This mini series of posts are probably a year in the making. When I first started writing it I thought I had a lot of good ideas, and I did, but the more I thought about it the more I came up with. I like finding good deals and the economy of our family depends on it.

Walking into our home you wouldn’t think that we operate on a minute budget for this area. We live in one of the richest counties in the US and the cost of living reflects that. Our income… however, doesn’t. I don’t blame my husband nor do I complain about it. Sometimes it’s a bit stressful, although it shouldn’t be, because I should be trusting in God for EVERYTHING. At the end of the month when bills are due and the money isn’t there I am tempted to fret and worry. Hubby starting his own tree business last year and me not working much and no benefits doesn’t sit well with the bank account! All of our benefits are out of our own pockets, like health, life, and disability insurance. Also if we take a vacation we have no income… no work, no money! Our health insurance is catastrophic coverage only, so all Dr appointments and medications are out of pocket. All this to say our budget is tight and we do our best to stick to it, and it has paid off!

As I said previously I don’t say this to complain. I love a good challenge and this is one. I like thinking outside of the box and trying to come up with a way to make things work. I also don’t want to have a “woe is me” attitude, but a “work hard, do hard things, and be victorious!”. Over the years we have found that we can either make our own fun or find plenty of free fun! Anything marked FREE catches my eye and I look into it and see if it’s a fit for us. We don’t do all things free, but we do a lot!

I don’t think I, my husband or kiddos have missed out on anything by not spending a lot of money for all the things we ‘need’. I know that delayed gratification is priceless and I’m so glad that we can teach that to our kids as well. Sometimes they will ask for us to buy something for them and if we tell them no, Tonchi especially will ask if we don’t have money in the budget for that! 😉 Sometimes that’s true and sometimes not, but I’m glad to see that he is getting concepts! Also, it has helped me grow in self control and I desire that for my children as well. Saying ‘no’ to yourself for something you really want is hard to do, and it hard EVERYTIME you do it. I don’t feel like it’s gotten any easier, but it’s become more of a habit and a practice.

So… with that, I know there are many others out there who operate on tight budgets and don’t have a lot of extra cash. So I thought maybe a mini series on ways that we have found to avoid spending money and still have all that we need and more might be helpful.

I was planning on starting with my first topic in this post, but I kinda got a bit long winded and I don’t want it to get too long, so I’ll just keep this one as an intro and teaser. So now you know what’s coming, but you are going to have to wait until next Friday to read more.

I will disclose the topics though, to whet your appetite! The areas I’ve chosen thus far are:
Part II {The Kitchen}
Part III {Homeschooling}
Part IV {Family Necessities}
Part V {Family Fun}
Part VI {Insurance}

Does that sound fun? I sure hope so! 😉 So without much further ado… I’m off and more to come! Please, if there is another topic that you don’t think will be covered, but that you are interested in, PLEASE let me know and I’ll see if I can include it!

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