The Wake Up Call

It's kinda hard to NOT see.  People everywhere are either losing their jobs, having trouble finding employment at all, or only able to gain employment in minimum wage jobs.  Even those who hold amazing skill sets are finding that they aren't as valuable of an asset as they have been in days past.  

You can hear on any given day how bad the economy is.  The chances of our country heading into another depression are extremely high.  Quite frankly, many are surprised that it hasn't done so already.  

A very, VERY long story short, our family NEEDS to save.  Between medical conditions, debt that we each brought into our marriage almost five years ago, an unexpected loss of our daughter and the expenses that go along with that, as well as the rising cost of various necessities, it's absolutely crucial that we learn to save.

I'll be the first to admit that neither myself nor my husband are good at saving.  We both tend to want to spoil our son, even more so now that we've lost his baby sister, as well as just having learned bad habits over the years.  

Thanks to shows like Extreme Couponing and dedicated bloggers like TheKrazyCouponLady and TheGroceryCartChallenge, it's more obvious than ever the amount of "free money" we ignore or throw away by not utilizing coupons, online deals, and just simple meal planning and shopping strategies.

For me, "the wake up call" came in several parts.  

1. The first came while watching Extreme Couponing.  While I'm not totally sure how I feel about stockpiling to the extent seen on the show, I am intrigued by the amount that people are able to save just by planning, researching and taking time to do those things.  It amazes me.  
2. The second came with the diagnosis of deformities in our unborn daughter that made her "incompatible with life".  (To read more about this particular subject, check out my other blog here.)  At the risk of sounding like I'm at risk for becoming obsessive compulsive, I'll say that being completely out of control in that particular area of my life made me determined to be so in other areas.  One area that I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that I can control is the outflow of money above and beyond basic bills.  My husband and I are both bad about comfort spending.  It's embarrassing to admit that here, but I know that if we deal with it, others out there do the same.  While it makes little sense to assume that buying things will fill a hole in the heart, it's more the sense of control that the spending gives.  
3. The third came when I realized that money I was sure was coming in later had already come in and had inadvertently been spent.  It was money we were counting on for additional bills, to pay off some debt and to get savings built back up and it was ALL gone.  Now, it was a mistake and poor planning on my part, but it was also something that led me to realize that we desperately needed a thought out, detailed budget and we NEEDED to stick to it. 
4. The fourth, final and most important was that I realized we were not paying our tithe.  Now, I completely realize that to many this may not be a big deal or even relevant.  To our family this is huge though.  Our faith is a gigantic part of our lives and to realize that we have, essentially, been robbing God of what belongs to Him by "not having the money to pay tithe" breaks my heart.

My goals through the sharing in this blog are simple:

• To take you on a journey with me to see exactly how much things can change in a short amount of time.
• To hopefully help someone else learn how different life can be and that no matter where you're starting from, there's a way to go up!
• To learn from any and every one who reads, comments and links in through this blog.  There's always more strength in a team, so let's be one!