Over the last 5 months, I have learned to live on a very limited budget. My child support has been cut in half, due to the fact that my oldest child is…well old.
I never really thought about how much money I wasted on stuff I didn’t really need.
Or how much food I bought. In the last few months I have been aware of throwing WAY too much food away. Adjusting to cooking for two instead of three has been a challenge to me. I always cook way too much, and both Colton and I aren’t good with most leftovers, so it was just getting wasted.
I think I have that under control now.
When I go shopping, I will think about whether or not I really need it, or just want it. I realize now, that I bought ALOT of stuff out of want, not need. Not having extra money, I have really found myself starting to eat better, and be less compulsive when I shop.
Now I am not talking shoe or clothes shopping here, I can’t even remember the last time I did that. I am talking everyday stuff. Food, toiletries…stuff like that.
Thank god I don’t have a shopping for me problem, I would be in deep deep trouble. It has been a long time since I have been this tight for cash. I make it work, but I am juggling and rearranging my life to just squeak by. It’s do-able. I know this. People do it every day.
I don’t have credit cards that I abuse. I have one that I use if I need it, but it is not in my purse, so I am not tempted. If I don’t have the cash, I don’t buy it. That is the way it is for us right now. I am ok with that. Like I said at the beginning, I am amazed how much money I wasted on stuff that really wasn’t necessary. Think about it the next time you shop…it will surprise you.
I recycle better, I use things until they are totally gone, without wasting. I am finally cleaning out the 16 different kinds of shampoo and conditioner I have under the bathroom counter, and using up the 15 different kinds of lotion I have. Ok…and the 50 colors of nail polish I have, but that took me years to accumulate, really it did. The reality is that it isn’t gonna fit in the Motorhome when I finally sell this house, so I better use it up :)
Last week I bought groceries twice…I spent about $60 all together, I used to go shopping nearly every day after work, easily spending at least $40 every time. That adds up.
Issues?? Me?? No....
I am changing how we eat. We don’t eat meat every single night. I am changing our diets for the better. Or trying to. I am glad my garden is starting to grow, I love eating what I grow, veggies are so good right out of the garden. I am baking more and being way more creative in what I do in the kitchen.
Of course Colton complains there is nothing to eat. Only because there is no junk, and nothing that is instant gratification…too bad. Think about what you eat. Make something instead of just eating premade food. He has to get used to that, he doesn’t have much choice :)
So I have decided I am happy with less being more. I look forward to the day when I don’t have to pinch pennies like I am right now, but I am ok with living without spending and teaching my kids, that even when times are tough you can make it work.
Life has it’s ups and downs…and one thing is for sure, it never stays the same. You make due with what you are given. There is always a way to get by, even if it is not what you are used to.
I never stop learning, about life and myself. Things that I never even thought about a lot of days, I think about now.
I am grateful for the skill to make my life work, for the challenge of making ends meet, even when I think they are not going to.
For the lessons that come with the changes life brings. I am up for it. I know I can do it.
How do you save money in your everyday life? What could you change?
Here’s to all of us hard working girls, that always seem to pull off the impossible…
yay us!!
Have a great day all xoxo
