I wrote this review while participating in an influencer campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of HealthyWomen and VISTAKON® Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. and received a promotional item from Mom Central to thank me for taking the time to participate.

It’s summertime, and while you make take extra precautions when it comes to protecting your skin from the sun, do you make sure you also do the same for your eyes?  I know I normally don’t give it much thought.  I do wear my sunglasses when I’m driving or at the pool, and my son also has a pair of children’s sunglasses he occasionally wears in the car if the sun is too bright, but we could definitely be doing more.  In fact, research has shown that significant amount of lifetime exposure to UV rays may occur by age 18 and that children’s annual dose of radiation may be up to three times that of adults.  Also, while direct sunlight can be extremely damaging to the eyes, reflected UV rays from water grass, and sand can be even worse.  This made me really stop and think about how our family is protecting our eyes and how we can improve even more on this.

LISTEN UP CONTACT LENS WEARERS!

I’ve worn contact lenses since I was 12 years old.  I was about to start junior high and vanity was the main reason I chose to switch to contacts.  However, at age 13, a corneal ulcer almost took my eyesight and forced me back to wearing glasses for almost two years.  Looking back, as a pre-teen, I know I wasn’t properly caring for my contacts as I should.   Even as an adult, I am sometimes guilty of wearing a pair longer than I should.  As a matter of fact, only 2% of contact lens wearers follow the rules for safe use. 

Follow these tips for optimal contact wear:

• Stick to the time period recommended for your lenses. If they are two-week lenses, don’t try to stretch them out to a month, for example.
• Remember: contacts and water don’t mix. Never store your contacts in water or wear them while showering, using a hot tub, swimming or engaging in other water sports. Tap water contains impurities that can damage your lenses and may lead to severe eye infections, leading to partial vision loss or blindness.
• Before inserting a lens, take a good look at it to make sure it is moist, clean and intact. Don’t use a lens if the sterile package it comes in has been damaged or opened, or if the lens has a nick or tear.
• For those who wear makeup, apply your contact lenses first with clean, dry hands before applying makeup. Remove your contact lenses before removing eye makeup.

Contact Lens Care

Follow these tips for better contact lens care:

• Before handling your lenses, wash and rinse your hands thoroughly with a mild soap and dry them with a lint-free towel. Don’t use oily cosmetics or soaps containing lotion or cold cream before touching your lenses.
• Avoid using saline solution or rewetting drops to clean lenses; instead, use a disinfectant approved by your eye care professional.
• Do not use contact lenses or solution past their expiration dates.
• Never store contacts in anything other than approved solutions, and never reuse solution.
• Do not mix brands of contact solution.
• Replace your lens case at least every three months.

These are only a few of the many tips for proper wear and care of contacts to help you take the best care of your eyes, but they resonated with me the most.  I can honestly say I never stop to check the expiration date of my contact lens solution.  I’m also guilty of using a saline solution to clean my lenses when I should be using a disinfectant.  Obviously, the passing of time (25 years) since I had such a terrible time with my eyes has made me forget that these things can’t be optional.

Most contacts do not protect against UV rays.  I was curious if mine actually did, so I was relieved to find out that I am indeed getting that added benefit of protection with my current ACUVUE® contact lenses. 

If you wear contacts, you should ask your eye care professional about a UV-blocking contact lens.  ACUVUE® OASYS® Brand Contact Lenses, or for those who prefer a daily disposable contact lens, 1-DAY ACUVUE® TruEye® Contact Lenses, offer the highest level of UV-blocking available in a contact lens. Long-term clinical studies haven’t been done to show that UV-blocking contact lenses reduce the risk of eye disease or condition, so be sure to still wear them along with UV-blocking sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat.

Please visit the HealthyWomen.org Eye Health Center for more great tips on protecting your eyes from the sun.  These tips are for the whole family, and you just may be surprised at what you learn.

When you’ve got some time to kill on your lunch break and every store you see seems to be advertising a huge sale, it can be very tempting to break out your credit card and go on a spending spree. Even if you only hand over the plastic for an occasional impulse purchase, it all adds up and you could soon find yourself in the unmanageable situation of spending more than you earn.

If you’ve tried everything to curb your spending but you don’t want to resort to cutting up your credit cards – if you compare credit cards carefully and use them wisely, they can actually be very useful – you will need to get creative. If you don’t trust your willpower to hold out against a world full of sales and special offers, it’s time to think outside the box with a few unusual methods:

Put your credit card on ice

It’s not a method that most credit card companies would advise, but actually freezing (yes, actually putting it in your freezer) your credit card can help you to stop spending when you don’t need to. The method involves popping your credit card in a zip-lock bag so that it stays nice and safe, putting the bag in a glass of water and putting the whole thing into the freezer. The next time you are running out and you want to take your credit card with you, you’ll have to wait for it to thaw. This gives you time to think about whether you actually need that must-have item, or whether it’s actually a waste of money. Nine times out of ten, you’ll simply leave it and go without your credit card.

Stick a note to your credit card

Sometimes, all it takes is a little reminder to stop you in your shopping tracks. Write a message to yourself on some tape, something like “For emergencies only” or “I’m paying this off!” and stick it to the front of your credit card. This might not stop you giving into the urge to spend, but it might make you stop and think for a minute.

Give your credit card to your parents

No one is better at managing your finances that your parents, so why not give your credit card into mom or dad’s custody? This way, you will have to call by and pick up your credit card whenever you need to make a purchase. Hopefully, you’ll only be bothered to do this when you really need to. This unusual method of curbing credit card spending will also help you to see your family more, which your parents will be pleased about.

This is a sponsored guest post.

The summertime purging of things has started in our home.  We are literally bursting at the seams here with unused or unwanted clothes, toys, and household items.  I didn’t realize just how bad it was until this weekend.  I knew I wanted to clean out for an upcoming yard sale my mom and I will be having, but our life has been such a whirlwind since Christmas and I’m just now slowing down enough to get caught up on organizing.  I’m one of those people that literally feels like my whole world is out of order when my home is not organized or things are out of place.  I know I drive my husband crazy with this, but I just feel so much more focused and happier when everything is in its place.

I had NO idea just how many DVDs and video games we had bought over the years.  It is amazing to me just how much of this stuff we are still hanging onto.  My son has outgrown most of these DVDs and we upgraded his gaming system for Christmas, so he no longer has anything to play these old games on. He also has quite a few games he doesn’t play on his Nintendo DS, so those need to go also.  I think it is so great that there are websites where you can sell old Nintendo DS systems and games.  This is especially helpful when you don’t want to have a big yard sale and can still make some extra cash.

I know once I am finished with this project that I will feel so much better and be able to really sit back and enjoy my summer.  We have so many fun days ahead of us and being able to readily find the things we need without having to sift through so much we don’t use will be fantastic. 

This post is brought to you by Music Magpie.  Opinions are my own.

Technically, our summer started a little over a week ago, but the official start of summer is June 21.  What do you love about summer?  I love being able to sleep in, play at the pool with my son, spend more time with my family, and just taking it a lot easier than I normally get to during the school year.  That’s reason enough for our family to celebrate and until June 21, Nestlé invites you to “Raise A Cone to Summer” by entering to win a lifetime supply of Drumstick cones!

Did you ever wonder how the Drumstick got it’s name?  In 1928, the Parker Brothers took the waffle cone to the next level by adding a chocolate coating to ice cream and covering the top with nuts. One of the brothers’ wives said it looked like a fried chicken leg and thus, the “Drumstick” novelty was born!

Ice cream is a must-have staple in our home during those hot Mississippi Delta summer months, and the Nestlé Drumstick is an extra-special treat.

To enter, visit raiseacone.drumstick.com by June 21, 2013 and submit a photo of you getting into the summer spirit by raising a cone.  Super easy!

You can keep up with the latest on all Nestlé Drumstick promotions by following them here:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/drumstick
Follow on Twitter @nestledrumstick
Hashtag- #RaiseaCone
Visit drumstick.com to learn about flavors and products.

This post is sponsored by Nestlé Drumstick as part of a sponsored blog tour with Burst Media, but all opinions are my own.

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Aflac. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating

Unexpected medical costs can really cause your personal finances to take a hit.  It’s one of the biggest debts our family has.  My husband and I both have medical problems that require regular blood tests, doctor visits, and prescriptions.  We both have insurance, but insurance doesn’t cover everything and it often takes us the entire year to meet our high deductible, only to have to start all over again.  Sound familiar?

Last summer our son became sick in the middle of the night.  We were really worried about him, so we went to our local emergency room to get him looked at by a doctor.  He turned out to be ok, but their were x-rays, blood tests, and the cost of seeing the doctor.  That trip ended up costing us $1,200 out-of-pocket even after insurance paid.  It was definitely unexpected and we’re still paying on this bill.

Aflac has a handy tool called the Real Cost Calculator that you can use to calculate different medical emergency and illness scenarios as they would apply to you to see what your out-of-pocket costs may be if were to happen to you or a family member.  It also shows how Aflac can help fill in those gaps of your regular insurance coverage.

Because I have Type 2 diabetes, I used the Real Cost Calculator to see what my out of pocket costs were really adding up to be.  I was shocked to find that it can cost up to over $11,000 a year.  The $4,200 out-of-pocket expenses proved to be about right in my situation.  Add in the fact that my husband also has the same thing, and we are looking at over $8,000 a year.  It’s certainly sobering to see that amount.  Factor in if this were to cause one of use to miss work, and the loss of income could be detrimental to our family.

Are you prepared for sudden, unexpected medical expenses?  Try the Real Cost Calculator for yourself and see how these scenarios could affect your family and how Aflac can help.