A fresh month

It's getting to be the end of January, we are all about to begin February. Think of this as a fresh start. Think of each new month in this! I know it is only the second month of the year, but I have read studies that say that the majority of New Year's Resolutions have already been given up by now. Don't wait for next year to make new ones. You could do so much damage by waiting around for the next time for resolutions. Make new ones at the beginning of each month! Here's some of what I'm talking about

Budgeting!!!! 

• Credit Cards! I know I have said they are great in the past. Let me clarify how to use them in a good way. Get a credit card with a low limit!!!!! like $500 low. Pay this off every few days and write these amounts in your registrar!!!!!! Don't get a huge credit card unless and carry it around for emergencies, then on a shopping spree! 
  
• Pay off Credit Cards! Let's say you have already maxed out several credit cards, as I'm sure some people have, and are thousands of dollars in debts. Or let's say you are in debt because of school. The simplest piece of advice would be to take it one day at a time, and set aside as much as you can. Get professional help if you are far in debt. The more professional, the more expensive, but the more they can help. But even if you are making enough to live a fairly cushy lifestyle, cut your expenses significantly, budget wisely, and pay off your payments fast to get a better credit score! And don't forget! Those minimum payments may only cover your interest, you may not actually be making a dent in what you owe! 
• Budget week by week! Set aside the right amount of money for your set expenses in the beginning of the month: rent, utilities, insurance, payments... The rest is for your changing expenses: food, clothes, entertainment... Divide the money into 4 (for four weeks in a month) and spend this amount each week, but no more. If you have problems (like I do) try withdrawing this money and spending cash each week. Then once you run out, you run out and don't spend anymore. 
• Keep looking! Keep the cost of all your bills out, and their due dates! Make sure they are all paid in full on time. Some you can even pay in advance! Make sure you have enough for all of your bills, because this is the most important thing. You may be living paycheck to paycheck for a few years (hopefully you then get that huge promotion, or that huge wedding ring...) and you can finally move up in life. But you can't if you have bad credit. 
• Save! The economy :-(. It's not doing well, as everyone hears about daily, but it's the truth. I have heard that it should be doing better by the summer, but you never know. Keep your portfolio and resume ready just in case. And keep some money set aside to get you through if something does happen. It is wise to keep at least 2 months saved up, of daily living expenses. I've heard as much as 9 months should be saved up. But do what you can. Because once your income goes, you can't really do anything. 
• List! Make a list of everything you WANT! This is help you save for these things instead of blowing it on spur of the moment small purchases! Put on there your barstools, and those hot $150 jeans your dreaming of! (Or maybe this is just my list) But make a list, and maybe put pictures up in a few strategic places to entice you to save up! 

Health!

• Exercise! It's never too late to start exercising! Don't be ashamed to exercise. What's the worse that could happen? People make fun of you? No one will! Esp not in a crowded gym! They would get their butts kicked by all the in shape people! You fall off the treadmill? I've done it! Maybe that hot nice guy will see you and realize you're human and check to make sure your ok! Its better to do it now, than 20 years and 40 pounds later! 
• Eat healthy! It's cheaper first of all! Think about how much you spend at McDonald's or Moe's everytime you go. Then think about how much you would spend on a casserole, and how many servings you would get out of it. Also think about how much healthier this is. Everything for lasagna is about $30 (this one is a bit expensive). I usually get about 8 servings out of it, this is less than $4 a serving. And most of the things that go into it you already have! 
• Vitamins! Take a multivitamin everyday made for women (or men if you are a man). This will give you an extra boost that will help you out. It only takes a minute to take and you will feel much better! 

Personal

• Job! Now I'm not going to tell you to quit your job, esp in this economy. But I will tell you to do something to improve it! If you don't like your position, think about what you could do to get a promotion. If you actually dread coming into work, begin putting your portfolio together so that you can be ready if another position comes up. But stay realistic. Don't expect to become the CEO anytime soon if you just graduated from college. 
• Relationships! This goes for both romantic and friendship. Relationships are a two way deal, each side has to give and take. Make sure you listen to all of your friends! And make sure they are listening to you. If you think you aren't getting what you deserve, talk to your friend. It's better than blowing up at them down the road. Getting your feelings out may create a tense situation, but think about how tense a situation would be if you blew up at her during brunch because she's going on and on about her stupid dog (not a real life event hopefully) 

Think of each new month as a new beginning, and do what you can to improve yourself. Most peoples New Years Resolutions don't last but a few weeks, an average of 3. Think about if you did this for 3 weeks each month. If you ate well, budgetted well, and exercised for 3 months out of the month? That's 3/4's of the year you would be doing good, instead of 3/52's. Who knows, it may even become a constant habit! 

How to go grocery shopping

Grocery shopping is something everyone has done by the time they are our age. Most of us have done serious grocery shopping by now. This blog will give you more tips and tricks to going grocery shopping effectively, and hopefully not have to make another trip out an hour later.

• Make a list: Through the week write down things you need as you run out of them. This is most easily done on a dry erase board you can keep on your fridge, or somewhere else easily accessible. Then, on your grocery shopping day transfer this to your list! As for the rest of the list, it would be best to plan out your menu for the next week, to save gas on multiple trips a week. Write down all the ingredients you may need and buy them then. 
• Make a menu: At the beginning of each week write a menu for the rest of the week. Add these things to your list. Include, or don't include, date nights. I listen to Cosmoradio on Sirius, and they talked about one girl who would arrange her dates in the beginning of the week and then write her menu to save money. 
• Take your list! Make sure you make a list and take it with you! Otherwise, you may forget something. Organize your list based on your grocery store, to avoid having to double back. 
• Coupons!  Before you go, gather up your coupons. Check expiration dates, and pick up staple items that are about to expire even if you don't need them. I'm talking about paper towels and tissues, not chicken broth. 
• Eat! Don't go to the grocery store hungry. At least buy some fast food on your way, if you really have no food at home. Otherwise you may buy things that look good, but that normally you wouldn't actually buy.
• Check prices! Buy the less expensive brand, unless you really like a certain brand and are willing to pay extra. But things like rice, buy the store brand. 
• Check expiration dates! Before you buy something, check the expiration date. Think about when you plan on using it, and try to figure out if it will be used before the expiration date. 
• Double check your list! Before you leave, run back through your list and check for everything. Make sure you got everything you needed. 
• Pull out your card! I usually save dollars, as much as $10, just on food for me between my coupons, and my membership card. They usually don't sell your info (I have about 10 different cards and have never gotten anything, but I have heard some do), they just want to know what you buy. So make sure you have one to every grocery store you may shop at.

Make sure you bring you list everytime you go shopping! It will be your life saver. And if you don't know what you want to get because your new to grocery shopping (like me) base it on what you have coupons for. 

staying healthy

I'm hoping every who reads this is healthy and remains that way, but sometimes things don't go the way we hope and everyone needs to do their best to remain as healthy as possible. 

Let me tell you a little about myself. I have always been slim, probably because of a good diet (I had a stay at home mom who cooked every meal) and good genes (all maternal female relatives are slim and tall, but I'm 5'4".) In 4th and especially 5th grade I started to fall back, and began to be obviously smaller than my peers. And all of a sudden had stomach flu symptoms, never having a stomach flu and hadn't puked since I was 8 (bad pizza, one of the random things I remember). My mother began taking me to doctor after doctor and within a year I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I was put on several medications, something I was told I'd be on for the rest of my life. But I was still very sick for the next two years.

For those of you who don't know, Crohn's can be a very serious auto immune disease. It involves inflammation of the digestive tract (usually small intestine like mine), sometimes set off by a certain diet, among other things. It is unknown what causes it, although science points to genes, possibly hereditary. 

I averaged 50 pounds at about 5' through middle school but in 8th grade began losing more weight. My doctors decided to insert a feeding tube in my stomach to pump me full of calories, but on my way to get this done I had an x-ray and it was discovered that a small section of my small intestine was beyond rehealing. I had surgery a few days later and had 3 inches of my small intestine removed. 

I mentioned diet as being a culprit of episodes. While I was sick, my family discovered that my episodes were often following the introduction of sugar in my diet. Every crohn's patient is different, but in general processed foods cause problems. Sugar (cane sugar and sugar substitutes specifically) seem to be my issue. Stress is another culprit, one reason I decided not to go into the teaching field.

Since I had surgery in 8th grade I have been in basic remission. I have had one hospital visit (after 3 months of drinking smirnoff twisted once a week.) that lasted one night. As long as I watch my diet I am fine, basically staying away from sugar. About a month ago I went off of my last prescription medication, but I have extras for set backs (such as in the days after my birthday when I have very rich homemade birthday cake laying around). 

What I have learned is that health is very important, and can be very expensive. Which is why it is important to do what you can to remain healthy. I cannot get health insurance, unless I am willing to go through a small company and pay upwards of $1000 a month, despite the fact that I'm healthy. In order to prove to my health insurance that I am healthy my family was about to pay out of pocket for my medication (they pay for my car as long as I stay off my meds and remain in school full time for health insurance while working 2 jobs). 

I hope my little story helps you realize the importance of staying healthy. And for those of you without health insurance, I hope you get health insurance just in case, because while you are healthy it costs less than $100 a month I am told. While Crohn's is generally diagnosed during puberty as your body changes, more and more cases are being diagnosed later in life. And there are thousands of more diseases that anyone can (and hopefully won't) be diagnosed with at any time. 

Now, for tips and tricks I have learned to stay healthy. 

• Vitamins: Take a multivitamin at the very least! Now that I am down to only 2 vitamins I keep them on my bedside table with a bottle of water and take them when I go to bed. Some added suggestions would be: iron (if you get headaches that are borderline migraine, try taking iron. I was diagnosed with stress migraines, and then discovered I was severely anemic, borderline transfusion, and began taking iron. The headaches went away within a week). B12 (if you ever feel stressed or short-tempered, try taking this. I felt this way and did research and began taking B12. It makes me not really sweat the small stuff, and things I can't control.) EsterC (this is a vitamin supplement of Vit C and other vitamins to help with absorption. This could help you prevent a cold, or help you fight a cold.)
• Diet: Many fast food companies are coming out with better food, so I won't say stay away from fast food (my favorite would be the wrap by McDonald's). But it is easier to control what goes into your body if you cook it. I would suggest casseroles, which you can take to work and save money. Be sure you eat a balanced diet! The basics are to make sure you include fruits and vegetables. Grab an apple or a bag of carrots on your way out to eat on your commute to work! Eat a salad with some meals.... Also, don't eat more than a portion. I found a great website that gives exact portions of meals. As far as losing weight, due to the fact that I have always struggled with my weight the opposite way, I can not help much here. I won't go into details, but I know from experience the struggle with weight can be difficult either way. But support is very helpful. Join a group online or of friends and do it together. Weight watchers is also very successful. I can also tell you to hide your scale and hide your tags. Base your weight on your appearance, and trust what your friends or professionals say. Have realistic expectations, and don't do anything drastic! 
• Exercise! Before you check out a local gym that costs check to see if your apartment has a gym. This will be free, and easier access. Check it out (if you don't live in a very nice apartment, the gym probably won't be very nice either, but it may be workable.) Even if you look like you are in good shape, your metabolism won't stay high forever, so it's good to go ahead and get in the habit of it. Go and get your heart rate up for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times a week. If your apartment or your gym offers classes, these are great as well because they are created by professionals. 

I hope this helps in your quest to becoming independent. Part of being independent is taking care of yourself. And I hope that my story helps you realize the importance of staying healthy. Because staying healthy can be easy once it becomes a part of your routine.