One Year

Thirteen months ago today, our world was turned upside down when we learned the sales portion of Mike's job was being eliminated. One year ago today, that job loss took place. It has been a rough year and I wish I could say he had a full time job by now, but we are hanging in there. Although we occasionally get tired of living on such a limited budget, we have had some great things come out of this past year.

We've grown closer as a family. We cannot afford to eat out or spend money on entertainment so we have learned how to create memories at home. I even learned how to make cashew chicken to cure our craving for Chinese food. What could have divided us, has actually made us stronger.

Despite rising grocery costs, I've learned to cut our budget in this department. I joined The Grocery Game last November and quickly learned how to combine coupons with sales. I can now get toothpaste for a quarter or less, name brand cleaning supplies for fifty cents, and numerous items for free. I will continue to do this once we are back to full time pay because it has truly become a game for me and I'm having fun finding the sales.

Our priorities towards material things have changed. We do not go shopping unless it is something we truly need. This was hard at first since Target is like my second home. Now that I have been a year without shopping, I find there is little I need or want. When trying to make my Christmas list, I had a hard time coming up with things. Most of it is items that have broke in the past month - vacuum, TV, digital camera, etc.

Mike has gone back to college. Since I first met Mike, he has talked about finishing his degree. He finally went back this summer and once this semester is over, he will only have 9 classes left. To make it even better, we have paid cash for his college. We have worked hard to do this because we believe in living debt free.

Our emergency fund is still in place. Due to working every extra job we can find and cutting back on all expenses, we have only had to touch our emergency fund twice. We have added to it in the good months so we are about even right now. When we first started calculating things, we figured out we could survive until May, June at the latest. It is now November and we are still here.

Our relationship with God has improved. At this point, we feel we have gone through some of this to show others how God is taking care of us. We have been on our knees in prayer to God about the entire situation. Every time we get discouraged, we are reminded of how He has taken care of us this past year. We have several friends who have full time jobs and are having problems keeping up with rising costs. They tell us we are their inspiration because we have lived on a tight budget for so long, yet we still have a positive outlook. If you look at the numbers, we should have enough money each month to pay our house, groceries, and tithe only. By the grace of God, we have not missed a bill.

I want to leave you with the chorus to one of my favorite songs. It is from I Am Blessed by Rachael Lampa. We truly are blessed and thank God for helping us to survive this year. We pray it is not another year but we know God is on our side through it all.

I am blessed,
I am blessed,
From when I rise up in the morning,'
Till I lay my head to rest,
And I feel you near me,
You sooth me when I'm weary.
Oh, Lord,For all the worst and all the best,
I am blessed.