Brought my laptop with me to head out for my follow up appointment regarding a recent breast biopsy.
I find the best way to get seen as close to your actual appointment time is to bring something to do– that you really want to do– while you wait. So, I come prepared. With my last wait time at this clinic being around 45+minutes, I figure I will utilize this otherwise wasted time, right? I start writing the below follow-up to my mammogram woes:
I had really hoped that I would hear from the doctor Thursday or Friday of last week (keep in mind I saw the results on Wednesday in the App) and that I would be able to cancel this appointment that had already been scheduled for today. I mean that would only make logical sense: to not have to drive out to Jackson (30-45 minutes) where I would likely wait a minimum of 30-45 minutes passed the time of my appointment only to then be read the same results I have already seen. Presumably be told that there is no need for surgery and to just continue on with routine mammograms moving forward. I guess I will be biting my tongue if-–[here is where my name was called to head to the back.
See how that works? I got a few lines in and had momentum and then…my name is called. I should be happy, but I’d be lying to say I wasn’t a little annoyed. Sometimes I can be hard to please; I realize that.
Here’s how the rest of the appointment went down: I head to the little room where they take your weight, temperature and blood pressure. This was a different lady than the one I had last week at this clinic. This lady appeared closer in age to me, friendly….. and I could tell right off she was going to be a bit of a talker. (Sigh..)
Now, there is no rhyme or reason (usually) as to whether or not I can easily tolerate…I mean engage…in small talk with strangers. (Although as a side note, if I am going to have small talk, it’s always much easier with a stranger. Maybe that’s in part to the idea that if I say something stupid or awkward or offensive—chances are that I’ll never bump into this person again.)
Anyway. I’m sitting there as this lady is scanning through my information and verifying that I had stopped a medicine that had previously been listed, yada-yada-yada. Then we get to the part where she is confirming which pharmacy is my preferred. For about 15 years it was Kroger (and who doesn’t love getting those gas points for each prescription you fill?) and so I told her that with my change to my husband’s insurance and the fact that they don’t accept it—I was using a local pharmacy instead. Seems routine enough so far.
Well, who knew that would lead to a full-on conversation with some helpful money-saving tips regarding grocery shopping?
She went on to offer all kinds of advice and tips that I thought I would share with you. We talked about how she should consider having a side-hustle where she charges a fee to help her customers really stretch their grocery budget. (Should she stumble across this blog or my fb/social media page(s) at any point—please, nice/friendly/helpful lady, reach out to me so that I can include your name—and your business if you wind up starting one! I always want to give credit where credit is due.)
With that disclaimer out of the way, I’ll share what I can remember her telling me.
The first thing she said is that she never buys her meat from the grocery store. She told me going to one of those “meat-market places” would save me so much money if I was just willing to put in a little time on the front end.
What she meant by that was this: she goes to a local meat-market and might spend $40 for $40 pounds of chicken wings—which is a massive savings when you compare the price per ounce. Now 40 pounds of meat is a lot, and she went on to say that she uses cookie sheets and parchment paper to lay out rows on-top-of-rows of wings. She puts them in her deep-freeze and is able to pull from there when planning dinners for her 4 children.
She said when it comes to ground beef—she never buys that at the grocery store either, but rather a place like Sam’s/Cosco. She talked about buying a jumbo-sized thing of ground beef and going home to break it down to smaller sizes that are easier to thaw out for a meal. She opens the meat and grabs handful-size amounts of meat and rolls them into a ball until she gets all the meat separated. The next thing she does is takes each ball of meat and flattens it with a rolling pin and places in a quart-size Ziplock bag. This way she can more easily stack the bags of meat on top of one-another in her freezer and then just grab a bag when needed. The final thing she mentioned was about the use of gift cards at Kroger.
I realize that Kroger is limited to the South and not even all areas of the south–but, for those of you who are local, you have likely seen an ad at some point that shows you can get 4x the fuel points on Friday, Saturday and Sunday when you buy gift cards.
What she does is buys a gift card (like a Visa card you add money to at the register) and puts the closet amount of money she has figured up she will spend on her next grocery trip. By buying the gift card she will be getting quadruple the fuel-points and then she just uses that pre-paid gift card when she checks out. She has spent the same amount of money (maybe a $2-$4 activation fee) to help significantly lower the cost of gas at the Kroger pump!
Think about it—if you put $100 dollars on a gift card and you get 4x the Kroger fuel points that’s 400 points vs 100 points. 400 points is equal to 40 cents off per gallon when you buy gas a Kroger gas station. So, you’ve spent the same amount of money, but with a little effort of purchasing a gift card from the store and turning around and using that to pay for your groceries – you gained a lot more money off your gas. While cents off the gallon may not sound like a lot to you, it winds up helping more than you may realize over time.
I encourage you to look for money-saving tips and share those tips with anyone willing to listen. No matter what kind of financial situation you are currently in, for most of us—even when you least expect it that could change in an instant. It’s always better to get more bang-for-your-buck and leave cushion for the unexpected.
So, this piece was a cute little combo of my final follow-up mammogram 1st time adventure—turned money saving tips I gained while getting my vitals before the appointment.
Take every opportunity to listen to advice people hand out. This lady was visibly excited that I was engaging with her and thanking her for the helpful hints (and encouraging her to go with her idea to offer a service to help those who want to learn more.) It didn’t cost me a thing and only caused me to step outside my typical preference of just sitting quietly while routine things like blood pressure are being done.
I’m glad I talked with her and happy to have learned a few tips on saving money. She kept talking to me all the way back to the room I would see the Doctor in—you could tell she felt pumped up that I enjoyed her suggestions and I’d like to think I put a little pep in her Monday-step.
Oh yeah and as for the conclusion to my mammogram woes: as expected (but still extremely thankful) I was correct. The doctor confirmed that there are no signs of cancer or other problems needing immediate attention.
Whew! I am so glad I went through all of this though—finding out you are okay IS worth it!