Family business
I am sitting at my computer with a furry baby milling around my feet and my human baby in bed for a nap. I have actually noticed the sound of birds singing and silence, a luxury you are not afforded during the whirlwind that is the July school holidays. A whirlwind that takes you on a crazy path of destruction, chaos and crazy fun and then all of a sudden it's gone. And your house is quiet and you are able to finish a hot cup of coffee and you find yourself in the irony of missing the chaos. Kind of like that feeling during the day when you long for 7pm to roll around so you can put your tiny army to bed and then sit staring at the 'angels' as they sleep, missing their company. Go figure.
I have just finished applying for a focus group where you give an hour of your time one evening and receive a $50 giftcard. It got me thinking about how many of those cool opportunities there actually are, especially for the mum at home. This thought rolled off the back of another train of thought last week when I spotted a post on one of the 'cheaper living NZ' type pages I liked on Facebook. A gentleman was asking of ways to save $20 a week. I thought about that and how easy it is to try live life with that mentality, but why not challenge ourselves to increase and live a life going to another level and think of ways to MAKE an extra $20 a week. The alternative is waiting for situations like a pay increase or gifts of money to make life easier, both of which are rare and out of our control.
I am so thankful for some tougher financial times in the early days of our marriage. We were so fortunate to have really supportive parents who would invite us round for dinner and send us home with groceries and all those little things that add up when the bread-winner doesn't have a great paying job and I made the choice to stay home with my baby, even if that meant oats for dinner some nights.
We made life work on $80 a week food budget for a few years, including nappies and baby supplies. At the time we knew no different and the luxuries we never had weren't a big deal to go without. I had $20 prepaid credit to last a month, whether that worked for my social life or not, I made all my own baby food which was a gazillion times cheaper than buying it and all round learnt ways to get by comfortably.
One thing I learnt early on, was that there are so many opportunities around if you actively seek them out and change your mindset! I could either have thrown a pity party that I didn't go to the hairdresser or buy expensive make-up, OR I could get creative. It's only really with a good attitude that you stumble across opportunities, along with God's help of divine appointments of meeting the right people at the right time.
One thing I stumbled across was mystery shopping. This was by no means a steady flow of income but it was great pocket money when you're running a tight ship! I could accept jobs near home and take my baby/ies with to do the shopping. Sometimes it would be $50 - $100 worth of goods I got reimbursed for or sometimes cash. Shopping for a job. Does it get any better?
Second thing I did was find someone, after many phone calls and putting word out there, who had data entry work I could do from home. My evenings after the kids were in bed suddenly became such a valuable opportunity. Instead of Gav and I watching our programs together at night dipping hands in to big packets of Maltesers, I would sit and enter details into a spreadsheet while I watched (because mums can totally multitask) and with hands busy, I didn't eat as many Maltesers so it was really a win all round ;)
Housesitting is another great, often inconvenient, but good family opportunity that can often save you a bit of $ and potentially even bring some cash in. We did that a few times and if it wasn't a paying job, you still get a few weeks without having to pay water or power so that's winning!
I am so thankful for the thrifty times. I am such a he believer in finding the blessing in every season. It can either be a time that breeds resentment and bitterness at the things you can't afford OR it can be such a beautiful, memorable season in life. I found many of our family outings were simpler. We spent time at parks and on the beach. Instead of buying take-aways and coffee you end up with picnics and flasks of coffee from home. We tagged along on Gav's paid work trips all around NZ and holiday'd for practically nothing, making such lovely family memories. I learnt where all the factory outlet stores were! I found out about the beauty and fun of op-shopping!!! It is also so much easier to learn to be good with money when you don't have a lot to spend. All these things are blessings that came from those earlier days that you cannot help but be grateful for.
I think it helps coming from a simple family. We grew up with not much but enough. There were four of us, one working parent and we had the BEST life. I would not have traded mums time with us or even her just being there when we got home from school, for a new pair of shoes or an extra sports class, ever. We didn't do family travel overseas, our first family trip overseas was immigrating to NZ when I was 17 years old! But we had such fun on the budget we had. The blessing of thrifty times will be your kids learning sacrifice and gratitude. Being grateful only comes when you see first hand the sacrifice that it took to get what you wanted. We saw how hard my parents worked and sacrificed for us and we were grateful for all that they could provide. In seasons of not as much, when guilt can so easily set in about what we AREN'T providing for our kids, at least we can know and be reminded that those seasons are breeding ground for gratitude and appreciation.
Here's to a life full of colourful seasons and the ability and grace to learn from them all, make the best and TAKE the best out of whatever season we find ourselves in. Here's to lives where we learn to THINK BIGGER and take on the challenge of squeezing everything we can from life in every season and stage. (insert coffee here).
I have just finished applying for a focus group where you give an hour of your time one evening and receive a $50 giftcard. It got me thinking about how many of those cool opportunities there actually are, especially for the mum at home. This thought rolled off the back of another train of thought last week when I spotted a post on one of the 'cheaper living NZ' type pages I liked on Facebook. A gentleman was asking of ways to save $20 a week. I thought about that and how easy it is to try live life with that mentality, but why not challenge ourselves to increase and live a life going to another level and think of ways to MAKE an extra $20 a week. The alternative is waiting for situations like a pay increase or gifts of money to make life easier, both of which are rare and out of our control.
I am so thankful for some tougher financial times in the early days of our marriage. We were so fortunate to have really supportive parents who would invite us round for dinner and send us home with groceries and all those little things that add up when the bread-winner doesn't have a great paying job and I made the choice to stay home with my baby, even if that meant oats for dinner some nights.
We made life work on $80 a week food budget for a few years, including nappies and baby supplies. At the time we knew no different and the luxuries we never had weren't a big deal to go without. I had $20 prepaid credit to last a month, whether that worked for my social life or not, I made all my own baby food which was a gazillion times cheaper than buying it and all round learnt ways to get by comfortably.
One thing I learnt early on, was that there are so many opportunities around if you actively seek them out and change your mindset! I could either have thrown a pity party that I didn't go to the hairdresser or buy expensive make-up, OR I could get creative. It's only really with a good attitude that you stumble across opportunities, along with God's help of divine appointments of meeting the right people at the right time.
One thing I stumbled across was mystery shopping. This was by no means a steady flow of income but it was great pocket money when you're running a tight ship! I could accept jobs near home and take my baby/ies with to do the shopping. Sometimes it would be $50 - $100 worth of goods I got reimbursed for or sometimes cash. Shopping for a job. Does it get any better?
Second thing I did was find someone, after many phone calls and putting word out there, who had data entry work I could do from home. My evenings after the kids were in bed suddenly became such a valuable opportunity. Instead of Gav and I watching our programs together at night dipping hands in to big packets of Maltesers, I would sit and enter details into a spreadsheet while I watched (because mums can totally multitask) and with hands busy, I didn't eat as many Maltesers so it was really a win all round ;)
Housesitting is another great, often inconvenient, but good family opportunity that can often save you a bit of $ and potentially even bring some cash in. We did that a few times and if it wasn't a paying job, you still get a few weeks without having to pay water or power so that's winning!
I am so thankful for the thrifty times. I am such a he believer in finding the blessing in every season. It can either be a time that breeds resentment and bitterness at the things you can't afford OR it can be such a beautiful, memorable season in life. I found many of our family outings were simpler. We spent time at parks and on the beach. Instead of buying take-aways and coffee you end up with picnics and flasks of coffee from home. We tagged along on Gav's paid work trips all around NZ and holiday'd for practically nothing, making such lovely family memories. I learnt where all the factory outlet stores were! I found out about the beauty and fun of op-shopping!!! It is also so much easier to learn to be good with money when you don't have a lot to spend. All these things are blessings that came from those earlier days that you cannot help but be grateful for.
I think it helps coming from a simple family. We grew up with not much but enough. There were four of us, one working parent and we had the BEST life. I would not have traded mums time with us or even her just being there when we got home from school, for a new pair of shoes or an extra sports class, ever. We didn't do family travel overseas, our first family trip overseas was immigrating to NZ when I was 17 years old! But we had such fun on the budget we had. The blessing of thrifty times will be your kids learning sacrifice and gratitude. Being grateful only comes when you see first hand the sacrifice that it took to get what you wanted. We saw how hard my parents worked and sacrificed for us and we were grateful for all that they could provide. In seasons of not as much, when guilt can so easily set in about what we AREN'T providing for our kids, at least we can know and be reminded that those seasons are breeding ground for gratitude and appreciation.
Here's to a life full of colourful seasons and the ability and grace to learn from them all, make the best and TAKE the best out of whatever season we find ourselves in. Here's to lives where we learn to THINK BIGGER and take on the challenge of squeezing everything we can from life in every season and stage. (insert coffee here).
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