Single! Young Christian Woman October 09

single!

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F O N M Y O W N N O W M I N I S T R I E S

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/ 09

Young Christian Woman

Alone in the Spotlight Just Me and my Thoughts

Can I Borrow $20?

When to say “No”

Also: Affordable Healthcare!

A Time to Forget: The God-Forsaken Years

The Shopping Reformation

w w w. o n m y o w n n o w. c o m

in this

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issue...

Straight Talk from the Proverbs: Alone in the Spotlight

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by Donna Lee Schillinger

Moving Out ... Settling In:

A Time to Forget: The God-Forsaken Years

by Kimberly Miller Down Home Healthy Cookin' for One ona Budget:

Three Square Meals Plus Some on $5 a Day Part Deux

by Reba Ray

Dear Gabby: My Parents Want to Choose my College Spare Change:

Can I Borrow $20?

When to Say “No”

by Paola Segnini

Fashion DIVinA The Shopping Reformation

by Gwen Schumaker

Just What You Need Affordable Healthcare

by Donna Lee Schillinger

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Single!

Young Christian Woman a publication of On My Own Now Ministries

www.onmyownnow.com

Editor-In-Chief

donna lee schillinger

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contributors

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art director

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paola segnini kimberly miller gwen schumaker Debra Collins daniela bermúdez

o Fridge-worthy.

We see high drama in the movies all the time, but in real life, big acting does not win awards.

Straight talk from the Proverbs for young Christian women who want to remain pure, debt-free and regret-free. “In this interesting and thought-provoking exploration of the book of Proverbs, Schillinger takes young women along a journey that will help them to make better, safer, and more sound decisions.�

Cheryl C. Malandrinos The Book Connection blog Now Available at www.onmyownnow.com, at Amazon, B&N and a library and bookstore near you.

straight talk

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Alone

in the

Spotlight

The wisdom of the prudent is to giv ways, but the folly of fools is decep Summer’s over – it’s back to the routine of the fall. Even if you’re finished with school, fall just seems to have an order about it that summer resists. It’s time to get back into a fitness routine, to start that pottery class or join that community softball team and maybe start going to church more regularly.

by Donna Lee Schillinger

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In your emerging daily routine, do you have time carved out for thought? Does that sound crazy? We’re constantly thinking, aren’t we? Yes, but most of the time, we’re not controlling our thoughts. They just happen in response to whatever is going on around us. That is very different from focused thought, important time spent alone, without music or other distractions, with no one else in the room or even in earshot – a time we focus our thought and control its content.

If we’re so busy that we can’t squeeze in 15 minutes to sit and think, maybe we can have this time when we first wake up, on our drive to work or school (if we don’t have to navigate a lot of traffic) or at a break between classes or on lunch break. Maybe we can find a spot outside or at least near a window. We can even incorporate focused though with exercise, like a jog or a walk, or with mindless chores like ironing, vacuuming or washing windows. At very least, we can practice this while we’re in the shower each day – that’s one thing we ought to be doing daily, and alone!

ve thought to their Proverbs14:8 ption.

The time we spend in focused thought is in addition to the time we’ve already allotted for our daily devotionals – reading the Bible and other devotional aids and prayer. We can certainly add this on to that time, or we can select another time slot and spread the mental and spiritual health more evenly throughout the day.

During daily devotions, we speak to God in prayer and God speaks to us through the Bible and through other God-inspired writing. But we need to give God some uninterrupted and uncorrupted quiet time to speak to us through our thoughts as well. Don’t just read a devotional, rattle out a prayer and dash off to start the day.

Give God a chance to speak through thoughts.

That’s what quiet time is, really. As we calm our mind from outside distractions, we will discover eventually that this time is fertile with fresh ideas for resolving problems, making important decisions and drafting vision for our future.

At first, we might find that we spend our quiet time worrying or obsessing. This is a symptom that our mind indeed is in need of some disciplined calm. Learn to quiet the mind. We can imagine ourselves standing in a dimly light room, but we are in the middle of a spotlight

A simple woman believes anything, but a prudent woman gives thought to her steps.

Proverbs14:15 cast on the floor. We stand with a broom in our hand.

If any thoughts of worry, obsession or daily trivial matters creep in like cockroaches on our spot of light, we sweep them away and concentrate again on the emptiness of our spot of light. In a few minutes of guarding our spotlight against creepy-crawly thoughts and maintaining the emptiness of the spotlight, our mind feels peaceful and then the spot of light grows bigger and as it grows, it drives back the creepy-crawlies in the shadows. There in the fully illuminated space will be the bright ideas, good decisions and glimpses of our purpose in life. In that still light we can hear the voice of God. Even five minutes a day of quiet reflection can enable us to better see the path of truth and avoid the pitfalls of deceit.

Decide today at what time you will fit quiet thought into your daily routine. And begin tomorrow.

HOLDTHIS THOUGHT:

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I NEED SOME TIME ALONE IN PEACEFUL THOUGHT EACH DAY.

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w moving out ... settling in

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by Kimberly Miller

A Time to Forget:

The God For

The weather is already cooling off in Northwest Arkansas and autumn here is more splendid than anything I’ve ever seen. The change in the seasons reminds me of another time, a different season of my life, one I sometimes forget. In a previous column I said that I would talk more about the dark times I went through on the way to where I am today. In this column, I will tell you how I got there, but you’ll have to tune in next month to see how I got out.

Ecclesiastes 3 says, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.A time to search and a time to give up as lost. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace."

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It’s strange how sometimes I don’t know what “time” I am in until it is over. I didn’t know I was mourning or weeping until I was in the time of building up, looking back. You might not either, but here’s a tip: if you are not being obedient to God’s call on your life, you are not in the “time” you want to be in – the good times. And if you are not in a time of peace, then you’re probably also not in a time for laughter, dancing or love either.

When I left for college, I was full of certainty, conviction and confidence. I believed in Christ and that God had a plan for me. I believed I should be obedient to God’s commands and expect His promises.

And I believed that I was where I was supposed to be. I tried to be everything that a good Christian girl should be. By the middle of my sophomore year, I didn’t know any of those things.

I had become friends with people who were different than me – Universalist Unitarians, agnostics, atheists and apathetics. It isn’t like I sought them out; we just had similar interests, similar senses of humor and liked doing things together. We watched the same TV shows, listened to the same music and ate the same food. I was never good at making friends, as I’ve mentioned before, and these people accepted me for all my quirks and eccentricities.

They liked me the way I was, and it didn’t matter to us that we believed differently. I was so high on having a “regular group” that my standards and discernment faltered.

Although my best intention was to evangelize my new friends, it didn’t work out that way. Instead of

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Instead of infusing them with my beliefs, they impregnated my certainty with doubt.

rsaken Years

infusing them with my beliefs, they impregnated my certainty with doubt. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure of everything I’d always believed. I wasn’t sure that God wanted a relationship with me, or that Jesus was divine or that heaven was real.

Can you believe what happened to me? A year prior, it would have been nearly impossible to make me doubt my faith; but in a matter of months away from school, there I was, questioning everything I’d ever believed. I didn’t realize how much my convictions defined me until I lost those convictions and then had no idea who I was. Maybe I’m not a super-Christian. Maybe I don’t want to be that girl.

Maybe I don’t like going to church. Maybe Christians are out of touch with reality.

The worst part of it was that I had to live a lie. I thought that if I had talked about these doubts with my family or Christian friends, they would have judged me. (I don’t actually think that’s true, but I was convinced of it at the time.) I didn’t want to admit that I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was, or that I wasn’t as spiritually mature as they thought, or that my relationship with God wasn’t what it should be. But besides lying about my true feelings, I had to lie about my behavior. People without Christian convictions don’t act as Christians do; and since I didn’t have those convictions, I didn’t act as a Christian should. And I couldn’t let anyone know. So I lied, a lot.

I still have questions that I haven’t answered for myself, but I’m glad now to be able to see how I got to that place – it’s a first step in understanding

how to get out of it. Although it might have been fun or exciting at first, abandoning my Christian convictions lead to a time of despair and loneliness – darker than I ever imagined. Fortunately for me, there is a time to remember, and a time to forget. I don’t remember a lot from that time. Even if I did, I wouldn’t want to talk about it.

For now, I want to leave you with this: you may not be the company you keep, as the adage declares, but the company you keep matters. No matter how strong you are, your friends will influence you. And most important, do not ever forsake your relationship with God for your relationship with anybody or anything else, for any reason.

Do not ever forsake your relationship with God for your relationship with anybody or anything else, for any reason.

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o Reba Ray´s down home healthy cookin’ for one on a budget

Square

by Reba Ray

Three

MealS

Now I know $55 for a starter kit sounds a little outrageous, but it will average out to be less than a dollar a day because of how long the ingredients last. Added to the $4-a-day menu and yur eatin’ for $5 a day.

SomE 5 a Day

on $

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p In the September 09 issue of Single! Young Christian Woman, I gave you the first set of four-day menus in a 16-day program I’ve worked out so that you can eat healthy on $5 a day. This here is part deux.

(You Read Me Right!)

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Just like last month, I’m gonna give you four day’s worth of menu and shopping list, as well as the shopping list for a starter kit of ingredients that’ll last you for at least three months, in most cases. Yur gonna have to check back with me in the next two issues of Single! Young Christian Woman, to get the menus and shopping lists for days nine through 16. But that dudn’t mean you can’t start using this menu right now.

Some things on this menu are made with items leftover from the first four-day shopping list. If you are seeing this for the first time, what ya really otta do is go back to the first four-day menu and start there and give this thing a whirl for eight days. But if you wanna be stubborn and start with the second 4-day menu, then you’ll have to buy the things that you were supposed to have left over from the first menu. I’ve included that list below for the hard-headed.

Now, let’s review the ground rules.

1. Shop smart. No fancy schmancy markets – you need a Kroger or a Wal-mart or some other low-priced store and even then, you need to buy the store brand when you can to make this

work. I don’t list a size on these products, so just get as large a container as you can without going over the allotted price. For the spices, if you have a Wal-Mart Superstore, look for their large spice bottles for $.50 each instead of paying for name brands. If not, go to the local dollar store to buy yur spices.

And a disclaimer: prices vary so much from store to store

2. Surely you notice a little repetition in these menus and that there aren’t too many fancy foods on them.

Newsflash: You can’t eat fancy foods on $5 a day. And if yur just feeding yurself, well, you’ve got to have a little repetition to use all the food that was in the package. Again, budget food does not usually come in single servings.

Shop smart: No fancy

schmancy markets. you need a Kroger or a Wal-mart or some other low-priced store

and then when you take into account different regions of the country, well, this iddn’t no exact science. I’m ballparkin’ figures here and I believe you can get mighty close to the total amount regardless of where you live, as long as you shop smart.

3. As always, I’m learnin’ ya how to cook healthy. Give it a try – I just know you can learn to love what’s good for ya.

$55 starter kit Salt Pepper Ginger Cinnamon Basil Oregano Cumin Brown sugar Molasses Baking powder Baking soda Whole wheat flour Vanilla Mayonnaise Pesto Bullion Cubes (chicken and beef) Lemon juice Jalapeno peppers Olive oil Balsamic vinegar Soy sauce Worcestershire sauce Apple cider vinegar Canola Oil Cooking spray BBQ sauce

$2 $1 $2 $1 $1 $1 $1 $2 $2 $2.50 $1 $3 $2 $2 $3 $2 each $2 $2 $5 $3 $3 $2 $1 $3 $3 $1

If there is any money left over, buy: Parmesan cheese $2.50 Box of crackers $2.50

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o Reba Ray´s down home healthy cookin’ for one on a budget

Day 5 BREAKFAST: Cereal (And don’t you dare buy some sugary cereal not fit for human consumption!) lunch: Peanut butter and banana sandwich snack: Raisins dinner: turkey tortellini kabobs and glazed carrots desert: Three Oatmeal Cookies

Day 6 BREAKFAST: Two scrambled eggs w/toast lunch: Lunch meat sandwich w/ raw carrots snack: Celery w/ peanut butter dinner: Celery soup w/ tortellini desert: Arroz con Leche

Day 7 BREAKFAST: Apple Oatmeal lunch: Egg salad or scrambled egg sandwich snack: Banana dinner: Tortellini w/ pesto, peas desert: Leftover arroz con leche

Day 8

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BREAKFAST: Cereal lunch: Fried rice snack: Raisins dinner: Grilled lunchmeat sandwich and glazed carrots desert: Fried bananas w/ cinnamon

Recipettes

Turkey Tortellini Kabobs: Cook tortel-

lini according to package directions, minus one minute. Drain and let cool. Chop sausage into 1/2-inch rounds. Skewer alternatin’ sausage and tortellini on a kabob stick – you can use a regular piece of wire for this, even a coat hanger if you have to. Coat lightly with cooking spray then sprinkle with parmesan cheese, basil and oregano. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Glazed Carrots: scrap or peel carrots lightly then wash. In small saucepan over medium heat, add one teaspoon canola oil with two teaspoons brown sugar and a dash of ginger, stir to dissolve sugar. Add carrots, coat carrots well with oil/sugar and cook for 10 minutes, stirring ever coupla minutes.

Fried Bananas with Cinnamon:

Peel ripe (but not overly ripe) banana and cut lengthwise in half. Coat small skillet with cooking spray.

Over medium heat, cook bananas for two to three minutes each side, sprinklin’ with cinnamon. Bananas should have a grilled look about em’.

Celery Soup with Tortellini: In the bot-

tom of a small saucepan over medium-high, add two sticks finely chopped celery and one teaspoon olive oil. Stir to coat celery and cook, stirring ever minute or two, for about 8 minutes, until the celery is soft. Add two cups of water, two chicken bullion cubes and bring water to a boil. Stir to dissolve the bullion. Add tortellini to the soup and boil for as long as the package recommends.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with crackers.

Arroz con Leche [Rice with Milk]: This

delish dish is a favorite in many Latin American countries and Spain. It’s done a little differently wherever you go, so here’s a generic version that’s good for us Gringos.

Left overs from list # 1 Corn tortillas Oatmeal Eggs Loaf of bread Apple sauce

Rice Frozen peas Turkey sausage Celery Oatmeal cookies

Shopping List #2 Peanut butter Lunch meat Cereal Carrots ½ Gallon of Milk Spinach tortellini Bananas Raisins

$2 $3 $3 $1 $2 $3 $1 $1.50

Dump the rice in a small bowl or a measuring cup. Add about a cup of water to it and swoosh it around with your hand, dig in there, girls! The water’s gonna turn white – siphon off that starchy water and do this a coupla times more until the water is not so dern white. This’ll make for a less gummy rice in the end. Now cook rice according to package directions.

Transfer cooked rice to a bowl and dump milk, sugar, raisins and vanilla in the bowl too and stir ‘em all up. Smooth over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon. Put it in the fridge and let the rice soak up the milk for about two hours. Then when yur ready, try this cold or warm – it’s yummy both ways.

- ½ c. rice - 1 c. milk - 2 tbs brown sugar

- 2 tbs raisins - Vanilla - Cinnamon

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Dear Gabby

by

ter

s Gab

dear gabby: I have been good friends with a group of girls since we were freshmen in high school. During our junior year we all decided we wanted to go to

college together at our state university. Now that I'm a senior this fall, my

parents don't care where I want to go.

They have a list of schools they

want me to consider aside from State. They don't get that I want to be

with my friends. We've been arguing about this a lot lately. Am I wrong

to want this?

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- Angry in Asheville

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”

2 Timothy 1:7

Angry, Well “Angry,” bet you’re wondering what that passage has to do with you, your parents and your anger. At first glance you might think it just has to do with not being timid – and you would be kinda right. But more precisely, it has to do with being bold and strong. This passage came to mind after thinking about your situation and recalling Gabby’s own senior year parent drama. Unfortunately for Gabby’s parents, our conflict centered around how much nicer the dining hall was at her first choice school. Yeah. But what Gabby didn’t tell her parents was that she actually preferred that school because the male student guides were so cute and dressed really preppy and wore these totally adorable sun visors. They looked so clubby! That was the winning factor. So when Gabby’s parents pressed her to consider other choices, Gabby was not pleased. In fact, Gabby was silly. And this silliness was totally separate from Gabby’s GPA or SAT scores. That silliness came out of immaturity and fear. This Must-Have school seemed like an overgrown kid’s camp. It looked pretty, really laid back and was undoubtedly fun – but it wasn’t very academic. It wasn’t as competitive as the other schools on my list. Life there

looked easy. But my parents knew better and they expected more from me. And I suspect your parents are doing the same thing for you.

It’s a wonderful idea when you’re all in school to dream of going off to college and staying a group.

But that’s taking the easy road. The idea of college can be scary. Now if you want to go to State because of its drama program or because its business program is first rate, then that is a reasonable argument.

But if you are following your friends because it feels safer to stick with what you know, then you need to release your fears and embrace your spirit of power and love and self-discipline. Pray for an open mind.

Pray for strength. Pray the Lord’s Prayer. Praying to the Lord that His will be done is hard but it is worth it! Because God has a plan for you! Then have a mature conversation with your parents about what you want from your school. Your parents don’t just have a huge financial interest vested in your school, they have YOU! You are their greatest investment and turning out a bold, self-disciplined, loving, mature adult is surely as much their goal as any bachelor’s degree.

- Gabster

Where to go to college: This might just be the biggest decision of your life thus far. You want to get it right, for sure. So what process are you using to arrive at a decision? Going where Mom or Dad went? Going to the closest school so you can save money and live at home? Going to t he State school that you can attend tuition-free? Or are you aspiring to the Ivy Leagues? Whatever your inclination, it wouldn’t hurt to put your preference to a test to see if it is indeed right for you. You can find such a test (don’t worry, it’s not that kind of test) at Student Aid on the Web, a governmentsponsored site that primarily addresses financial aid, but also has this neat little College Finder Wizard.

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And if you think that’s nifty, head over to GoingtoCollege.org for more activities to help you narrow down your choices (after all, the world is your oyster!), and keep on schedule with the many college-related tasks, from submitting applications to standardized testing and more.

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Spare Change paid

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Can I borrow

by Paola Segnini

$20?

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paid

paid

didn´t pay

hasn´t paid

When to say “No.”

Though everyone knows that I lost my job and have been making many sacrifices to try to avoid having to sell my new car, people have continued to ask me to loan them money.

Often, I pay for their stuff with my card and they pay me back before I have to make the full payment Everyone in my family gave up plastic a long time ago after going into debt and struggling to pay it off. Instead, they now take advantage of the fact that I have a credit card and I’m real good at keeping track of my expenses.

Often, I pay for their stuff with my card and they pay me back before I have to make the full payment, which usually gives them plenty of time to get their next paycheck.

This has worked well enough and in if ever someone couldn’t reimburse me on time for some reason, I’d normally just pay my bill in full anyway and give the family member an “extension.”

However, last month events collided to teach me a hard lesson about loaning my good credit. I had to give one of my family members an extension and that wasn’t as easy as it normally has been because of my job situation.

Another friend asked for a loan one day we were out

hasn´t paid together because the ATM was broken – he’s taken two extra weeks in paying me back. The treasurer of my community service group forgot our club’s debit card at home and I ended up paying for things we needed to do an activity. And finally, my mom and I have been missing each other, and consequently, she hasn’t paid me back some money I loaned her.

Do you see a pattern here? I’m sure none of these people realize they are putting me in bind. I let myself get in a position where people are comfortable not paying me back on time. My credit card payment is not due for another week, but I was lying in my bed last night wondering if this is going to be the first month that I won’t be able to pay my credit card in full.

Then I started to think about all of the sacrifices I’ve made these past few jobless weeks and how ridiculous it is that I am ashamed to ask people to give me my money back. But most importantly, I realized my stupidity in not saying “no” to these people in the first place, when I clearly was in no position to lend money.

I realized my stupidity in not saying “no” to these people in the first place, when I clearly was in no position to lend money.

Last week I ran across a quotte by Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez: “The most important thing I learned when I turned 40 was to say no when it’s no.” This hit home for me. Do I really need to wait until I’m 40 to learn how to say no?

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When it comes to money it is particularly important to learn this lesson sooner than later. I’m not advocating that you turn Mom down cold if she’s in a difficult financial position and you are able to lend without getting into a bind yourself, but I’ve decided that, except for extreme, extraordinary circumstances, going into debt for someone else is simply not wise.

aid

?

As you might recall, I got a car a couple of months ago.

What I didn’t tell you was that on the very same day I unexpectedly lost my job. So I found myself with a new car, a depleted savings account and limited income. To say that I felt desperate would be putting it mildly, but I trusted myself to make the best out of the situation. I tightened my belt as far as it would go and managed to survive until I got a new job, which to my relief didn’t take that long.

aid

i

For a while now, I’ve been really good at saving and budgeting, leaving myself a nice cushion for unexpected expenses or for lending money to my family.

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Fashi on DIVinA impulse buyer. But, I’m on a program to turn myself into a smart shopper, because I have realized that to be an impulse shopper is also to be a money-waster.

been clinically proven that 99.9%* of young women love to shop for clothes.

And I’m no exception. Although it seems to be a common denominator, not all shoppers are created equal – and neither are their bank accounts.

As I see it, there are basically two kinds of shoppers: smart shoppers and impulse buyers.

I, unfortunately, am an

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When the seasons change and I go through my closet to thin out things I just won’t wear and store away for next year the ones I will wear again, I inevitably end up with a huge pile of clothes and usually some items that still have the tags on them!

What a waste of money. I should have at least saved the receipts so I could take the never-worn items back.

by Gwen Schumaker

It’s

Here’s what happens: I see something and fall in love with it and I have to have it.

Only when I get home and start rummaging through my closet do I realize it matches nothing else I own. Or, I see something so cute on the rack, go try it on – it looks awesome on me and I have to have it. Only when I get home and try to work it into circulation do I realize that it’s not me – it’s the me of my imagination, but it’s not the me of real life. Or, I’m shopping with someone else who sees something, holds it up to me and says, “This will look so great on you,” and they convince me I have to have it. Only when I get home do I allow myself to fess up that I think it’s u-g-l-y!

Or, I see something I love, it’s exactly the kind of thing I wear and it’s even on sale, so I have to have it. Only when I get home do I realize that I have more of that type thing in my wardrobe than I know what to do with!

I’m determined to reform my shopping ways though, and if you’ve seen yourself in any of the above, you should join the reformation movement too. It was one thing when Mom and Dad were giving us a clothing allowance, and not even so bad when we paid for clothes out of our own

S Re

The

money while still living at home. But on our own – with only one income and so many expenses – no, we can’t keep doing this. Some Goodwill shopper is going to be very upset, but I’m through giving away clothes with tags on them.

So here’s what I propose: I’m going to bring my head into this game. I’m going to stop shopping with my heart and use some good old horse sense. Before I shop, I’m going to go through my closet and ask myself, What do I need? Do I need another pair of jeans? Do I need a nice shirt that goes with black pants?

Could I wear these pants if I only had the

With a clear idea of what I need, I’m going to head first to the sale rack right shoes to go with them? Then I’m going to make a list and put it in my wallet – like where I would keep coupons if I did that sort of thing.

Then, whether I’m making a deliberate trip to the store or I find myself in an impromptu shopping opportunity (like a friend drags me to Old Navy), I can pull out my list and say, OK, what do I want to see if I can find here?

With a clear idea of what I need, I’m going to head first to the sale rack – and not the 25% off rack either. I’m talking 75% off! There are admittedly pretty slim pickins on these racks, but I’m not going to dismiss the possibility that something I need (and love) could be just hanging out there waiting for me. If not, I’ll go to the next deepest discount – the 50% off rack, and continue to work in that direction until I’ve run out of sales. And I’m going to

make a vow to myself to never, ever pay full price for anything. Even if I fall head-over-heals in love, I will just ask the sales associate when he or she thinks that item might go on sale. If she doesn’t know, I’ll make a note to call one week later to see if it’s on sale. Maybe by that time, I will have talked myself out if it and not even bother to call back.

Lastly, shopping is not going to end at the store any more. When I get home, I’m going to (within a few days) go through my closet and see if what I brought home does indeed work in my wardrobe. And I’m going to wear it within a week. If it shouldn’t be the fashion solution I imagined it to be, I’m going to take it back. If I can’t bring myself to wear it in a week’s time, I’ll take it back. I will save my receipts in my wallet until after I’ve worn it once and washed it once. That way if it doesn’t come through the laundry well, through no fault of my own, I won’t take a loss on it.

Ambitious? Maybe, but there’s a lot of money at stake here! In the final analysis, however, I don’t want shopping to become a joyless, preprogrammed function. There still has to be that element of treasure hunt and it needs to remain relaxing fun. So don’t go overboard with wardrobe analysis and policing the 75% off rack. In fact, one simple question, if honestly answered, will take most of us impulse shoppers a long way toward reformation: Do I really need this? *malarkey

Shopping eformation

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Just What You

Need

Affordable Healthcare As the debate in Congress about healthcare reform continues to rage, we the people need solutions right now. So here are some stopgap measures for insuranceless individuals who need help now.

The AARP/Walgreens Wellness Tour is in progress now through November in 12 states: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. Don’t worry, this is not just for senior citizens. Anyone over 18 is welcome to take advantage of six free health screenings worth a total of more than $140: cholesterol, blood pressure, bone density, blood glucose, waist circumference and body composition/ body mass index. Certified medical technicians conduct the screenings on a customized, traveling education and health-screening bus. No appointments and no health insurance are needed. Learn more at Walgreen’s Web site.

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Flu scare got you worried about the upcoming flu season? Well, if you’re jobless, you’re out of luck in one way and in luck in another way. CVS and Walgreens are making more than 100,000 free flu

shots available to jobless persons free, through government-run career centers, beginning in October. You should act quickly, more people than you realize are jobless!

Check CVS’s Web site for more, or call your local “government-run career center” (the unemployment office, maybe?). If you’re gainfully employed, you can get a flu shot at a Walgreens near you for $24.99, 7 days a week, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mollen Immunization Clinics are also making stops throughout the country in the month of October.

Visit FluShotUSA.com, enter your zip code and learn when they will be in your area, probably at a WalMart store. Shots cost less than $30. This ounce of prevention would cost you a lot less than the pound of cure and missing a week of work.

Finally, for otherwise healthy young women, one other thing you should be concerned about is an annual cervical cancer screening. Programs funded by the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program offer free or low-cost Pap tests to women in need (don’t be embarrassed – that describes a lot of young single women just starting out). These and other programs are available throughout the United

States. To find a program near you, visit the NBCCEDP Web site at or call 800.232.4636. Also, your state or local health department can direct you to places that offer free or low-cost Pap tests.

Finally, if having no health insurance is robbing you of a good night’s sleep, check out Samaritan Ministries. It’s not a $30 co-pay plan, but it’s an affordable measure of assurance that one bad accident won’t wipe out all you’ve worked hard to save. And I love it because instead of paying premiums to a company that will profit handsomely, members pay other members’ actual medical bills. The entire operation offers a sense of Christian camaraderie around the issue of healthcare.