Too. Much. Stuff!

I know I'm not alone, but I suffer from that modern-day disease of owning too much Stuff.  We have been indoctrinated from an early age (I'm in that first generation of tv watchers and those commercials really did their job on me) to buy, buy, buy.  We get stuffed with Stuff.  And usually, it sits in closets, drawers, corners, cupboards.  Feng Shui belief is that this Stuff affects our chi - our life energy.  Think of it as your energy being sucked away because you have all this Stuff weighing you down.  Even when we don't think about it, we know it is there, lurking in the background.  We can't easily find something we need.  We may even buy more than one of the same thing, because we have so much Stuff that we lose track of what we already own. Some people lose the ability to feel comfortable in their own home, and hesitate to entertain others because of the mess and confusion that Stuff creates.

Photo by Wikimedia Commons User Tomwsulcer

On the spectrum of minimalist to hoarder, I'd say I fall somewhere in the middle, but it is bad enough that after a lifetime of accumulating Stuff, I need some serious effort in order to declutter.  Being an introspective gal, I needed to think about the psychology of the mess before I could actually make a change.  So I did some research.  I found out there are basically two reasons why people hang on to their Stuff.

1)  "You might need this someday."  This goes hand-in-hand with being taught not to waste, or a fear (probably laid in by depression-born parents) that you will waste money or time if you dispose of Stuff.  This can get extreme -- for example, saving too many plastic bags, bottles, etc.,, with the thought that you will recycle by reusing.  Saving old magazines because someday you are going to do something with those articles that appealed to you.  That clutter can build up quickly!  Or you might have Stuff you know is worth money, but you're not sure who to pass it on to, or how to do that.  So it sits there, waiting.

2)  "Aww, I loved it when..."  This is the emotional attachment to our Stuff.  That baby doll you had when you were a child, the first cookbook you ever used, newborn clothes from baby days, etc.  We tend to get confused and think the object that invokes the memory is the same as the memory.  I think this is a very common and very human reaction.  When my mom died, I hung out with her handkerchiefs and coat for a while because they smelled like her.  Yes, I still have them even though they don't smell like her anymore.  When my grandparents died, I dumped a lot of what they owned into my basement.  The fact that I haven't used it/looked through it in 20+ years hasn't mattered as long as the Stuff was there, ready to rekindle my memories.  Do I really need Grandpa's electric bills from World War II?  The fact that I am a person interested in historical eras complicates this emotional connection. 

So, what to do?  Well, I decided to start slowly. When I made this decision, I started by bringing a couple of boxes out of our "cubby" area upstairs. Wow.  I found Saddam Hussein playing cards, don't know where those came from.  Those baby dolls I mentioned above, from when I was 8.  A collection of Burger King toys --  I remember saying, those will be worth something someday...Nope.  Not unless you consider them selling for a couple of dollars on EBay "worth something."  How much has the space they took up for 20+ years cost?  The only problem was, that once I cleaned out those couple of boxes, the declutter thing took back burner again and I didn't do much else.

As often happens in my life, when I have one of those lightbulb moments, the universe does something to make it have a bigger impact.  You know, so I don't forget and fall back into not caring, or so that I get prodded to move a bit faster through the process.  This moment came for me on Memorial Day.  My baker's rack in the kitchen was crammed-full of Stuff like beans, rice, grains, cookbooks, appliances (KitchenAid mixer, yogurt maker) and various other treasures like stickers and coloring book/crayons for my grandson. By crammed, I mean every square corner of space built up 7 feet high.  A pinnacle of master design, but not very safe.  But I didn't notice because I'm used to Stuff.  On Memorial Day, the family was over for dinner and they were all crowded around the table next to the aforementioned rack.  I needed a bread basket - you guessed it - hanging off one of the wrought iron sides of the rack.  I reached for it and just then the rice canister balancing on the top came down, right onto my toe, crushing it.  Yup, not ashamed to admit I cried.  And then I got angry.  How can anyone live like this?  Too.  Much.  Stuff.  

The next day, after lots of icing and Motrin for the pain, I pulled out all that Stuff in the rack.  Only problem was, it had to go somewhere.  The appliances needed to go in the cupboard out of sight. But before I could do that, I had to clean out the bottom of the cupboard.  That stuff needed to go somewhere as well, so I cleaned another shelf, and another, in a mad pull-the-string-watch-it-unravel kind of a way, which made me realize that everything is connected to something else.  Three cupboards had to be reorganized and it took me most of an afternoon.  But I did it.  And I breathed a sigh of relief because in the process, I threw out a garbage can full of expired food, plastic containers with no matching tops, and an assortment of unrelated and not-needed-by-anyone-ever worthless items.  When I picked up something, I asked myself when I had used it last.  If the answer was "a very long time ago," or "I didn't even know I owned this," it went either in the trash or in a box for a garage sale.  If there truly was an emotional connection, I took a photo of it before throwing it out/selling it/giving it away.

My new commitment is to clean out one small area each day.  Stuff needs to go out the door, each and every day, even if it's only paper in the recycling bin.  I also started selling some of my Stuff on E-Bay.  This week I made $40 and got rid of a baby doll, a pocketbook, and a collectible I never really liked.  It's a win-win. Less clutter and money in my pocket.  The toe disaster got me to make a commitment, finally.  Thanks, Universe!

Achoo! How to Naturally Manage Seasonal Allergies

I've suffered from allergies my whole life.  When I was a teenager, my eyes would get so red/itchy/puffy that I couldn't keep them open and had to stay home from school.  When I was in my 30's, I also developed severe food allergies, and became asthmatic every time I got a respiratory infection.  Over the years, I've had rounds of allergy desensitization shots, tried just about every prescription and over-the-counter allergy drug that exists, and inevitably ended up with many sinus infections from the continuous swelling of my sinus passages.  It was not until I decided to attack the problem naturally that I was able to put most of my allergy misery behind me.

When we react to an allergen, let's say a grain of pollen, what happens is that the invader latches onto mucous membranes somewhere in the lining of our respiratory passages.  This triggers our immune system to respond by releasing a chemical called histamine. It is the histamine that causes the sneezing, itching, and inflammation.  Pharmaceutical medicine seeks to counteract the results of the histamine (hence the term antihistamine).  When that doesn't work, steroids and other harsher treatments are employed.  Desensitization shots seek to get the body accustomed to the invader so that it does not react as strongly with the histamine.  Many people have some success with the shots, hence their continued use, but they never really did the trick for me.

What did I do?  A number of things that I would categorize as life-changing (thus the reason to include in my lightbulb moments).  I will go from global to specific, and what led me to each strategy.

My first lightbulb moment came from an observation - my husband had no allergies when I married him (he is very thankfully an extremely healthy individual), but after a few years of marriage began suffering from severe hay fever.  He joked that there must be a contagious element to allergies because he "caught them" from me. At first, I thought it was the fact that we changed states that led to his problem, but when I learned about the impact of food/nutrition on allergies I realized that the real change, was in his diet.  He had begun eating the same foods that I ate, and his body was reflecting that.

I began learning about the effect that foods have on the overall climate of the body when I began thinking about my body as a holistic system and not isolated parts or reactions.  Our body should be slightly alkaline, or tend toward the ideal pH of 7.30-7.45.  Unfortunately, the American diet includes an overabundance of foods that tip the scales towards the acidic end of the spectrum.  This acidic situation causes a constant state of inflammation in the body and gears it up to over-react to allergens.  You can actually test your pH level with a piece of litmus paper (using saliva or urine collected first thing in the morning, before eating/drinking).

The graphic below, which I found on happyherbivore.com, depicts how foods and drinks fall on the pH scale.  You can see that the typical American diet, which has us eating meals filled with animal proteins, sugars, and processed foods - is acidic.  This imbalance affects the balance of the good bacteria in our body, and allows pathogens like yeast (candida) to flourish, which puts us in a constant state of immune war. Allergic reactions and overall body inflammatory processes are the result.  Cells don't get what they need to thrive (or may even go haywire wild, as in cancer), and minerals are leached out of the bones - causing diseases like osteoporosis.  Joints become inflamed and arthritic.  It is harder to achieve a stable blood sugar and healthy hormonal levels.

As you can see from the chart, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables will lead you back to a healthy pH balance.  You can try the specific remedies I recommend below, but the REASON THEY WORK is because they lead you back towards an alkaline system.  The best fix of all, therefore, is to try to adapt your diet to a healthier balance.  We completely eliminated carbonated drinks and artificial sweeteners.  We have replaced cow's milk or soy milk with almond milk.  We eat more fruits and vegetables, and try to eat something from the "10" area every day.  We have tried (I'm still struggling with this) to decrease cheese and chocolate. We eat sugary sweets only on a special occasion.

There is only one thing I disagree with on this chart - and that is the classification of vinegar as a 4, when raw apple cider vinegar (it says Mother's on it) is an alkaline-forming food.

The best foods to produce relief - include foods with "natural antihistamine" reactions.  This includes any colorful fruits and vegetables (red, blue, purple, orange, dark green), garlic/onions, apples, pineapple, and legumes.

In addition - adjust your environment.  When pollen counts are high, close your windows and use an air purifier.  Cover your mattresses and pillows with cases that discourage dust mites.  Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter on it.  Keep showers and other damp areas free of mold.  Bathe pets frequently (and keep them out of your bed).

Specific Strategies

1)  Saline solution - Very useful to rinse pollen invaders out of the nasal passages.  You might do this by buying saline in a squirt bottle, or using a Neti pot.  One of the most effective strategies and should be used frequently, especially every time you have been outdoors. Note: I personally cannot use a Neti pot because I have a deviated nasal septum and therefore get vertigo if I try to flush with lots of water.

2)  Mother's apple cider vinegar - Alkalizing reaction, one of the best daily treatments.  One (or two) teaspoons in a glass of water, drink each morning after breakfast.  A dramatic study on the peanut proteins that cause severe reactions found that if the proteins were treated with vinegar before ingestion, it decreased the antibodies to those proteins in the blood of the test subjects.  (http://www.ncbi/nlm/nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3328733).  Of course, people with severe peanut reactions would not want to try even vinegar-soaked peanuts, but the study teaches us about the benefit of alkaline reactions for the rest of us.

3)  Green tea - which is very alkaline to the body, and contains a compound called EGCG (methylated epigallocatechin gallate).  EGCG blocks a reaction in cells that produces allergic responses.

4)  Essential oils - my husband swears by this.  He uses peppermint oil by putting a tiny bit under his nose when he has symptoms.  He says it clears his passages.  He has also used eucalyptus oil, sniffing it right from the bottle.

5)  Omega 3 fatty acids - Foods like salmon, albacore tuna, herring, mackerel, walnuts, and flaxseed help to fight the inflammation that comes along with seasonal allergies.  Eat two or three servings a day of high-omega 3 foods, or take a daily supplement (consult with your doctor before taking any supplement).  A German study found a link between omega-3 ingestion and a reduction in symptoms of respiratory allergies.

6)  Quercetin - This is a natural antioxidant that helps to control free radicals (and thereby decreases inflammation processes).  It is found naturally in citrus fruits, onions, apples, parsley, green tea, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce and wine.  To get enough in the middle of a severe reaction season, take a supplement between meals.  Note:  Those with liver disease should not take this supplement - consult with your doctor.

There are also natural herbs you could try.  I've been gunshy myself, because I have a lot of plant and food allergy symptoms - and my other strategies have worked so well, I don't feel the need to experiment.  However, many studies have found excellent results from Stinging Nettle and Butterbur, and claim they are as effective as prescription antihistamines.

If you have any other natural strategies that have worked for you, post them here!

The Power of a Budget

OK I admit it.  This is not the first blog I have started.  I was trying to compartmentalize everything into neat little subjects - but I'm just too eclectic to stick to just one topic for long.  So here is my new attempt - write about what I'm figuring out, as I live my life.  Record my lightbulb moments, not just for myself but hopefully for a wider audience.  Some of the things I figure out are life-changing, some are not, but all of that experimentation in life can be recorded and hopefully help someone.  So, here I am.

For my first post, I would like to talk about something near and dear to all of us - money.  Everyone already knows how important money is.  It gives us power.  It helps us enjoy our life.  It helps us survive.  But not everyone has the tools, or the knowledge, to take control of their money.  For me, money was one of those topics I desperately tried not to think about.  Whenever I did try to improve and bought a book, or a new budgeting tool, I quickly became frustrated.  It just never clicked. I lived life from paycheck to paycheck, gleefully (or guiltily) spending whatever came through my hands.  I was unable to spend on larger-ticket items like home improvement projects because the money got dribbled away on small things.  I lived in a mindset of scarcity.  I had large debt on credit cards, and paid way too much interest on that debt (you can thank me now, Capital One).

What did I do when it all got too much to handle and I started going into the red?  Consolidate!  You've heard that advice, right?  Get home equity loans and pay it all off, then pay back the equity loan at a lower rate of interest (and if you work it right, take the interest off your taxes as well).  So I did just that. Numerous times!  Problem is, every time I paid those stinkin' cards off, I used them and built the debt back up again. Then I had more debt than I started with - the equity loan, plus new debt on the cards.  At one point I had three mortgages!  Yikes!

My strategies clearly did not work.  We've all heard the cliche' that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  It was going to take that awful b-word - you know the one - BUDGET - to get me out of the endless cycle I created for myself.  And I had no clue how to do that.

I needed a tool - and since I don't mind computer work, I figured a software program would work.   Quicken, however, was way too time-consuming and not user-friendly enough for a spender like me.  Looking at their prediction that it would take 15 YEARS to get me out of debt did little to inspire me.  I tried Mint as well, which is a free online budgeting tool.  But I mistrusted putting all my financial data "in the cloud."  I even tried going old-school and using budget envelopes.

Enter a budget-saving tool that, at least for me, clicked.  YNAB.com. You Need A Budget.  Because everyone does.  Not only is the software user-friendly, with an easy-to-manage interface and a handy app to help record purchases on-the-go, but they also offer training tutorials taught in real-time virtual classes!  They start from the basics - philosophy - and help you  to get out of your old mindset and into control.  They offer lots of assistance, from daily "tips" that you can access on Facebook, to user forums that let you connect with others who use the system.

I started my YNAB experience in October, 2013.  At that time, I had thousands of dollars in credit card debt.  I had no clue what I was spending my money on, but never had enough to last (thus the credit dilemma).  I entered everything into the YNAB software, recorded all of my accounts, all of my budget categories, and started that first month by noticing what I was spending and by thinking about what a good target for spending in each of those categories should be.  This system completely revolutionized my life.  I started wondering about why I was spending so much on certain items.  Take cable television for example.  I was paying for 300 channels when we really only used 20, plus the on-demand feature.  Making this connection empowered me to call my cable company and inquire about whether I could downgrade to a more basic service and still keep on-demand.  Why, yes, I could (though it took me three calls to connect to the right person who was willing to help me downgrade).  And voila, I saved $80 a month.  I did the same thing with car insurance and cellphone bills.  I remortgaged one last time - at a much lower interest rate (from 9.9 down to 3 percent interest).  The important thing here - I saved money because I made a connection and thought about it - and I did that, because I began budgeting in YNAB.  Once you see where the money is going, it gives you insight and empowers you to take control.

So here it is, May of 2014.  I have zero credit card debt.   Yup.  For the first time in my life.  I still use the cards, but pay them off totally at least once a month.  Since I have already budgeted the expenses I put on the card, it's no big deal to pay that out - the money is in my account.  I have saved about $300 a month on the monthly bills (by making those phone calls), another $200 on the mortgage,  and I have found ways to save money in other categories, like groceries.  I just took a trip to Europe - which would NOT have been possible if I had not budgeted.  This month I could not believe that even after my two weeks in Italy, I was able to sock away $400 in savings.  I retired in February and we're doing all this on less money than I was bringing in when I was working!

The only thing I feel badly about, is that it took me so long to have my lightbulb moment.  Everyone Needs A Budget.  YNAB, thank you!