Hope you are doing well! It’s been cold and snowy here in the Show Me State. It hasn’t snowed like this or been this cold for this long in a while. My puppies needed little boots because the ground was so cold. Â I find the snow is peaceful and there is a calming effect with it. When I look out the window and I see the snow falling, it takes me back to my childhood. I would play and run around the yard with the doggies.
For most of the country, it’s been bitter cold and many people in Texas have been without power. I pray that everyone is warm and has power.
Ready for a warm waffle or bagel with homemade peanut butter?
It’s time for another giveaway with Katherines Corner. It’s a chance to win a gourmet toaster and $50 in cash.
Please do not put money in a toaster, it is for graphic purposes only. 🙂
Please remember to subscribe and follow Katherine, her sponsor, and all her hostesses so you can earn all of your entry opportunities.
A not so typical day turned into a day that I will never forget.
February 12th produced an atypical rainstorm. But through the night, the temperature dropped and turned bitter cold by the morning of the 13th. A school group planned a visit to the Library and I planned to arrive early to work with them. Vinny, our then 12-year-old collie, had an appointment to have his teeth cleaned. It was a full day before it even began.
We dropped off Vinny a little after 8 am and arrived to work at 8:45 am. As I was walking into the building, I slipped on a patch of ice on the sidewalk and landed on my left shoulder. After the initial shock of realizing what happened, my wife checked me out and helped me to stand up. I was in pain, but I thought everything would be okay. I managed to walk inside, check-in with the security office, and went into the restroom before heading to my desk. While heading upstairs with my wife by my side, I had to sit down at one of the tables because the pain began to increase to an unbearable point. After sitting for a few minutes and thinking it was getting better, I attempted to stand up. The pain shot through my body and I never made it up. My wife asked the security officer to call an ambulance. I needed to go to the emergency room for further observations and testing.
Thankfully the ambulance arrived quickly and my trip to the ER was short. The hospital was only about a mile away. Not many people were in the ER, so the doctors and nurses checked me out soon after arriving. After a set of X-rays, they determined that I fractured my left humerus bone, just below the shoulder. When I lost my footing on the ice and since the sidewalk sloped downward, my shoulder and arm took a direct hit instead of my bum.
The doctors decided that the fracture was not severe enough to put on a cast, but a sling would suffice. The doctor advised me to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon within a few days to determine a full recovery plan. The days and weeks ahead would be a challenge. One that I have never forget. In all my life, I had never broken any bones, so this was a first for me. In a series of posts, I will share some of my experiences and how it took almost six months to be back to normal.
We’re all guilty of spending a little too much from time to time. It’s easy to throw cash around and worry about the consequences later. But when those consequences do eventually have to be confronted, it’s not so much fun. We’re going to talk today about how to spend a little less by cutting out any wastage that might currently be present in your spending habits. So read on to learn more.
Stop Relying on Single Use Items First of all, it’s important to be aware that one of the best ways of improving your finances is by doing the right thing in terms of the environment. Whether it’s cutting your energy bills and reducing the amount of energy you use or by no longer relying on single use items, there’s so much that can be done to help the environment and your bank balance at the same time.
Avoid Buying Snacks and Drinks When Out and About When you’re out and about, it’s always best to avoid spending money on things like snacks and expensive coffees. Sure, these things might be appealing but they’re not going to get you to where you want to be in terms of your money. Those little expenses might not seem like much but they definitely start to add up very quickly indeed.
Stop Paying People to Do Things You Can Do Yourself If you’re someone who’s always outsourcing every little task that arises, it’s probably a good idea to rethink this approach. There’s not much to be gained from allowing other people to carry out tasks that you know you’re capable of doing yourself. Sure, it’ll free up some time for you, but is that really worth the amount of money you’ll waste?
Find Free Alternatives to the Things You Pay for Regularly If there are certain things that you’re used to paying for, you should take a step back and see if there are any free alternatives that you can explore instead. For example, with the right tricks you can watch hgtv or whatever channels you want for free or cheaper than you would if you carried on paying for those expensive TV subscriptions.
Cut Out Subscription Services You No Longer Want or Need Lots of people end up wasting a lot of their money on subscription services that they no longer want or need. If this is a position that you know you’re in, it’s probably time to do something about it. If you’re not using it, you shouldn’t be paying for it. It’s as simple as that. So take the time to review your subscriptions and cancel ones that you don’t want or need any longer.
As you can see, there are lots of small changes you can make to your regular spending habits that’ll make it a lot easier for you to reduce your spending and still cover all of the costs that need to be covered. Less waste means more financial freedom for you, and that’s what we all want.
We all wish that our finances were in better shape but it seems like a lot of hard work. There are plenty of ways that you can save money and fund your dreams, but a lot of them require big lifestyle changes. In some cases, that’s unavoidable and if you want to secure your financial future, you will have to make some sacrifices.Â
However, there are some great ways to save money without really doing much at all. It might sound too good to be true but not every money saving tactic requires a huge amount of input on your part. These are the best ways to save money with minimal effort.Â
Use Cashback Apps When you’re shopping online, you can save money without lifting a finger if you use cashback apps. There are some great apps like Checkout Saver which you can add to your web browser. They automatically give you cashback on purchases and search for coupon codes and discounts. It takes seconds to download an extension, it’s completely free, and you’ll make big savings without having to manually search for discounts. If you don’t use cashback apps, you’re wasting money whenever you shop online.
Learn To Invest Putting your money into a savings account is always sensible, but it won’t grow that much. If you really want to be better with money, you should learn to invest. A lot of people don’t consider investing their money because they think that you have to be an expert and it requires constant input from you. However, if you put a chunk of money into a relatively safe stock and let it sit there, it will gradually grow over time. You don’t need to do anything with it and you’ll earn a lot more than you would if you left it in a savings account. Check out this beginners guide to stock investing if you haven’t considered it before.Â
Automate Your Finances Automating your finances is a brilliant way to stay on top of your money and avoid financial disasters without having to lift a finger. It’s a lot easier to build a healthy savings account if you set money aside as soon as you get paid. So, set up a standing order so it goes in automatically and you don’t have to think about it.Â
You should also use direct debits to pay your bills as often as possible. Missed payments lead to late charges and they negatively affect your credit rating. This means that you’ll pay higher interest rates on loans in the future when you buy a house or a car, so you’re wasting money long term. You can avoid that by setting up direct debits for all of your bills so, as soon as your paycheck goes into your account, all of the bills are paid and you’ve contributed to your savings. Then, even if you blow everything that’s left, your finances will still be in good shape.Â
Saving money is tough and it does require hard work. However, these are all great ways to improve your finances without lifting a finger.Â
For most of us, regularly exercising is an essential part of staying healthy. However, the sad truth of the matter is that exercise itself can become unhealthy if we aren’t careful in the way we approach it. Indeed, with so much pressure from the media and society to look a particular way, and stay at a certain weight, many of us can fall into the trap of seeing exercise as a chore. Fortunately, there is a different way to approach exercise and it’s better for your mind and your body. Read on to discover what’s involved.Â
Start small When you begin to exercise or change to a new activity or routine, it can be tempting to challenge yourself and go all out right away. However, this is not usually the best way to approach things. Indeed, most people set their goals too high, end up failing and demoralized and so give up after a few sessions.Â
Instead what you need to base a new exercise habit on are small successes. After all, there is nothing more motivating than that endorphins release that you get when you have completed a task. Also by starting small you greatly minimize your chance of failure, and so make it much more likely that you will maintain your new activity over the long term, where you can improve your performance gradually.Â
Listen to your body Another important part of having a healthier attitude towards exercise is to truly listen to your body, and respect what it is telling you. Indeed, there is a lot of controversy around this topic, as many people think you have to push beyond your physical boundaries to succeed.Â
However, while this may be the case for professional athletes and dancers, it is vital to remember here is that they know their body so well, they are aware of precisely how far they can push it without doing any damage. Unfortunately, many of us mere mortals do not have such a well-developed connection to our bodies, and therefore risk injury when pushing too far.Â
Of course, if we do find ourselves injured from exercise, there are people like these physio experts that can offer assessment, treatment, and management of our problems. Thus helping us recover in tune with our bodies so we can exercise once more.Â
Set a new kind of goal Some of the most common goals for exercising include losing weight and shaping our bodies in a certain way. However, often it is these things that undermined what we are doing because in some way we are giving ourselves the message that we are not good enough the way that we are.Â
With that in mind, choosing some different goals such as getting better at an activity can be a refreshing change. That means aiming to do a yoga pose unsupported and getting there in small, gradual stages. Alternatively, why not try to shave some time off of your personal best for running or bike riding. Again focusing on performance and success at the activity, rather than changing our bodies. A far healthier approach for body and mind.Â
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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