Putting a Hold on Impulsive Jumps

The economy is not improving, I don't care which paper you are reading or which expert is in your ear. There may be a few real estate deals to be had for those with spare funds, but rents are remaining the same in my area. Gas, groceries, insurance, and many other living expenses are inching up each month yet everyone lucky enough to still have a job has the same wage as before.

My son is weighed down by student loans, an uncompleted education, and the stresses of retail management. Eldest daughter is balancing full time work and motherhood. Youngest daughter has returned home stressed after a failed attempt to share a home with friends. It seems a perfect time to revisit an old post.

Handy Hints For Communal Living

When you are on a frugal path with a goal you have to stay the course until your goals are met. If you jump too soon any small setback can put you right back where you were before. Keep your skills fresh, remember these times will not last forever, celebrate small victories, and plan out your future without losing sight of your goals.

Things are working out so far here, everyone is pitching in to help out, and someone is always here to entertain Grandbaby. Side note: every time I try to write a post, or do any reading on my computer Grandbaby comes into the room, gives me a kiss, smiles, sits next to me, and says, "I watch," next thing I know I'm clapping along to "Yo Gabba Gabba."

Realistically I will be here for up to two years until everyones goals are met. I'm reworking my room a bit now and turning it into more of a retreat for my husband and I. This doesn't involve money as I am just deep cleaning and moving furniture about. I'm getting rid of some furniture that just takes up too much of the limited space. Next I will tackle the common rooms, before attempting a massive garage clear out. Reorganization of our small house will make it easier for all to get along.

My one remaining debt is shrinking, and my savings are growing gradually. We'll just be that much further ahead when everyone else catches up. If you are paddling toward shore and feeling discouraged don't stop and try to stay on the lilly pad. The lilly pad will crash, keep on paddling all the way until you reach shore, you'll be glad you did. Plan, and be ready for the better times ahead.

The Waiting Time

I'm still spending time decluttering and baby proofing the house when I'm not at work. Three bookcases are finally complete and I'm left with three more to go. I must tackle those seldom used kitchen cabinets next. Those cups on the top shelf that I haven't touched in three years, do I really need them? I don't think so. This really isn't the most fascinating stuff to write about, so I haven't.

As I've stated before, no matter the state of your finances, you must find joy in your life. We took the grandbaby to the library and to the beach to walk the small pier. While he watched the sun set at the waters edge we watched the happiness on his face. When we arrived back at home we watched the grandbaby get really stuck in to an ice cream cone. Small pleasures for frugal folks tackling their debt.

I plan not to shop in April. Our pantry is stocked and we need no household goods. Besides milk, bread, sandwich meat, produce, and juice we won't need a thing. It's a good place to be because I hate shopping. We plan to take the grandbaby to the zoo and the dog for a checkup and updated shots. Other than that we don't need a thing, so all extra money will go to savings.

I'm still planning a Florida escape (from not to) and it may just be possible before the major heat settles. I dread the summers here.

Debt, A Hard Bargain

Debt used to be a way of life for me. I started with a student loan, added a department store card, mixed in a gas card, and then a few regular credit cards. I guess I just figured it was what people did. We needed stuff, we had jobs, and the bills were paid as they came in. The bills were paid as they came in but we also allowed many of the cards to carry a balance which tended to grow.

We had kids and we were poor, so we had earned income tax credit which gave us back a nice income tax check. This income tax check became our emergency fund. Cars were forced to limp along until February or March when the extra money would be available briefly for repairs. We tried to save some of it sometimes but those pesky bills kept showing up in the mailbox.

The bills kept coming but we had an addiction to stuff. We liked kid stuff, and kitchen stuff, and pretty stuff. Sometimes, working retail, we found fantastic deals on deeply marked down, previously quite expensive stuff. If we didn't have enough cash we would put some of these great bargains on credit, thereby cancelling out the "bargainness" of the product.

My stuff was super important but I didn't notice the value of my husbands stuff. My husband didn't understand just how clever I was to buy all of the stuff I found on clearance. We filled our house with bargains, not to the point of hoarding but to the point of realizing finally that we had too many of everything and a nice vacation and a savings account would have been a better use of our money. We were caught up in lower class consumerism, keeping up with the Smith's.

We've reversed our thinking. It took a while, we had a long lesson to learn. I was raised by Depression babies but they never discussed money, or why they lived as they did. They never explained why they only went to the dollar theater, or wore old clothes, or rarely went out to eat. They never said why they bought toilet paper in bulk, on a super sale, or why they kept their old car running. I was young and didn't know any better. I just thought they were cheap and sometimes stingy. They never really shared their quiet lessons.

I was told stories of my mothers youth. I knew about her owning two dresses, one to wash and one to wear. I heard about the one room schoolhouse and only having shoes in winter. How quaint. They never really shared their current stories. They sat smiling while we joked about a nuclear holocaust where wounded people would beat at our door for our toilet paper hoard. They never once said, "This is why we do what we do..." I wonder if they would have spoken if the lessons would have been learned earlier in life or if some lessons just have to be learned the hard way.

Rainy Days and Impatience

Today it is raining and my area is under a tornado watch. At one point it was if a solid wall of rain was coming down. It sounded like hale but when I went outside I didn't see any on the ground. On days like these, with the steady rain and cloud cover, I only want to stay in bed with the dog and relax and nap. It is difficult to drag myself to work any day but rainy days are particularly difficult.

With extra hours here lately there is so much to do at home. I feel as if I can never catch up on everything. It seems as if I get really far into a project and then get called in to work and then several days later I am right back where I started. I cleared out half a bookcase and have a large stack to donate. The other half is staring at me but I have to get to work. I have a basket of clothes from yesterday! I forgot to put them away. Tucked into a corner on a chair, they will just have to wait until tonight.

One thing my husband and I committed to the other night was clearing out more of our possessions. It was something we were already working on. We've already made a few hundred off of yard sales and donated several carloads but we want to go further. We have moving goals and travel goals and want to significantly lighten our load. This is a long messy process. There are closets to empty and boxes to go through and it just takes so much time. Add in jobs and regular household chores and dog care. I'm further exhausted just thinking about it. My problem is impatience and wanting everything to happen instantly.

We were at the laundromat yesterday and there were two ads on the bulletin board from house cleaners and I so wished I had a little more income to afford this. With my freed up time I could pursue more education, or better this site, or get ready to move and do a job search in a new area. I am so impatient but my time and energy are not infinite.