The Water Bottle

Today I got to take part in a focus group with Stampin' Up! (Lucky me ... right!!) I had just dropped Jace off at the baby sitter's house when I started to feel like I was hungry. Normally, I would give in to one of the 900 different golden arches that I would see on the way to the home office in Riverton. This time, however, had to be different because 1) I'm trying to kick the fast food "habit/addiction" and 2) I'm right smack dab in the middle of my money cleanse. I have tutoring after the focus group and I know I won't be home until well after 7. I think to myself that since I can't eat out, I'll have to fill my belly with water. And OH how convenient it would be if I had some! But alas, I didn't bring a water bottle and I don't have any place to get one. Slightly annoyed with my lack of planning, I pulled into the visitor's parking at Stampin' Up! and waited to be called into the room. As I walked through the massive doors to the meeting room, I noticed that each station was set up with a stamp set, name tag, and BOTTLED WATER!

I love answered prayers and small blessings!

The Money Cleanse

It is a common misconception that money = evil. In the bible, we learn that "for the love of money is the root of all evil". This scripture implies to many that money = evil. But it's not MONEY that is evil ... it's the LOVE of money that is evil. It's what you DO with it that is good or bad.

Since quitting my job, Joe and I have had to obviously take a look at our finances. In Matthew we learn that "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". Apparently our heart is with eating out! :) It was time for us to have a reality check. Eating out, and other frivolous expenses were no longer in our budget. Quite frankly, I am now sad and ashamed that they were such a driving force in our budget. There was no reason that Joe and I were living pay check to pay check for so long. Why didn't we save for a rainy day? Heaven knows that the rain DOES come! I don't have any of the answers as to WHY we didn't do things differently in the past, but I do know that I am excited about the changes we are making to help in the future.

Recently I have been hearing the name DAVE RAMSEY. I read it in blogs, see it on billboards, and hear it on the radio. I don't know anything about Mr. Dave, except for apparently he is some sort of financial genius. I looked up his site, daveramsey.com, and started exploring. I found that there are Dave Ramsey seminars all over the valley, and what more, they are free! Joe and I signed up. I later learned that there was a small fee associated with the kit needed for the class. I started to get skeptical. I didn't want to blow $99 on some whim like I have in the past. We decided that if in fact this man knew what he was doing ... $99 would be a good investment! We are 3 weeks in, trying to incorporate what he suggests, and we already feel like we got a pay raise. More than that, however, I feel like I have a different mindset and attitude towards money.

On with the title of this post. The Money Cleanse. People sometimes cleanse their body by drinking that nasty lemonade. OR they eat only raw veggies, or perhaps wear the patches on their feet, (do those even work?). We decided to do a money cleanse. Once a month, we are going to go a whole week without spending any money. Sounds easy right? Not when you are used to going shopping for whatever you need. And we decided that this "money cleanse" wasn't going to work if we overspent the Sat. befor and over spent the Monday after it was done! Nope. Live life like normal ... just be sure there is enough gas to make it to work.

While going through this week I have been able to

1) be creative with my food storage

2) learned that if I don't have gas to get somewhere ... I walk

3) decided that even if I really REALLY want something, I don't need it unless it is a serious 911 related emergency.

4) embrace the challenge, the change, and the new life style.

My only regret is that I waited until year 29 to start. I wish I could have had the wisdom to start this 10 years ago.