Life By Lindsey Rae

I would say I'm behind with keeping up with my postings, but I've already said it so many times before, I won't bother with that.

I am still sick...or more accurately, sick again.
I did start to get better and then my husband got whatever I had, gave it back, and now it seems I have it again. I did go to the doctor about a week ago, because I had to get a prescription refill and so I had her check me out then. However, this was when I was getting better and so there wasn't much for her to find. She gave me some antibiotics in case I did get worse, but said not to take them unless I needed to. I do think it's just a cold and I don't really want to fill it if it's not going to help. I'm just run down from it now. I have this cough and it's making me feel like there is a brick on my chest.

Anyway, in other, better news, I have been utilizing my money-saving skills recently. Although I've considered myself "cheap" for a long time, I am now figuring out how to really save money by combining sales with coupons in the right way at the right time. It's a lot of work, but boy, do I get a lot of free stuff! The last couple weeks there has been a good sale at Kroger, so I tried to stock up on some groceries. I went 3 times to the grocery store and the first time, I paid around $1.70 for almost $20 worth of groceries. The second time and third time combined, they ended up paying me a dollar to get over $150 worth of stuff. I have to say, I did a pretty good job with my shopping last week.
This week there is a good deal on Duracell batteries at CVS and I got $60 worth of them free. That's pretty useful. Who doesn't always need extra batteries?

Some things are hard to save on...fresh foods, like milk and bread and fruits and vegetables....the perishable stuff is more difficult, but, I think getting a stockpile of non-perishable things is really beneficial:
It's good to have extra stuff for food storage. Our church has recommended for a long time that we have extra things on hand, in case of emergency. Also, it's nice to have things for when they ask people to donate stuff, when our church does projects and that sort of thing. And also, I think, occasionally the library collects stuff for the food bank and in turn, for every item you bring in, you get a dollar towards your overdue fees. So, I have to stockpile for this. hahaha.

My husband thinks I am a bit crazy about my money saving ideas sometimes. I know I put more effort into it than the average person, but I can't help it!
I could be the richest person in the world and I think I would probably still be cheap. It's like, if I know there is a possibility that I could get something for less and I don't, then I'm being wasteful and throwing something good away. I'm starting to think being frugal is a talent...you have to have the desire to want to do it and then you have to have the skills! haha. It does get tricky with the sales and coupon combination things sometimes. But, the good thing is, there are a LOT of crazy coupon ladies out there who figure out the deals and post them online. So, for the most part, all the math is done. Now, math...is not my talent.

I got my annual eye exam today. I knew it was going to be a year since I had it done this April and so I was debating on whether or not I should order more contacts before my prescription expired. (Because of course, it's cheaper to not have to pay for a new exam). But, Jerrod said I should go ahead and get a new prescription before I ordered new ones, so I made an appointment to see the doctor.

As it turns out, she said my eyes were "great" and there was not any change from last year. I was surprised because from the year before to last year, I had my biggest change in prescription ever, so I expected they would have got worse this time too. But, it was exactly the same!

So, after all that and $75 later, I could have done without the appointment anyway, it seems. Oh well, I guess you never know. At least I have some insurance coverage...it could be worse....
I am so cheap....

Now comes that hard part in finding a good deal on contacts. I love the Focus Night & Day that I wear so much...it's almost like not having them at all, because you can sleep in them up to 30 days. They are more expensive then some, but they never, ever bother me.(The first couple brands I tried as a teenager weren't very comfortable at all.) And actually, my eyes feel better with them in, because apparently, when you have allergies the contacts can kind of shield your eyes from what irritates them. So, I can hardly stand to take them out...which isn't good either, because the eyes need to rest sometimes, but, it's so difficult to wear glasses!

So, unfortunately, our co-pay for prescriptions went up at the beginning of this year. We used to pay $10 for generic, $20 for preferred brands, and $30 for non-preferred brands. We thought the prices were going to be increasing $10 each, but as it turns out, each has doubled. I didn't realize this until I ordered a refill for my migraine medicine the other day and saw it came to $60, instead of the usual $30.
This is for a 3 month supply, however, so at least you get a decent amount. The crazy part is, although I pay $60 for my migraine medicine, on top of that my insurance still pays $446.00! So, thats over $500 for 90 little pills. Which means, they cost approximately $5.62 each. Now that is crazy. This is the cost of preventing daily headaches. I am very upset that my co-pay has doubled, but thank goodness we have decent insurance. How would someone possibly afford it other wise? The average person couldn't. You just live with your migraines or whatever else is wrong with you I guess...If you can live with them, without your $500 medicine.

Exciting news! We finally have internet access again! I have felt completely disconnected from the world in the last while, so this is very good for me right now. It has been so difficult to get so much done that I've needed to.

We had to wait until January 2nd get an appointment to get service, but on top of that, there was problems. As it turns out, it seems that apparently the wiring needed for this street is either all, or at least partially, under our driveway. We think that what happened was that the builder asked the service provider to come out several times to move it, but they never did. So, since there was such a time crunch getting our house done, finally, they just poured concrete over top of it and figured that they would just have to come back and fix it later. Now there is a big hole beside our driveway with some newly laid sod all dug up. It's lovely.

We knew there would be some difficulty because of our past discussions with people not knowing what was going on,and of course, if you call and try to find out what's happening, you end up talking to someone in a call center in California, who has no idea.
Needless to say, they did not show up when they were supposed to on the 2nd and after being without the internet for 2 weeks I was already in no mood for delay. So, yesterday morning(and yes, I was desperate enough to actually wake up and get out of bed for this), on the 3rd, I got on the phone with some lady in customer service after being on hold for about 40 minutes, who told me that she would just go and reschedule my appointment for January 9th.
I promptly had to get into my fighting stance by this point and told her that January 9th would not work for me, because I needed internet, like, yesterday, and not a week from now. (Actually, I would have preferred to have it about 2 weeks ago...but, at least by yesterday). She gave me to her supervisor who got on to tell me that the lady was just saying what she was supposed to say, but now the supervisor would handle it and call me back later and let me know what was going on. The supervisor never did call back, but a few hours later 2 vans with internet service installers showed up and connected me back to the world.

Now I have to go research prices and sales again. I am so cheap...(did I mention that I used a 10% off coupon to save $0.04 cents at Jo-Ann a few weeks ago? I know...that's a little extreme, but at first I didn't know they were only going to take 10% off that one thing...the cashier told me I should save it and use it for something more expensive, but I always have a lot of coupons so I used it anyway.I'd only have to do that 25 times and I'd save a dollar. haha. Just kidding. I thought it was funny to save $0.04 cents afterwards!)Anyway, I like to research stuff before I buy it to see where the best sales and prices are, but I couldn't without being online! And when you get a new house and move there are inevitably so many things you have to end up buying....you have to know where the sales are....

Two things actually.

First: The dollar! The Canadian dollar is actually worth something! Basically equal to the almighty American dollar. A few years back this would have been great news for me and SO helpful when I was getting my money for student loans and trying to convert my Canadian money to American. I could have actually not lost money on it. However, now that I am paying them back, with the American dollars that we make, it would benefit me a lot more if the US dollar were stronger, because I could get more out of every dollar I pay back.
Why does that happen like that? It's like totally opposite of what I needed. Funny how things can work out totally backward. And unfortunately, it's one of those things that nobody can do anything about.
But it's just crazy that a few years back we only got like $0.60 on the dollar and now they are practically equal!

Another thing that I finally did was paint! I have been thinking and scheming about these paintings I want to do for months now. I have changed my mind about 300 times about what I was going to do...what colors....what size...so much, that I was terrified to actually start something for fear that I would finish it and then think of something better after it was done. These are really important to me because I want these to be for a big wall in my living room and they are going to be a focal point of the room. So, I was so nervous about actually making a decision, since I had so many ideas; I couldn't figure out what it was that I really wanted.
But on Wednesday night Jerrod had to go to Florida for an overnight business trip, so I decided that this would be a good time to work on my paintings...in the house...in the living room. (What Jerrod doesn't see will not stress him out. haha) So, since I had the opportunity to make a mess, I was forced to finally made a decision. First,I got 3 canvases...on sale for $10 each, 30"x40". (When I am done my total size artwork size combined will be 90"x40" which will be really cool, 'cause that's huge.) I started, but then I got a better idea and changed my mind again! But I think I finally have it. And I am almost finished one of them! I think I could have got more done if I hadn't changed my mind about it in the middle. But, anyway, I was finally able to mix the one right color that I wanted and I am very excited about that. I tested it a bunch first and finally I got the perfect shades. Color mixing is very, very difficult. I got some good colors though and I am just so glad that I finally made up my mind about what I'm going to do so I can stop worrying about it. I really do drive myself crazy. I love being an artist, but sometimes I think it's a curse because it can make your head hurt. I really do understand why so many creative people had/have mental disorders.
I would post a picture of what I made, but I need to finish a little more first. I have to go buy a little more paint tomorrow, since I wasted more than expected while experimenting.

I am going to have a photo shoot this weekend to get some pictures done for my website, so I have been making many, many shopping trips to look for clothes for this. This is taking up SO much time. It's so hard for me. I have a lot of anxiety and worry with this because I have to factor in being a person who is very tall, needs to be modest and who is extremely cheap! Plus, whatever I choose has to look good and be good in pictures. There are a lot of things to worry about. Believe it or not, I, (who usually buys everything on clearance and can often find full outfit that could have cost less than $15 from head to toe), has actually even bought somethings regular price recently! I have tried so many options! And I really only need 3 or 4 different outfits, but I am such a perfectionist when it comes to things like this that I feel are going to me/my music, that I am driving myself crazy. Really, the pictures on my website will probably be a first impression of me/my music for a lot of people. So, that's stressful to think of it that way. So, when this week is over, I will be glad. Hopefully I won't have to worry about finding these "perfect" things anymore...or at least for awhile.

I am SO behind on SO much stuff. It seems like I have been behind since March and I don't know if I will ever get caught up. But. maybe when I don't have to go shopping so much I will!
I've been looking for clothes so much recently I can't even remember when I last went shopping for scrapbook supplies...now that is a worry!