What I have learned...

Those of you who know me, know that Will is an attorney.  He has his own practice, which he has had from the start, except for when he had a corporate job for about 9 months.  (Boy, that was fun!  A steady paycheck and we got into this house!  But, that company fell apart.........) Since he is a lawyer, you might think that I would have no need to learn how to save $$.  There was a time when we both daydreamed about how things would be when he graduated.  Those dreams helped us make it through those trying years of graduate school. We didn't know what an uphill climb it would be for us.  Blessings have come, but also there have been many, many disappointments, stressful times, and tears shed.  Will and I have both grown and gained so much through the past few years.  And the growth continues to come as we continue to have ups and downs.We have both pondered and asked over and over "What are we to learn from this?".  I had the thought this morning that I should share what I have learned.  If I can help someone else who is struggling during these hard economic times, it would make me very happy.  I wish people weren't so judgemental about others that have hard times finanically, but that's not always the case.  You never know what they have gone through.  You don't know how hard they have worked.  How much they have prayed, fasted, served and tried to have faith.  And yet they still struggle........So, here are some things I have to share and will probably post other ideas as I think of them, or discover new things I want to try.

• Have a good food storage and learn how to use it.  I am so thankful we bought our dry food storage items.  It has made our rocky times between getting settlements and new clients so much easier.  I have had to learn how to use it better and to make meals out of what I have. 
• You can make pretty much anything that comes pre-made in a box or frozen.  Eggo Waffles. Pizza. Lasagna. Burritos. Hamburger Helper.  Refer to cookbooks and the internet for help and recipes.
• Make your own babyfood.  I realized this morning that I didn't buy a single jar of babyfood for Noah, and maybe a couple for Audrey.  I ground my own fruits and veggies, or whatever we had for dinner and froze it in ice cube trays.  I would thaw them as needed.
• Your kids don't need store bought snacks to eat!  We have an air popper for popcorn and that is what we snack on when times are tight.  I bought a 25 pound bag of kernals at Sam's for like $17.  Make things from scratch for them to snack on.  My kids will eat a waffle from breakfast any time of the day. Yippee.
• Make your own cleaning supplies with a mixture of vinegar and water with a squirt of liquid soap for good measure.  It doesn't smell as nice as the store bought stuff, but it sure is cheap!  You can also run vinegar in your Jet Dry compartment or use it instead of liquid fabric softener.  I buy my vinegar at Sam's; you get two gallon jugs for under $3.  That is super cheap!
• It's ok if your kids don't have a new wardrobe at the beginning of each season.  My kids rarely get NEW clothes unless I scored a screamin' deal from a clearance rack.  We get hand-me-downs often, which we are grateful for.  We also shop DI, Savers, and garage sales.  It shouldn't be embarressing to be super frugal! 
• We try to made do with what we have.  If clothes are ripped, we fix them.  If they are too short, we try to still make them work by adding more fabric or if it's a dress, wear it as shirt instead.  You'd be suprised what you can do if you try to NOT spend money on clothes or even decorating items.  I made my girls' bedskirt from some old clothes and fabric I had laying around because I couldn't go buy a new one.
• Let's face it: people are going to post where they are going and what they are buying on facebook or on blogs.  If it bothers you, stay off the computer until you are in a better spot emotionally.  Sometimes I feel myself getting green with envy when I see so-and-so are going on vacation again and we aren't.  I actually quit reading someone's blog because of what she posted.  It was making me sad, so I just quit reading it!  I don't think people are trying to brag and make others feel badly, but I do know when you are struggling it can be hard to not be jealous. ;) I am truly happy for people that are having fun, but sometimes it does bother me. So....
• Have a party anyway!!  Just because you can't have ribs on the grill for a BBQ doesn't mean you can't have a BBQ at all.  Just serve hot dogs!!  Find a way to still enjoy life!  We had a party for my kids' baseball teams, and it wasn't the best timing for us financially.  But, I used coupons, hit some sales and managed to pull off a couple of nice little parties for my kids and their teammates.
• Don't watch too much TV.  The world says stupid things like "Every kiss begins with Kay (Jewelers)!" and seems to want us to think the only way to enjoy life and eachother is to go on fancy vacations all the time and show love by buying eachother elaborate gifts.  Don't get me wrong, I would love to go on a big fancy vacation, but for now, being with my kids in our own backyard is enough.  It should be enough.  It needs to be enough.
• It's ok to tell your kids "We don't have money for that right now."  My kids understand that we are self-employed and sometimes we have to "tighten our belts".  They understand that we have to pay bills: the power bill, utilities, and so on.  They have gotten quite creative with trying to earn money for things they want.  Can you say "Snowcone\lemonade\face painting stands"?!

I hope that something I have said will help someone.  It helped me write it out!  We are always asking ourselves "What are we supposed to learn from this??".  That is hard to know.  But, I have become better friends with others who struggle like we do.  I have more compassion for those whose financial success is slow coming. We all have trials.  They may not be the same, but we all have them.  May we do our best to lift eachother up and encourage eachother.  (There will be more posts like this to come as I think of more things, or find more frugal ideas I want to try.....)