Period or miscarriage?!

My husband has switched to part time while he finishes his last year of schooling so money is tight. We’ve been trying to get pregnant for over two years now and had a miscarriage a year ago. Because money is tight, I’ve stopped buying pregnancy tests. They were stressing me out, I was using way too many in hopes maybe they were “wrong” (you know!!) and I figured I would just “know” I was pregnant. Well since my last miscarriage, I’ve had multiple awful periods, but a couple over two weeks late with more than normal clot passing and pain. When I had my miscarriage we knew we were pregnant, so my husband took me to the hospital right away—I didn’t exactly see what it all looked like. What is the difference between a heavy clotted period and a miscarriage? Should I be worried if I stop bleeding within a week? Is this one of those things you don’t want to know if it ends out okay? I feel so silly wondering, but it does make me a tad nervous, but I also don’t want to overreact if abnormal periods are the new norm still a year after a miscarriage. Thanks for your help!