Making Money Tip

Just so you know, I still plan on posting each week on Monday what I have been making online. However, I haven't been doing any surveys or attempting any offers right now. I have so much going on in my life that I simply don't have time right now.

Which brings me to this week's tip: If you are serious about making some extra money online, set aside 15-30 minutes each day. This time allows you to go through your emails, pick out the offers/surveys you want to try, and complete them. Just think, if you can make $1.00 a day doing surveys/offers, that's an extra $7.00 a week. While this may sound small, it's an extra $28 a month. That's groceries if you do coupons (like me) or if you are going for gift cards that's $28 off something. And it really isn't that difficult to make more. This is just a low example.

Next week I hope to review Cash Crate. We'll see how life goes in the upcoming week!

$232.85 Worth of stuff...for $72.69...savings of 68%

I really had a great weekend at the stores this weekend. I enjoyed myself immensely. I am going to begin with my tip for the week instead of putting it at the bottom.....Try Drug Store shopping...but go slow. I think I have finally got the hang of "CVSing." I did really well this week. I started small a few weeks ago and have worked my way up. The Southern Savers CVS weekly ad gives scenarios that you can try. She lists simple transactions to start with then list the bigger transactions. I started small and have learned her way to do this. The key for drugstore shopping is to make the Extra Care Bucks (or whatever your store gives out) work for you. The beauty of CVS is you can use the ECBs to purchase more stuff to get more ECBs. Here is what I got this week:

You are seeing here $79.19 worth of stuff for a total of (after sales and coupons and ECB) $20.49 and I still have some ECBs left over. I saved 74%.  CVS was out of the FREE Oral B power toothbrushes today so I got a raincheck. I don't make special trips to a store. I will just get it next time I am there.

I also went to BiLo this week...twice. Once by myself and once with my mom. I purchased a few things each time.

This is the first visit. I spent $22.65 and got $52.99 worth of stuff. 

This is my visit #2. This is $35.91 worth of stuff for $15.37. Yes, I got more dog treats. Dog treats are generally pretty expensive (to be dog treats). Sometimes they range from $2.00-$10 for some bags. So, I get them when on sale and get enough to last for a while. Plus, my doggies love them. 

BiLo totals: $38.02 spent after coupons and sales, $88.90 before sales and coupons, savings of 61% 

And again Publix takes the prize for the most coupon friendly place. I LOVE PUBLIX. I got $65.12 worth of stuff for $14.18. WOW. That's a savings of 78%. Take advantage of those Publix coupons stacked with manufacturer coupons.

I hope everyone had a good week shopping. We are pretty stocked up on cereal, toothpaste, and dog treats. I will not be getting any of those things for a while unless they are free or a few cents short of free. 

SON days

 

The more I go through in my life, the more I rely on God to help me through it. I really love this song because it really does describe my relationship with God. I can't imagine what Job dealt with and how much he lost. AND HE STILL PRAISED GOD. May we all be like Job and praise God even in the rain. I always try to remember that even though I am going through this hard time, God has a reason for it. Whether the reason be to bring me closer to him or to be a witness to other people. There's a purpose. 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Now Is the Time..not tomorrow

I know I have said that this blog is not going to be about dieting. And it's not. However, since this is something that has come up in my life, it will be blogged about.

I have always said, "I'll start tomorrow. I'll start after the weekend. I'll start (fill in the blank)." This time, it started immediately. As soon as I found out about my impending health crisis yesterday, I started. I went to the store and bought a few items that I knew were low in sodium and low in calories. I am NOT counting calories. I am NOT consciously going to count everything that goes into my mouth. However, I have done this enough times with enough success to know how to do this. While counting is a great way to lose weight and while it has worked for me, FOR ME, I don't think it is sustainable for life long management. You may disagree but I refuse to spend my days counting my calories. I know the calories of most foods. If I am unsure, I will look. But for now, that's as far as it goes. If I don't lose weight after a couple of weeks doing it this way, then I may loosely count calories to get myself on track. My goal right now is to not gain weight. I'll be weighing myself in the morning to get a base weight and then I plan to weigh myself every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to keep myself on track.

I don't know how this is going to go for me. I haven't ever tried losing weight this way. I have ALWAYS counted (as in writing/tracking/logging) whatever I put in my mouth. However, since those ways have failed, I KNOW that FOR ME, it is not sustainable to do it that way.

Today has gone well. I'm confident that I have eaten less today than I have in a long time. And I'm not hungry. We'll see how this goes.

Okay...Here We Go Again

I've had a lot going on this past week. I was sick for most of the week...to the point to where I barely left the bed. Then, I went to the doctor on Wednesday for my cold and found out I have high blood pressure. Yeah..really high...in my opinion (155/94). I bought a blood pressure monitor and the highest it went was 171/96 and 155/107. Yes, I'm not happy. I went to see my cardiologist today and the verdict is in...it's not as big of a deal as I felt it was and I need to lose weight (and medicine). I have a perfect storm for high blood pressure it seems. I have family history, I weigh a lot, and I don't exercise. There you go...a recipe for high blood pressure.

So, here we go again...slowly. I am not going to go crazy and count every calorie I eat..yet. I talked with my doctor about the connection of losing weight and my defibrillator discharging. The doc seems to think there is no connection. And if there is, it's just the fact that my heart is getting used to the exercise. He also seems to think that it won't happen this time because I am taking Amiodarone (the medicine that keeps my heart in rhythm). So, not only will this be a general blog, I will be reporting on my weight loss. I'm not going to go hard core and count everything. I want to start slow. Make small changes. Eat less salt. Etc.

Here we go.

Weekend Shopping Trips

I was going to post this weekend but Michael and I spent a lot of time just enjoying each other's company so I never got around to it.

I had awesome shopping trips this weekend. See below:

This is from a place I mentioned in my last coupon post. The place is called Bargain Foods. They get overstock and damaged items from stores and sell it at a reduced cost. What you see here is $72.27 worth of groceries for $40.32. I LOVE THAT PLACE. The only thing is they don't accept coupons. But it's okay. I save enough there anyway. 

I loved my Publix shopping trip. As you know, I have two dogs. We need lots of dog treats. So, I spent $11.39 on $58.01 worth of stuff. WOW. Now, of course these were dog treats, ice cream, taco shells, and Maalox, nothing to make a meal with (except for the Taco shells). However, these were things we need.

 This is my shopping trip from Bilo. It's not the best I have done at BiLo but it was good. I got some meat that was on sale. Plus, I got some cleaning stuff. And more Maalox. I spent $36.41 on $60.95 worth of stuff. Like I said, it wasn't the best I have done but I didn't have any coupons for the meat. 

And this is my shopping trip to CVS. I am still working on perfecting my CVS shopping but I'm getting better. I spent $35.76 on $84.58 worth of stuff. I am really happy. I got free toothpaste, toothbrushes, and Listerine. I was excited. Plus, I got some Valentine Day stuff for my valentine.

So in total this weekend, I spent $123.88 on $275.81 worth of stuff. That's a savings of 56%. I'm pretty stoked about that. So what is my tip for the week?

Get rainchecks. That's how I rocked it out at Publix. I had awesome coupons but the week I needed the dog stuff, they didn't have it. I got a raincheck and went back when I had other stuff to get and got the dog stuff. GET RAIN CHECKS when the store is out of the product you want and go get it before your coupons expires.

SON days

Wordless Wednesday

So what exactly happened?

Sunday October 4, started like any Sunday afternoon does for me and Michael. We went to his parents to eat Sunday dinner and spend some time there. His parent's home is like my second home. I feel completely at ease and comfortable there.

While we were there that Sunday my heart started "acting up" at lunch. I stopped eating and put my head between my hands. I do a fairly good job at controlling my heart and breathing during these times. I concentrated on that while Michael and his parents looked on concern. I finally gave up on eating and sat on the couch. "It will go away" I told myself. It always does and this time is no different. I have atrial fibrillation. Take a minute.

See, it's nothing life-threatening at all. An hour later I finally called my mom to bring my carelink monitor. I sent a transmission to my doctors at MUSC here in SC and laid down. I was so exhausted because of the a-fib that I just wanted to sleep. Plus, sleeping has made it go away in the past so why should this time be any different?

I woke up three hours later and it was still not gone. Yep, emergency room time. I called to make sure I was doing the right thing and I was. I walked into the emergency room on my own accord and told the lady at the desk I would like to check in. When the words "atrial fibrillation" came out of my mouth I was whisked away to a room. In the room I was hooked up to several monitors and what not. Fast forward about an hour and a half....

They had played around with some ideas as to what to do for me and decided that Diltiazem would be the best avenue for it. Before they could start me on the medicine, my heart took off. And BAM, my defibrillator shocked my heart to try to slow it down. And AGAIN. And AGAIN. And three more times it went. It was so surreal. It was happening to me but I could see it happening to someone else, like it was happening on TV. The cardiac ER doctor was awesome at keeping me calm. She finally put Diltiazem into my IV after the second time of my defibrillator going off. She kept up with me the whole time, kept eye contact me with me. I remember looking around and seeing at least 15 people in the room during that time.She was finally able to get my heart rate to go down...after LOT of Diltiazem, Morphine, and Zofran. Yes, I was so drugged I could not see straight. However, that didn't keep me from worrying about how fast my heart was going. For an hour, even after it had slowed down, it was a matter of peace of mind for me to know it was okay. In fact, at one point it had began to creep up again and I was able to tell her before she even saw it on the monitor. Some more Diltiazem later, I was stable. After that, I definitely had a hard time trusting that they were watching my heart rate. That's when I was introduced to Ativan. And I lived on that for the next 24 hours. Good stuff.

My heart may have slowed down but it never corrected itself out of the abnormal rhythm. Monday morning my electrophysiologist decided that cardioversion was needed to correct the a-fib. So, after drugging me up on some Versed they shocked my heart so it would go back into rhythm. When I woke up, I didn't even realize it was over. They only thing I knew was my heart was back to normal. And I was grateful.

I'm not going to lie. I'm terrified now. I have always depended on my defibrillator to stop these types of rhythms. Although my defibrillator was implanted for the purpose of ventricular tachycardia, it had always worked in the past for the purposes of a-fib. I guess I figured (or had hoped) it would continue to be the case. It's not. My defibrillator did nothing for me that Sunday. The WONDERFUL ER cardiac doctor and her medications is what stopped the episode. And I can't get that out of my mind. I can't get the picture in my head of me coming off the gurney with every shock from my defibrillator. So much so that I was sent home with Xanax to help with the anxiety. I'm scared. I'm constantly aware of my heart rate and heartbeat. And I'm not sure how to be normal again. I'm not sure how to forget this happened and go back to normal.


***This was written shortly after my hospital stay. While I am still very aware of my heart beats, things have gotten better as you will see with future posts.

SON days

 

 This is a song that I have really grown to love. I was raised in a Christian home and kind of got away from that for awhile. When I realized how important God was to me in my life, I have definitely "ran back to his promises" and it has surprised me, just as the son said. I now take great satisfaction in reading my Bible and praying that God will lead me to where he wants me. 

No Shopping Trip This Week

One thing that I have learned while couponing is that you don't ALWAYS HAVE to shop every week. I always look at the sales on Southern Savers and if there is nothing I know that we will use or just simply no good prices, I will not go. That's one of the biggest things I will say about doing this. Look once, if there's nothing there, don't try to find something. Know what you have in your kitchen and know what you need. Don't buy to be buying and don't buy it if you aren't going to use it (unless you are donating). Going one weekend a month without going to the store, is not going to deplete your stockpile. Use what you have and check back next week. You'll be surprised by how much you will save.

My First Panic Attack

When I was a teenager, I always had anxiety about being around a lot of people. I hated going to Walmart because I always felt like I was drowning. However, I never had, what I like to call, a full blown panic attack. I was always able to keep everything under control long enough to get what was needed and get out. 

October 15 I was getting ready to go to bed and started feeling my heart race. My mind went blank and all I could think about was dying (seriously). I screamed for my husband but because he was so tired from working that day, he did not hear me. Looking back on it now, knowing what I know now, I could feel fear welling up in me. But I only thought about my heart. It only lasted a few seconds, but I ran to get Michael (that should have been my first clue right there-if it had been my heart, my defibrillator would have discharged with the rapid movement). I told him I had to go to the ER right then because I was afraid of my defibrillator discharging. 

When I got to the ER, they hooked me up to a heart monitor. My heart was in normal rhythm with no problems. My heart rate did rise but it was because I had another panic attack. While it felt like it was going really really fast, in reality it was only going 120-130 beats a minute. (Keep in mind that my heart has the ability to go 250 beats per minute). Seeing the doctor took forever this time (because I was fine) but they did give me a Xanax to calm me down while I was waiting. While it did calm me down some, I still was very shaky. 

This was my first actual panic attack. I went on to have about 7-8 more. One time, I had one in my sleep. I called 911 and again I was fine. Another time, I was driving down the road. I began having a panic attack and called 911 again. Again, I was fine. 

I have learned to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack, what happens in the minutes before and the minutes after. Learning to recognize the symptoms have taken the scariness out of it all. 

My first step is to evaluate. Feel my heart beat..it may be fast but is it in normal rhythm? If yes, proceed to Step 2. My second step is to breathe. It sounds simple but really does make all the difference in the world. If I can get myself past these first two steps, I am fine. If not, I go to Step 3. My third step is to call my mom. My mother is wonderful at helping me get through panic attacks. She can ramble on about nothing and it really does help. My fourth step is to take a Xanax and pray. Because when all else fails, God and Xanax will do the trick.