The Bargain Hunters Guide to Christmas Shopping by Kristen Math

It's only March 1st, and I’m almost done with next year’s Christmas shopping. I have sweaters for my husband, and a new Christmas serving set for my mom. Hidden away in my treasures are shirts for my dad and step-mom and a beautiful leather-bound Texas Hold’em poker chips set for my brother. I have already picked up some games and books for the children. I even have many stocking stuffers tucked away for St. Nick .It’s almost embarrassing that I’m such a penny pincher. Getting through...

The scene: It’s Valentine’s Day. You look around, and once again your spouse is gone. Your choice: Feel sorry for yourself and wallow in your misery or take the opportunity to tell yourself that you deserve to celebrate yourself. Here are a few suggestions for giving yourself the Valentine’s Day you deserve. One of the first things that the commercials remind you about for Valentine’s Day is jewelry: Diamonds, pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, platinum. Sure you deserv...

80 hours a week. That leaves only 88 hours to live the rest of your life. Sleep – now that’s a big hit. 7 hours a night for 7 days a week? 49 hours just sleeping?? Now we’re down to 39 hours. Ouch. Maybe we can eliminate some of that. Personal hygiene: 1 hour x 7days= 7 hours. 32 hours left. 4 hours commuting time each week. 28 hours. How much of it should be spent reading? How much with the family? Forget physiology. These are the equations that are talked about in residency programs today....

I’ve been trying to figure out the whole Santa thing. He’s always described as such a happy guy. The twinkling eyes! All those toys! The shaking belly laugh! Do you really buy that? I mean this guy lives in the North Pole, right? And it’s Christmas all the time for him. I don’t think that would leave most people cheerful. After all, there doesn’t seem to be much in the winter season to inspire glee. The trees are barren, the sun is gone by late afternoon and everyone is stressed-out, overscheduled...

It seemed like things were finally settling down for my little family. My husband had completed his nomadic years of medical training, gotten a good job and moved us all to a cute little village on the outskirts of an interesting city. After a predictable initial adjustment to the new area and new job, everyone in the family had made connections and found things to enjoy. I felt a deep satisfaction at a job well done as I retrieved the mail and found a birthday party invitation for each of my two...

I’ve been told that I talk faster than most people can listen. It’s even been suggested that my cartoon ‘alter ego’ is the Tasmanian Devil. Like Taz, I can be almost frenzied in my activity when I am ‘crazy busy’…a state I put myself in on a regular basis. Honestly, this flurry of activity has always felt quite comfortable to me. I enjoy the hectic pace. My energy level has served me well through years of my husband’s residency training, raising small children and g...

I remember the exact moment that I abandoned the show “ER”. In the episode, a family came through the hospital after experiencing a terrible car accident. Mom and Dad were dead on arrival. The whole show, their two newly orphaned children sat in an exam room. They were unharmed but in shock. The older boy and his sister, dressed up for a holiday dinner, clung to each other and asked quietly over and over to see their Mom or Dad. Eventually, Nurse Hathaway gently told them that an aunt was coming...

In the winter, when you hear the term “digging out” you think of large snowfalls and sore shoulders. Every January, a different kind of digging out begins in households across the nation – digging out of the hole you got into with Christmas spending. For medical residents, that hole can be enormous. With educational debt already high and your time and earning potential limited, consumer debt can seem insurmountable.

How’d We Get In This Mess In The First Place? First of al...

There’s an old German saying that goes like this: “Berg und Tal kommen nicht zusammen, aber die Leute”. This translates roughly to “Mountains and Valleys don’t come together, but people do”

Recently, MDFamily had the opportunity to sit down (virtually, of course!) with Suzanne Quijano. Suzanne has worked as a medical biller out of her home for the last several years during her husband’s medical training. She graciously agreed to share some job tips.

How did you get in to medical billing? My neighbor had been doing billing for about a year from her home before I decided to try it. I had been doing home daycare, along with marketing and news monitoring out of my house...