Works For Me Wednesday: Getting Healthy

By MAD21

Most people who read my blog or have hung around me on Twitter for very long know that I used to be terribly over weight.  At my heaviest, I was 240 pounds, and miserable, to say the least. After my second daughter was born, I made a concerted effort to not just lose the weight, but to get healthy. I know several skinny people who aren't very healthy, so it had to be about more than just losing the weight.

I did a ton of research over the 18 months it took me to get to a healthy body. I did not want to "diet." I did not want to just follow the latest fads regarding weight loss, most of them make you cut certain foods out of your diet, and I didn't want to do that. I like food too much. Plus, I personally don't think it's healthy to cut anything completely out of your diet. Our bodies need everything in moderation.

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Works For Me Wednesday: Finding Affordable Prescriptions

By MAD21

I am all for finding easier ways to do things. And saving money is right up there on the list of things I want to do. I stumbled across a website called MedTipster that can give you a list of pharmacies in your area that carry the medications your family takes that may be more affordable.

All you have to do is enter the medication you take, the dosage and your zip code, and it puts together a list of all the pharmacies near you. There is also a lot of other good stuff on the site: a blog; store searches; clinic searches; and immunization/flu shot information.

Every Wednesday, fellow blogger Kristen at We are THAT Family posts clever ideas for getting things done. She calls it, "Works For Me Wednesday" or WFMW. Be sure to go visit her blog to read her post along with links to other blogs who are participating.

Works For Me Wednesday: Wallpaper Woes

By MAD21

Last week, the host of this carnival, Kristen, had a themed week where we were to ask our readers about something that "Works for Them." I had an insane week, and didn't have time to write my post then, so I'm doing it this week.

To say I am not a big fan of wallpaper is an understatement. But when we bought our house almost ten years ago, it was full of it. The previous owners had good friends who were professional decorators, who were apparently not people who had issues with wallpaper. But it was all very well done and it looked beautiful... save for one room.

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Works For Me Wednesday: Kids and Money

By MAD21

My parents were not good at teaching me the value of money growing up. I received an allowance starting around 9 or 10, but it was usually spent before the day I received it was over. I didn't learn to save until I was well into adulthood.

Things didn't change much once I was older and had a job. I was working by age 16 and my paychecks disappeared just as fast as the allowance I received when I was younger. Even once I was living on my own, I was living paycheck-to-paycheck, not saving a penny.

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Works For Me Wednesday: Photo Cube

By Alan

As a fan of Make Magazine, especially the online articles, I came across one build that was a real winner. A project that looks complicated, but turns out to be kind of easy once you figure out the plans.

Lots of people have photo cubes. Six sided blocks of wood or plastic with family photos glued to each face. The article I found had a cube that could be taped together in a particular pattern that allows it to be opened up in interesting ways to show twice as many photos as a regular cube.

So, to build the thing, you buy eight identical wooden blocks, or cut your own. [Or you can steal 8 blocks from your children's toy chest. Don't worry, I'll give them back.]

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