The best $2 I spent on supplements

This holds true for medications, as well. A pill, for whatever need, is only helpful if it actually comes out of the bottle, and gets into me.

Remembering to take those needed supps, daily (sometimes, a couple of times daily), and on schedule, has always been a problem for me. My consistency can be quite poor. And when I was feeling rotten this summer, I got even more off-schedule. I tried a variety of "systems". Not one kept me consistently on track with taking what I needed.

Enter the daily pill minder. I bought this 6 weeks ago, and I haven't missed a pill or supplement, since. In fact, it worked so well for me, that I bought a couple more for other members of the household who need prompting to take their vitamin D.

I actually have 2 of these for myself, now. One is for morning supplements. The other is for afternoon ones. Some minerals compete for absorption, with others, so I take those at a different time of day. And some supps require a couple of doses per day. Those, too, can go in the afternoon pill minder.

I am so on top of this, now, with the help of my pill minders.

Hallowe'en is just around the corner!

Just have to have some candy corn around the house for Hallowe'en and Thanksgiving, here. And of course, I need treats to hand out on Hallowe'en.

For the candy corn, I found WinCo has the best prices in our area on candy corn, in their bulk bins, at $1.48 per pound. Compare this to the other budget candy corn venue -- Dollar Tree, at $1 for an 8 oz bag (equals $2 per pound). Dollar Tree is still a pretty good deal, when compared to buying name-brand, bagged candy corn from the grocery store.

Last week, at WinCo, I did buy our candy corn for the season, a little over a pound. We'll use some of it to decorate Jack O Lantern cookies, and some will go on the Thanksgiving table.

As for the trick-or-treats, I have a set budget per treat of 15 cents. We get around 30 trick-or-treaters at our house.

While at WinCo, I deliberated the merits of all kinds of treats, -- juice boxes, bags of chips, fruit snacks and candy. I weighed the pros and cons of many treats. I wanted just the right treat to hand out. I didn't want any kid to feel like I gave out rotten treats. But I also remembered that my own kids would occasionally get something other than candy, and really appreciate the variety. And I didn't want to add to the sugar overload from the huge pile of candy. Nor did I want a bunch of candy left over in my own home. Wow, so much to consider. I spent close to an hour trying to find the one right treat.

I settled on individual bags of pretzels. Pretzels may not be the most impressive treat, but I'm together enough that my ego will stay intact if I don't impress every child in the neighborhood. And the treats that I give out don't need to in some way "fix" the lives of every kid who knocks on my door.

I felt okay about my choice of treat, okay in a good way. Because I don't have to feel super-duper fantastic about every detail of my life. The treat, itself, is just a token. It's the fact that I open the door, and wish the trick-or-treaters a happy evening, and I ooh and ah over their choice of costume, and I make them feel that I have enjoyed this moment of time with them at my doorstep. All of that is what matters to the kids, isn't it? At the very least, I made at least one mom pleased that their child got something other than candy on that night.

And just so you know, WinCo also has a lot of pre-wrapped candy, in the bulk bin section, at awesome prices, if candy is your preferred treat for Hallowe'en.