I am always looking for ways to get gift cards for doing everyday tasks: shopping online, working out, answering surveys, and being on the computer while searching on the internet.
Did you know you can make money while walking? Yes, you can. If you enjoy working out, working at a job that has you on the move, or have a side hustle walking dogs, why not get rewarded and be paid to be healthy while improving the environment one step at a time?
I recently came across five apps that will pay you for a walk. The best part is all of these apps are free. Here are the five best apps to earn money while walking.
HOW TO WALK AND EARN MONEY
1. Winwalk
Winwalk is a free pedometer that counts your steps and rewards you with gift cards to use towards food and drinks, entertainments, fashion, home and retail from these top brands:
Chipotle
Dominos
DoorDash
Dunkin’ Donuts
Starbucks
Subway
Taco Bell
Uber Eats
Google Play
Nintendo
PlayStation
Spotify
Uber
Xbox
Adidas
Kohl’s
Nike
TJX
Amazon
Best Buy
Kroger
Target
Home Depot
How it works
The walking app tracks your steps and converts them into coins you can spend on giftcards. Once you accumilate 16,000 coins, you earn a $10 gift card. All you have to do is walk.
There is one disclaimer. The app only rewards you for up to 10,000 steps per day. Coins have to be collected everyday.
If you work at a job involving physical activity, reaching 10,000 steps a day is no problem.
CashWalk tracks and counts your steps. The more you walk, the more you earn. Steps get converted into coins that can get redeemed for giftcards.
2,000 coins earns you a $5 gift card from top brands: Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, Google Play, and Apple.
The app has a daily luck box that let’s you try your luck at winning 10,000 coins. Watching ads and playing game can earn more coins.
I earn a $5 giftcard once a month.
3. Sweatcoin
Sweatcoin converts your steps into a currency you can spend on gadgets, sports and fitness kit, services and experiences.
The app offers monthly giveaways to earn money. Entering is free. There are lucky chance offers in which you can use sweatcoins to win giftcards.
I recently redeemed my sweatcoins for a free month subscription to Paramount+ to binge watch my favorite shows.
If you’re feeling generous, you can donate to campaigns or charities to end hunger and malnutrition globally, plant trees, provide water to communities, and support elephant protection efforts in Africa to name a few.
It defintely pays and feels good to walk for good causes.
Earn points by reading short and informative articles that share health trends and tips.
The apps have a daily, weekly, and monthly trackers that give a breaksown on how you earned points.
Once you reach 10,000 points, you can redeem for a $10 gift card.
5. Treecard
If you enjoy supporting conservation and sustainability efforts to preserve natural habitats while improving the environment, the Treecard app is for you.
Treecard is one of my favorite apps because it rewards walking by planting trees. For every 10k steps, 1 tree gets planted in your Tree Valley.
The tree planting partner is Ecosia, a not-for-profit and one of the most reputatable reforestation organizations in the world.
The organization currently plants tree in 35+ countries and provides updates on how your trees are getting on.
You choose which trees you want to plant in your Tree Valley:
Acacia
Fir
Mangrove
Palm
Banana
Cacao
With everyday walking, you are contributing to reforestation efforts around the world.
The community has already planted over 2 million trees, pulled 2.3 million plastic bottles from the ocean, and adopted 70k+ animals.
Here are some examples of what points can be redeemed for:
Houseplats
Green tech
Removing plastic from the ocean
Animal adoption
Life-changing trips to Thailand to support local villagers with elephant conservation projects
Hike with goats on a sanctuary
Go white river rafting in Colorado
Get a one year pass to visit more than 2,000 national parks across the United States
Go whale watching
Hike with a rescue dog
Explore Tanzania on a 4-day guided tour
Gift trees to friends and family
Getting started is easy by downloading the app.
When you sign up and use the referral code jeanetta-xk1, you’ll plant 1 tree and earn 50pts (for free!)
It pays to go green!
7. Miles
Here is a bonus app called Miles. The app rewards you with miles for travel: car, carpool, ride hailing, train, bus, boat, walk/run, bike, air, shopping, and taking surveys.
The app automatically tracks your trips so there is no need to open the app or log your trips.
Miles can be redeemed for giftcards, raffles, and donations to charities.
If you’re looking for more inexpensive to contribute to the world while reducing waste, check out my blog post, Small Acts that can Change the World.
I am about maintaining a peaceful home involving feng shui landscaping that brings joy, song birds, bees, and butterflies to my flower and vegetable garden.
It may be tempting to call it a day and put up an 8 foot fence, but that won’t necessarily stop them from watching you, especially if you live in close proximity of one another and have a deck that can look down on your backyard.
Last resort would be to move, but why move if you’re not the problem?
1. Talk to Them
Depending on how long the nosy neighbor has been living in the neighborhood, they may have a sense of entitlement that it is within their right to know the daily going ons around them.
Or they were so used to living around the same people for so long, changes in the neighborhood are difficult to accept.
Unless you’re engaging in illegal acitivity, your neighbor has no business inserting themselves in your life or in the privacy of your hom. You pay the rent, mortgage, property taxes, etc., they don’t.
Sure you can tell your nosy neighbor to go away, but that may not end well.
In fact, they may not even know they are being nosy. Perhaps there has been an increase of criminal activity in the area and your neighbor is simply being hypervigilant. You won’t know until you engage in conversation.
2. Create a Privacy Living Barrier
Create a barrier between you and your neighbor with a “living fence” by planting shrubs, trees, and tall ornamental grasses for privacy. Add some solar lights in between the plants and you’ll have a beautiful backdrop of soft light.
In my case, I planted cherry bushes, dwarf spiral Alberta trees, boxwood bushes, lavender, and cat mint.
3. Invest in Soundproof Curtains
Put up soundproof thermal curtains. 3-in-1 soundproof curtain block light, provide insulation, and reduce outside noise (noisy road, dogs barking, lawn mowers, etc.). Alternatively, privacy film on the windows can add a new dimension by bringing soft light in while keeping outside heat out.
4. Add Solar Lights
Add solar lights versus the harshness of flood lights. Solar lights bring a bit of romanticism and backyard ambiance while adding security and outdoor illumination.
5. Add Security Cameras
Outdoor security cameras are handy for receiving notifications for delivery of packages and deterring suspicious activity.
By adding security cameras, you don’t want to turn into the nosy neighbor you are trying to avoid by watching them from your smartphone.
If you feel adding a real security camera would be intrusive, add a fake security camera. Include a notice on the property notifying individuals activities are being monitored 24/7.
I installed security cameras to monitor a female feral cat’s movements to get her daily routine so I could trap, neuter, and release (TNR) her.
I leave them up to monitor any new strays or feral cats coming into the yard.
6. Give Them Something to Talk About
Starting a victory garden, indulging in outdoor home improvement projects will defintely get people talking in a good way.
You may inspire others to roll up their sleeves and indulge in some DIY projects of their own.
Who doesn’t appreciate a good home improvement project?
Be Prepared for Some Type of Retaliation
With the new privacy barriers, your busy-body neighbor may turn into a not so pleasant neighbor, eventually figuring out that you know they are being “too observant”.
Do not be surprised if the tables get turned with you getting accused of being nosy. They are trying to save face here.
Tit for tat behavior, setting up motion sensors, followed by dogs coming out and barking in the front or backyard can give the impression to other neighbors you are one being nosy and up to no good.
Running out of the house and acting like they are responding to some illegal activity everytime you’re outside can give the impression you’re attempting to trespass on their property when you’re staying on your side of the fence, YOUR fence.
Here is a funny one. Clapping at squirrels on your fence when you are outside. Are they clapping at the squirrels, or are they clapping at you?
They may choose to install their own security cameras, pointing them directly at your house from their property. Depending on the state you live in, this may be completely legal.
They may decide they don’t like your outdoor security cameras and deliberately flash lights at them to get a reaction in order to get you to engage in conversation with them.
These behaviors are not nosy neighbor behavior but bordeline acts of intimidation and harassment.
If all fails, get the last word in by telling them to mind their own business. Ignore your nosy neighbor and no matter what, don’t engage in conversation.
Keep a diary and collect video evidence.
The neighborhood bully may decide to become bold by trespassing and causing damage on your property.
Examples include, keying your car, putting a spike under your tire, or messing with your flowers or trees.
It’s time to contact and consult with your lawyer.
What Happened with My Nosy Neighbor?
Enough sharing strategies for dealing with nosy neighbors. You might be wondering how I dealt with my nosy neighbor. Swift and firm.
One night, Anna decided she wanted to talk and thought the best way to accomplish this and get a reaction was to hang her lights on my fence to get a reaction.
The whole backyard was lit up like a Christmas tree. It was clever, funny, but not funny.
Previous temper tantrums she performed (too many to list), didn’t get a reaction, just radio silence.
It would be the first and last conversation we would ever have.
I promptly asked her to remove them while making it clear I did not want to engage in converation with her and told her to leave me alone.
I made sure everyone in the neighborhood heard me just in case anyone else got any ideas about replacing her as a nosy neighbor.
I know Ms. Busy-Body is still watching, but it’s less obvious. No more running down the stairs to greet me or standing over me while I work my flower garden.
As long as she doesn’t cross the threshold, I am happy co-existing while maintaing a proper distance.
Not deterred, I continue to do my yard work in peace. Trees and bushes making up my living fence are growing and flourishing.
If I had to redo it all again, upon being ambushed, I would have made it clear right away I was not interested in conversing while doing yard work or at all.
Perhaps years of drama could have been avoided or not. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Oh well, you live and learn right?
What are some of your experiences with nosy neighbors, and what strategies did you use for dealing with them?
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with being observant of your surroundings. In fact, it’s good for you and your neighbors to look after one another and keep each other safe.
However, individuals can take it too far by being too “observant” and creating paranoid delusions.
1. Always Around
Minute you step outside, your neighbor comes rushing outside to greet you or ask where you are going. Being around is a little more than a coincidence. Regardless of the time of day, when you come home from work, or go to bed. It could be a sign you have a nosy neighbor.
2. Asks Probing Questions
Your neighbor deliberately talks to you and asks probing questions about people in the neighborhood to get information leaving you feeling like you just got interrogated.
3. Excessive Lawn Maintenance
When it comes to lawn maintenance, your neighbor might be meticulous, but going over the same spot for 20-minutes with a lawn mower could be considered a little excessive.
Another sign is constantly coming towards the property line and picking up the occassional non existent twig on the pristine lawn or raking the same spot over and over again when there are no leaves.
Add the occasional glance over the garden fence, and you got a nosy neighbor.
4. Probing Other Neighbors
Pretends to talk to the neighbors while looking over to see what you are doing.
5. Listening to Your Conversations
One way to tell if your nosy neighbor is eavesdropping is by pretending to be on the phone and engaging in conversation. If they repeat any part of the conversation, your neighbor is nosy.
Going forward, don’t have conversations outside you don’t want them hearing or repeating as they will tell others in the neighborhood your business.
6. Waiting Until You’re Inside to Be Nosy
After closing the curtains for the night, they come out to inspect your yard. Being on the lookout for weeds with 5-foot arms that can reach over the fence and take hold of their lawn is a priority, especially when you’re not around.
Another tactic for a busy-body neighbor is to hide behind curtains or blinds and spy. Looking through the kitchen window and tinkering with dishes is a good give away. Either they let their dishes pile up or they are obsessive about washing every dirty dish when you’re around doing yard work.
7. Calling the Cops Excessively
They call the cops for no reason on unknown people. I had this happen in which a neighbor saw someone in the yard they didn’t know, called the cops and lied to say the person was trying to rob the house.
It was a pretty scary sight seeing law enforcement surrounding my friend with their guns pulled. Luckily, the police were professionals and no one was hurt.
It is never okay to tell tall tales, fibs, or lies.
Part 3 continues with tips and tricks on how to get privacy from nosy neighbors.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, neighbors went to work, got home, spent time with the family, and mowed the lawn. You know, typical suburban behavior. However, extra time spent at home during the recent coronavirus pandemic (or COVID19) tranformed people from unknown neighbors to nosy neighbors.
Now that the pandemic has passed, you may have a neighbor still exhibiting obsession and stalking behavior with the sense of entitlement to know what goes on around them and what happens outside and inside your home.
Unless you’re engaging in illegal acitivity, your neighbor has no business inserting themselves in your life.
I willl share (from personal experience) tips, tricks, and ways to avoid, deal with and get privacy from a nosy neighbor while maintaining a peaceful home and positive energy.
How the Nosy Neighbor Saga Began
We all have seen them, the neighborhood bully. Always watching, instigates trouble, and frequently calls the cops or inspectors on anything deemed suspicious or out of place in their mind.
While neighbors have it out with one another, accusing each other of tattling on one another, the nosy neighbor who instigated the drama stays silent, pops some popcorn, and watches it play out.
This type of personality makes you want to stay inside and never come out because when you do, in less than 30 seconds, your nosy neighbor will ambush you with an awkward greeting followed by invading your privacy by asking probing questions.
It began with a simple hello, an innocent 10-minute conversation, to which the brief interaction transformed into a complete nightmare scenario involving obsessive and stalking behavior over the course of a few years.
It was summer, and I decided my backyard needed some updating landscape wise. Summer in the northern hemispehere (specifically the midwest region) can be brutal with a month of 90 to 100 degree temps. Gardening enthusists get up early to beat the heat and retreat around 9 or 10 a.m.
You would think being up at 7 in the morning you would be the only one outside while everyone else is tucked away in their beds asleep. At times silence can be pure solutute.
Less than 5-minutes of arriving in the backyard, out of the corner of my eye was physical movement. Intrigued, I decided to continue to pursue my gardening chores. Perhaps someone else had the same idea as mine and we would consciously work in solitude.
To my surprise, a woman on the other side of my fence tiptoed her way into the backyard from an outside gate, stood close to my fence watching me for 10-minutes. I thought about saying something, but decided to see where this spying would go.
Perhaps after realizing I was heavily engaged in gardening, retreating back into the house was the best option. Slowly tiptoeing up the stairs to her deck, back inside without a sound or a morning greeting, she was gone without a trace.
Little did I know, this would be the beginning of my quest to get privacy from my nosy neighbor.
Future interactions would involve me coming out to the yard. Less than 1-minute of coming outside, Anna (not her real name) would come running down the stairs and would say hello. A simple “hello” or small talk can be a genuine or a way to engage in conversation to obtain information.
How did she know I was out here? Must either have spydie senses or just bored. I will note this same thing has happened others to the point I am the only one still coming outside.
I would learn later our brief interactions were aimed at gaining information about people in the neighborhood. Little did I know, this individual had a history of keeping a watchful eye on everyone. Anything you wanted to know about daily activities in the neighborhood, she knew it and wasn’t afraid to spill the beans.
One thing to know about narcissists is they enjoy hearing themselves talk. When she would ambush me and start to speak, I would nod hoping she would get the hint and go on about her business. Didn’t work.
I eventually realized there was a one-sided conversation occuring in which she would talk, and I would listen or politely nod. Have you ever heard of the phrase, “Keeping up with the Joneses”?
Once I realized trickery had occurred, I decided to ignore her. One thing for sure, narcissists hate to be ignored and don’t accept rejection well.
What would transpire over the next couple of years is something only written in fairy tales or can be seen on YouTube. Just Google “neighbors from hell”, and you can get plenty of examples of “bad behavior.”
Luckily, the situation didn’t turn violent, but thank my lucky stars I am no longer being ambushed and can tend to my yard in peace.
I won’t bore you with the details of the amount negative energy projected during that time. Plus this blog post would end up being 10-pages long (that is a conservative number).
Let’s get on with signs of a nosy neighbor and how to deal with them without negativley affecting your mental health.
Are you a chronic pain sufferer experiencing stiffness, achy joints, pins, and needles daily? Hesitant about taking a prescription medication, potential side effects, and looking for non-opioid medication options?
You are not alone. Improvements in mobility and quality of life sooner can be facilitated by layering holistic treatments and natural remedies.
Before agreeing to a prescription medication referral or over-the-counter pain relievers, gives these five pain management techniques a try to treat chronic pain and improve sleep by reducing or eliminating the need for medication over time.
Before making any lifestyle changes, always consult your healthcare provider.
How to Manage Chronic Pain
Pain-Free Living
There is no quick fix or magic pill to living pain-free here. Depending on how long you have been living with chronic pain, the body needs time to adjust from its daily fight, flight, and freeze responses to remember how to heal itself.
After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic pain, a prescription medication cocktail was recommended.
Due to a past surgery experience when a prescribed opioid didn’t go well for me (what goes down, comes back up), I respectfully declined.
Instead, I asked about holistic approaches. Soon I found myself researching and customizing a treatment plan alone.
Chronic Inflammation
I learned a lot about chronic inflammation and ways to heal from it through holistic treatments, removing foods from my diet, contributing to flare-ups, and changing my workout routine to low impact.
It took me four years to find the right combination of alternative treatments.
Once I found the right combination of pain management techniques, I noticed improved mood, sleep, and decreased pain in less than a month.
The first step in treating chronic pain is to find the source of inflammation contributing to chronic pain.
For me, my chronic pain started after an ACL surgery followed by eating the wrong foods.
As you become self-aware about how your body responds and feels on a particular day, modifying the frequency and number of holistic treatments will become a natural daily routine.
5 Pain Management Techniques
1. Infrared Sauna Blanket
The first time I tried a sauna based infrared treatment, I walked away feeling on cloud nine.
At $20 or more per session, 2-3 times a week, infrared sauna treatments can become costly.
If you haven’t tried an infrared sauna, you are in for a treat. The 30-minute 2-3 times a week treatment can be done at home!
Compared to a standard heating pad which warms the surface of the skin (any type of heat feels good to me who lives with fibromyalgia), far-infrared heat penetrates deep into the muscles to lower tension throughout the body, reduce body aches by increasing blood circulation, and for an added bonus, red light combined with heat will naturally give your immune system a boost.
Environmental exposure to harmful toxins like heavy metals and pesticides can make the body feel sluggish with low energy, contributing to inflammation throughout the body.
An infrared sauna can the body to release and eliminate toxins and waste through sweat by penetrating deeply through the skin.
Perfect after a workout, time spent outside tending the yard to speed up muscle recovery. Upon coming in contact with the stones on the mat, my muscles begin to melt into the mat.
Before I invested in a far-infrared heating pad, I experienced pins and needles throughout my body and cramping in my feet. My toes would curl so much; I would have to pry my toes loose to get them to relax.
Start with 30-minutes and increase the length of time by 30-minute increments. Don’t forget to hydrate before and after.
I noticed a difference in reducing pain levels, increasing range of motions, and less stiffness after a couple of treatments using the infrared pad 2-3 times a week.
In the colder months, sometimes I sleep on top of the pad.
When sleeping on the mat at night, hydrate before going to bed, and follow the manufacturers instructions.
Infrared Heating Lamp
If an infrared sauna heating pad is out of your price range, spot treating areas of the body with red light therapy can be just as effective.
When searching for a small device to tackle my knee pain, I discovered the red infrared heating lamp for muscle body pain relief .
The heat feels great on the neck, shoulders, back, low back, and joints.
If you suffer from allergies, sinusitis, congestion, or sinus infections, red light therapy can help alleviate symptoms.
15-minutes a couple of times a day is all you need to feel better. Be sure to follow the manufacture’s instructions.
2. Toe Separators
Did you know the ankle joint is one of the strongest joints in the body? All the weight our ankles take on to keep us upright is pretty amazing.
Let’s not forget about the feet. If your feet could talk, what amazing stories they could tell about the places you have visited and mileage out of your feet.
Foot pain can stop you in your tracks. Walking, running, standing for prolonged periods, wearing tight or pointed-toe shoes can contribute to nerve pain and swelling.
Gel toe spaces help straighten, correct overlapping toes, and reduce tightness by stretching your feet.
They can be worn with shoes or under socks while walking around the house.
Toe separators are not only washable and reusable but can be repurposed for at-home pedicures.
Magnesium Oil
Foot muscle spasms and twitches can be symptoms of a mineral deficiency.
If you have a bag of Epsom salts sitting in the bathroom, daily 20-minute foot soaks can do wonders for your precious feet.
If you are short on time, magnesium oil is very effective as a spot treatment in alleviating foot pain, swelling, and cramping.
A second way to increase magnesium levels is by putting magnesium oil on your feet. In the cold months, I mix magnesium with a heavy body cream and put socks on before improving sleep.
Instead of buying an expensive bottle of magnesium oil, check out my post on how to make and use magnesium oil from Epsom salts.
Combine this treatment with a shiatsu deep kneading foot massager (great for plantar fasciitis and neuropathy) to relive tired feet.
3. Moringa Leaf Powder
Your body is built to heal itself. Maintaining optimal health can’t be sustained through synthetic supplements.
When the body is out of sync, slight changes due to chronic stress can lead to a hormone imbalance.
Symptoms of a hormonal imbalance are fatigue, mineral and vitamin deficiency, irregular or painful periods, increased bleeding, high cortisol levels, weight gain, mood changes, poor digestion, and hair loss.
Moringa lead powder, a superfood, has been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes to treat various diseases and medical conditions.
The “miracle tree” is an anti-inflammatory food packed with vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, C, E, magnesium, and potassium. One teaspoon of moringa powder contains the daily value of:
Vitamin A: 65%
Vitamin C: 10%
Vitamin E: 15%
Calcium: 5%
Iron: 5%
Magnesium: 5%
For a boost of energy, mix one teaspoon into smoothies, yogurt bowls, or make a hot tea.
I like to mix it into my cashew yogurt sprinkled with blueberries and shredded coconut to help reduce inflammation and improve digestion.
Check out these additional benefits of drinking moringa leaf powder every day.
4. Tens Unit
If you’re searching for a non-narcotic solution to help with pain management or looking to stop taking opioids, a TENS (Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation) unit is worth a try.
The FDA approved device is a useful option for individuals that can’t tolerate prescription medication or are looking for a drug-free holistic treatment for pain relief from neck pain and tension headaches.
The low current electrical stimulation encourages endorphins’ production, the body’s natural pain-killing chemicals to suppress pain signals in the brain.
5. Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese medicine has been used to treat and manage pain. Acupuncture treatments are good for treating conditions like back and neck pain, hormone imbalances, plantar fasciitis and may reduce the number of days, frequency, and intensity of migraines.
Treatment sessions involve small needles inserted into the skin. It’s normal to fall asleep during acupuncture. Enjoy the healing power of enhanced relaxation and restorative healing.
Length of treatment sessions range from 30 to 60 minutes. Depending on the number of sessions required to treat your chronic pain and other conditions, the average cost for one treatment can set you back $60.
Community acupuncture has a sliding scale ranging from $20 to $40 based on what you can afford.
To learn about additional health benefits and uses, check out my blog post about Why Acupuncture Works.
Your parents worked their whole lives to give you a proper upbringing. They fed you, clothed you, and passed down their infinite wisdom and life lessons to prepare you to navigate the murky waters of daily life. After landing the “dream job,” you made a promise to your parents that you would be there for them when they needed you. What you didn’t expect was a promise made over 20 years ago is increasingly being tested due to the unexpected and persistent challenges that come with aging parents. It’s heart-wrenching to see your parents, who were once so vibrant and full of life, slowly becoming unrecognizable not only to you but to themselves.
One parent has mobility issues from hip surgery a few years back and is experiencing difficulty getting around. A man who once served in the military then worked for the railroad and lived out a blissful retirement by spending hours in the backyard tending to a vegetable garden now sits in his favorite chair, staring off into the distance. The other parent has lost the use of her hands and is having a hard time accepting her limitations. Daily knitting sessions that once brought joy, with every single and double cross-stitch, pain radiates throughout her hands. Your parents, once adoringly in love, now behind the scenes, fight like cats and dogs. The mysterious death of the family dog due to accidental poisoning has you questioning the mental state of your mother. A few months later, your father passes away from old age in his favorite chair. He spent 50 years devoting himself to the woman he loved, and in the end, he refused to leave her side and his favorite chair. While grief-stricken, it is becoming obvious mom is aware that her mind is slowly slipping away. At the frustration of you telling her she is forgetting things, she denies forgetting things. She is increasingly becoming combative while in complete denial. Dementia is taking over her once sharp mind. Paranoia convinces her that you’re out to get her. She begins sending letters to your job, accusing you of trying to lock her away. This is a baseless accusation, yet your supervisor at work is looking at you cross-eyed at what he just read. Does he think it is true?
Aging Parents
When it comes to aging parents, there isn’t a golden rule about the worst-case scenario of aging; it is only the best-case scenario if you’re one of the lucky ones. Infomercials and social media show elderly parents going on cruises, enjoying retirement, and dotting on their grandchildren while aging gracefully. When one or both of your elderly parents are toxic, the emotional struggle of deciding whether to keep the promise you made years ago to be there in their time of need, or for the sake of your mental health and well-being, walk away, can be overwhelming. That is a tricky question to tackle, a decision that carries a significant weight and can’t be made on the spur of the moment but with careful consideration.
Toxic Environment at Home
I knew something was different with my mother when she began exhibiting erratic behavior in the form of throwing out insults, constantly criticizing me, and swearing like a sailor non-stop. She demonstrated a lack of empathy for all things and people by conversing with her daily shows, maintaining close contact with her friends and family, and calling the squirrels in her yard family, which was outside her character. Not to make excuses, but it didn’t help that she had a laundry list of health conditions that would make anyone wonder why a person would want to get up in the morning, constantly abuse themselves in the form of emotional eating to assert some time of control while hoarding cans of food, filling the refrigerator with meat. Only to fill up a trash bin of food every Sunday from ordering fast food because she needed more time to cook. Then goes on to curse the trash bin when staging it for trash day pick up at the end of the driveway because it’s too heavy. The cycle repeats every week until the floorboards begin to talk. It’s expected to be a little grumpy sometimes, right?
Changing Personality
As I tried to engage in conversation about her changing personality, a change in subject would happen, and the focus would revert to me and my life choices by questioning my intelligence and degrading me. Conversely, in the company of her neighbors, she would proudly extol my personal and professional achievements, creating a stark contrast to our private interactions. A big smile would cover her face with pride, saying she was proud of me. The cycle of the poisonous web of abuse, lies, and denial has taken over the one daily happy time, leaving me feeling [specific emotions or experiences]. This back-and-forth dynamic has placed a significant financial burden on me. The only time my mother’s demeanor shifts to pleasant is when I provide financial support for her habit of hoarding food, wasting food, and indulging in fast food. I am no longer her daughter but a crowdfunding source for when she lives beyond her means and needs a bailout to keep creditors from calling or avoid having a lien put on her house for not paying her bills. All the while, she is attempting to maintain an unaffordable and unsustainable pre-retirement lifestyle while on social security disability. While I am single and can afford to pay my way and hers, I can’t stop comparing my toxic elderly parent to past individuals who were once part of my life in the form of poisonous friendships or relationships. How easy it was to walk away from them, but yet I put up with an angry senior in denial of aging, yet wants to make me the parent, her the rebellious child who won’t listen, yet questions everything, leaving me feeling [specific emotions or experiences].
Handling Toxic Parents Strategies
Setting Boundaries
Just like your parents didn’t tolerate any mischief of bad behavior from you when you were a child, giving a parent experiencing memory loss or chronic pain a pass to indulge in mental abuse, bully-like behavior will not only alienate you but trick you into a spur of the moment quick decision to put the parent in a nursing home, assisted, or senior living. A decision you will have to live with long after your parents are gone.
Promote Independence in the Elderly
In today’s digital age, caregivers have the opportunity to take a moment for themselves. This brief respite is not just a luxury, but a necessity for maintaining the energy and resilience required for caregiving. It’s crucial to remember that self-care is an essential part of the caregiving journey.
By promoting independence in the elderly, we can give aging parents a profound sense of control over their lives. One way to do this is to schedule online grocery and food delivery, request a community of volunteers to help maintain the house’s grounds, and schedule telehealth appointments with doctors and nurses, thereby enhancing their autonomy.
Teaching an elderly parent to be tech-savvy can be challenging at first, but in the end, if your parents walk away feeling like it was their idea, it can be a win-win, right?
Don’t Give Into the Guilt-Trips
When an adult child becomes a caregiver for an aging parent, the role reversal can lead to an awkward, uncomfortable, and bitter environment. Falling for constant guilt trips can turn family dynamics into a daily dose of Thanksgiving dinner of passive and aggressive behavior because your mother or father is afraid he or she can’t take care of themselves or the house anymore. We often feel guilty for standing up for ourselves to our parents, thinking we are disrespectful when we are only trying to get involved and make things easier.
Wanting to Walk Away
After exhausting all options to engage in conversation and trying your best, the emotional toll of constantly feeling undervalued and unappreciated can be overwhelming. It’s easy to be sick and tired of being treated like a business transaction instead of a family member. When you are at the end of your emotional rope, it’s crucial to involve a third party immediately. Inviting social services to conduct a house visit and assess the living situation of your parent could be a life-saving decision. Eighteen months after my grandfather passed away, I was called over to my grandmother’s house. The paramedics found her lying on the floor unconscious. I first noticed that it was pretty warm in the home. Most Victorian homes from the 1900s are drafty. At least, that is what I remembered when I was a child, spending the weekends at my grandparents’ house while my mom worked the night shift of her second job. Before going to bed, Grandma turned the thermostat up so much that the house became a sauna overnight. She was hospitalized and fell into a coma. A few days later, she passed away. While older people want to remain in their homes as long as possible, giving in to demands for my grandmother to stay in her large Victorian house ended with a tragic accident. I am sure my mother regrets an event I don’t want to relive.
Possiblity of Loss of Independence
A toxic elderly parent living alone going off the rails while you watch a house in ruins with rats running around, trash, and filth isn’t good for anybody.
If a person doesn’t want help or talks about living in denial about aging, instead of letting things go, not addressing the elder’s needs can result in unpleasant consequences with the parent being put somewhere they are not going to be happy.
If rats make themselves known on more than one occasion and your parent begins to call these pests home pets, the health and safety of your elderly parent is at risk.
Forgetting to turn the stove off all the way, leaving the front door unlocked, and later denying these events occurred is a safety issue for your parent and any neighbors that live close or next door.
Action needs to be taken immediately. Living alone is not possible in the short or long term.
The loss of independence is something you can live with versus showing up and finding your parent unconscious due to vertigo after experiencing a trip or fall months before and never telling you about it.
Talking With Parents About Aging
Taking care of an elderly parent can be a thankless job.
Many times, I feel unappreciated and experience constant bouts of being treated compared to the nurses who make the occasional house visit and are treated as a second daughter.
Instead of becoming envious or jealous, I constantly tell myself, “I’m the reason your not sitting in rat s$!t and can rest your hands on a clean placemat dust bunny free and poop.”
After sharing concerns for your mom or dad’s safety and well-being and being told they don’t care about how you feel, turning to your parent’s physician and enlisting their support can make you more receptive to recommendations from a person they trust.
If your mental health is failing and depression is setting in, it’s time to walk away and go no contact for good.
You can’t save everyone. Only those wanting and willing to accept help are worth giving a damn about over a narcissistic and toxic persona.
There is nothing wrong with escaping an abusive environment to save yourself. It’s okay to put your health and well-being first.
Just make sure you are willing to accept the outcome, live with your decision, and can sleep at night.
You’re shedding like a cat leaving a path of hair strands in your bed, car, and on the couch. A little hair is okay, but it appears more like leaving bread crumbs to solve a mystery.
As you brush your hair in the morning, you might be asking, “why is my hair falling out?”
Before thinking about calling it a day, buying some clippers, and shaving your head, let’s figure out why you feel you’re shedding like a cat and how to fix it.
Let’s talk about the uncomfortable subject of excessive hair loss.
I noticed a few more hairs than regular taking over my living space.
I have thick curly hair and am no stranger to the number of hairs sitting in my hairbrush after a good wash, but this was excessive.
I could breathe, and the hairs on my head would fall off like leaves on a tree in the autumn.
Was my hair too dry? At times my hair did feel like a barrel of hay, which told me it was time for a hair cut.
Even after getting a hair cut, the hair strands kept on free falling to the point I noticed my hair thinning on the crown of my head.
Hair loss can be caused by changes in diet, stress, pregnancy, chronic illness, vitamin or mineral deficiency, high amounts of magnesium, and calcium in the water.
Repetitive stress and tension to the hair follicle can leave hair brittle.
Split, dry ends, and dull hair are signs that either you’re long overdue for a hair cut, hair is becoming damaged from over-styling with heat, or lack of not drinking enough water.
Stress can deplete your body of vitamins and minerals. Taking a supplement helps, but nothing can replace eating fruits and vegetables.
Asking for a blood draw to identify vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be a big help in identifying the causes of your hair loss.
Uterine Fibroids
During an annual exam, my doctor found something abnormal in my uterus and determined I needed to get an ultrasound followed by an MRI to get a closer look at my pelvis and uterus.
The results showed I had two uterine fibroids.
90% of black women develop fibroids before turning 50. The majority are benign (noncancerous) growths. Symptoms of uterine fibroids are:
irregular periods (prolonged, heavy, long)
pain in the abdomen
increased frequency or urgency to urinate
pain during intercourse
For over a year, I experienced multiple periods a month, which was unusual. I mean, once a month is a challenge, but every two weeks is a little much.
Excessive loss of blood, can result in iron deficiency anemia.
I had an IUD (Intrauterine Device) inserted five years ago in which my periods in the past were light.
When I visited my gynecologist and mentioned to one of the nurses of a change in my periods, she chalked it up to my IUD being expired.
I should have known I was being taken for a ride as my gynecologist has the nickname the “IUD Whisperer” and would never say something so idiotic to her patients.
The lesson here is to trust your gut and not allow anyone, man or woman convince you, “it’s all in your head.”
Don’t be afraid to speak up or seek a second opinion.
Acupuncture and Medicinal Herbs
Fast forward two years. The weekly acupuncture treatments for hormone imbalances resulted in the shrinking of the two ovarian cysts.
My acupuncture prescribed herb Resolve (Lower) to dispel stagnated blood and Polygonum 14 to reduce shedding and accelerate hair growth.
You can expect to see little hairs sprouting up three months.
You can’t buy these herbs online without being under the care of a healthcare professional and for good reason.
If you don’t take the right dosage, you can end up experiencing contradictions, which can worsen your health condition. Who wants that?
In addition to the alternative treatments of acupuncture and herbs to treat uterine fibroids, some users have reported drinking apple cider vinegar helped to shrink their ovarian cysts.
Foods That Help Slow Fibroid Growth
Low potassium is one contributor to triggering these growths. When I looked at my lab work again, I in fact had low potassium.
Potassium can easily be added into your diet by eating bananas, avocados, oat bran, dates, lentils, and nut milk.
I make a morning smoothie combining frozen fruit, zuccinni (for its neutral taste and water content), one tablespoon of walnut oil, and Elmhurst 1925 walnut milk I buy online from Nuts.com or the actual Elmhurst 1925 website.
Test For Hard Water
Ever traveled to areas of the United States and noticed how soft your hair was only to get home, wash your hair, and feel a difference in texture? Why is that?
If you live in the United States, over 85% of households have hard water. Take a look at this map to see if your city is affected.
If you color your hair or go to a salon, know that hard water and color-treated hair do not mix and can lead to color fading and brassiness.
Knowing what type of water you have in your area helps to narrow down the contributing factors damaging your hair.
Who likes watching money (hair color) running down the drain?
You don’t need fancy gadgets to test for hard water. If you’re a Dr. Bronner’s fan like I am, watch the two-minute video below.
A second quick way to test for hard water is by taking a look at your shower head and faucets.
I live in an area that has extremely hard water. You know you have hard water if there is mineral residue on or around your shower head and faucet.
You might be breathing a sigh of relief right now, thinking it was your household cleaning technique creating the problem.
Nope, it’s just a build-up of minerals. Just add salt pellets to your water softener.
Hair Health Check
Having hard water can trick you into thinking you have a dandruff problem. That is what I thought.
Normally I can get away with washing and styling my hair once a week.
For those with curly hair, washing your hair every day can be damaging to your curls.
I noticed large flakes sticking to my scalp and becoming really itchy. No matter how much I washed my hair, the flakes wouldn’t go away.
The culprit? Mineral deposits from hard water.
My curls became high maintenance. Found myself washing my hair a couple of times a week, yet the itching kept on getting worse.
Hard water can damage hair.
Knowing the signs of build-up on the hair can help undo the damage and get your hair back to its healthy state.
I have since switched to distilled water. Distilled water is the by-product of minerals removed during the distillation process of boiling water.
The steam leftover is your distilled water.
Buying gallon jugs from your grocery store, or purchasing a water distilling machine on Amazon for less than $100 that takes less than four hours to make is another option.
You can find a plethora of videos on YouTube on how to make distilled water at home. It is a time-consuming process, yet it is good to know how to do it in a pinch when purchasing distilled water isn’t available.
What Helps With Hair Loss?
The layering of alternative treatments and home remedies can help accelerate hair regrowth and doesn’t have to be complicated.
Home remedies are natural to easy to make, as most of the products are already sitting in your kitchen cabinet.
Many of us wash and condition our hair incorrectly and haven’t been taught the proper way to care for our hair.
If you have thick and/or curly hair, using a lot of products like oils and silicone to moisturize and protect hair, can add a build-up to your scalp and contribute to itching.
I came across Manes by Mell YouTube Channel when searching for videos to cut my hair at home.
Her explanations about different hair types and curl patterns have been a game-changer.
Learning the ins and outs about scalp care assisted me in making the final determination if I was suffering from a dry scalp or dandruff.
The verdict? Dry scalp. Since showing love to my scalp with nightly massages, I haven’t seen a speck or flake.
Walnut Oil and Essential Oils
Walnut oil contains Omega-3s, which prevents cell damage, destroys dandruff, treats psoriasis, strengthens hair, and promotes regrowth.
Fantastic in salad dressings and smoothies, walnut oil is an excellent oil for massaging your scalp combined with essential oil as a carrier oil.
When selecting a nut or essential oil, ensure you’re buying an organic. Don’t go cheap on your hair. A little goes a long way.
Essential oils can burn if applied directly to the skin. Always mix essential oils with a carrier oil (almond, olive, jojoba, etc.).
Mix two tablespoons of walnut oil with five drops of ylang-ylang oil.
Save time by making your scalp massage oil in bulk by doubling the amount and storing it in a small glass bottle with a glass eyedropper.
Doing it this way makes it easy for me to measure out ten drops of the oil.
Depending on the thickness of your hair, use more or less if you have thinner hair.
Massage into your scalp and leave on for 20 minutes or overnight before shampooing out.
If you’re not a fan of ylang-ylang, check out this list of alternative essential oils for hair.
There is no need to buy a fancy glass bottle.
Once you use up your favorite essential oil, reuse a small glass container to store your hair scalp oil.
I repurposed an empty AVEDA Damage Remedy Oil glass bottle.
These bottles have been coming in handy lately find new uses for when I travel with a carry-on.
If you have a label maker, slap a label (like the one above) on the glass bottle. I wrap a piece of clear packing tape on top of the label to prevent smudging.
The size is small enough to travel in your carry-on.
I massage my scalp every night before going to bed, along with wearing a bonnet.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Scratching the scalp from the build-up of dirt, sebum, and hair products can increase thinning and hair loss.
If you’re experiencing hair thinning, the vitamins and minerals found in apple cider vinegar can promote hair growth by cleansing your hair and scalp by balancing the scalp’s pH level.
The acidity can help your scalp for the occasional itchy scalp like dandruff or psoriasis.
Rinsing your hair with apple cider vinegar (ACV) washes away the build-up of hair products that can make hair lifeless and dull.
In addition to nightly scalp massages, when it is wash day, I skip my walnut and ylang-ylang hair miracle elixir and use Uncle Harry’s Hair and Scalp Elixir.
It’s properties of ACV cleanse the scalp to remove build-up, get rid of dandruff, and accelerates the growth of those baby hairs from root stimulation.
If you have an oily scalp, this elixir will do wonders for your hair.
Apply six-ten drops to your scalp, massage it in, let it sit overnight, and wash out the next day.
ACV, when consumed, is known to purify the liver, contains vitamins and minerals like potassium.
Have you ever bought many beauty or household products only to find out later that they all do the same thing?
I have a confession to make. I’m a recovering product hoarder. Yup, I said it with one exception. I still love trying new products, but finding multiple uses is now the name of the game for me to reduce clutter.
Finding new uses for a product is a way of convincing my psyche that I’m clever and innovative.
All jokes aside, if you’re a Dr. Bronners fan, you’re all too familiar with the 18-in-1 uses listed on every one of their bottles. Pure genius, indeed.
My favorite household product, baking soda, has over 50 uses.
In this post, I will share four ways to use baking soda powder and how it is a game-changer in reducing waste and cost.
4 Ways to Use Baking Soda
Kitchen and RoomDeodorizer
Baking soda isn’t just for neutralizing food odors in your refrigerator; it can also be used to make a simple room deodorizer.
Using a jelly-size mason jar, fill it up 50% and add 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil.
Cover with a decorative lid or cut off some cheesecloth, and secure with a rubber band.
Set baking soda in your bathroom, bedroom, or cup holder in your car to absorb odors. Replace the baking soda every three months. What do you do with the used baking soda?
1.Unclog a Kitchen Sink
Watch this kitchen drain hack before reaching for Drano to unclog your sink.
Not only does baking soda powder deodorize drain, but the combination of white distilled vinegar unclogs your sink in less than 15 minutes.
Add your favorite essential oil like lavender, peppermint, or germ fighter to mask the vinegar smell.
2.DIY Mouse Trap
For less than $1, you can get rid of those pesky mice in the kitchen walls naturally without using a mousetrap or chemical pellets.
Mix one tablespoon of all-purpose flour and baking soda in a tray (old jar lids work wonders) and set in suspected areas where mice roam around your house.
Within a few days of trying this hack and placing a couple of old lids around the house (laundry room, kitchen, and garage), I no longer heard or saw any more uninvited guests.
There were also no bodies to be found. Either this is a good deterrent, or upon eating the mixture, the pests left the way they came and found a grassy place to sleep.
3. Fizzing Toilet Powder
What if I told you you never had to scrub your toilet as often or again?
I scrub less, and my toilet has never smelled better. I have since moved on to making homemade soft scrubs and housecleaning wipes, repurposing an old cotton T-shirt that almost made it to the landfill.
For more cleaning product recipes and instructions on making a homemade soft scrub with just four ingredients, check out my two-part post, 5 GIY Cleaning Product Secrets.
4. Baking Soda Scrub
Another use for baking soda you may not be aware of is getting rid of dirt and grime under your nails and hands.
Instead of using a nail block to buff your nails while giving yourself a manicure, put half a teaspoon of baking soda in your hand and 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil or carrier oil (olive oil, almond oil, walnut oil) and mix the two ingredients.
Rub the mixture on your nails and cuticles. Before washing off, rub your hands together. You will be left with soft hands, shiny nails, and healthy cuticles.
This exfoliating trick is excellent for working out in the garden or on vehicles.
Don’t stop with your hands. The mixture is excellent for at-home pedicures to keep toenails healthy.
After exfoliating, add a couple of drops of tea tree to a cotton swab and apply to your toes.
Tea tree is an effective topical antiseptic and antifungal treatment for toenail fungus and athlete’s foot.
While humans are stuck inside, wildlife is roaming around unfazed by the pandemic.
Many of the national parks are being closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to national park service staff and overwhelming rural hospitals that have limited resources like ICU beds and ventilators.
Just because you can’t travel to these places, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy art, culture, the outdoors and connect with nature from the comfort of your couch.
Check out these virtual tours and live-streamed expeditions and get the cocktails ready!
Watch an African Safari Live
Can’t attend an African safari right now? Join and sunrise or sunset safari watching WildEarth’s safariLIVE broadcast directly from Africa to your home.
For broadcast times and to meet characters of the safari here.
Tour Famous Museums and Art Galleries Around the World
When I visited the The Netherlands a couple years ago during an eight-hour layover on my way to Egypt, eight hours may seem like a lot of time to visit Amsterdam, but with the amount of time having to get back to the airport, go through security, and get to your gate, places to visit had to be priortized.
One place I didn’t have time to visit was the Van Gogh museum. Luckily technology allows us to travel virtually anywhere.
2500 museums and art galleries offer virtual tours that allow you to go to any one of these museums without leaving the couch through Google Arts & Culture.
New York’s Metropolitan Opera
New York has a close place to my heart for many reasons.
Twice a year, I visit to watch ballet at the Lincoln Center in the Spring and return in late summer for the US Open to watch my tennis heroes.
On my bucket list is to watch a live opera at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. That dream will have to wait for now, but there is some good news for opera enthusiasts.
You can enjoy a night at the opera with no dress code!
Every night at 7:30 p.m., the Met offers free nightly opera streams.
Click here for list of nightly met opera stream dates and time. Please consider donating to their urgent fundraising campaign.
Experience 5 US National Parks
For those of us who don’t live by or have one of 61 US National Parks in our backyards to walk out the door and down the street for a brisk walk with nature, the National Park Service has made it possible to explore and tour the following parks virtually:
I have been to a few of these and can say once you complete these virtual tours to national parks in the US, when the time comes to safely travel again, you will want to add one or all of these national parks to your next vacation list.
Check out my travel diary posts on the best national parks trips to:
Ever been curious about acupuncture, wondered what it is, what it can do, or if acupuncture works?
If you’re like most people, health maintenance activities like addressing illness or injury may get blown off until the condition begins to interfere with keeping up with life’s daily responsibilities of caring for others.
The daily juggling act of being a spouse, parent, or caregiver, stress, anxiety, and frustration can deplete energy.
The old Italian saying, “as long as you have your health, nothing else matters” is an easy concept to node your head in agreement about mindfully taking an active role in your health versus putting it into practice.
For less than one hour a week, bi-weekly, or monthly, regular acupuncture treatments can help you regain and maintain health and well being.
Acupuncture has been used for medicinal purposes for over 2,000 years as an alternative treatment to activate the body’s Qi (pronounced “chee”) to promote energy flow throughout the body by improving natural healing and overall function.
The noninvasive whole-body approach of acupuncture uses tiny needles to stimulate points under the skin to treat Qi imbalances or disruptions and to maintain wellness.
How thin is the needle? The size of a cat’s whisker.
I compare the insertion of acupuncture needles to receiving a flu immunization shot in my arm.
Upon injection of the vaccine, the feeling of my body pooling energy in response to the viruses in forming antibodies except there is little pain.
Upon insertion of the acupuncture needle, you may experience a sensation of euphoric energy moving throughout the body.
Don’t be alarmed, what your feeling just means the treatment is working.
What Can Acupuncture Treat?
Acupuncture is proving itself as effective as a complementary healthcare modality with conventional methods and traditional approaches to treat a variety of acute and chronic conditions from musculoskeletal problems like low back pain to reproductive issues like infertility and menstrual irregularity.
Below are medical conditions acupuncture can be effective with treating:
When thinking about the detailed planning and details involved in maintaining health and wellness for your whole self, we can draw on similarities in semi and annual activities like dental hygiene and seasonal car tune-ups.
Visiting the dentist once or twice a year can prevent tooth decay and avoid having to come back for expensive follow-up visits or dental procedures, a root canal, dental crown, or tooth filling.
Maintaining your car with seasonal tune-ups and winterizing your vehicle before the first snowstorm is a preventive safety measure.
Versus ending up stuck on the side of the road or in a ditch in sub-zero temperatures during a blizzard waiting for AAA to arrive due to worn-out tires.
Acupuncture Herbal Medicine
Keeping up with life’s daily responsibilities while engaging in an entire health approach involving the body, mind, and spirit to remain strong and balanced is one of the best investments we can make in achieving and maintaining optimal levels of wellness.
In addition to receiving holistic care, your acupuncturist may recommend herbs to strengthen your body.
I currently take herbs for uterine fibroids and hair loss resulting from a hormone imbalance.
Acupuncture isn’t going to be an overnight miracle. Healing takes time. How long? Someone once told me whenever the physical or mental condition started, that is how long it’s going to take.
Most of us can’t pinpoint when our health conditions started. I can say when I started receiving acupuncture treatments, I noticed little changes in less than a month.
Pay more attention to the changes and celebrate the milestones to living pain-free.
The combination of acupuncture and herbs allows me to receive the full benefits of enhancing my physical and emotional health.
