http://theshoppingnazi.com Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/ It is amazing what golden treasures can be found from the simple act of cleaning out the bedroom closet. Treasures get pushed back to the rear of the closet out of shear neglect. Other treasures are put back to the rear of the closet for safe keeping. Still other treasure are put there we don’t want to acknowledged their existence. Clothes get the honored place at the ends of the wooden hanging rod just because they are not worn. It was a week ago when I got tired of wrestling shirts and pants that looked vaguely familiar. I knew many of them could not of have been mine. The pants were two, three, and four inches narrower in the waist than what I wear. The shirts were so tight they felt like plastic wrap around my chest. All those strange articles of clothing were placed in one big plastic garbage bag. The following day my wife escorted the bag to the local thrift store. As much as our closet needed a good old fashion Spring cleaning, I have seen other closets in much worst conditions. The first one that comes to mind is the closet of the mother of a friend. This closet was off the [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/ Have you ever bought a cheap bottle of multi vitamins? Then a week later you found yourself constantly sitting on the toilet with diarrhea? Well, I have. The rest of that bottle has been sitting on a shelf in the kitchen cupboard for about three years. Early this week, I spend quite some time on the phone, with my brother. He is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to holistic remedies, vitamins, and herbs.   His health has been dramatically improved, over the past year, just by using other than traditional medical treatments. As each year passes, I find myself leaning more to the holistic approach for my medical needs. The more I read the label on even over the counter medication, I get scared. Take for example the bottle of Day Quil. The label reads, “Taking more than recommended dose can cause serious health problems, including liver damage.” Does this scare you? It scares me! This is the very reason why we have been doing more prevention over after treatment. Whenever anyone in our family starts to feels like a cold or flu coming on, I stick a glass of Airborne under their nose. It does a great job reducing the affects of a cold or [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/usda-terms-and-their-meaning/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/usda-terms-and-their-meaning/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:00:08 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7406 The meaning of words give us a clean expectation as to what we are purchasing. Without clear definitions we are set up for disappointment. That is why it is good to periodically review the definitions of words used to describe what is inside the packages of meat. I can tell you I am going to give you a hamburger. That does not tell you if it is going to be a hamburger sandwich or just a hand full of raw meat. I can tell you I am going to give you a cooked hamburger in a sandwich. That does not tell you if is going to be a thin hamburger patty or and one pound of hamburger in the the sandwich. I can tell you I am going to give you a hamburger sandwich with a whole pound of hamburger meat inside. Still I have not told you what the quality of that hamburger. It could be pure beef or pink slime. Since I live in the United States, I am going to pull my definitions from the United States Department of Agriculture. Today, we are going to look at buying meat, and the labeling concerning it. Here’s the basic USDA definitions you should see on every package [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/usda-terms-and-their-meaning/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/water-water-where-is-the-water/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/water-water-where-is-the-water/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7381 It is raining outside. It has been raining off and on for over a week. Soon the rain will go away. It will then be replaced with the heat of summer. Emergency rooms will start to see people suffering from various symptoms of dehydration. Big money can be save from going to the emergency room by simply drinking water. The Mayo Clinic says men should be drinking roughly 3 liters or about 13 cups of beverages a day. For women it is 2.2 liters or about 9 cups of total beverages a day. Many doctors and health care professional say eight 8 ounces cups of water per day is minimum. That is 1.9 liters of water per day.  Most health care professionals say we should be drinking water, not counting soda, juice or milk. I realize there are parts of this planet where the water tastes very, very, bad. In fact you can even get sick drinking the water. That is why certain travel agents once recommend that you drink beer instead of water. In later years they started recommending bottled water. I was in Wal Mart the other day. As I was walking down the wide aisle that separates the grocery section from the clothing section, [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/water-water-where-is-the-water/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/shopping-for-an-eye-doctor/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/shopping-for-an-eye-doctor/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7367 I don’t know what it is about Spring that gets me think about being healthy. It could be warmer weather, and sunshine. Late Spring and the Summer months will be busy for me. My vision has been getting blurry. I know I am going to need another pair of glasses this year. Even my wife has mention she is in need of another pair of glasses. Just as I was getting ready to make an appointment at the optometrist we visited two years ago. That was when my wife reminded me that our health insurance had changed. We could not longer go to the same optometrist. This meant we would have to look around and find another place where we could get our eyes check. Hearing this news got me nervous. Several years ago, I went to the one of those places which offer two pairs of glasses for the price of one. I went through the examination. The individual who was giving the examination did not say anything about me needing  bifocals. Then when I was passed off to his assistant for pick of frames, she gave me the usual up sales. I did not want more than a scratch guard [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/shopping-for-an-eye-doctor/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/online-health-advice/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/online-health-advice/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:00:02 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7239 It is expensive to go to a doctor. The average doctor’s visit can get over a $100 with little or no effort. The base visit can run from $35 to well over $100, depending on the doctor and his or her specialty. Then things like blood tests, x rays, ultra sound, and whatever other tests the doctor deems necessary. In this day and age the old saying, “An ounce of prevention with worth a pound of cure” is more than relevant.  Maybe that is why when I go to places like WebMD.com prevention is discussed. Exercise and diet are at the top of the list. I has been my experience there are three types of people in the world. People who run to the doctor with every little ache or pain. People who when what their body does something out of its norm. People who ignore what their body is telling them until the very last minute. The first group are better known as hypochondriacs. These people are constantly worried about every little ache and pain they have. They are constantly running to the doctor. In fact it is these people who make doctors and nurses harden to people who have real complains about an [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/online-health-advice/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/health-insurance-options/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/health-insurance-options/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:00:15 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=6567 Among all the hustle and bustle of the coming holiday season, this is the time of the year a great many companies will have open enrollment for their health care insurance plans. This is when employees can change or are forced to change the their health insurance. With health care costs going up and the amount of coverage going down, there may be some non-employer provided options that is better. It was not to many years ago when my employer provided a family health care plan which included dental, and optical. The trade off was a deductible of only $10 per office visit, and only $5 per medication. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. Last year I took a quick look at Open Enrollment. A couple weeks back I did a look at Health Insurance Overview. Today, I would like us to look at other Health Insurance Options. We don’t have to be lock into just what our employer has to offer us. Some of these other options maybe give us better coverage at a equal to or better price. Our Spouse - Our spouse’s or life partner’s employer may have a better deal for health and life insurance than our employer. Take advantage of their employers benefits. I [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/health-insurance-options/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/ways-to-stop-bo-and-save/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/ways-to-stop-bo-and-save/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:00:28 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=6591 It was just the other day I was reading through Consumerist.com when I can across an article about deodorant. The article gave a link to where I could make my own deodorant. It was on a personal finance website even! That started me thinking about some of the things I have done when I got out of the shower to find my deodorant stick was empty. Then I reached under the sick to find no backup deodorant stick. I was left to find an alternative. Some of those alternatives were my wife’s deodorant, my after shave, or something just get me by until I got to the store. I started thinking about what other people have used as substitution for deodorant. So I started asking around. Some of the answers, I got were quite interesting, Some of the things I was told surprised me. I would never of have thought to use or would use to stop body odor akd BO. In the interest of education and amusement, I have listed some of the things people have told me they have used, when their traditional deodorant was not available.  Mind you many of my contributor made it very clear to me and even promise not to [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/ways-to-stop-bo-and-save/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/health-insurance-review/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/health-insurance-review/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:00:58 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=6419 The year is coming to the end. This is the time of the year where most companies roll out the benefit package, aka health insurance plan for the coming year 2011. There are so many different types of health insurance plans. In addition to all the different types of people with different insurance needs. It is common for many businesses to offer their employees three or four different options for health insurance in the coming year. So today we are going to look a some of the basics. The fundamental differences between the different health insurance plans can be summed up with three groups of three letters each.  I am taking this information from NAIC insurance education Web site, www.InsureUonline.org PPO which stands for Preferred Provider Organizations, HMO for Health Maintenance Organizations, POS for Point Of Service plans or indemnity plans Health Maintenance Organizations or HMO refers to health care coverage provided by a Health Maintenance Organization. Your typically HMO physician is your primary health care provider. This doctor will coordinate all of your medical care, including referrals to specialists, such as a dermatologist, cardiologist or surgeon. If you choose to seek treatment from a non-network physician, you will generally be required to pay [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/health-insurance-review/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/brain-and-emotional-food/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/brain-and-emotional-food/#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:00:30 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=6035 It has been a proven scientific fact what we eat can affect our body, emotions and how well we think. Now taking that information and putting on the day to day level does take work. This is especially truth if it involves changes our eating habits. I was once told that healthier foods cost more and taste bad. Well, that can be true if you are eating broccoli on the plate by its self. Truth be known some smart shopping and creative cooking can make healthy meals equal to or less than cost of the greasy hamburger and fries. We are told we should eat so much from each of the major food groups. For healthy lifestyle we should eat spinach, yogurt, tomatoes, carrots, blueberries, black beans, walnuts, and oats everyday. Then there is the major disease fighting foods like; broccoli, pumpkin, blueberries, fish, spinach, and tomatoes. It was just over a week ago, I was talking with a young man in his mid 20′s who as a child was told he had to take a drug for his hyper activity. He currently off any such drug. What had change was his eating habits. He had cut out a lot of sugar and salts in his [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/brain-and-emotional-food/feed/ 0