Influenza - A Possible Remedy

It is flu season again.  It happens every year. 

Have you ever had the flu?  I have.  I got it several years ago.  I am pretty sure I caught it while we were in Disney World.  On the drive home I started to get a funny cough.  As the day wore on it got worse.  The next day I woke up with a fever, chills, body aches and persistent cough.  It was 2009 and it was the Swine (H1N1) Flu.  It was also Christmas Eve.  I took a ton of over the counter meds and struggled through Christmas and then spent the next week doing nothing but watching tv and recovering from this awful mess.

Yes, I had gotten the flu shot.  We get it every year.  That year the Swine flu wasn't in the flu shot.

This year (2018) the experts say the flu shot is only about 30% effective.  This year's flu is particularly awful.  They say it is the worst flu season since 2009.  This particular strand is rough on kids who haven't built up an immunity to any flu strains and those with compromised immune systems. 

Influenza is a virus.  It doesn't respond at all to antibiotics, as those only kill bacteria.  It has to run its course and your body has to fight it off.  However, there are some things you can do to help your body out.
1. fluids
2. rest
3. fever reducer (Tylenol, Advil, etc)
4. and this:

I have heard that taking these two items will help to reduce your symptoms and boost your immune system to fight the virus.  I have heard it shortens the time you have the flu by up to 50%.

I don't have the flu and hope I don't get it this year, but I will be stocking this in our medicine cabinet.

Our "Poor" times

Years ago, when I was a school teacher I would get paid monthly.  I adjusted my budgets and spending habits to reflect the one time a month I would get paid.  I paid all my bills as soon as I got my check, went grocery shopping, and bought other necessaries (and sometimes a new shirt or skirt) and then the rest was saved for gas and food later in the month.  In December we would get paid on the last working day of the month which was the last day of school before Christmas.  I would splurge a bit on Christmas gifts, a big Christmas dinner, and some other extras for the holiday.  The next pay day was a LONG time away - not till the end of January.  January was a "poor" month for us.

Fast forward to now. 

January is still a "poor" month for us.  I no longer teach but our business is slow this time of year.  Very slow!

We know it is a "poor" time for us and we prepare.  It would be easy to say that we have a savings account for this and we put a little money in each month to offset our lack of income but that would be too easy.  With three teenagers it is hard for us to save right now.  They always "need" something and we have never been the type to be able to save very well.  So we prepare in other ways.

Over the fall we stock up on food and other necessities.  We stock our fridge and freezer full of food and I mean FULL.  We stock the pantry.  We stock up on toilet paper and paper towels (two pretty expensive items comparatively).  I stock up on  bathroom necessities: toothpaste, shampoo, soaps, etc.  We also give the kids and us a new toothbrush, new soaps, shampoos, lotions, chapstick, razors, etc for Christmas too.  This way in January we are using our "new" stuff and feeling pampered in our "poor" time.

Prepping isn't always for end of the world times.  It can be for your "poor" times.  I spend a bit extra when we have it and fill our pantry and freezers.  When I find a great sale (like the one I found not long ago at a hair cut place that was going out of business - they were selling everything "buy one get three free". I spent $100 and got a TON of shampoos and conditioners, and other hair products.  Retail on these was over $400!) I stock up.

The house we live in now isn't very conducive to food storage.  We don't have a pantry per say. It is a broom closet and extremely tiny.  But I like to have at least a month's worth of food here.  In our old house I was proud to boast I had 3 months supply of food, sometimes more!

Knowing we have "poor" times of the year.  We prepare so we don't have to worry about running to the grocery store.  For us it is the cheapest way to "save" money is to use our food storage during our poor times.  When we run low on food that is when the panic sets in.  I don't like that panic.  As long as we are eating like we normally do here at home then we don't feel as poor as we are. 

Think about your "poor" times and what you might be able to do to alleviate it.  Have a great day.