Shopaholic? Me?

A while back we decided to save up any money we would have spent on health insurance as a medical fund (in case we get sick). You know, we were playing the odds that we will maintain good health. What my hubby was not counting on was my dipping into the fund to go er shopping for Christmas. Hubby was not too pleased to say the least. Perhaps we should have gone with low cost health insurance rather than our savings. Well… as I said… better than a loan especially in the current financial economic situation.

Apparently it makes sense to double check your insurance online before renewing your annual subscription. The reality is that even if you renew with your own insurers, you might still make savings by checking it as a new customer rather than simply renew. I must say I am grateful to my brother for noticing that it makes sense to check, as every year we make savings just by checking our insurance quote. You would think that loyalty would count for something… but apparently not. And personally I also think that “no claim bonus discounts” are an excuse to over charge people… but that is just my opinion.

I went to a charity pamper evening this week and was treated to a skin analysis. Scary stuff. Anyway, my skin was. If it were not for the fact that I was within a group and everyone else also had a skin analysis, I would have said it was a ploy to sell stuff like wrinkle cream but my skin must have been the worst. Admittedly, they think it is a result of my hormones being all over the place due to having given birth, but I still ended up buying a whole range of products specially for my current skin condition. Ouch my credit card. On the plus side, that night we raised nearly £200.

My hubby has been experimenting with coffee. He has been trying all sorts French, Italian, Colombian, Decaffeinated, Cappuccinos, Espressos, Lattes etc.

It started with him looking at espresso machines, which I could not understand as we have a coffee machine that makes espressos and filtered coffee and even steams milk so you can make things like cappuccinos. Anyway, he ended up deciding to buy a cafetiere. I must say, I do like the benefits as it does produce nice coffee and best of all… it is made for me! Perfect. Now where are those petite fours?

One of my other hobbies besides shopping is photography. It does give the added benefit of all the extra shopping but it can build up in cost. However most people do not need to go into exorbitant expense as most are into point and shoot photography. This is why digital cameras are fantastic, you point, you shoot and you can see your results instantly. Also if you are not satisfied you can shoot again and again.

There are a number of things to look for in a camera but this is dependant on what you are after. However, in digital photography the main feature is pixels. The reality is that most cameras today have sufficient pixels to provide decent photographs. A lot of cameras are nowadays coming with 10 Mega Pixels or more. The reality is that anywhere in the range between 1 and 10 mp is good, though I would aim for between 5 – 7 mp.

My cousin has just got engaged. I am so excited for her. She must however be more excited with all the preparations. There is no better shopping than bridal shopping, except perhaps baby shopping. I must be careful or before she knows it I might take over all her shopping from her bridal shower invitationsto her wedding dress. I am sure she would want to strangle me as it is her prerogative. Maybe I can plan her hen night and grab some stuff from The Joke Shop.

Anyway, I wish them both the very best and may they have many happy years together.

Since my post Helping Aids, I have been advised that people can apply for social security disability benefits which can help go towards the extra costs linked to disabilities. There are companies that can help you apply for the benefits or you can head to social services for advice.

I think it is great that you can get financial help for disabilities. My only fear is abuse of the system, but that is always bound to happen with benefits. People try to abuse where they can and as a tax payer, I obviously object to the abuse. I think I will just go shopping to take my mind off the fact that there is a bad side to life too!!

I must say I am a sucker for personalised & monogrammed jewelry. You see, I have a rather uncommon name which means that I never find anything personalised. However, with jewelry they tend to personalise it for you, which in my eyes makes it special and it also means they can write my name.

Lauren Klein has a range of personalised jewelry and they are all sold at below the recommended retail price, so I think they are worth a look. I particularly like Rose Gold and Diamond Clover Monogram Necklace as pictured below and it is being sold at less than half the RRP!

Remember how I said that I would keep reviewing diet pills and supplements. I have just found out that you can lose weight using HCG. HCG is a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. It is the horomone which is used to check if you are pregnant or not and is also used in fertility treatment. You can buy all sorts of extras like HCG mixing kits and injections.

It makes sense that it works, but I am not sure I would want to mess around with my hormones without some medical help. Now if you can get your GP to guide you with dieting with HCG then its worth a try… but do think seriously about it before going ahead without medical advice. Admittedly, there could be a point when you would try anything.. but if you can have a guiding light… take it!

My mum has recently had a quadruple bypass operation and has found that even the most basic things have become a nearly impossible task. Even something as simple as washing is proving hard as she has a cut and stitches in her leg, arm and obviously her chest. Things like walk in tubs and grip bars would make her life so much easier. Unfortunately they are not really feasible for her as this is a temporary situation. However I can only imagine how helpful these aids are to people who need them. In fact I feel that aids like this should be available to people who need them at cost price or at least heavily subsidised by the health system.