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keeping me unemployed

What an interesting title.  I have not been "gainfully" employed in years.  Oh I started out like everyone else, I held a summer job from the time I was 14 or 15 years old.  The first job was repairing wicker and caning, and I lasted two days.  Two ENTIRE days of BORINGNESS.  Whew.  I learned that I was patient but there were limits.

Next job, chambermaid.  Nice title.  Hard smelly work, sometimes too nasty for words, don't think about it, think about the paycheck.

Finally I graduated to the big time and held some secretarial positions and that was fun, but there was always the inclination to work myself into boringness.  Thats a problem for me.  Not that I am the most efficient person on the planet, surely not, but limits frustrate me.  It was during this time my dream job materialized.  All it took was a little wooing on the part of the CEO and I was hooked.  He formally asked me to join his company on May 15, 1986.  At the next table there was a child carrying on something fierce.  To this day I say it was a glimpse into the future! 

My CEO and I made our commitment to each other on April 5, 1987.  We pledged ourselves to each other, we made promises, we made vows.  In a few weeks we will celebrate 20 years of my being unemployed! LOL. 

Now that the fun part is done, let me just say that it is through all manner of frugal ideas that I have been able to remain unemployed.  We have been blessed with five children and all kinds of financial strains have tested us to our limits, but with God's help we have gotten through it all.

We used to live in a very populated area.  Ken's paycheck was a good one, our mortgage was high, our needs were high, our grocery bill was high.  We were barely making it.  After projecting it out, I realized ( and I handle the bills) that we would have to compromise our ideals ( ie: I would have to work and leave the kids with a sitter) to keep our house.  At one point it was food or kids shoes. 

After much discussion we decided to move away from all that was near and dear.  I felt like we were abandoning everyone for the wilderness.  We moved to a less populated area 260+ miles from everyone we knew.  We did know one family here that had moved in a few years before we did.  That was a blessing but even so their lives were as full as ours were, so we rarely saw each other.  Those first months were very hard on me, I felt so isolated.  We had so much freedom at that point, financially.  Ken had gotten a new job that paid almost the same as the one we moved away from, the cost of living was less than half, we had a rental at that time.  The kids all had plenty of clothes to wear, plenty of food to eat, etc.  Still, it was important to me to practice my frugal skills.  I did not purchase new unless there was no other choice.  I used, reused, and waited to buy something that I didn't need right away. 

My frugalness was something of a shock to my beloved, who grew believing that new was always better.  Now he knows different.  We went house shopping for months, finally finding a place that we both really wanted, the area was great, it was not too close to town, but close enough to get there.  The house was a mess, and that is putting things very mildly.  The owner was asking too much.  Ken said do you want this place?  I said Can you fix it?  We both said yes.  I walked around and inspected as much as I could, writing everything down and estimating the replacement costs and checking with Ken to see if there was anything he couldn't fix.  there wasn't.  So I came up with a much lower figure to offer to the owner, through the disbelieving realtor, and that the offer was cash, as is, except for the barn full of garbage, they needed to clean that out.  Much to the realtors surprise. the offer was accepted.  At this point, we owned a house for cash ( proceeds from the sale of our home we left) and it had so much that needed work.  Ken set to work on it and has been working on it ever since LOL.  There is always something to do.

 I am going to continue this another time.  I will share some of our frugalness with you if you like, or at the very least I will continue our story.

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12:24, Thursday, March 15, 2007 .. Posted by crewchief

What a great story! Yes, please do continue it, and add frugal tips. I think we are pretty frugal here, but can always learn more. :)

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12:34, Thursday, March 15, 2007 .. Posted by Andrea

Loved this post!!! Love your sense of humor... and sensibilities too!! :-)

Peace~ Andrea

AWESOME!!!

12:58, Sunday, March 25, 2007 .. Posted by hcorbin

I really enjoyed reading this!
You are an inspirations!!!!!
Indiana country girl