Onto allergies... I'm just prepping before the season starts. For the past 2 years and out of nowhere, I've suffered from spring-related seasonal allergies. They are normally gone by June or earlier, and I am thankful they are not just year-round. I do hate paying over $0.45 per pill for Zyrtec, which seems to be the only one that works for me. This year, I found that Kirkland has their generics on sale for $0.04 a pill. I've never tried generics, but I'm willing to give them a go. You can find their Zyrtec generic, Allegra generic and Claritin generic by following those links (sale through 3/31). Have you tried generics? Any good or bad reviews?
Last, spring has finally decided to show up, so I'll be flipping wardrobes next week. With that, I'll be donating a lot of stuff, so lots of washing, mending and folding. I try to prune my wardrobe two fold with every season change: get rid of the clothes that I didn't like/didn't fit me for the current season, as well as getting rid of the clothes for the next season that I didn't wear last time and can't see myself wearing again. It's more like I'm adding two pieces of clothing and getting rid of 5, and that's ok with me! Have you started your wardrobe switch?
No wardrobe switch for me....not enough clothes!
ReplyDeleteOh, my wardrobe is tiny, but I have two extremes: short sleeve, airy tops and heavy winter turtle neck sweaters.
DeleteI plan on getting rid of a lot of my clothes also. W recently got a HUGE gift card from his work (and it can ONLY be used at the mall) and I plan on just updating my whole wardrobe.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome about the giftcard! I do like when I get mall-tied giftcards, as they sort of force me to buy there.
DeleteHave your tried a dental school if you have one near you? My girlfriend does not have dental ins either and her whole family goes to the school. I think she gets better care sometimes because you have a student working on you PLUS you have the teacher right there. They also have a set scale on what is paid.
ReplyDeleteWe use generics for everything except my migrain meds,and both my and my husbands synthroid and have never had a problem with any of them.
As for clothes since we wear scrubs to work I flip my closet from winter to summer colors, DH has to wear the same color all the time and the rest of my clothes well I dont have that many to worry about lol...one of the downfalls of wearing scrubs
I'll have to check dental schools. I don't mind being a guinea pig. And thanks for the info on generics. I just feel a bit hesitant buying such quantities, but if they work, that's huge savings!
Deleteyou should ask your dentist if they have discounts for cash paying clients. they may be open to it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a dentist yet, but I'll make sure to ask about cash discounts. Thanks!
DeleteI didn't go to the dentist from the time I was 18 and got my wisdom teeth out (thankfully still in college and with my dad's insurance/money paying for it) until I was about 26 and broke a tooth. Hate, hate, hate it, having spent so much time there as a kid. So glad I never needed braces but I did have to get teeth removed as well as gum removed (it came more than halfway down my front teeth). Horrible, horrible, horrible.
ReplyDeleteHave you looked into getting dental insurance? If it's anything like it is over here (Germany), there'll be hefty waiting periods to qualify for benefits so it might be worth looking into it if you can at all. I didn't sign up for one straightaway when I moved over here and after a year I finally went to find a dentist and started thinking about what supplemental insurance I should get. Less than a MONTH! later I came down with horrific toothache and it turned out that a tooth I'd had a root canal done in a few years before (paid for on my credit card, as you could do in Ireland) was infected. The tooth had to come out and the dentist talked me into getting an implant done (instead of the still expensive but less so, bridge that would also have worked). Over the course of a year I ended up with around 3,000 euro worth of bills and that really set my paying off debt back quite a bit. I did sign up for a supplemental insurance though, to at least make sure future incidents are covered. I chose the super duper version since I know I have very soft teeth, most of them already with fillings and it's only going to get worse as I get older. So around 30 euro per month. But I don't get full benefits (which is up to 90% of costs) until I've been paying in for 5 years. Mind you, I've had to get nearly 1,000 euro worth of other work done since and at least I did get half of that back (was already in the second year of paying).
Just in case you're curious, my state health insurance (paid for by deductions from salary) covers a check-up every year and some basic work. But most of it, you have to pay at least part of it for yourself, which is why most people take out a supplemental insurance. And, what the state health insurance does pay, is dependent on you having your little booklet (which gets stamped every time you go in for a check-up) proving that you have at least five years worth of regular check-ups and cleaning. So although it took me over a year to start going to the dentist here, I've been fairly conscientious about it since.
As for clothes, well, it's still been mostly temperatures near zero here and it snowed again yesterday so I think I have another couple of weeks of multiple layers of clothes ahead of me. The sun has starting tentatively shining though, so I am contemplating washing the windows someday. Will probably get around to it by the end of summer.
Oh, and have no advice on hayfever as nothing ever seemed to work for me so I just don't bother taking tablets. It's mostly the dry, itchy eyes that I have a problem with so I get some eye drops (usually opticrom) and that's a huge relief. The last couple of years the doctor has given me a nose-spray, which I loathe using but does help my eyes somewhat. This year, I started a hypersensitisation program in January so hopefully next year I will have greatly reduced symptoms. It's an injection every month for a year or two. Since I'm mainly allergic to just one type of pollen, beech, there's apparently a good chance of success.
Learning I'm not the only rebel not to keep up with dentist visits makes me feel a bit better! We don't have that waiting period here, but I do have to wait until December for it if I wanted to take it. Some dentistry offices even offer their own dental coverage for a flat fee. And wow, your numbers are scaring me! That's a lot of cost.
ReplyDeleteHope spring starts showing up in Germany!
FLOSS! and use Listerine twice a day!! I didn't go to the dentist for 7 years once (had no insurance either) and once i did have insurance and started to go well, let's just say I wish I hadn't put it off for so long!
ReplyDeleteNope, haven't started the wardrobe switch yet as it's still bloody cold here! Very different from last year when I was wearing shorts by now!