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In our home this week anyway. Our son had a mid fall break from school for two days and we took he and his sister to see their natural dad in Arkansas. It was his birthday weekend so it was a good surprise for him. Today though, I have to catch up the two days I've been off schedule. The question was asked how we are in our home, changing how we live as we combat rising prices. I have not seen a tremendous change in what I do, though I am more careful to menu plan. More careful not to waste things that formerly I might have let go (a leftover serving of food) I am packing son's lunch now instead of a school lunch, for this year it went to $3 a lunch and that $20 a week is 1/3 as much as my whole food bill. This time of year we keep soup going almost all the time. The children eat it as an afterschool snack with cornbread and I often have it for lunch during the school day. We have always unplugged boxes for satellite and t.v. at night after I figured out unplugging xbox alone at night when they had one saved $10 a month in electricity. Our laptops were costing $7-14 a month in electricity when we weren't using them. We've been much more frugal with clothing purchases. I use goodwill and yardsales to find the brands I like, this year we'd moreso chosen to limit outfits to 3 new per child and 2 Sunday or dressier outfits and continued the cleanout of clothes we felt were worn and out of date. Less has been much more in the clothing department....laundry bills went down, messy rooms went down, time to clean up after laundry went down. Children are more responsible when they can recognize and name all their clothing. Fuel is something we're very aware of. Late summer I sold my minivan which was in fine shape, and bought a very used honda civic. the 35-40 mpg has made an impact on our fuel bill. When we drove to meet the children's natural father this weekend, it cost $60 roundtrip, in the past that would have been $130. Yes, I miss the roominess of the van, but with only 2 children at home, there really wasn't an excuse to keep it. Insurance and fuel bills went down. I am also using my old standard of using things from home sales or ebay to buy those "whims" I would want that are not budgeted. In one case, I found a set of craftsman tools at a sale for $6, each piece of it would ebay for more than $2 apiece. A pain to do, yes, but even with fees, my husband made over $50 that paid for the part he needed for a reloading project. Its like "free" money to me when I can do so. I usually do it with clearance plates from known china and manufacturers, where I can get the plate for $3.99 and sell it for $8-9. God is good, and more than anything this season I am choosing to be more content with the many blessings I have at home without buying. I have been so blessed to have the family, health, and home we have, and if I am truly honest with myself, if I simply take care of what I have I do not have time to worry about anything else I might not have! When I start worrying lately about this or that, I take time to stop myself, focus on something I am using that worry time doing that I need to be doing, and try to get back on track. Its serious work, training our thoughts, but its in obedience to God who knows I have much work to do in most areas! Be blessed! Sweetie |
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