The Chronic Consumer

To celebrate the end of the tax season, Boston Market is offering patrons a Buy One, Get One special on select dinners. You need to use a coupon, which can be found here, and the offer is not valid with any other coupons, discounts, or specials. Today (April 18) is the last day to take advantage of the savings, so why not give yourself the night off from cooking and treat your family to some Boston Market chicken tonight? I actually love this place and plan on taking full advantage of this deal!

I haven’t been buying anything recently because I haven’t come across any really good sales. Is there a Cyber Monday equivalent for April or May??? Seriously, I’m suffering from withdrawal here! I really need to update my wardrobe, as I haven’t bought any decent clothes in ages. I am also dying to treat myself to a diamond pendant necklace. Nothing too flashy, but nice all the same. I usually don’t wear jewelry, but a diamond pendant is something I’ve wanted for a long time. As soon as I see a good one for less than $500, I’m going to pounce on it… but that’s why I need a massive sale to come up soon!

For the past few years, I’ve been fighting what I thought was extremely stubborn acne across my forehead. These were not full-blown nodules or cysts or anything like that. These were small (yet clearly visible) flesh-colored bumps all over my forehead (particularly concentrated near my temples) that never seemed to go away. I tried every OTC acne treatment known to man, but nothing ever worked. I even spent more than $800 on dermatologist visits and prescriptions for Clindamycin, Differin, and others, but again, nothing cleared up my “acne”. It was a very frustrating and embarrassing situation.

I used to torture myself by reading acne horror stories over at acne.org, and imagining that my skin could actually deteriorate to the point where I would no longer want to leave the house — like some of the folks that posted over there. But I also started reading some product reviews and other threads, and learned that my “acne” might not even be acne at all. It might be a fungal infection that mimics acne — which would explain why NONE of the OTC/prescription treatments even made a dent. The people who had this fungal infection used prescription Nizoral cream with 2% ketoconazole. I’d spent so much money at that point and was so desperate to try anything that I figured I’d part with another $14 for a tube of Nizoral.

When the product arrived, I was a bit scared about using it, particularly since I bought it from one of those online pharmacies and did NOT actually get diagnosed by a doctor or anything. So I just tried it in one corner of my forehead, a part that is easily hidden by hair or a hat in case of a massive breakout. After a few days, I didn’t notice any adverse effects, so I started putting Nizoral all over my forehead. 10 days later, I was COMPLETELY CLEAR!!!!!

I am not exaggerating when I say my forehead has not looked this smooth and clear in five years! I cannot believe that my problem wasn’t even acne!!!! I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to be all cleared up like this and not have to worry about what I look like or what other people are thinking when they see my “acne” covered forehead. Wow!!!!

I stopped using Nizoral on a daily basis once I cleared up, and now just put it on once or twice a week for a “maintenance dose”. The last thing I want is for my skin to build up a tolerance for Nizoral and then not respond to it anymore!! I have gotten one or two legitimate pimples in that time, but those dried up after a couple applications of benzoyl peroxide — which is exactly what should happen.

The bottom line here: for those of you with bumps or bumpies or whatever you want to call them on your forehead, you might not be dealing with acne at all. See your dermatologist and bring up the idea of a fungal infection. Nizoral with 2% ketoconazole has changed my life!!!

I just read a somewhat interesting article over on Yahoo about 5 consumer products that are “designed to fail early“. This is not something shoppers like to hear, of course, but that’s the reality in today’s marketplace. I don’t know about you, but nothing on this list was terribly shocking to me!

1. MP3 players (no upgradable memory, no replaceable battery)
2. Ink cartridges (consumers pay about $10,000 per gallon for this stuff!)
3. Software (new titles are often incompatible with older os versions)
4. Textbooks (do we really need a new edition every single year???)
5. Fast fashion (trends that aren’t expected to last through more than a season or two)

Have you ever tried Jones Soda? This is kind of an offbeat brand that has issued 64 different flavors thus far, including Pumpkin Pie, Turkey & Gravy, Sugar Plum, Egg Nog, Monster Mojito, and Dirt. Of course, traditional flavors like Cherry, Orange, Grape, and Lemon-Lime are always available.

Besides these unusual flavors, Jones Soda is also known for using customer pictures on their labels.

At any rate, I just tried my first bottle of Jones Soda yesterday. I went with the Root Beer, and thought it was rather tasty. It’s not something I’d go out of my way to buy or pay extra for, but I could see getting this again every once in a while. I wonder what took me so long to try this!

I had to make a quick trip to the office supply store to stock up on a few things for my desk. I bought a pack of my favorite Pilot Gel Pens, as well as stuff like white out, Post-Its, jumbo envelopes, and a sheet of stamps (those came from the post office, of course). I was thinking about buying some printer ink too, since mine is getting low, but didn’t feel like spending that extra 40 bucks just yet!

I haven’t always been the biggest fan of Goldfish Crackers because they never struck me as a very satisfying snack. But my son absolutely loves the things, and I guess over the years I’ve acquired a taste for them myself. Now I totally dig the 100 Calorie Packs that Pepperidge Farm puts out. I always carry one in my bag and have a couple in my car too just in case hunger strikes when I’m away from home. It used to be that I’d stop off at McDonald’s or someplace like that for an order of fries and a Coke. No more, though. I just grab my Goldfish pack and I’m good to go!

With this being Easter Sunday and all, I thought I’d write about a product that will probably find its way into millions of Easter baskets around the world. Yes, I’m talking about Peeps. I don’t particularly care for the original Peeps marshmallow concoctions, but the milk chocolate variety. These things provide just the right combination of chocolate and marshmallow taste, and are actually pretty darn good. Yes, I bought a lot for my son’s Easter basket, but I held back a good amount for myself as well!