Wishful Homesteader

celebrate ENOUGH

From Cindy's Porch...

I have a "fat" screen TV and it's awesome and it is enough!

What a hodge podge of financial headlines this past week! Everything
from a recession just around the corner, to declining stock markets,
to rebounding stock markets, to housing boom up, down, to confidence
in the economy is low, is high, etc.

YIKES!

There are three very powerful gifts you can give yourself and your
family right now.

NUMBER ONE: Celebrate "Enough"
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Advertisers, marketers, and retailers are doing their very best to
convince you to BUY – and BUY more now! And if you don't have the
cash, they are very "interested" in your credit. And at 19 or 23%,
they want to maintain your "interest" for as long as possible.

As well, these same retailers know that many of you are receiving
rebates, refunds, and other cash bonuses at this time of year. And
they want that money coming their way!

I was watching a new ad for a popular laundry detergent. "It's even
better!!!" "Two times more powerful!!" "Even whiter!!" "Even
Cleaner!!" Hmmmmm – makes me wonder what was wrong with the "older"
versions I have been using up to now LOL.

The point is, nothing. Our clothes are clean and white enough.
The "New and Improved" is just an advertising ploy.

Leave the advertising ploys in the store.

Celebrate Enough!

How many flyers have you been receiving lately? One would think
Christmas is just around the corner when you see all the
advertisements that have been showing up on our front porch this past
week. BUY this, BUY that. Spring is here – REDO your entire home. BUY
more. BUY it now. It's on SALE now!! They know that this is tax
refund season!

Blech! Grab all those paper flyers and stash them into the recycle
bin. Remember, there is always another sale.

Celebrate Enough!

When you look around your home what are you thinking?

"I want to BUY..." or "I have enough." Think about it. Do you want
more? Or Do you have enough?

Those two very different thoughts are going to make a HUGE difference
in your finances – particularly over the next year as the economy
unsettles and resettles, and does whatever it is going to do.

If your thinking is "I want to BUY..." then look out pocketbook. Your
cash (or worse – your credit) is a magnet for every "new and
improved," "new for spring," and "you deserve it" shopping
opportunity out there. Advertisements are designed to make you feel
unsatisfied with what you have already bought – so you will BUY more.
Retailers love unhappy shoppers who think that BUYing will make them
happy. Retailers know that the "happy" is temporary and those
shoppers will be back soon – with their credit cards.

Celebrate enough.

If your thinking is "I have enough" - then look out world! You are
ready to DO! When you are satisfied and happy with the things you
already own, the things you have already paid for, the things you
have already chosen, then you open the doors to huge opportunities to
use those things, to enjoy those things, and to share those things.
(how's that for a run-on sentence LOL).

Celebrate enough.

I love going through my closet to rediscover my spring wardrobe. I
have many wonderful clothes that I have purchased over the years that
make me smile. I have enough – and I plan on wearing these clothes
and enjoying them (some of them need to be ironed first – I don't
like doing that LOL).

I love slipping on my walking shoes, my snowshoes, or my hiking boots
and heading out into the great outdoors. Add a picnic made from food
we already had in the home, my stainless steel water bottle (which is
much better for you than using store-bought non-refillable water
bottles), and my digital camera and I am set for an adventure in
DOing that has taken me from the tops of mountains (short mountains –
hee hee) to the valley floor. I never know what I will see.

I love curling up in my favorite spot on the couch in my living room
with a good book from the library. If my special guy happens to bring
me a cup of tea – I am in reading heaven! In my living room, we have
a piano that we inherited from our first home (the original owners
left it behind), an antique radio from my husband's grandmother, a
wool rug from my grandmother, my sofa and a chair, plus a couple of
plants, a couple lamps, and a few decorating touches. On the walls
are two pictures given to me when I "retired" from my workplace to
stay home with our kids. I treasure these two special gifts every
time I look at them. As well, my piggy bank is curled up on the floor
next to the sofa. There isn't really much in this room, but I love
it. It makes me smile. There is enough.

And that's just me. In our home – the kids and my husband all have
their own "enoughs." Over the years, we've created a place that isn't
built upon BUYing more, but is happy with enough – because we would
rather DO than BUY!.

Take a look at your home. Do you have enough?

When those rebates, refunds, and other cash bonus come into your
homes over the next few weeks, what are you going to DO with this
cash?

Do the stores get it or DO you?

Celebrate enough!