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Life is full of change.

Change Can Be On A Grand Scale

This happened to me when I planned on being a hugely successful career-woman, but ended up turning to mush when my oldest child was born.  Once I held my son for the first time, work didn’t matter anymore.  I just wanted to spend time with him, and not with a computer.  It took some time, but we eventually saved enough money so that we could live off of just one income and I could stay home with the kids.  When I was a student, I would have never predicted that I would eventually become a stay-at-home mom, but that is exactly what I was for many years.  (I now just work part time from home.)  I now just look back at my ‘evolution’ and just laugh.    I am grateful I am a parent for many reasons, but one thing that is interesting is that I got to see a side of me that I didn’t even know existed.

Change Can Also Be On A Small Scale

An example of this is my current mindset with saving and spending.

Life has been crazy this year for a variety of reasons.  Things I used to worry about like saving the absolute most I could at the grocery store have slid way to the bottom of my list of concerns.  Instead, I just want my family to eat.  We have eaten out way too much this year, but it was almost a matter of necessity.  Things have settled down, but my need to scrimp and save as much as I can at the store has decreased dramatically.  Instead, I am more focused on buying the foods I want my family to eat, even if the items are not on sale.  Yes, putting full-price things in the grocery cart still makes me cringe somewhat, but my attitude toward money has relaxed a little.

Overall, I am still a very frugal person at heart, and I can almost guarantee that I will rarely spend full price on clothes or most other items, unless I am completely desperate.  (Like I probably will be when I need to find a dress for my son’s graduation.)   Even though I am spending a little more at the grocery store, buying full priced food at the grocery is still probably cheaper and healthier than if our family of five ate out.  (That is the justification I use when shopping now.)

The Overall Lesson

Sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow.    If you can no longer keep up with what you were doing previously, don’t beat yourself up about it.  Life is busy and isn’t always easy, and sometimes, you just have to do what you can to get by.  Don’t make things harder by being frustrated or disappointed in yourself.  Do the best you can and move on!

 

 

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Get Your Summer Budget in Order!

May 11, 2012

The following is a guest post from Jenna at Adaptu.com: Money looks a little different in the summer.  Between day camps and extra trips to the ice cream truck, your budget is probably going to vary a little from the September-May routine.  Taking time to create a budget specifically designed for summer can save you [...]

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When Something Is A Great Deal, There Is Usually A Reason…

April 17, 2012

Recently, I wrote about the house in my neighborhood that was on the market as a ‘short sale’, and shared my frustration that people who can fully afford their mortgage payments are allowed to just abandon their homes. When I wrote about this house previously, it had originally been offered ‘for sale’ normally at $299,000. [...]

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Miscellaneous!!

April 12, 2012

Greetings! Sorry for my hiatus of late.  I didn’t mean to be gone so long.  Life just got a little crazy and I needed to tend to some other things. So, I think I will share just some miscellaneous thoughts that have been going through my head over the last few weeks- it has been [...]

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Health Tip: Don’t Exercise Before Blood Tests

March 13, 2012

Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor.  I am only sharing my own experience, and also some information that I found while researching elevated white blood cell counts.   Once a year, many people go to the doctor’s office for a physical.  Usually, when the physical is set up, the patient is told not to eat [...]

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Winning The Lottery and Still Accepting Taxpayer’s Money

March 9, 2012

My blood is boiling…. I have read many stories of people that take advantage of the system and scam their way through life.  However, the story I describe below takes parasitism to a new level: Unemployed Michigan resident Amanda Clayton has been receiving $200 per month in food assistance through the state’s Bridge Card program. [...]

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A Vent About Walking Away From Mortgages

February 28, 2012

Disclaimer:  Keep in mind while you read this post that I am referring to people that can afford their mortgage payments, they just don’t like that their homes are underwater, so they choose to walk away. In a previous post, I discussed a home in our neighborhood that was basically abandoned by the previous owners. [...]

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Mitt Romney, Please Stop Calling Me- Plus A Link Roundup

February 26, 2012

Here in Michigan, our presidential primary is coming up this Tuesday (2/28/2012). All I can say is, I will be so glad when it is over. Every single day, several times a day, I get a phone call from “Private Name, Private Number”.  At first I answered thinking “oh, I wonder who is trying to [...]

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Will Your Retirement Dreams Be Delayed?

February 24, 2012

When I first started working at the age of 23, retirement seemed like something that old people did.  I started contributing to a 401k plan with my first paycheck, but retirement seemed so far off that I didn’t put much thought into it.  I didn’t really have a goal of retiring early, I just figured [...]

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Thoughts For Thursday: Dance Moms!

February 23, 2012

Last year, I started watching the television show “Dance Moms” with my teenage daughter. For those of you who have never watched the show, the gist of it is this:  Abby Lee Miller is the owner and instructor at the very successful “Abby Lee Dance Company” in Pennsylvania.  Now, Abby is not what you would [...]

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