Points And Prizes - Sheknows

[newsnakeowner1978]

tks for the words all. will try to spend some time in here catchin up when i gets a chance. haven't been so busy before in me life. lol

[kekes]

Thanks for the words

[Racefan]

Thanks for the words.

[roseofblack25]

thanks for the words I am never going to get caught up LOL they will expire before I can manage to catch up

[jodew71]

lolcat... our resident medical expert...

how much do you know about bunions?
I had surgery when I was 16 to remove one. They also broke my toe to straighten it back out. Well, 20+ years later the one on my right foot starts bugging me - out of no where. It aches and I'm getting shooting pains from it. I'm at a loss for why it's happening now though. I go for my annual on July 13th and my dad suggested that I get my uric acid checked to rule out gout. I don't eat the 'rich' diet associated with gout so I'm ruling that out.
I know bunions are hereditary - my dad's bunions are HUGE even after having surgery. I'm just confused as to why it's all happening now.

[roseofblack25]

ok so I need help trying to figure out how to budget since I have never had to do it before but now I kind of need to.
I need to see if I can afford school and a car and be able to get ahead on just this job if I can't I am going to start looking for a job that I can work evenings and weekends at so that I can get my own car plus pay for school out of pocket since OSAP is screwing me over because apparently min wage is making too much money...plus I want to be able to put a bit of money away to save so that in a year or two I can move to Toronto which I eventually want to do just because I want something more then living in a tiny town for the rest of my life. I just need the money to do it and know that I have enough for at least a few months rent and necessities in case I can't find a job right away otherwise I would have already moved but I was afraid of running out of money before I found a job with the economy the way it is.
So I need to figure out how to plan for stuff like this like how do you even begin to budget? I have most of the number stuff figured out in terms of what I am making each pay period and how much I need for school but I don't know where to begin with things like buying a car since I have no idea what price I would be looking at or what I can even afford at the moment, plus gas money and insurance since those will depend on the car type and everything, plus I don't know what to set aside for my personal use for things like toiletries and other necesseties that I pay for and then figuring out what I can or should be putting aside in my high interest account to save for future.

This is currently driving me crazy LOL so suggestions would be awesome, I asked my parents but they couldnt help me cause they have never had to live paycheque to paycheque and have never budgeted anything LOL must be nice huh haha

[jodew71]

ORLANDO 500 points (not a typo)
expires June 30

[roseofblack25]

thanks

[Ricki911]

Thanks for the new words.

Rose,

to be honest while in school you will be living from paycheque to paycheque LOL While in college you have to pick between things you normally wouldnt. Trust me youll use the very very little amount of toothpaste and mouthwash LOL (my oomates make fun of me all the time). For me I have to pick between my meds and food. My mom usually feels sorry for me and makes a load of homemade food. I pay rent,meds, bills (total each month is $1240 not including extra fees for school) I get by dont ask how. Remember to get overdraft at the bank. Moving out of your parents house is a big step. We move out for 8 months and by the time I get back home my bank acocunts at maybe 100$ lol. Take little steps say if you make 900$ in the pay period take half out to put away.

Depends if your buying a new or used car. Also, depends what level of drives licence you have (G1, G2, or G), if your going under your parents name or your own (under your own and if your under 25 if cost way more). For example I had a 94 contour under my dads name i was paying 160$ for insurance each month. Now with a 2008 colbalt under my name Im paying 270$ a month. Im under 25 the first car I had my G2 and the second with my G.

I put my whole paycheque away for shool and during school I spend very very little. With things such as shampoo and such I stock up - get FPCs or wait for a good sale spend maybe 1.00 or less. You learn how to budget with coupons or else your rather screwed. When I walk into the store I look at it as I dont have any money to spend so you cant spend any.

A credit card is a good investment (I pay it off each pay period) but in cases of an emergency you kow you have it. I know a few times during the school year I couldnt afford my meds and VISA saved my butt on that one.

[roseofblack25]

I don't plan on moving out till after I finish the schooling its an online business course offered by the college here so I am taking that
and if I buy my own car its all going to be under my name right now I am under my dad's name and the truck is my registered car and its an 84 and its only $50 a month so I figure if I get a new or fairly new car I will be paying around $250 a month though I'm not sure because I took drivers ed and can use the certificate to get a discount until I'm 25
I don't have to pay for food or rent the food thing because someone would probably eat my food (sis more than likely or dad) so that is something I dont have to worry about at least plus its too expensive to move out here cause its considered a tourist destination and wine country or whatever I was looking at apts and nice ones are like $700-$900 a month and that would leave me with basically nothing a week

I only work 32.5 hours a week too on min wage I am supposed to be full time but right now I'm not sure if I will need another job or if they plan to give me more hours once I am trained
I already use coupons as much as possible LOL so I think I may be ok there and I have enough shampoo and body wash etc to last me a year at least LOL thank you SC and that does help some because I haven't had to spend money on anything other than clothes for work in the last few months and even then it was free because I used my Toronto contest win money
I don't have a credit card but when I go to the bank tomorrow to deposit my cheque I am going to see if I even qualify for one just to build up some credit and I could at least put my laptop on that and pay it off right away but it would give me a few extra weeks to work and get the extra money in my account before the payment is due.

[lolcat]

Hey all!
Don't forget, make sure you have all the June word hunt words claimed. Tomorrow is the expiry date!

lolcat... our resident medical expert...

how much do you know about bunions?
I had surgery when I was 16 to remove one. They also broke my toe to straighten it back out. Well, 20+ years later the one on my right foot starts bugging me - out of no where. It aches and I'm getting shooting pains from it. I'm at a loss for why it's happening now though. I go for my annual on July 13th and my dad suggested that I get my uric acid checked to rule out gout. I don't eat the 'rich' diet associated with gout so I'm ruling that out.
I know bunions are hereditary - my dad's bunions are HUGE even after having surgery. I'm just confused as to why it's all happening now.

That is a really hard question to answer, Jo. I would imagine your bunions are quite severe if you had surgery at such a young age. Removing it as well as breaking your toe to realign it properly is pretty heavy surgery!

Quite honestly, if you have bunions (which are definately hereditary in almost all cases) they can act up at any point in your life. Even the foot you had surgery on can crop up again at any time. It is technically a joint "Deformity", and can re-invent itself in many ways, especially if it is affected by certain things, like spending more time on your feet than usual, certain types of shoes, bad arch support, weight gain, etc.

What I would be interested in knowing would be, have you gained weight lately, are you wearing "Good" shoes, do you wear arch supports or orthotics? How bad is the incline of the big toe on the foot that is suddenly bothering you? Does it overlap your second toe at all? There are a ton of things you can try, without surgery, that I'd love to suggest.. if you can answer those questions for me. I wish I could actually see your foot, do you think you could take a good photo of it from above and PM it to me? Also, do you have flat feet? If not, do you have a really high arch on your foot?

You totally do not have gout! Gout mostly affects men, and I doubt you subscribe to the "rich man's diet" that gout is usually caused by... lots of alcohol, protein and fat. Typically when gout affects the big toe (which it actually MOST often does over any other joint) it causes all kinds of burning pain, swelling, redness, warmth, and stiffness. There is usually a lot of swelling in the pad of the foot right below the toe as well.

Anyway, if you can answer those questions I can help you better.

[Andit]

Ricki, have you looked into the Trillium program to help cover the cost of your meds? Depending on how much money you have, you may have to pay a deduction, but it might be worth looking into. Here's the link:

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/...us/odb_fm.html


Rose, the easiest way to budget is to set up a spreadsheet with 2 columns (I like to use Excel, just cause it can do the additions for you). In the first column, put your weekly paycheque amounts from your job. In the second, put in all expenses (cost of your course, a car, car insurance, gas, maintenance/repairs, food, rent, entertainment). You also want to put in an amount for savings, even if it's only $1 per week, it eventually adds up. Hopefully, you don't get into the negatives. If you are,. you have to choose carefully what you can reduce.

There are different programs out there, I just saw an ad for a new program for TDCan Trust, don't know the details, but might be worth looking into if you have a few dollars to spare:

http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/account...e/features.jsp


Let me know if you need help setting something up to get you an idea of where your finances are at.


Hope everyone has a good night! I'm off to bed soon, just got to finish the dishes - I am NOT letting the brats do that job!

[jodew71]

What I would be interested in knowing would be, have you gained weight lately, are you wearing "Good" shoes, do you wear arch supports or orthotics? How bad is the incline of the big toe on the foot that is suddenly bothering you? Does it overlap your second toe at all? There are a ton of things you can try, without surgery, that I'd love to suggest.. if you can answer those questions for me. I wish I could actually see your foot, do you think you could take a good photo of it from above and PM it to me? Also, do you have flat feet? If not, do you have a really high arch on your foot?

Quick answers..
I was in the hospital for a week after I had the surgery and then I had a cast on for 6 weeks. My toe didn't set properly so I can't bend it like I should be able to. The bunion on my right foot wasn't nearly as bad so they just left it. I don't think it's grown any bigger but you've clued me in to why I may be getting the pains...
I have NO arches on my feet. When I'm wet/sweaty and stand in place for a minute I get that 'suction cup' noise when I go to move. Up until now I haven't had any major issues with my feet so I delayed getting the orthotics - and I didn't have the $400 to dish out for them. I don't own a credit card either.
I've lost about 25 pounds in the last 8 months and I'm now working in a convenience store so I'm standing 5+ hours at a time - on Saturday it was 8.5 hours (no breaks) so my feet were aching yesterday and I spent it at Canada's Wonderland in the rain.
My bunion really isn't that big and my big toe is only a bit crooked. I have a hard time finding shoes that fit AND are comfortable. I never wear heels and I live in loose runners. I'm just figuring out that my flat foot issue affects the way I walk because I can't wear sandals with no back on them - they fly off my feet as I'm walking. I also can't wear the ones with plastic/leather between the big & second toe because I get blisters from it.
I'm going to take a pic and send it to you. I would imagine that once I get orthotics it will ease some of the pain but a second opinion would be great!

[jodew71]

well, I can't figure out how to send pictures so I just made an album instead.

[Peasnpod]

thanks for the words.