modern life

Colonoscopy prep: The true and simple rules.

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(Happy Throwback Thursday! Today I am having my every-five-years colonoscopy, so it seemed like a good time to re-run this piece from Dec. 5, 2018.)

Some people throw parties on their birthdays, or go out to dinner. This year I went with a butt camera.

It’s not that “colonoscopy prep” was high up on my birthday bucket list, but rather that the appointment was the first one I could get.

Lucky for me that it hadn’t been scheduled first thing on Nov. 30, when we had a nice big earthquake. According to a staffer at the doctor’s office, they’d just finished one procedure and were beginning to sedate another patient when the 7.0 temblor hit.

That poor guy had to reschedule – which meant having to re-do the colonoscopy prep. Ack.

For the uninitiated, colonoscopy prep is a full-scale cleanout of your colon: a combination of light diet, then liquids only and finally a seriously effective cleansing solution. Apparently one brand of industrial-strength laxative is available in tablet form, but the doctor I visited won’t prescribe it. He says the results aren’t always optimal.

(Eeeewww.)

This time around I was offered the option of a relatively new product called Plenvu. It’s so new, in fact, that my insurance would not have covered it. However, the doctor’s office had some samples to give and I accepted one upon hearing the regimen: two 16-ounce doses of solution over two days, each dose followed by 16 ounces of your clear liquid of choice. (Mine was iced tea.)

Previous preps had required two 32-ounce doses of solution followed by two 16-ounce glasses of clear liquid. No wonder Plenvu’s slogan is “success with less.”

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Found money 2023: Counting it.

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As regular readers know, I’m always on the lookout for lost change. All year long I save what I find, and the following January I count the found money, round up the total and donate the funds to a food charity.

This wound up being a decent year. In addition to the specie, I found a $10 bill and DF contributed $8 from his occasional survey-taking with the Nielsen* Company. His theory is that as a retiree, he isn’t looking for work. But occasionally work looks for him, in the form of surveys. Therefore, it is “found” money.

Whatever works. I just want to plump up the total, because it’s getting really scary out there, food-wise. As all of you already know. 

For years I’ve donated the found money to Feeding America or to the Food Bank of Alaska. More recently I’ve been sending the dough to the church I grew up in. That’s because the Fairton United Methodist Church, like so many other houses of worship, is making food baskets for locals who have more month than money.

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Our Christmas miracle.

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Early Wednesday afternoon, DF went to the medical center for a stress test. Generally, a Christmas miracle story doesn’t start that way but bear with me.

Lately, he’d been plagued by serious fatigue and breathlessness, and working his way through medical testing (blood work, EKG, etc.). The stress test was just the latest arrow in the quiver. Or would have been, if they ever did it.

But before they could get started, the medico noticed that DF’s heart was beating as few as 20 times per minute. The average adult’s resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 BPM. Into a wheelchair and off to the ER in the adjacent hospital, from whence he called to report that nurses and doctors were “swarming him.”

Soon after that, he called to say they wanted to implant a pacemaker –and they’d given him the option of doing it then and there, so he could sleep in his own bed that night.

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Life as a personal grocery shopper.

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We found chicken for less than 12 cents per pound yesterday, a discovery too good to keep to ourselves. Instead, I did what I always do: Texted my niece and my neighbor to see how many packages they might want. While I never wanted to be a personal grocery shopper, I can’t keep deals like that to myself.

Those poultry deals were five-pound-plus packages of chicken drumsticks for 64 cents, and boneless, skinless, organic chicken breasts (2½ to 2¾ pounds) for $1.28 apiece.

We left the store with a lot of chicken. It helped them, and it helped us reach our goal of getting a free turkey* through a store offer.

Sharing deals is a sort of frugal ministry for me. Maybe it could be for you, too.

I’m not saying you must do this every time you hit the store. Or maybe at all, if it doesn’t fit your current life. But given how expensive food is getting, think what a gift this could be to others. 

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Junk food: Sometimes it just tastes good.

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(Happy Throwback Thursday! This post, originally published in 2014, celebrates something called National Junk Food Day. This year NJFD is on Friday, July 21, but my blog, my rules. DF and I are still eating quite well, thanks to frugal food hacks, our garden and our never-ending search for good deals. That doesn’t keep us from eating some junk now and then, though. Here’s why.)

It’s National Junk Food Day, apparently. And me without a single Moon Pie in the house.

In fact, I’ve eaten quite well today. Breakfast was oatmeal made with half yogurt whey and half water and flaxseed, plus half of the last banana in the bunch (shared with DF, because I’m kind like that).

For lunch I had rice topped with roasted vegetables – carrots, broccoli, Walla Walla onions and home-grown turnip, plus a dish of homemade yogurt mixed with a spoon of homemade orange marmalade and more of that flaxseed.

If only I’d known about the holiday. I might have gone to McDonald’s for breakfast and Burger King for lunch. Nothing says “bad for you” like a single meal that holds all calories needed for the entire day (with way too many in the form of grease).

On the other hand, I did eat white rice instead of brown. So am I junking out sufficient to the day?

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Catching up for Mother’s Day.

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It’s been a minute. A lot of minutes. Life keeps getting away from me. Days go by and I don’t post on this site, then I get anxious because I haven’t posted for a while. And then the anxiety prevents me from thinking of anything to write.

“Tomorrow,” I promise myself.

Riiiight.

Another dilemma: What to write? Sometimes I think I should post only about personal finance in general and frugality in particular. This is true even though my personal writing topics tend to get more reaction and feedback. Then again, sometimes money and frugality are extremely personal topics. 

I’ve been doing this since May 2010, and while I don’t want to give it up, I do want to feel less pressured to write. Interesting how the only person putting pressure on me is me.

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Today’s frugal win: Deal-stacking.

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DF wanted to see the Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcast of “Lohengrin,” but also second-guessed that wish. The $25 ticket wasn’t so bad when you consider the opera lasted a little over five* hours, but still…And then there was the popcorn and cold drink that he’d surely need to handle five-plus hours of Wagner. He was on the fence until I suggested a few frugal hacks.

Here are the (many) elements of today’s frugal win:

Senior discount. He got $2 off for being old.

Movie Club. This subscription deal at Cinemark gives me one free movie a month plus a concessions discount. I asked the cashier to apply one of my free movie credits to the Met Opera ticket, which lowered the price from $23 to $10.75.

Ibotta gift card. I redeemed a $20 Cinemark card from my Ibotta account. (For more on Ibotta and other frugal hackery, see “Rewards programs FTW!”)  

Cinemark coupon. I got a $1-off concessions coupon by cashing in 25 of my Cinemark rewards points (which you get each time you buy tickets and food).

Movie Club discount. I get 20 percent off concessions purchases with membership.

Once all the discounts and the gift card had been applied, the tab had shrunk to just $1.45.  Now you can see why he decided to go.

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Unclaimed funds: Look for them!

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Recently an acquaintance was contacted by a company that specializes in finding unclaimed property. If she would authorize them to act in her name, they’d make sure she got the money – minus their 10 percent finder’s fee. She wondered if this were legit or some kind of scam.

Apparently there’s some kind of software that matches unclaimed funds to last known addresses. If even half the folks contacted respond with, “Sure, go ahead,” that company stands to make a lot of money.

But why give it away without at least trying to get it yourself?

In about 60 seconds I was able to search online and tell her that yes, the state is holding a bunch of money for you. And while I was in there, I learned that both DF and I were also owed some unclaimed funds.

Not a lot of money: just $19.71. But as someone who picks up found coins, the chance to get almost 20 unexpected bucks sounded pretty good. And as you can see from the illustration above, that money is now in my bank account instead of the state of Washington’s.

Not sure how much DF will be getting, because he’s still waiting for the results. However, the acquaintance was owed more than two grand. If that company hadn’t reached out, all three of us would still be owed money. But this way we get to keep it instead of forking over a 10 percent fee.

You, too, might be owed money – so why not look for it? Here’s how.

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Get 50% off Earn More Writing.

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In the past I’ve written about Earn More Writing, a freelancing course created by my FinCon colleague Holly Porter Johnson. After nearly seven years, she’s decided to close the course to new students – so this is your last chance to take advantage of her considerable knowledge of the freelance market.

And she’s having a big ol’ sale to commemorate this closing. So if you ever wanted to become a freelance writer, or if you’re already one and want to step up your game, now’s the time to take Holly’s course. From now until Jan. 31 she’s offering a 50% discount.

As an affiliate partner, I do stand to earn a little money if anyone decides to take the course. But I’d recommend it even if I weren’t an affiliate: Holly knows her stuff. She brings in six figures per year – often in the $400k-plus range.

To be clear: You won’t leap to six figures overnight. But you have to start somewhere. Holly did: She was freelancing steadily while working full-time, determined to build her business. Those first clients led to other clients. Taken together, she was able to quit her day job and become her own boss.

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Staycation at Abby’s house.

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Having escaped the warmth and humidity of Orlando, I am now experiencing the warmth and extreme dryness of Phoenix. While in Orlando I learned that I am no longer a theme-park person. (More on that below.) Also learned that four adults in a rather small hotel room is a recipe for anxiety; so was the need to schedule daily activities. By contrast, visiting my daughter is like a staycation, albeit at someone else’s house.

Eating whatever and whenever I choose. Reading until late at night and getting up when I feel like it, rather than rising when park activities (or other people’s getting-ups) decide.

Coming and going as I please, when I please. Sitting around and catching up for hours, with Netflix or Hulu on in the background. Doing small chores to give her a break, including helping tidy up the place and prepare snacks for a game night. (Why is it always easier and even fun to clean other people’s houses?)

A staycation, in other words.

It’s not that I won’t ever leave the house. We plan to browse the Savers thrift shop on Monday (half-price day) for a big glass bowl or Pyrex dish, as she wants to start making yogurt. We  plan to hit Bobby Q’s for ribs and sides. I hope to hang out with Sonya Ann, a regular reader from the MSN Money days. And on Friday, we’ll go to see “Die Hard: A Christmas Story,” presented by the All Puppet Players. (Yep: A plush John McClain shouting, “Yippee-cai-yay, mofos!”)

Mostly, though, it’s like any other visit to my daughter: hanging out. 

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