Holiday Saving 101

I don't know about you, but I get stressed out thinking about Christmas due to the high expense and temptation to spend more. It is so much fun to buy presents for everyone. I really love that part. I hate spending the money because I know it means trying to find the money from somewhere else. I get really frustrated about it. Here are some tips for survival the Holiday budget from consumer expert Andrea Woroch:

1. Make a budget!The National Retail Federation's (NRF) 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey reported that holiday shoppers plan to spend an average of $704.18 on gifts this season, representing a slight decrease over last year. Making a budget is a no-brainer, but challenge yourself to go under budget this year. Track your spending using the Toshl app to keep tabs on what you're shelling out and how much you have left.

2. Cut down on dining expenses.'Tis the season for holiday dinners at expensive restaurants, but this expenditure is the last thing your budget needs. Replace the annual white-tablecloth celebration with an intimate gathering at home. Guests can bring a dish to share and everyone can comfortably converse without interruption from servers or obnoxious patrons.

3. Refrain from personal purchases.This one is tough during a time when bargains abound, but it's especially important to avoid making purchases for yourself when you still have people on your gift list. That same NRF study reported the average consumer will spend approximately $130 on gifts for themselves. Imagine the dent you could make in your recipient list using that cash.

4. Reduce everyday costs with resourcefulness.The toughest part of budgeting for holiday gifts is not letting it eat into the money required for everyday items, including food. Consider developing a menu for the week to reduce unnecessary food purchases, and use websites like Gojee.com to develop dishes around what you already have in your pantry. When you do head to the store to stock up on provisions, arm yourself with printable grocery coupons from such sites as CouponSherpa.

5. Trim your gift list.The spirit of the season often yields never-ending gift lists, especially when you're surprised by presents from people who didn't make the cut. Trim your gift list to essential recipients and come up with inexpensive tokens for everyone else. Homemade goodies, cards with heartfelt wishes and offers of service (babysitting, for example) are great options for neighbors and coworkers and can be produced last-minute.

6. Research gifts to find best bargain.Santa never misses the mark by making a list and checking it twice, so take a hint from the jolly man in red and do the same. Once you develop a list of essential recipients, bargain shop for gifts before making your final purchase. It's tempting to get all your shopping done over a weekend just to get it out of the way, but doing so means missing out on bargain-rich opportunities.

7. Know return policies.Retailers tighten return policies around the holidays, so be sure you read the fine print before making a purchase. Price matching is all the rage these days, too, so it pays (literally) to know a store's policy on compensating shoppers who find better deals elsewhere. Walmart recently announced it will provide gift cards in the amount of the price difference, and Bed Bath and Beyond will even price match items found on Amazon.com.

8. Shop early...and late.With all the advice circulating about when to land the best deal, it ultimately pays to shop throughout the holiday season. Make a game plan for Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases with these do's and dont's, and don't forget about Free Shipping Day for last-minute items. The one-day online event is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 16 and features free shipping offers from over 2,000 merchants with delivery by Christmas Eve.

9. Pay with cash.It's not easy sticking to a budget and the holidays make the task even more challenging. Paying for purchases with credit cards is risky since the "I'll pay for it later" mentality breeds over-spending. Opt to pay with cash and experience your hard-earned money disappear from your finger tips. This sight alone will make you think twice about unnecessary or overpriced purchases, and help you stick to your budget.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Skin Dimensions, SB products are manufactured with Pharmaceutical-Grade ingredients. Products are not just "Feel Good Products," as they contain unique and innovative ingredients in concentrations that can assist you in the achievement of your own personal skincare objectives. Our products contain higher percentages of Glycolic, Vitamin A, C, E, Co-Q10, green tea than what you can usually purchase over the counter.

Is gluten-free best for your kids?

I want to go gluten-free at my house. I don't know if I can actually accomplish that right now, but I would like to try it in the future. Some people are claiming a link to great things like less bloating and fatigue-even weight loss. And some are claiming less ADHD symptoms with a gluten-free diet for kids.

This article from the Washington Post looks at the fact/fiction associated with gluten-free diets. I am all for trying it to see if I feel better. At the very least, it would lead to less processed foods. I want to do that anyway. I would love to have some other benefits as well. Have you gone gluten-free? Did it make you feel better?


Here's the link from the Washington Post:
There’s still some gray area, but some studies indicate that a growing number of people do have a problem digesting gluten, says family medicine and chronic pain specialist Gary Kaplan, director of the Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine in McLean. He notes that this number includes everyone from children with wheat allergies to the estimated 1 percent of Americans who have celiac disease — a serious autoimmune disorder that interferes with absorption of nutrients, causing wide-ranging health problems — and can’t tolerate even a picogram of gluten.

Some in the field remain skeptical. “Many people will feel better when they cut out processed, refined carbohydrates, including gluten-containing foods — they might have better regulation of blood sugar, fewer fluctuations, when they’re not eating starchy food, and they might lose weight or have less bloating — but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have a disease,” says Chevy Chase gastroenterologist Robynne Chutkan. She contends that the booming, $2.6 billion gluten-free foods industry has a lot more to do with the trend than true health issues do.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Skin Dimensions, SB products are manufactured with Pharmaceutical-Grade ingredients. Products are not just "Feel Good Products," as they contain unique and innovative ingredients in concentrations that can assist you in the achievement of your own personal skincare objectives. Our products contain higher percentages of Glycolic, Vitamin A, C, E, Co-Q10, green tea than what you can usually purchase over the counter.

Soda Ban in Schools

I am all for banning soda in schools. I understand the study is pointing to-that's not enough! However, I hope this study won't make people think it's okay to have soda in schools. What are your thoughts about soda in schools?

Here's the link fron CNN: Banning only soda in school is not effective in reducing consumption of sugary drinks, a new study has found. In the absence of soda, students turn to other sugar-sweetened beverages such as energy, sports or juices that are available at school.

When schools banned all sugar-sweetened beverages such as energy, sports drinks and sugary fruit juices, students bought fewer of these items.

Yet, about 85% of students, regardless of what kind of policy their schools had, drank sugary beverages weekly, according to the study published this week in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Skin Dimensions, SB products are manufactured with Pharmaceutical-Grade ingredients. Products are not just "Feel Good Products," as they contain unique and innovative ingredients in concentrations that can assist you in the achievement of your own personal skincare objectives. Our products contain higher percentages of Glycolic, Vitamin A, C, E, Co-Q10, green tea than what you can usually purchase over the counter.

The New Rage: Medical Emergency Drills

The New Rage: Medical Emergency Drills?

Imagine what would happen if your child did not have fire drills at school and a fire broke out. Would teachers and students react appropriately or would they hesitate and be unsure what to do? Those practice drills helps tremendously. That’s why fire drills were created.

But what happens when the emergency is a medical condition like a heart attack or seizure? Do all the staff members at your child’s school know how to use an Automated External Defibrillator or AED? What about CPR? If they have been trained, how often do they practice how to react during an emergency? And would they remember to call and get help or would they just run over to the child and panic?

Dr. David Chan, the co-director of the Congenital Heart Center at OSF St. Francis Medical Center, says students and staff members at schools need to practice how they would react to a medical emergency. He would like to see all schools have Medical Emergency Drills. He said there have been cases recently of people hesitating about what to do and how to do it and that can lead to a decrease in oxygen for the patients and serious, permanent brain damage. Reacting a few minutes faster can have a huge impact on the person’s long term health. Dr. Chan said, “Most people will not act rationally unless they have practiced it. They get nervous and are unsure because there’s a lot of pressure during an emergency.” He said practice is what gives people the confidence they need to put their training to good use.

Identifying athletes with heart conditions

The reason Medical Emergency Drills came up in my conversation with Dr. Chan is because I asked him if society is becoming better or worse at identifying athletes with serious heart conditions who could suddenly die while playing a game or at a tough practice. This has become a hot “news” topic in recent years. Parents want their kids to be screened and they want reassurance their child won’t become a victim of sudden cardiac death. But that’s not an easy thing to accomplish. Dr. Chan said there are two big obstacles: there is no fool proof way to determine whether sudden cardiac death will happen to an athlete unless costly, evasive tests are performed; and the tests that may detect a heart problem in an athlete are not very accurate.

“Here’s the statistic. If you screen out 1000 teenagers with this abnormality, you may only be saving one teenager and restricting 999 others. Do we dash the dreams of 999 athletes in order to save that one? If you’re that one parent, your answer is yes. If you’re one of the 999 families, your answer is no. We don’t have a perfect way to screen athletes,” said Dr. Chan. He said, if the coaches all took part in Medical Emergency Drills, we would see fewer teenagers dying from these rare heart conditions. He wants parents and schools to put as much focus on how to react to a medical emergency as they do on prevention.

Don’t go to convenience shops for school physicals

But Dr. Chan says there is one obvious thing you can do as a parent before school starts to protect your child from sudden cardiac death. Dr. Chan said take your child to a qualified primary care physician or family doctor for the annual physical. He said too many parents are expecting expensive “rib-eye from a fast food chain.” He tells parents to go to a doctor who completed a residency program, not to a nurse or another allied health professional. He said he believes doctors are more likely to ask thorough questions and pick up on subtle signs of a heart problem. Dr. Chan said, “In all fairness, are there some good individuals who work there (convenience care centers)? Yes, but you have better odds of getting someone who has had more experience with these problems by going to a general practitioner.”

The bottom line

Dr. Chan said, “As much as people talk about screening, we need to talk about how to help these people if that were to occur. In my lectures, I really talk about yes, there are things we can do to screen, but it will be a long time coming before we can really identify these individuals. Are we able to handle emergencies when they do come up so we can have a good outcome?

So, when you’re in a hurry and you have to get that school physical form filled out, you might want to think twice about where you’re headed. And as you get involved in your child’s school, you might want to bring up the topic of Medical Emergency Drills. There’s a good chance no one has ever suggested the idea and it could save a child’s life.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Skin Dimensions, SB products are manufactured with Pharmaceutical-Grade ingredients. Products are not just "Feel Good Products," as they contain unique and innovative ingredients in concentrations that can assist you in the achievement of your own personal skincare objectives. Our products contain higher percentages of Glycolic, Vitamin A, C, E, Co-Q10, green tea than what you can usually purchase over the counter.

Children in Pain

This story makes sense to me. Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, whomever, has to be careful when prescribing pain medication to a child. I feel bad because if my child was sent home with only two days of pain meds, I would probably assume he didn't need or couldn't have any more. I guess that's not the right mind set to have. This one was an eye opener for me!

Here's the link to the story FROM CNN: It's happened so many times that Dr. Raymond Pitetti has lost count: A child comes into the emergency room with, say, a broken leg, and doctors give him strong narcotic painkillers in the ER, but then send the child home with no pain medication at all.

"The pain is just as severe as when they were in the hospital, but they're sent home with nothing and that broken bone is going to hurt like crap for a while," he says."Then we see the kid back in the ER the next day because they're in horrible pain."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Skin Dimensions, SB products are manufactured with Pharmaceutical-Grade ingredients. Products are not just "Feel Good Products," as they contain unique and innovative ingredients in concentrations that can assist you in the achievement of your own personal skincare objectives. Our products contain higher percentages of Glycolic, Vitamin A, C, E, Co-Q10, green tea than what you can usually purchase over the counter.