I have been meaning to blog about this for a while now... so now I am finally getting to it! Ok so the economy has hit us a bit, like most everybody, and it has taught us a few valuable lessons and prompted us to make some changes. So here they are...
We UNPLUG anything that we are not using at that moment
Clip COUPONS and only buy whats on SALE (use those two together and you will make out like a bandit!)
Buy produce in BULK at the local latin market - steam, puree/shread and freeze what I wont be using in a weeks worth of time to use in meals later
FREE weekly dates - we used to have date night every Friday night and would go out to eat with Liane, but with Liane going to bed at 7:30 it kinda was a rushed meal and not really a fun "date"... so we decided to use Saturday days/early evenings to hold our dates and we are doing more outdoorsy fun things that we can also share with Liane (pack a lunch and go to the park or canyon, visit temple square, take walks, Wheeler Farm, etc...) Its been nice to create such sweet memories and do so cheaply!
Turn our heat DOWN during the day in the winter or off completely when not really needed and keep air down or off during warmer months - an open window will do the trick!
Making more MEATLESS meals - we are not trying to be vegetarians or anything, but meat is the most expensive food item we buy. We have not missed the meat at all and in fact are really enjoying the meals!
TV OFFfor most of the day (and of course unplugged) - Liane doesnt really watch it, I dont WANT her to watch it and its kinda just like background noise - NOT NEEDED
Got rid of our HOUSE LINE and now we just use our cell phones - which is all we really used anyway
DOWNGRADED our cable... seriously who NEEDS 5 billion channels anyway?!
Changed auto and home INSURANCE companies... Salomon found an amazing deal through a service the company he works for and we are getting more coverage for WAY less money! (makes you wonder why we didnt do this sooner!)
Ok there are probably a few more simple things, but you get the idea... its actually been fun and so liberating to do this. Im all about simplifying my life and this helps so much! I can tell you though that the Lord blesses you for living within your means and I have seen as we have been willing to make changes and sacrifices how the Lord has opened doors for us that had previously been closed. Its amazing to me and a testimony builder to me that even though the changes we have made are temporal, the principals behind them and the effect it has had on us are 100% spiritual. As soon as we made these changes I all of sudden found myself not needing to go to the grocery store as often (food doesnt seem to be disappearing), I dont seem to be doing laundry as often, I have more joy and peace in my life, and more time. Its amazing how the Lord works and I am ever so grateful for His tender mercies and for His patience as He let me do things MY way until I was ready to know and do HIS way.
1 comment:
We have done a bunch of these things too. Unplugging our electronics would never have occurred to me before moving out of my mom's house, but now that Aaron and I pay our own bills, we're all about it and saves us tons of cash. We've also cancelled our cable and are amazed how much we don't miss it (since there was rarely anything good on anyway). We went out and bought an antenna and a digital converter box, so we get quite a few decent basic channels. As for the few cable shows that we DO miss, we can watch those online. It's amazing how much pride we get from being just a little resourceful.
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