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Archive for February, 2012

Cardiologist Visit

February 24th, 2012 at 05:42 pm

My visit to the Cardiologist on Friday, confirmed what I knew that there is something wrong with my blood pressure going by that article below. I have to have more scans done next week and see the Cardiologist the following week again.

The next step along this path is finding whether I have high or low blood pressure. One arm is reading low to normal blood pressure and another is reading high pressure. As I have always had reading low to normal blood pressure as this the arm all doctors read. The Cardiologist got a difference of more 20 points when she read both arms too!

Cost of today visit $278 out of pocket gap fee $126.

Next lot of scans will be paid by Medicare bulk billing as I am a pensioner.

Text is Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms' and Link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16739682
Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms'

Update on my medical problem

February 22nd, 2012 at 03:39 pm


Sorry that I have taken so long in posting this.
I see a heart specialist on Friday but as it’s private visit I will be paying a gap fee of over $100 and all other visits will have a gap fee of $75 or there bouts. They found a problem with dilated aortic boot with traces of regurgitation. So this problem would have never been checked if not for the unusual readings that I got with my blood pressure and this article.

Text is Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms' and Link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16739682
Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms'

1st Monthly Financial Summery for 2012

February 14th, 2012 at 07:00 pm

Time to post my monthly, before others things did get in the away again.

I only just updated my Excel so here are the figures for last month. This period is from Mid-January until Mid- February.

As I work on 28 day cycles, my dates may be out to a calendar months so here are the figures for my last period.

Reviewing my monthly daily living allowance
These are the categories for this challenge.

Items === Approx. Budget===Spent
Eating out===$35.00=====$22.65
Groceries===$135.50 ==== $63.97
Non-Food===$15.00=====$29.60
Clothes ====$35.00
Grooming===$15.00=====$20.00
Gas======$25.00
Pets====== $50.00=== ==$49.39
HH items===$40.00====$7.50
Fares== ====$15.00
Entrainments=== $15.00 ====$15.00
Garden =====$15.00
Gifts & Donations ====$35.00===$36.00
Medical & Diabetes Expenses ===$70.00====$31.78
Misc ======$10.00
Personal Allowance =$90.00 ====$106.31

Note only one amount is a no spend

Budgeted for this period $600 spent $381.90 so under budget by $218.10

No Spending days over the 28 days = 14 days in total.

Personal allowance covers confectionery, lotto, books, stamps, craft & hobby supplies.
Eating out including meals out with family and friends, we all go Dutch.

As for Medical & Diabetes Expenses - this is the extra out of pockets amounts that came up this month just on medicine that is not covered be refund claims.

My credit cards are still paid in full each month.

Spending on books and papers $93.32 for the month including 5 papers. I hit online bookstore for some books complete my set of one author that I am reading.
I do keep my bill money separated from this summery.

This year I will be budgeting around $650 per period month to cover all my bills. My bills over this period came to $612.68.

Most of my social outing are dining out this is part of my social outings money and spending allowance.
As for food out, I dined out three times this month twice costing $9 each time as I can no longer eat at fast food outlets. That $9.00 meal’s at Casino is still looking the healthiest and best deal in the city for now. Another time breakfast at fast food outlet.

My grocery bill came in under budget for this month.
My clothes and grooming budget was on target this month as I had my hair styled.

If any changes to my spending habits will need to come out of my daily living allowance categories of my budget as my bill categories are very tight now.
Still need to work on a few categories as you can see but over all I had expensive month.

Strategy: - Track your daily spending down to the cent by writing it down daily.

Bills and some medical news

February 11th, 2012 at 08:48 am


Car insurance $552 .00 is paid for another year and I got the cost of my house insurance that is to be paid early next month. Which is good for the flooding we had last year, some have got up by 500% I think mine one has only gone up by 18% but then I wasn’t flooded. There is an increase in the amount insured too!

This insurer does cover for all flooding and before Christmas had all last year’s insurance flood claims back in their homes, all 42000 of them. A lot of policies were not covered for flood with other insurers.

I have been getting chest pains on and off for a while now! Told that it was muscular pain and have x-ray to say that too! Here we are getting news that doctors should be checking both arms for blood pressure and not just same one each time if they are not doing this then ask for it to be done.

Text is Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms' and Link is http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16739682
Blood pressure 'should be measured in both arms'


There can be a difference in the reading which could prove that there is something wrong and needs to be checked out. I have a wrist blood pressure machine which I check myself if I don’t feel too well.

As I can’t tell I am having a heart pains or just muscular pains in the chest. Taking my blood pressure on same arm that the doctor’s always use my blood pressure is normal to low most of the time. Last weekend I tried both arm tests to see if there was difference in readings. I did it twice once at rest and once after walking around and sitting on the bed. The difference was over 30 points between both readings so I planned a visit to the doctor as soon as possible but first getting my blood test done as I had the form to do that. The blood tests came out normal and diabetic lower than last time. But my blood pressure reading on both arms was 10 points difference between both arm and 10 points is the start point for something amiss.

Doctor sent me for a Stress Test Echo and result came out that I have clear heart arteries but a problem with part of aorta tube which leaking back into the heart and need to be watched. So much for muscular chest pains.

So $599 later less a refund which I will get later in the week that I will have out of pocket expense for about $260, I will now have to make up from somewhere.

It’s luck that I can afford to paid these bills out of floats and bill account without need to worry and Daily Living Allowance which I do monitor here. The money I need to save is too put back the float in my medical float.

So a stretching that dollar again until it the target of $2000 float so that I have extra there as I will need more of these echo sound tests done in the future.

It’s Flooding again!

February 6th, 2012 at 11:17 pm

Have you have been following News from this part of the world! A monsoon front has come through last week down centre of Queensland and NSW. A number of towns have been flooded and one St George has had to be evaluated only leaving about 400 people in the town mostly they are working on the levee banks in the town and security. After last year 90% flooding our state has mandatory evacuation orders in place. Some people didn’t have time to get things before being put on planes or put into cars before the roads closed. The water is higher than last year which was the record peck then. The flood levee is 14.7 metres and water is at 14 metres last night and still coming down the river. It should peck today almost at flood levy height if it holes then most the house will ok.

This water has to get down into Murray River catchment and then out to sea in South Australia. So all the towns in between will be flooded in turn like Burke NSW. Some of this rain did fall in NSW so water is heading west to meet up with the Queensland water too!

Text is St George holding as river nears peak and Link is http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8414971/st-george-holding-as-river-nears-peak
St George holding as river nears peak

Now we wait and see.

Brisbane is safe for now and Dams are at safe level at 86% but last year was 190% full when they let the dams open full. But we are having a flood inquire into last year’s dam release.