The Bare Necessities

For those of you who read this, I apologize for not writing anything lately. Mark and I have recently moved into our house, which is still a work in progress. However, we do not have internet at our house. We have chosen to try to live a life of bare necessities. Our budget is extremely tight as it is, but with a baby on the way we have had to try to cut out anything from our budget that is not 100% necessary. So far we are still alive and well even with no internet:) I know that some of you probably can't imagine living without being able to check your email or facebook every day, but I have found it somewhat refreshing. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong generation because I often miss the days of handwritten letters, not having a credit card, or receiving a call on the land line before there was such thing as caller ID. Why is it that ten year old children need cell phones and their own computers nowadays? Call me a mean mom, but my child will probably be one of the only children without those things. I have found life to be much more simple and laid back without being tied to a cell phone or computer all day. I would like to say that I would even enjoy going without a cell phone right now, but that is one of the only ways Mark and I get to communicate with our families.

If you are on a tight budget or just like to save a few extra pennies, what are some things you do? Here are some other things that we do in order to try to make each penny count.

- No cable tv or landline phone

- I like to paint old decorations or furniture and make them look "new"

- We rarely ever eat out. However, I think it is important to every marriage to have a nice date every once in awhile. If we don't have money for a nice date, we usually try to find something free to do

- Because we live in a small town, we try to run all of our errands on one day in order to save gas and time

- We are thinking about becoming a one car family again. I know some people don't have the ability to do this, but since we do...we are considering it

- We never buy brand new cars

- We do not finance anything. If we don't have the money, we don't buy it. However, I do know that there will probably be life situations in the future that may require us to do so. Obviously owning a home requires financing for most people including us:) That is our one exception to this rule

- We pay off our credit card balance monthly, and use a credit card that gives us cash rewards

- I do not buy clothes unless they are on sale, and recently I have decided not to buy clothes for myself unless they are completely necessary

- I try not to "window shop". Usually I don't go to the store if I know I don't need to buy something. I have a hard time looking and not buying

- The one thing I wish I would do better as far as saving is coupon clipping. I rarely use coupons because I just don't have the patience to search them out. I do try to buy groceries that are not the most expensive brand, but I could probably do better

Living this way is definitely not easy and not often enjoyable. I often envy the people who drive really nice cars and eat out whenever they want to. I would love to enjoy more meals out with my husband or buy a new pair of shoes just because I want to. But for what? What does all of that matter in the end? I often find myself worrying about how we will pay our utility bill or get new tires for our not so new car. I constantly have to remind myself that "things" on this earth do not matter. I wish I spent more time storing up treasures in heaven as I do worrying about how we will pay for things we need on this earth. In the end, nothing on this earth will matter. I need to stop worrying about this life and start focusing on life eternal...the only life that truly matters.