Share the Wealth

Just watching the nightly news this week has had me on the verge of tears. The massive destruction in the gulf, from Hurricane Katrina, is almost too overwelming to watch. Knowing that these tens of thousands of people, whose "life-as-they-know-it," will be forever changed, causes a lump in my throat. I could easily assume that most of us reading this have never faced the experience of losing absolutely everything. We've been through rough times financially, but NEVER to the magnitude of this.

This has been an especially useful time for me to show my children the power of our awesome, and almighty God. It has also been a great chance for me to teach them that the Lord does all things for His glory. Though we may not always understand, we can ALWAYS know that He is doing His great works for His own glory.

What's the glory in such devistation? Well, for us, it has given us an oppoutunity to serve one another. To love our neighbor as the Lord commands. As we have been watching the news, there have been many donation stations made known to us. I was amazed that in less than 30 minutes, I was able to fill four trash bags with clothes, food, and toiletries that we could give to these hurricane victims. What a great and real-life lesson for my five year old as he participated in packing things, up and delivering them with me. I would encourage you to share the wealth that we are so blessed with. Give sacrifically. You will see but just a tiny glimpse of the glory of God when you can share His love with others. And that is true wealth.

My Frugal Favorite Things #1

This is the first instillation of postings about things that I really, really like. There is no ranking or specific field of interest, just any and everything here.

So, here we go...

My Frugal Favorite Things #1:
Baskin Robbins Cappucino Blasts. I love these things! They come in mocha, cappucino, and chocolate flavors. But you have to get a the cappucino flavor, and instead of vanilla ice cream, use fudge ice cream. That will give you the mocha flavor with a little more coffee flavor too. They're not really frugal at $3.50 each so...to make this a frugal favorite, I figured out how to make one at home!

These are all approximate measurements. You will have to adjust to your liking.
-about 1 cup of ice
-1/2 cup leftover or fresh coffee
-1/2 cup of milk
-1 heaping scoop of vanilla (or chocolate) ice cream
-a couple of Tbls. of chocolate syrup

Blend everything together in blender until ice is completely crushed. Sometimes I have to add more of the other ingredients to thicken it up or to make it taste just right. Pour into a large glass and top with whip cream and cinnamon or cocoa. Delicious!!!!

How it all began...

My frugal life that is. A series of events led me to seek out ways to cut my budget a little bit. One of which was, after being married and working for five years, my husband and I had our first child. We both really desired for me to be able to stay at home with the baby. Knowing that our income whould be cut almost in half (yikes!) and we would no longer have medical insurance (double yikes!!) We had to take drastic measures to make this work. Everything possible was cut out of our budget. No more cable, no more eating out spontaneously, and scaling down the grocery bill were just SOME of the changes. It really became a complete mindset of trying to do everything as inexpensively as possible. And you know- it really wasn't that bad! I look back now, and can't believe some of the things I used to buy at the grocery store!

Another thing that really motivated me was a great book called "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn. I was so cheap that I checked it out at the library!! But I would definitely recommend buying it. It is a great reference tool with frugal recipes, alternate uses for everyday items, great frugal ideas, etc. Some of the ideas in this book are a little over the top (like making a hammock out of plastic six-pack rings!) BUT, it really made me think twice before I threw something away! Hmm...the foil seal from the top of my yogurt cup- I think I'll wrap up some leftovers with it! Dacyczyn would not recommend you buying yogurt from the store though. You can make it for pennies at home!

So, three children later, and hopefully, a little bit wiser, we have made it on one income. It's really amazing the THINGS in life that really do not matter. I would much rather be able to hold my children when they fall down, or watch them take their first steps, or hear them read for the first time, than to have all the stuff that the world tells me I can't live without. I can.

The Mixed-Up Frugal Mom

This describe me to a tee! I love being THRIFTY. I love being a STAY AT HOME MOM. I love getting a great deal at a YARD SALE! Yet, if I have $10 in my pocket, it's like a magnet pulling me to a drive-thru, or some other alluring money-sucking place. It drives me crazy until it's gone!

This reminds me of what Paul the apostle says in Romans 7:15 "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." He goes on to say in verse 18 and 19 "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do: no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing." What powerful words from Paul, a great preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even he identifies with the continuous struggle of sin within us.

Now, I'm not saying that spending $10 at the golden arches is necessarily a sin! BUT, the point here, is practicing self-control. The Bible speaks strongly of self control in terms of evidence that we are in Christ. To quote Paul again, Galations 5:22 says "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and SELF-CONTROL." Here we're taught that the fruit of the spirit is characteristic of TRUE believers...it is evidence that we are saved. Don't misunderstand me now, I didn't say it's how we EARN our salvation, but rather how we EVIDENCE it. Big difference! We are clearly told in Scripture that our salvation - our right standing with God - is by grace, not by any of our works (Roman 3:20, 24-26; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6).

Wow! That was a mouthful! I said all that to say this. Being frugal takes a lot of self-control for me. And spending too much money is sinful if it is controlling you, rather than you controlling it. I often fail terribly at this! So, I wanted to start this blog to encourage you if you are stuggling with taming your spending habits; and also, as a practical tool to give you tips, and ideas to help you live a frugal and self-controlled life. For some of you, this may come very easily, so I am counting on you to help me! E-mail me any and all frugal tips, ideas, and comments that you may have! I really look forward to hearing from you soon!