I am blessed abundantly. Besides the happy home and family life with reasonably healthy fammily members (Thank you God) I have everything I need and most of what I want.
Lately I've been thinking to myself that we have too much. Too much DTV and tivo. Too many toys. Bills that get autopaid without anyone taking note of it because we don't need to. And while I am vastly thankful for the ease and comfort that my husband's job provides for us.. I can't help thinking maybe it would do me good to feel what it's like to have less. We got ourselves out of 25 K debt in our twenties but it's been awhile since I've had a real need to be frugal. Oh, I admit that I prefer to be frugal but there's something missing it from it that you don't get when you -have to- watch your money. Is it a sense of purpose perhaps?
My husband have running discussions of late on whether or not we should get rid of our dtv/tivo. We didn't always have cable. When we were first married we lived happily without it because we could see the basic channels ok. That is until we moved into a house with almost no reception. Enter DTV and tivo. Oh, how I love tivo. That tells you how much tv we watch. Too much. And while I do love Noggin and TLC.. I think I am ready to give them up. There really isn't enough time in the day to watch all the DR. Phil's and CSI's and Losts. And is that really how I want to be spending my time. (ok, the answer is yes when it comes to Lost.)
Our house selling surplus is still sitting in our account... we are slowly using it to redo bits of our house so we don't have to finance or put anything on a credit card. So, now we have a new roof and have had our trees thinned and cut out. And next week our front porch and driveway are getting re-done. (well, this wasn't in our plans but apparently the county thinks our sunken driveway is a hazard so now we must comply). So, in a few months (give or take a fence and perhaps a play area for the kiddos) we will be able to sock a lot of it away in CDs. And fly without our money cushion. I'm looking forward to once again hearing my husband say, "We've only got three hundred dollars to spend for the rest of the month." Am I crazy?
I am looking forward to once again have goals and a direct number in my head of where we're at financially.
I've been thinking it's time to re-enter the cash/envelope shopping system. Does anyone else do this?
This week I was going to try to do a $20.00 grocery limit but, I've already messed that up. Never take a toddler and pre-k'r grocery shopping when you are all hungry and tired. 43.00 and a cart partially full of convenience junk (but the cinnamon raisin loaf looked so good).
But dinner got rave reviews from hubby and DD cleaned her plate. I made taco bake with crunched up tostada shells, can of black beans, taco sauce, sauteed onions, garlic and veggie burger, cheddar cheese and topped the baked product with chopped tomatoes, sour cream and bagged salad. I served it with a side of brown rice. For dessert we had chunked pound cake (got free after rebate), sliced strawberries and leftover vanilla pudding. Hubby's got leftovers to take to work tomorrow. And I get the satisfaction of knowing that I made my family and nutritious and tasty meal.
Right now my dear husband and children are outside hunting for lightning bugs to put in DD's new bug collecting kit he bought her from The Dollar Tree. She's been playing with it for a week. Sometimes those dollar toys really are worth a dollar.
But, it's time for me to go get them and ready them for bed.
Good night, All.
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