Last week I forced myself to do something I hate…visit the dentist for my six-month cleaning and check up. Like many people, I’m petrified to even step through the door of a dentist’s office. My fear started when I was two years old and Mom took me along to sit with her while she had a cavity filled. Her theory was if I saw first hand that there was nothing to be afraid of, then I’d have no fear getting my teeth checked out. A sound theory, but that day something went horribly wrong. The dentist let the drill slip in mom’s mouth. I was quickly thrown out of the room and I remember my mom going around with a badly bruised face and being in lots of pain. After that, I associated the dentist’s office with a place I’d rather not visit. For years they’d have to literally drag me in there, my feet scraping the ground so they couldn’t pull me inside. That was until a few years ago when I broke a tooth and ended up with a $1,200 bill for a crown. The dentist said something that made perfect sense. If you go for regular check ups it might just be a filling you need, if you leave it longer, it could be a crown, and if you really neglect your teeth, it’s a root canal, and the price just keeps going up and up. Since then I’ve been going for my six-month check up and last week was happy to say I left the dentist’s office with no work to be done. The moral here, a little money spent up front for cleaning and the check up and proper maintenance at home, yes, flossing, brushing after every meal, can save you big bucks down the road. And it’s amazing how you can get over your fear of something when the reward to saving money.

Last week I also found another way to save some money. For years I’ve been using a toner after I wash my face. After all, wasn’t that what we were always told to do? The toner cleans away the residence from the cleanser and prepares your skin for the moisturizer? Seems like that’s not always the case. I was reading an article by a skin care expert and she said that’s where most of us waste our money. In fact, people with dry or sensitive skin, like me, can actually be doing more harm than good. And even eye cream isn’t an essential part of a skin care line up. That’s two items I can now cross off my list when I go shopping. Only wish I’d known about that sooner.

So here’s something to think about this week, are you using something that you don’t really need? I bet we can all come up with at least one product or even service.