  Probably not quite as good as it would have been with coconut and currants in it, but it was a perfect summer treat anyway, and I was able to make it using just the stuff I had on hand.

I tend to be inspired by recipes.  It’s rare that I have all the ingredients, so I make substitutions and changes all the time.  I’ve rarely had anything turn out bad.  Some things – like baking powder or yeast – are vital to the outcome of a recipe.  But most of the time, you can improvise and it will be just fine.  So if you have a recipe and it’s going to take $40 to buy the ingredients, I challenge you to look around your fridge and pantry and see how you can alter the recipe to make it work with what you have.  And by the way, I’m the last person anybody would have thought would be doing creative cooking.  My mother is a great cook, but I was never all that interested in learning when I lived with my parents.  In college, some of my friends decided to have one night a week where we went to each others houses for a meal, and when it was my turn we always had sandwiches.  This is a relatively recent development – I only learned to cook about ten years ago (when I went to Africa with the Peace Corps and had to learn to feed myself without a microwave or starve), and started getting creative with it about five years ago.  So give it a try – I bet you can turn out some pretty tasty stuff with what you have in your cupboards right now.

Pin it
Category: health, the simple life, ways we save money  4 Comments
20
Jun 2008

New Frugal Tips

Bookmark and Share

We’ve all probably seen hundreds of lists of ways to save money; but most of the tips tend to be repeats.  But I came across this list today, and I liked the unique aspects of some of the tips.  ‘Stop smoking’ is one that we’ve heard before, but what about ‘stop tanning’?  I know lots of smart, educated, successful ladies – who would never dream of smoking – who pay for several visits to a tanning salon every spring.  They’re courting cancer just as if they were smoking, and they’re paying for the privilege.  I’ve never been to a tanning bed, and I gave up on the notion of being tan when I was about 12, because my fair skin and freckles don’t lend themselves well to a tanned look.  But I like the idea of skipping the tanning bed as a health tip and a frugal tip.

And I love the tip about wearing sensible shoes.  To me, Carrie from Sex and the City (love the show, can’t wait for the movie to be out on DVD so I can rent it for a dollar from Redbox!!) is the epitome of someone who never chooses sensible shoes.  Was she ever not wearing heels?  She couldn’t afford to buy her apartment but she had $40,000 worth of Manolos and Jimmy Choos in her closet.  Ouch.  My current favorite shoes are a pair of knockoff Keens that came from Payless about two years ago, and cost $25.  They’re fabulously comfy, I wear them almost every day, and they’re still going strong after two years.  I buy a new pair of running shoes about once a year, and usually spend about $75 – $100.  I gave up on heels years ago, and I’m all about comfort when it comes to my feet.  Running is hard enough on them, without trying to squeeze them into pointy toed shoes.

Drinking only water, avoiding the drive thru, and eating slowly are some other great tips – not only do they save money, but they’re a lot better for our health than the alternatives.

Pin it
Category: health, organic living, ways we save money  4 Comments
10
Mar 2008

Paying For Green Smoothies

Bookmark and Share

We’ve been drinking our green smoothies for more than two months now, and are loving how healthy we feel.  And I love knowing that it doesn’t get much better as far as what I could be feeding our unborn baby.  I’ve started adding a banana and a couple carrots, along with the berries and greens.  When I use kale, I put in a little pomegranate juice to cut the bitterness of the greens – works great.  I think I’ve perfected the art of green smoothie making, and we plan to keep drinking them forever. 

But they aren’t cheap.  I only use organic greens, and they cost about $2.50/bunch at every store I’ve checked.  Costco sells a 16 ounce container of organic spinach for $3.50 (makes two days worth of green smoothie), but I don’t like all the packaging that gets wasted when I buy those.  I prefer to just buy a bundle of greens held together with a twist tie.  (But whenever we’re near Costco, I do buy a container of spinach, because the price is really good).  On average, I’d say we’re spending about $12/week on greens, in addition to what we get in our vegetable delivery service box each week.  I’ve started substituting greens for a couple other things in the delivery each week, so I usually get three bunches of greens delivered every Wednesday.  I don’t want to get more than that, because they lose their flavor and nutrients if they sit in the fridge for more than a few days. 

I have no problem spending the money (it’s for spinach and kale after all – hard to begrudge that sort of spending…) but I sure am looking forward to garden season!  We always plant lots of chard in our garden, and this spring we’re going to plant even more than usual.  It’s very hardy and keeps producing all the way through October, even if it gets frosted.  So starting in about May/June we should be getting our greens for free for a few months.  Very exciting!

Pin it
Category: health  6 Comments
28
Feb 2008

Knee Appointments and Baby Stuff

Bookmark and Share

We’re sitting in the waiting room at the hospital where my husband has his knee surgery last month, waiting to see the doctor for his follow up appointment.  We’re very optimistic that he’s going to get some additional mobility clearance, and hopefully we’ll be able to do the rest of his treatments at the physical therapy clinic right near our home.

I packed a lunch for us, which we ate in the car before we came in for the appointment.  But we’ve decided that we’re going to go out to eat dinner after the appointment is over, as a little treat.  I swapped shifts with a friend at the library in order to avoid taking any vacation time for today, and we’ve both been working at least six days a week for quite some time now.  So we decided that a dinner out would be a nice bonus.  But knowing us I’m sure we’ll find somewhere where we can keep the bill under $35 or so.

A friend at the library who has finished having babies gave me some stuff yesterday – we got a baby bathtub and a little play mat with criss-cross arches that go over it with toys hanging off them.  It seems that people are more than happy to give away baby stuff that they aren’t using anymore, and we’re thrilled to have it.  I don’t care at all whether our baby stuff is new or used, or whether it matches anything else in our house.  And my list of things we “need” for our baby is a whole lot shorter than Babies R Us would recommend.  But it’s made the financial aspects of getting ready for the baby a whole lot easier than they would have been if we wanted all the latest and greatest stuff.

Pin it
Category: baby, health  One Comment
08
Feb 2008

Laser Eye Surgery Is More Expensive Than I Thought…

Bookmark and Share

Mapgirl has just had laser eye surgery, and she wrote a really informative article about the experience and the cost.  My husband has been pondering LASIK for years.  He can’t see much of anything without glasses, so I can understand his desire to have eyes that just work.  I have glasses but I only really need them to drive at night or to watch subtitled movies.  I am freaked out by the idea of someone cutting his eye with a laser, but I suppose that’s because I tend to be paranoid about things like that. 

We’ve tossed around the idea of getting his eyes fixed, but we’ve never looked into the actual cost or what’s involved.  Now that we’re out of debt and doing ok financially, we might start saving towards LASIK.  We would use our HSA, and we would only get the procedure done after we had all the money saved in the HSA first.

I was surprised by the price tag in Mapgirl’s article.  I had thought that LASIK on both eyes would run about $2000 – $3000.  Guess not.  I found this site that shows national averages, and it looks like we’d be paying about $4200 – $4800 to get both of his eyes done.  Ouch.  That’s a lot of money.  We’re going to max out our HSA again this year ($5800), but once we pay our deductible for his knee surgery ($3000) and our midwife’s charges (another $3000), we’ll only have about $3700 left in the account at the end of 2008.  So it would be 2009 for sure before we had enough money built back up in that account to cover eye surgery. 

That will give us plenty of time to talk about it and figure out what we want to do.  I absolutely do not want him to go to some cut-rate place that offers LASIK for $500.  (the article I linked to above says those places have all sorts of hidden fees anyway, and you end up paying much more than they advertise).  These are eyes we’re talking about – we only get two, and they have to last a lifetime.  So I want to make sure that if we decide to go ahead with LASIK, we find the best doc around and don’t take price into consideration.  In order to feel comfortable taking nearly $5000 out of our HSA to pay for LASIK, I think I’d need to know that we had at least another $3000 remaining in the HSA, to cover our health insurance deductible in case an unexpected medical situation were to arise.  The HSA is our emergency medical fund, and with a $3000 deductible, I wouldn’t feel comfortable cleaning the whole account out to pay for eye surgery.  So maybe it will be 2010 before we can afford this…

Pin it
Category: health  6 Comments
02
Feb 2008

Durable Medical Equipment (An Igloo Cooler With Hoses)

Bookmark and Share

After my husband’s knee surgery on Monday, the docs and physical therapists were going over all the things we need to do for the next few weeks to give him the best chance of a full recovery. One of the things they emphasized was ice, and their recommendation was an automatic icer. It’s basically a cooler with a pump inside it and two hoses that come out of it and plug into an insulated wrap that goes around the knee. Then there’s a cord that plugs the unit into a wall outlet and has a control to adjust the level of coldness. All we have to do is refill the ice as it melts, and keep it plugged in.

The other option was to use plain old ice packs. But the catch is that he’s supposed to be icing his knee pretty much constantly all day and all night. If we use ice packs, we have to take them on and off to make sure that we don’t ice for more than 20 minutes each hour (to avoid over cooling the area). But the automatic icer cycles on and off, so you can leave it on all day and it will maintain the right temperature.

In the hospital, they told us that they would bill the ice machine to our insurance, but that there was no guarantee that it would be covered, and that we would be responsible for the price if the insurance company doesn’t pay for it. They told us it runs $200 – $300, depending on what insurance network you have.

We decided to go for it. We took the icer and the hospital is billing the insurance company. We hope that they cover it, and we think there’s a good chance they will (and we’re brokers for that insurance company and sell a good number of policies for them every month, so we do have contacts there and a bit of leverage if we need to use it). But even if they don’t, we consider it $300 well spent. Every night, we’ve been able to just plug the icer in next to our bed and go to sleep, knowing that it will keep his knee cool all night. I get up after about 6 hours or so and add more ice, but that’s a whole lot better than taking an ice pack on and off every hour. If we didn’t have the automatic icer, his knee would probably not be getting iced nearly as well, despite our best intentions.

I suppose it would have been frugal to use ziplock bags of ice cubes and take them on and off all day for the next few weeks. But the results would probably not have been as good, especially at night. This is one of those times when the more expensive option ends up being the better value, both in convenience and in overall outcome. I’m glad we take the frugal option 95% of the time, because it makes it easier to take the more expensive option when it really matters.

642-453 is among the leading tests in the test and certification field and is designed for IT professionals. The 642-436 CVOICE is the test linked with the CCVP certification. 650-575 is Cisco certification test which increase a candidate’s networking skills. Cisco SNPA 642-523 securing Cisco networks with PIX and ASA provides you the advanced networking skills. Microsoft 70-271 qualification authenticates the skills and acquaintance of help-desk technicians.

Pin it
Category: health, When we spend  9 Comments
« Previous Entries
Next Entries »