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Archive for April, 2015

Moving Along

April 28th, 2015 at 04:30 am

DH is slowly working on repairing his health. He had some chest tightness on Friday and rushed to the hospital, but everything was fine. His anxiety working him into a panic attack.

His breathing is so much better. Back to normal. I think it took him this long to completely recover from the pneumonia.

His sleep test / cpap machine test is supposed to happen this Friday.

I am proud of him so far. He is really being serious about talking with his doctor, eating better and researching information. He has cut his drinking down to a single beer per day. Of course no alcohol would be better. But this is a man who used to drink a tumbler of whiskey almost every evening, so I'll accept this as moving in the right direction.

Another Trip to the ER

April 22nd, 2015 at 06:19 am

DH was having burning chest pain early this morning. His chest was also really tight and he was feeling dizzy. So after tossing and turning for a little bit he asked me to take him to the ER.

We checked into the ER at 2:45am.
He had an EKG, blood work, a chest x-ray, nebulizer treatment and also a chest CT scan.
They did a second EKG because there was a slight irregularity in the first one. It was still there in the second one. From that the doctors concluded it is very likely he had a mild heart attack recently!
OMG! Frown
The cardiologist didn't seem too concerned at this point. He said DH can turn this around by getting healthy.
As I've said before, he has really packed on the weight - the bad belly fat type. And he drinks way too much alcohol.
It is a "wake-up call" and so far DH is taking it seriously.

They discharged him from the ER at 8:15am this morning right after seeing the cardiologist. He has been feeling fine since.

This morning we paid $176 at the ER. Which is a weird amount.. our ER co pay is supposed to be $250 so I don't know where that amount came from?

Friday he has an echocardiogram (ultrasound of his heart). Positive thoughts please!

*Had* to Update Quicken

April 18th, 2015 at 05:34 am

I bought Quicken Deluxe in 2012 at Costco for $20.
I had never used Quicken before and quickly fell in love with using it. Honestly, I open and update our accounts in Quicken probably three to four times each week. I love the colored charts and how easy it is to track every penny. I also use it to plan my bill paying a month ahead of time.
It's like a game for me when I'm on Quicken. Smile
(My DH has even referred to me paying bills/accounting as "playing on the computer"!)

About two months ago I started getting messages about how if I didn't update to the latest edition I would lose the ability to download transactions directly into the program. This is a big deal for me. It saves mucho time to just click a button and have all my financial accounts updated. Oh sure the program would still work after May 1st; I'd just be manually entering all transactions.

Had I known at the beginning of the year they would shut off the auto downloading I might have bought it at Costco again. They have Quicken on special every January. I checked the price now - $49.99.

The biggest rip-off is the maker of Quicken - Intuit - says "upgrade now and we will give you $10 off". The cost on their website is $74.99, so $64.99 for all the loyal current customers. The highest price out of anywhere I checked.

Last night I broke down and purchased the 2015 version through Amazon - downloaded and installed it with about three clicks. That process was very easy and smooth.

So far the new version works the same as the old one that I was quite happy with, plus these "improvements".
* The chart and graph colors are in a new color scheme - whatever. Rolleyes
* Some things have been moved from one side of the screen to the other - I find that annoying.
* I get my credit score listed in the side bar - wow (not).
* You can access your account from your phone - I opted out of that for now as I want to try to limit exposure to sensitive account info.

It cost $39.99 on Amazon. BUT, I still had gift card money from the CC rewards so it cost $0!
*Silver Lining* Big Grin

And honestly, $40 every three years for something I use so often is a good deal. I just hate being pushed into it.

Little Rant - *Had* to Update Quicken

April 18th, 2015 at 05:22 am

I bought Quicken Deluxe in 2012 at Costco for $20.
I had never used Quicken before and quickly fell in love with using it. Honestly, I open and update our accounts in Quicken probably three to four times each week. I love the colored charts and how easy it is to track every penny. I also use it to plan my bill paying a month ahead of time.
It's like a game for me when I'm on Quicken. Smile
(My DH has even referred to me paying bills/accounting as "playing on the computer"!)

About two months ago I started getting messages about how if I didn't update to the current edition I would lose the ability to download transactions directly into the program. This is a big deal for me. It saves mucho time to just click a button and have all my financial accounts updated. Oh sure the program would still work after May 1st; I'd just be manually entering all transactions.

Had I known at the beginning of the year they would shut off the auto downloading I might have bought it at Costco again. They have Quicken on special every January. I checked the price now - $49.99.

The biggest rip-off is the maker of Quicken - Intuit - says "upgrade now and we will give you $10 off". The cost on their website is $74.99, so $64.99 for all the loyal current customers.
The highest price out of anywhere I checked. :annoyed:

Last night I broke down and purchased the 2015 version through Amazon - downloaded and installed it with about three clicks. It was very easy and smooth.
It cost $39.99. BUT, I still had gift card money from the CC reward so it cost $0!
*Silver Lining* Big Grin

And honestly, $40 every three years for something I use so often is a good deal. I just hate being forced into it.

Spoke Too Soon? .. Hubby Still Not Well.

April 11th, 2015 at 11:23 pm

DH was having more burning chest pain on Wednesday morning, so back in to see the doctor. This doctor took more time with DH than the three previous doctors did. He spent time explaining things to DH. Ordered lab tests and referred him to a pulmonologist.

DH saw the pulmonary specialist on Friday. That doctor was good because he was brutally honest about DH needing to lose weight, eat healthier and cut out the excessive drinking. He did say he thought DH could completely get better and this wouldn't be a long term issue (as long as DH takes care of himself) and nothing serious cropped up in the testing.

So far this month we have spent $180 to see doctors and $177 at the pharmacy. Ouch.
The *little* silver lining is that we finally opened our HSA on March 15th. (Just in time I guess.)
Now I'm replacing money as fast as I'm drawing it out. Hope my effort will pay off at tax time.

DH has to take a short class in order to get the equipment to do the sleep apnea test at home. That class has been scheduled and I don't *think* there is any fees, but I don't know.
It seems certain that he will need one of those CPAP machines. I have no guess on how much that will cost. But, everyone we know who has experience in the sleep apnea area says this little machine makes a world of difference.

All of this is throwing a wrench into the life insurance works. I'm going to keep pushing towards getting that finalized and just hope like crazy nothing turns up that will cause DH to be unqualified for coverage.

Bottom line is I want my hubby to be healthy and happy. The sooner the better!

Where Did March Go? Tahoe Trip. DH had Pneumonia.

April 8th, 2015 at 06:25 am

I can't believe we are a week into April already! What?!

Catching up here..

In the last half of March we took a four-day family getaway with another family to Lake Tahoe. We rented a house. Which sounds so fancy, but in reality is a reasonably frugal way to vacation. This was the first time we have ever stayed in a vacation rental, but I will definitely do it again.

We split the rental 50/50 with our friends. They have three young kids. We invited a friend for DD to hang out with. That made 10 people total. We paid $100/night ($200/night total) and $75 cleaning fee. The house was plenty spacious for everyone to spread out (four bedrooms & three full baths). The pool table kept the teen girls entertained and actually off their cell phones for a little bit! Big Grin

We ate in the whole time and cooked in the large kitchen; which was nicer than mine at home.
That kept our food spending equal to staying home.

We visited the Discovery museum in Reno at $8/per person. Such a fun place!

The other mom and I had a champagne and goat cheese binge one night in front of the gas fireplace. Glorious. Big Grin

We picnicked at one of the Lake's beaches. No park fees because it was "off-season".




Took the all the kids tubing on the last patch of snow we could find nearby. Splurged $30 for tube rental.

Woke up to a dusting of snow one morning to everyone's delight - especially the four youngsters. Smile




Then when we got home DH started saying how much his chest was hurting. We thought that his asthma was flaring up. But, by the next day he was really hurting. A trip to the ER confirmed pneumonia. Frown
(Is this year going to be the year of medical expenses?? I sure hope not!)

He was pretty sick for about a week. Breathless and tired. And coughing of course.

Doing much better now, but not 100% yet. Did go back to work last Thursday on limited duties.
No sick leave pay for the days he was out. Frown

One good thing is that he is getting a sleep test for his sleep apnea. Something I've been saying for several years he should do...