Day 8 – Getting over the shock

Is it really possible that we saved nearly $500 - $600 last week by not spending any money? I am still finding it hard to believe. On one hand, I'm excited about the actual money we saved, and on the other hand I am embarrassed over how much we may have been wasting these last few months. We looked over our finances on our Mint account (which we love, by the way) and based on past spending patterns, it seems pretty accurate.

Bills continue to roll in. I got a $30 bill from a specialist I saw recently and need to check to make sure I didn't already pay it. And then I got whammed with a $251.31 hospital bill for the thyroidectomy I had done LAST November 26, 2007. Nothing like efficiency on the part of health care insurance… I don't know why they are trying to charge this to me now, so I am sure I will be spending quite a bit of time frustrated on the phone with our former health care insurance to try to figure this one out. Not my idea of a fun way to spend a morning.

On a brighter note, I culled through a bunch of piles of clothes that have been accumulating in my bedroom. My last two trips to Africa were less than three weeks apart, and I hadn't fully unpacked yet! So I got a neater and more peaceful room out of my efforts as well as some possible extra cash ---I decided to return some clothes. I have a nice travel skirt to return (too small), some J-41 shoes which I love but are too small, a pair of pants I bought last time I was at Target (not flattering), and a sports bra/tank (I decided I already have enough since I do laundry every other day anyhow). All in all, this should be a good way to put some money back onto our credit cards! Oh, and I forgot to report that last night we cut up our credit card with the highest interest rate, which was earning us nothing, and we hadn't had it for a super long time anyhow. While I'm on the phone with the health insurance tomorrow, I will also multi-task and try to score some lower interest rates on the credit cards we still have. I'll let you know how that goes.

On another blog, someone suggested that watching electric/heating costs is a good way to save money. I totally agree, and we're working on it. I think we need to start with the winter weather-proofing. Our house was built in the 1930s and it has its share of issues. In the DC area, temperatures are supposed to drop to near freezing tonight which is cold for us, so we better get started soon. In the meantime, I'm going to go out to our little backyard garden and pick the last of our green tomatoes and the basil in case it does actually freeze.

Lastly, for anyone following my thyroid issues and current low-iodine diet, I am proud to report that even on this diet where I have to avoid so many foods, I have not yet gone to the grocery store. I really thought I would need to, or worse yet, I would use it as an excuse to go shopping. At least now, I think when I really absolutely do need to go, I will be able to keep it to the bare minimum needed.

Another day down. Thanks for your support and comments. And here's a shout-out to my cuz who is planning to stop spending tomorrow. Glad I could be of some inspiration!

Day 5 - Part 2 - Thyroid Cancer Stories, The Dreaded Low-Iodine Diet, and Still Determined to Keep Saving Cash

I know this might be too much information for the average reader, but hey, you are not the average reader. You know I love Africa, you know I am crazy enough to try to not spend money for two weeks, and you may know that I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer early last December. Long story short if you're not up-to-date on the thyroid cancer part: everything is going very well, and does go well for most people with a small tumor of papillary cancer, which is what I had removed last November.

When I was at the doctor yesterday, I got two pieces of unexpected news. Neither was earth-shattering, but for some reason really set my head spinning. First, I found out that my thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was WAY above normal levels (mine was 26 – normal is .5 to 5.0). A change in my prescription should solve the problem in a few weeks. In the meantime, I can expect to have symptoms of hypothyroidism: fatigue, being tired, getting bloated, slowed metabolism, gaining weight, and others which are equally annoying. Not a huge deal, but I was surprised my TSH levels had changed so much since I was last tested about a month ago. The other bit of news was regarding the dreaded low-iodine diet (LID). As I mentioned in another recent post, I have to do a Whole Body Scan (WBS) as part of a check to make sure that no thyroid cells are found in my body, because if there are some, they could be cancerous. (Mine were removed in my thyroidectomy, and then zapped with a radioactive pill in early 2008, so I shouldn't have any at all.) So anyhow, the low-iodine diet prepares your body to want to suck up the radioactive iodine they will give me in a pill, so they can then scan my body and look for uptake. Ok, if this is too medical for you, here comes the day-to-day part of it. I thought I needed to start this diet in a week or two. The nurse said, nope, you should have started a few days ago to be on the conservative side. So…

I can't eat any iodine. Well, officially I can eat miniscule amounts, but basically, I have to avoid it all. Iodine does NOT equal salt. But that said, salt in the USA has iodine added, unless you specifically buy non-iodized salt. Pick up any pre-packaged products in your house. Most have salt. You have to assume it's iodized. All dairy products also contain iodine. Potato skins contain iodine. Rice has iodine too, although basmati rice apparently has very low amounts. Many dried beans have some iodine. Store-bought meat usually is packaged with some broth or salt. And on goes the list. I'll be doing this LID for about two weeks. Last time I had to do it, I started shopping at least a month in advance, because it is so incredibly hard to find products with no-salt added. Even sea salt naturally contains iodine, as do all products from the sea (fish, shrimp, algae). Soy has iodine too. And soy is in so much of what we eat as well! Ugh! So when I found out I was supposed to start eating low-iodine products immediately, my head started spinning. Could I go home and eat anything besides greens? What would I make my friend for lunch? Would I be able to eat the same thing too? Would I have to buy a lot more "necessity" items to do this diet?

Everything at the doctor's office took much longer than planned. At 11:30 I was still in line to get my new prescription so I was forced to cancel my lunch. I came home and made myself a salad, and found no-salt Dijon mustard leftover from last LID, so I made myself some vinaigrette. (Store-bought salad dressings are out of the question.) Eating low-iodine, is eating healthy in general. The safest way to go is with real foods, whole foods, made from scratch. Because this is the most important test for me to check on any active thyroid cancer, I have to take it very seriously. My head was spinning for a few hours while I contemplated my fatigue which I thought was caused by jet-lag from my trip to Senegal last week. Guess not.

We were having company for dinner, so we got out the non-iodized salt, and started coming through the fridge. We had already defrosted a small boneless leg of lamb, and planned to bake it with some herbs, garlic and sweet potato slices from our veggie farm share. Some delicious mixed greens with my no-salt vinaigrette, and we were ready for dinner. I pulled out a bunch of our favorite appetizers, including olives, salted corn nuts, baked pitas, and chorizo. (Appetizers were NOT LID). Both guests brought a bottle of red wine, which was a welcome addition to a meal with lamb, especially since we didn't have any on hand!

One of our guests was the friend who initially told us about his friend David Hochman who did a similar experiment for one month and wrote about it in Reader's Digest. I did finally find the story for free online, so here it is: http://www.rd.com/advice-and-know-how/hochman-family-cuts-spending/article99718.html. Maybe it will inspire you too! We had a delicious dinner and even managed to end it with some dessert, Turrón, from Spain. It's a honey almond nougat-type sweet. Oh, and did I mention we not only got some red wine from our guests, but also a huge stem of fresh Brussel Sprouts?

Must admit: I'm considering what I need to buy at the grocery store for my LID, but I really want to keep it essential and minimal.

Savings Surprises: Normally we would have gone out to buy plenty of groceries for company and red wine. I'm sure we saved at least $50 by eating and drinking what we had on hand, and probably another $50 worth of groceries we would have just bought, just because.

I had some down time between dropping my son off at pre-school and my doctor's appointment. Normally I would have stopped in at Starbuck's for at least a coffee, and maybe a treat as well. Must have saved around $5.

I didn't think I would make it through the day of low-iodine eating with food we had on hand. If we weren't doing this experiment, I probably would have gone to Trader Joe's, Giant, and Whole Foods, and I guarantee I would have spent at least $50 - $100, probably at each place.

Day 3: Barter for the bubbly widow?

My husband was looking to barter for an old, bubbly widow last night after the election results came in. It was our first debate over the intricacies of not spending any money for 2 weeks: Could he sell something in order to buy a bottle of French Veuve Clicquot champagne? I held the hard-line. Even if he sold something to get the money, he would still be spending money. So I said no. And, after all, we did actually have two bottles of champagne in the fridge already. Actually, I think he is still open to making a trade, though what he would give in return, I'm not sure! Send me an email if you can help us out…

Fasting, we both went to get routine blood-work done this morning. Ugh. We both had to leave the house without our morning coffee. And we wouldn't be able to buy any when we got there. In the end, I never made my normal double-espresso. I don't know any more what is making me the most tired: staying up watching the election results, jetlag from last week's trip to Senegal, or skipping my caffeine today. Likely, it's a combo of all three. I packed a variety of snacks to eat between the blood work and my appointment, and avoided the temptation to buy a muffin at the snack bar. So far so good.

Next, I had a visit to my new endocrinologist to follow-up on last November's thyroidectomy and not entirely surprising diagnosis of thyroid cancer. All is going well, but I had conveniently forgotten that soon I would have to do another Whole Body Scan (WBS) which will check my entire body for any signs of thyroid cancer. Without getting too far into it, I'll tell you the parts that impact our pact. To prepare for the scan, I have to take a low dose of a radioactive iodine pill. To prepare for that, I have to eat a low/no-iodine diet for several days in advance. (Thyroid cells are the only ones in the body which absorb iodine, so if any thyroid cells are "hungry" for iodine, they will absorb the radioactive iodine and then will show up on the scan.) Iodine is in a surprising amount of foods. First off are all the salt-added products, which is fairly obvious, but also shrimp, other seafood, milk, certain vegetables, packaged meats, etc. So now my wheels are turning, because I will almost certainly have to go shopping if I have to do my low/no-iodine diet. I don't know yet if I will start the diet this Sunday, or the next, but I guess you will hear all about it in time!

So I did charge the co-pay for the visit to my doctor. Parking in the garage was free. The doctor visit falls under necessities, and was planned.

On the way home from pre-school today as we approached our neighborhood library, my almost 5 year old son asked wistfully if the library was free, or did we have to pay? I assured him that it is free, as long as we return our books and videos on time, so we went in for a while before lunch. We borrowed videos, and I got a book on reusing stuff to make new stuff. Thought I might find a new project to do even though I can't buy anything. We'll see about that.

Tomorrow should be a normal day, so hopefully not too many temptations to spend.