Building Character

Anytime a knot tangles in the vision one has for their life, me and hubby have a joke where we will laugh and say "Building Character Baby! Just Building Character!" It is true, that nothing builds character faster than true hardship or even tragedy in ones life. Hardship carves out a hellacious obstacle course where you can persevere to maneuver it until you work your way out altogether or give up. Tragedy forces you to either withdraw from the world and shrivel, or to seek out and find the blessings with in, filling your heart with gratitude. Through either one, FEAR can outright paralyze one into inaction altogether, freezing one into a block of time that fails to move forward in any direction.

Much how the wind or a river carves its way throughout the landscape, carving out pieces of art to be changed forever, what life throws at individual does the same thing. Chiseling away a grand work of art, a Masterpiece that will ooze beauty and lightness or the darkness of a troubled mind. Poverty, cancer, large debt, divorce, loss of a loved one, crime, money pit homes, terminal illnesses, bad relationships, low self esteem, unforeseen evictions, severe weather. All these things and more can bombard an individual with hardships unimaginable to others. It is how one handles  them which determines what kind of character will be built.

Your mind needs to be strong to create a piece of art, rather than be broken yet how we meet hardships, boils down to choice. We have a choice in how to feel about it ( our emotions) as well as what we will do about it ( the physical ) and it is always about choices. We can choose to meet each sense of hardship with humor and positive intent and fill our hearts with gratitude.

Greeting life, bills, terminal illness, judgmental people who don't agree with your lifestyle choices, where you live, your work, all the difficulties and struggles each day brings......can all be met with grace, dignity and joy, with a positive mind. These are choices one can make no matter what their circumstances may be. I am not saying meeting life this way is easy, for it is not always easy, the harder life knocks one may get, the harder it can be, but it is still a choice.

By making the choices to not be a victim and taking a proactive role, choosing carefully our emotions on how to feel about our situations and deciding the actions we want to take to change or overcome things, reduces feelings of stress a hundred fold.

It seems when we follow more of the negative side of thoughts and actions, stress builds as if in a pressure cooker, ready to explode all over everything at any given moment. Being paralyzed by fear can be even worse, more like a volcano ready to erupt. The end result for either one of these, are usually quite disastrous. Yet many people tend to easily fall into these spiraling down emotions and choices. Positive thinking seems so much harder and so many are wrapped in a world of being victim, they do not realize they are in control of their feelings and actually have choices.

Instead of complaining how you hate being broke, do something about it and truly open your eyes to all the blessings around you. Choices

Instead of treating someone who has terminal illness like they are on death row, with no hope left and nothing to offer the world, treat them like someone who has an amazing story to share and let your light engulf them with love and laughter. Choices.

If you have had large debt forever and a day, complaining constantly and fear taking hold of every part of life, change it! It is what it is, learn, grow, laugh, move on and change today. Choices

Grace, Dignity, Humor and Positive attitudes, these are all the building character traits that hardship could be chiseling out from you. Your Choice,  what kind of a Masterpiece do you want to create?

I absolutely love our life because I choose too, how do you choose yours?
 

A 2011 and 2012 Comparison

At first glance it does not seem like much has changed from 2011 and 2012 as far as income and struggles. Yet when little details are thought about it has been a huge difference.


2011  had us bike riding 5 miles to town and back daily for 3 months
2012 had us being able to not only drive but to pay off the truck as well.

2011 had me bikng up to 20 miles a few times a week to collect returnable cans or forage for wild foods such as apples and pears.
2012 had us having a garden so the food was right out the door

2011 had us going absolutely nowhere but town locally
2012 brought us a 4 day camping trip and me and hubby's first date day in 2 years! (being homeschoolers I am with my kids 24/7 which I love but having one on one time with hubby was bloody fantastic!)

2011 had us reaching December with an empy propane tank, and shut off notices for electricity and phone. It also had us arrive at the holdays without a dime and relied on the kindness of a stranger.
2012 had us reach December with full propane tank and only a shut off notice for electricity that i was able to make arrangements on AND still have money to give the kids a wonderful christmas this year while also finding bargain deals for what they wanted.

2011 We had no chickens
2012 we have chickens supplying us with fresh eggs almost daily

2011 had us not hearing from adult son in several years with an estranged relationship
2012 brought our son home regaining a wonderful relationship with him

2011 had hubby for several months only getting 20 hours a week
2012 brought hubby full time each and every week

2011 had us building material needs from scratch as we moved up here with only what could fit in the trunk of our car.
2012 brought us a year where we really did not need anything

2011 was full of doubt and questions to what really was wrong with me
2012 is bringing us long awaited needed answers to those questions

2011 had us struggling to keep enough food in the house ( we managed but it was tough!)
2012 brought us ample food with no worrying about it

When starting to look at the details, 2012 was a much better year than 2011 hands down!

No Black Friday here!

I do not see the craze that takes hold of consumers to camp out in tents, push people over, pepper spray them, rush around madly, fight crowds and a whole bunch of other things just a few hours after giving gratitude for our blessings to go shopping.

While perhaps a few deals may be had, the truth is there is a reason the stores make a huge profit for this event and it is not by granting everyone "deals." Sure some may be so the store can unload inventory they can not otherwise sell before they write it up as a loss. But this is not everything the promote as being a "sale" item and use a bunch of gimmicks to trick and confuse the rabid consumers.

Whether it is simply to get bargains on products you most likely will never use,  or to do your Christmas shopping on this day, to me it is simply not worth it or a trend I will ever give into.

So today finds me, sitting at home as will all future Black Fridays. It just is not a day for everyone, while I am sure some of you do have an incredibly fun day with it ( I am certainly not knocking anyone who enjoys Black Friday's!)

I for one, just don't get the point or why so many get so crazy over it!

Happy Friday Y'all, have a great weekend!

Why on Earth Only 14k a Year?

This question was posed on another blog when I made a comment offering a few tips on how someone on a lean budget of $50k a year with 4 kids could trim the fat a little. Someone else questioned me right back asking

"Why on earth are you making just $14k a year? I’d really like to know your story. Your comment offers great advice. You’re obviously a thinker and very resourceful. How is it you’re not making at least double your income. It’s just not making sense to me."

And then...

"Ok. A quick glance at the blog, and it seems this standard of living is her conscious choice."


If you notice, it was not mean, sarcastic and ill intended in anyway, it was a genuine question- at least that is how it appeared to me. Yet I lost sleep over it! This question really, really bothered me and I  tossed and turned, mulling it over well through half the  night.

Many times over the years I have questioned the fact that if I consider myself an somewhat intelligent woman ( which I do most days!) why is it I never seem to fully break out of the poverty cycle? What is it exactly that keeps me and holds me there.

Is it a conscious choice? Have we become immune and complacent with it?  Is it because we chose to not go to college? A past history that still stops us today?  Generational Poverty? Lack of resources? Lack of time? What exactly is it?

I am a thinker and resourceful because of low income levels in childhood as well as adulthood.

Yet if I asked myself these questions a hundred times, why is it that it bothered me and shook me to my core when a stranger asked primarily the same question?  The quick addition of the taking a quick glimpse at my blog makes it seem this standard of living is a conscious choice bothered me even more.

As I lay awake most of the night,asking myself a ton of questions and giving a deep period of self-examination I started to realize a few things.

Our initial choices most certainly were conscious and I have written about that here before that we are where we are now from the choices we have made along the way that led us here.

When hubby had his 2 heart attacks with a third on it's way any day, we left a $30,000 a year job that would of gone to $50,000 within a couple months.........at the expense of a dead husband or open by pass surgery needed at the very least.  This was  most certainly a conscious choice and moving 1800 miles away for drastic change was also a conscious choice.

It was NOT our choice this all hit in 2008 and we moved to a very RURAL area in North Carolina at the crash of the economy. It was NOT our conscious choice that were were there a whole year and driving up to 50 miles away to every town we could find and for a whole year there was NO WORK AT ALL.  We lived off our garden, scrap metaling (heavy competition at the time down there!) and wild game. I also freelanced articles which later got bought out from another company and I was no longer willing to write $2 articles when I had been getting $10 for them.

It was again our choice to move back to Michigan to be closer to family, but not our choice in where we ended up.Everyone kept backing out at the last minute after we thought we secured a rental as they got scared about whether we would find work and did not like the fact I was a freelancer.

1 hour before we hit the road I got our current homes landlord who is self employed and was homeschooled to agree we could move in and we would see him in 12 hours ( how long it took us to drive) We wound up in a very, rural area of Michigan where for the first year and a half they did not even have any form of high speed Internet here! Dial-up was the ONLY option!

As far as why we only make $14k a year I can only guess some of the reasons may be

Rural America- Rural America which is where I have always chosen to live is quite different than Metropolitan or Urban areas. Resources are limited at best and while housing is MUCH cheaper in rural areas most work is limited to a couple fast food restaurants in town, Walmarts  and a factory or 2 ( which hubby was denied employment to because his heart attacks were less than 5 years old)

Another issue with rural America is that to be honest, I get to the point where much of the time, I am comfortable and don't push myself as much as I should because EVERYONE we know makes the same income! I know one person making more than $18,000 a year and they struggle more than I ever have because they have no clue how to manage money!

People online may seem baffled about our income level, but in my world, everyone we know is making the same amount so in our world - we are the NORMAL. I can not imagine a $50,000 a year income and in part, I am sure that is a problem, not being able to see it, or imagine it can make it harder to obtain.

Growing up we were poor, my friends were poor and this never really changed for me as an adult, they say to surround yourself with financially successful people if you yourself want that.....well so far the only way I have been able to do that is ONLINE because I never meet anyone locally who earns a decent living! My world is surrounded with families in the same boat and their stories, many times we fair far better because of my skills.

Sick Twisted Pride- This one hit me last night, that I actually do get a sense of pride in my resilience and ability to do whatever it takes to  live on what we make, carry no debt, do not use credit cards, and trying to get it to where we live below our means in order to build an emergency fund. I do take pride on feeding my family well on very little, not buying tons of unneeded clothes, riding a bike for 15 miles when needed........whatever.

Health-We seem to have way more than the Average Americans health issues and that most certainly plays a role in our income levels. I wont go into it all but Hubby, myself, and our 2 youngest children have had serious serious health issues over the last 10 years that it is not funny and on more than one occasion had to face the possibility of each one of them dying.

NEED- While I most certainly would love and do work on increasing our income, we live at a level that we manage quite well and do not have a need for tons of money ( which to me $40,000 or more a year is a ton of money!)  As stated our rental payments are extremely low and therefore we simply do not have need for tons of money. If we made that kind of money we would be saving over $20,000 and to be honest I am not sure why I  would have need to save that kind of money every year. So in this respect I suppose it is a conscious choice. 

Standard of Living- This is different for everyone but for me I do not know why this is brought up on a regular basis, our standard of living is no different than others living on far greater of an income. The only difference is my roof over my head is not overly excessive,  it is small but comfortable But do we not technically have the same standard of living that most others have? We have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, good food on our tables ( never missing a meal ever) family, friends, trips and vacations, eating out occasionally and new experiences on a regular basis. Why is our standard of living considered so low in others perspectives? We have game systems, TV, computers and things of that nature I call "fluff" other than our home is 750 square feet rather than 2,000 does not make our standard of living lower than another.

Poverty is suppose to mean that one can not even cover the basics of needs, complete destitute, this is NOT US.

Time-most certainly plays a factor, my husband works 9-5 and it is my job to do everything else. I am the one doing all the finances, budgets, researching new savings ideas, homeschooling, gardening, foraging wild foods, housecleaning, cooking, freelance writing, blogging, self-reliant activities, home business ideas (even though they all failed for 2012)making all foods from scratch, preserving harvests, you name it, I do it..... this takes considerable time and frankly I do not have much energy left to put into much more. Do I need to prioritize? Most certainly but for now I feel very scattered and energy depleted by all that falls on my shoulders and really need a mental vacation at this point. But I keep plugging on and pushing through  it.


Off to think on this matter more.........especially why is it that this comment bothered me so much?  Maybe because I tend to complicate things and I am missing the simple route to rise above? Or is it that I really see nothing wrong with our income level yet know we are really capable of much more?

Have I sold myself and deluded myself into giving up into thinking this is as good as it will ever get?

Do I give up my goals to early in the game? Not that they fail, but that I do not keep trying long enough for them to succeed?

I have many questions circling in my head right now yet I am thankful for the person leaving the comment to really have me go into deep reflection in search of some answers I have not asked myself in a long time now.........

 

Splurges, Purges = Urges

Urges can be hard to fight, taking over any will power or discipline one may have. Whether you Splurge or Purge, the letters coming before the Urge really matter little, however Purging can be much more beneficial than Splurges. Urges are extremely strong currents of emotions that compel is into a spontaneous action in the disguise of almost an uncontrollable desire. You never know when it will rise up......will you cave or will you be able to conquer and fight it off? Since an urge comes on so suddenly and when you least expect it, this is what makes one so vulnerable where the urges can win 9 times out of 10.

Have you splurged this week? We had a splurge the other day, not one we would normally do at all that was backed by a craving 3 out of 4 of us home had. Relaxing watching some TV as a family, we all looked at each other and yelled DONUTS SOUND SO GOOD!  I have no idea where this craving came from, nor why it hit the majority of the family at the same time. Was it a donut we saw in the movie or something else? NO IDEA BUT IT WAS THERE.

This prompted us to jump in our gas guzzling bronco and make the 5 mile trip to the store to buy a box of donuts. Now we rarely get donuts so the $4 to buy them was a splurge in it's own right. Add the unnecessary trip to town to get 1 item was a REAL splurge as I hate wasting gas and hate making a trip to town for 1 silly thing let alone something we really don't even need. Any way you look at it the urge to splurge won out and money was spent needlessly but oh were they so good! On a plus note, when I noticed my adorable sweet neighbor of 78 years old was sitting on her porch a little upset, this allowed me to have a wonderful hour long visit with her on a beautifully sunny warm day and give her a donut cheering her up.

It also allowed me to have a wonderfully horrible for you but tasting so good dinner of donuts, peaches and tuna sandwiches! It also made me feel bad about eating a processed food in a month I am trying to switch over to unprocessed foods! But there is something about and iced jelly filled donut that when mama craves it, she can not control the urge to forgo it! 

Now granted this splurge was fairly small considering how those with a tendency to splurge on regular basis, can run into many financial problems and even get themselves into a heap of debt as they can not seem to fight their splurges. I have seen more often than not, families running into serious issues due to their splurging habits. No ours was quite small in comparison and will not break the bank and does not happen on too regular of a basis. They are occasional ones that even though we may know better, gives us a tiny bit of pleasure in the moment. We have learned to appreciate these tiny moments of pleasure because they are not habitual and will not drain our finances adding more stress into our financial obligations.

My other splurge was necessary and that was adding $25 to my laundry day by washing every blanket and sheet in the house in preparation for winter months where we will want extra blankets!

On the other hand PURGES feel so much better, after all Purging is a process of removing unwanted things and clutter from our lives and is an action of liberation!

On my journey to a more minimalist life I have started the Purging process this month of getting rid of the things we have no use for, is just outright clutter and junk, broken or just not wanted.

I went through my daughters room as her creative levels can tend to leave chaos in her wake and cleaned out her 3 laundry hamper bin that we use for toys and sewing materials. I removed a whole garbage bag of burning from her room and 2 garbage bags of junk scrap material that can no longer be used with some broken toys. I also got rid of another full garbage bag of torn blankets and unwearable  clothing from my room this week.

I had a brown paper grocery bag full of jeans that somebody else had given us but nobody here could wear. These were donated to a donation box next to where hubby works.

Since I went through all the trouble of washing all the bedding and blankets, I purchased a few new pillows for me and hubby and threw out our old ones as well!

All this purging this week has me feeling great and I am no where near done, I am just getting started and the more I do, the more I am motivated to DE-own what is not needed here in order to simplify our living space.

Have you PURGED this week?

Which do you like better Splurging or Purging?

Has Splurging ever got you into financial troubles?

 

Why Focusing on Values Will Strengthen Our Finances

For years I have read everything I could get my hands on financially, and continue to do so in the form of books and online. For years I have gone through periods of trying to apply some of the expert advice, of course making mistakes along the way as well. At any rate it always ended up failing, we never seem to get ahead, never have any savings to speak of, certainly nothing to brag about. Something always comes up to take the exact amount of savings we do manage to accumulate, even with an emergency fund in place. No matter what we always seem to hang on that bottom rung on the ladder to the point you start to wonder.... is this as good as it will ever be? Are we meant for this lifestyle forever? You beat the drum...........what am I doing wrong? what am I doing wrong?

Well recently it occurred to me, the problem is, "the expert" advice really is not written for people like me. The second reason is that times have changed and it really is time to rethink how we think things work. The third reason is I was too focused on the whole "MONEY" thing. I have said it a few times before, to me what I want more than anything is FREEDOM. But by focusing so much on MONEY, I missed my target, I have been following the wrong path for upwards of 20 years! The expert advice was not written for those living in extreme poverty or even regular poverty ( I don't care what the books say about those in poverty can save even just $5 a month........they have no clue) They are geared for those who make decent money, who overspend and can find ways to start spending responsibly in order to grow a savings.

So my site is changing as I realized where my direction needs to focus on, for me those things that I value most, will make a significant difference in our finances  without concentrating at all on the aspects of money itself. THIS is what will work for my family and how we want to live our lives and allow us to reach the goals that we seek. The areas that are important to me to live according to my desires and principles automatically will make a difference financially.

I want to focus on my health which means seeing doctors yes but also an exercise plan, eating whole foods and raw foods, meditation , quit smoking and caffeine, get off processed foods. By going unprocessed, that alone should free up money!

I want to live a more greener lifestyle by leaving as little carbon footprints as possible. To me this means giving up buying things in plastic, giving up my refrigerator.........another two items to lower expenses!

I want to go minimalist and live a simpler life..........getting rid of all unnecessary possessions will MAKE ME MONEY. Things will be easier to clean, I will have more space that is uncluttered, I will be more at peace.

Sustainability is a goal, so grow as much of our own food as possible, and get to a point we rely more and more on ourselves and not others ( government, bosses, supermarkets etc) 

DYI projects of doing as much as we can on our own, I guess this goes hand in hand with sustainability but again, the more we do  ourselves the less expensive and less dependant we are on others.

Cash Free- I want to do and see as much as I can with a Cash Free frame of mind......no further explanation needed.

But by focusing on working towards HOW I want to live, I believe is the key to what will work for my family to greatly improve our present circumstances

What do you value that would make a difference financially for you?

 

Getting Rid of Anonymous Commenting

From Anonymous (for future reference Anonymous commenting has now been removed due to too many negative Anonymous comments as this one is actually one of the more "nicer" ones  and only registered users will now be allowed to comment.)

You said
"I swore right there and then that we would NEVER use credit again, while we did not our daughter did which indeed helped saved us while we lived in North Carolina for a year and did not find any work at all that entire year. She did make arrangements to pay it and is working on it but still it did hurt her score as well."

Are you paying your daughter back or helping her pay it off? It sounds more to me like you had yourself in such a bind that you had no other choice but to use & abuse your daughters credit too. From what I have read in your blog you are a long way from ever being "rich" and have a very immature and irresponsible view of frugality.
I actually removed this comment but thought it fair to address some of the issues this commenter shared to clarify a few things.

Are you paying your daughter back or helping her pay it off?  Yes of course , for the portion she used on the family, a family that lives together works together.

It sounds more to me like you had yourself in such a bind that you had no other choice but to use & abuse your daughters credit too There are always choices, there was no use and abuse here, this was all my daughters choice as an adult who lived with us, we did not talk her into it, I told her at the time I would find another way which I always do. This was HER decision and the only reason it affected her score is the debt to income ratio...........not because it was not paid. She has always paid it on time, every month and we help with our portion of it.

From what I have read in your blog you are a long way from ever being "rich" and have a very immature and irresponsible view of frugality.

You think? This blog which is only 6 months old is the start of us trying to build wealth so yeah, we are aware we are a long ways off from being "rich" at least as far as monetary. Yet we do not see being "rich" ONLY in terms of money, bank accounts and big plasma flat screen TV's. It is all about mind set, blessings and family unity...........there we are far richer than most people we know.

As far as immature and irresponsible view of frugality? hmmmmmm I have never once implied I never made money mistakes or did stupid financial decisions in my past. I have made many and this is not news. However in the last 2 years before I even started this blog we have become very responsable by going to the cash only policy living and working hard to live within our means.

Considering most people (although these numbers have increased dramatically since 2008) have never ever had to try to live on as little as we do, your words really mean very little to me. Yeah we made some irresponsabile choices in the past..........we are human and most people make mistakes and hopefully learn from them.

But then again if you look at our debt on the sidebar, we are sitting at only $2500 which most of that is our truck which is almost paid off and then our plan there is that is the last vehicle we will ever have with payments (we got that truck right before making the cash only choice)

Add to that $2500 the $2500 we are helping pay my daughter with and that is a total of $5000 which  OMG is not all that irresponsible and is a small and paltry debt level compared to many others struggling with debt right now.

I can see where you may of thought we took advantage of our daughter and I can assure you that was not the case at all, it may not have been the smartest choice that was made at the time but a few years ago I am sure many others were making similar mistakes when they lost their jobs and there were no other ones to be found. Not every one is fortuante to go through life their whole life with a fantastic job and never ever making financial mistakes. I have been nothing but honest between how we handle our finances NOW and mistakes I have made in our PAST.

Far from being rich? only if you equate  that with the status of "stuff" 

We may not have much in our bank accounts but we are Rich in a multitude of otherways that overflows in great abundance each and every day.

Does Time Keep You Poor?

Time, that funny little than that always seems to run far faster than you could ever run, always slightly out of reach, racing to a finish line you never seem to be able to catch up to.Time, that very thing you hear your whole life from financial bloggers to make your friend, to get time on your side, to get your money working hard for you rather than you working hard for your money. With time you can see the miracle of compounding interest, growing savings accounts, building businesses growing all at some far futuristic destination. Time, that useful little tool where anyone will tell you should not be wasted, it should be taken advantage of in your spare time in order to generate more income.

For the Poor this almost seems like some fictional story, some fantasy, some unrealistic concept that is always just out of reach. Time is not typically a friend to those in poverty, the poor working class, that we are always told needs to be used more efficiently. Why?

The main reason is that time really is not a friend to the poor working class because everything tends to consume so much MORE  time than the average persons time. It works against us, leaving us exhausted at the end of the day. Everything we tend to do winds up being time consuming, laborious work that can drain you right to your very wary bones.

When an average middle income or above person has a job, they get in their car and drive to work taking 15 minutes of their time. Many times when a poor person has a job, the car is not all that reliable and when it brakes down they have to bike to work taking an hour of their time. If they are not fortunate enough to have a bike, they are reduced to walking taking 2 hours of their time.

Everything takes longer, requiring large chunks of precious time and often requiring far more physical exertion than it really should. If you need clean clothes and can not afford a washer or a trip to the laundry mat, then one is reduced to spend a back breaking hour or two washing it all out in a bathtub, hand ringing it out, then hanging it up to dry to later take down and fold, all human powered.

If one wants to grow their own food and has no way to work the ground, then one must use a shovel to turn the soil taking three times or more the time it would to simply till the soil with a good tractor or rototiller. If one does not have the means to get a good hose, or sprinkler system, then it is a time consuming task of hand watering each and every plant and row.

Then there are the miles of biking or walking to collect enough returnable cans to try to get enough money for milk or bread or whatever for the next couple of days or other means to try to earn a couple bucks for the needs of a household.

Sometimes if there is no other means for bathing this means heating huge canning kettles of water to carry to the bath tub for bathing or washing clothes. As a child I even remember our well pipe going out once where for awhile we had to lug 5 gallon buckets of water 2 at a time back and forth all day from the neighbors barn (which was not all that close and an uphill return!) to keep enough water in the house for toilet flushing, drinking water, and enough for bathing , dish washing and laundry for a family of 5. This was TIME consuming and energy draining.

I could give many more examples but I am sure you get the point. The truth is, it can be hard to break out of this because so much time is required in order to simply survive.  Not only are huge chunks of time required but the whole ENERGY drain on your body, and mind can be tremendous, leaving you with none of either one at the end of the day in order to use for income generating ideas.

It can be a catch 22 where you know you would be better using time to make money and getting money working for you but so much time is given to working the job to pay the bills and all the time consuming projects of making do that it simply is not available by the end of the day when one falls exhausted into bed for a 4 to 6 hour coma, just to start a new day all over.

This for many, is a day in the life of the working poor.......

The Power of a Dollar

Looking back over the years, I have found the dollar to be a powerful tool in acquiring things we really needed or wanted. Somehow we were always in the right place in the right time, while actively seeking that which we wanted to find. We put the worry of "how" aside and just actively searched or paid closer attention to the signs around us.

When I talk about the power of the dollar, I am not talking about it in a plural sense, but rather just the power of a single $1 bill, for that is usually what I have on hand in my purse most days. Yet we never let it stop us and never questioned the power of your mind and determination.

In 2001 we desperately needed a car as we were VERY pregnant with our last and youngest daughter, our car had broken down beyond repair after moving 600 miles away from family, friends and anyone we knew to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on the Keweenaw Peninsula........an area that averages 30 feet of snow every winter. Work was 15 miles away in another town and we had been relying on Taxi cabs that were talking over half of hubby's paychecks.

With a dollar in my purse I walked by a car dealership advertising that years brand new cavaliers with a 0 down financing. I went home and told hubby to go check it out and he said but we only have a buck, and I said so? What do you have to lose? In an hour we had a brand new car that lasted 6 years before something exploded scattering tiny fragments of metal throughout the entire engine and oil pan rendering it non repairable. But it was what we needed at the time and served us well while we had it. That tiny car was used for hauling pigs, goats, 8 people from time to time and many other things folks never thought we could squeeze into the tiny car, yet we always did! It worked just fabulous for whatever we needed it for!

Another time, when we discovered the building was being sold that we rented an apartment in, and the new owners would be taking over the 1500 square foot apartment WE were in, we had to move. With a dollar in my purse I saw a Farm for rent for a $1000 a month on 40 acres..........I recalled the place had been up for sale for several years.......houses in the UP of Michigan can sit for a really long time if they are not dirt cheap.

With a dollar in my purse we went and looked and I looked at hubby and said THIS IS OURS! Sure enough they allowed us to not only rent it but would go Land Contract. Unfortunately they really screwed us over in the Land Contract and never did any of the things they said they would do so it only lasted a Year. BUT nobody in their right minds would of let us rent that place on our income let alone try to purchase it.........yet they did. Rent was paid miraculously on time every month with me working at a Humane Society full time and running a full scale farming operation full time while still being mom, housekeeper and wife. Nope I did not sleep, that whole year I ran off of 3 hours asleep a night..........one week I only got 3 hours of sleep the WHOLE week to assist in the birthing of goats and still going to the Humane Society to work full time that whole week.

I hand cut hay with a Scythe, hand dug a 1/2 acre garden, we WALKED a 1/4 mile driveway ALL WINTER with sleds to sled in and out kids and grain through blizzards, 40 below weather and all. Sometimes at 2am with the coyotes and bears and cougar running about.......... fun times!

It was HARD but the best year of my life.........I was so happy to do what I was doing and never felt more fit and healthier in my life.

While these are only 2 instances, there have been many others we have had in the 13 years we have been together (well coming up on 13 years anyways) that have all happened with no more than a dollar in my pocket. In this instances we never think a NO or a WON'T HAPPEN is in the picture......there is a unique determination that we simply KNOW we will get it when these instances occur in our  lives.

We actively work in searching and looking when we know we want something and perhaps this is the step that puts us in the right place and the right time with the right people to make it happen.

The power of a $1 dollar can be incredible if you simply let go of HOW and simply BELIEVE it will be yours somehow. They universe is a mysterious world indeed!

A Letter from a Reader

Just thinking about your post today. Have you noticed also when you change your thoughts, the items you need ( plus some extra wants) just appear?

For example. Here are some that just amaze me, and some happened years ago and are small and some happened this past week and are large.

Small that I remember. I had nothing, I was moving home, selling what I couldn’t take, and that my soon to be ex didn’t need. I had 2 children just starting school and was feeling so overwhelmed. A father daughter event was coming up at our church for our eldest daughter. My then husband was not living with us and would not take my daughter to church ( he would no longer been seen there as he was running around with several different women and had been found out by different Church members). My daughter asked her school teacher, and he took her! That probably wouldn’t happen today! He came dressed up and brought her a corsage to wear, she was 9 and never forgot that.

Then another time, I had no money, and my daughter needed some leotards for winter or pants that would keep her legs warm. I went to church that Sunday, it was a new church and we had just been twice. A lady came up to me and said, I don’t want to insult you, but I have some girls clothes that I think would fit your daughter and she is the only one I’ve seen that I think they will fit, would you like them? If not I will take them to the thrift shop tomorrow. I have been cleaning out my girls clothes as I need more room in their drawers. I said thank you I’d love them. so what was in the bags ( she had them in the car already and gave them to me after church) nine count them 9, pair of leotards in my daughter’s size, 4 pair of slacks, a jacket and coat, 2 flannelette nightgowns, and numerous tops and sweaters, and 2 church dresses! We ended up good friends, she had no idea at the time we needed anything.

Now my other half ( we have been together for 28 years) and we are 2 halves of the same couple. He is to the point health wise he can no longer get us wood so we bought a logging truck load last year. Now he can no longer cut and split it let alone go like we used to to cut it in the bush. So we talked it over and added to our mortgage and got a propane furnace put in. It cost us a fair bit, but we looked around, and got it put in, plus hired a gas fitter to dig the line and put in the line from the propane tank to the furnace, we got the tank and 1/3 tank of gas and the delivery and set up of the tank and a years rental of the tank, for just under the price the first estimate came in from the same maker and furnace we had wanted ( an energy efficient one) That price didn’t include a licenced gas fitter that we needed for the home insurance, or the tank , rental, setup and delivery of the tank or propane in the tank. We added the new cost of the loan into our budget, but come fall I wondered how I could save the amount needed to fill the tank. I went into change the insurance policy on the house, and the different main heat lowered our premium. I just received a Check for $609. for a 5 month refund! The lower premium for the house insurance will cover the heat bill for the year! Plus is easier for my hubby, and adds value to the house! There will actually be an extra amount left after I pay both the tank being filled in the fall and the house insurance, that will do one of 2 things, go toward a winter grocery fund ( I try and stalk up so we don’t need to shop if the roads are icy, we live in the mountains and need to travel on mountain roads to go to town) or go to an emergency fund ( for unexpected repairs).

My Mother had a different saying that would cover what you said in a different way about stress and abundance. “let go and let God”. That was her motto in life, it was in his hands and she just needed to do the best she could and he could do the rest. She lived till a month short of 98, and you know he looked after her needs all those years! Even when her mind went I was there, and I was a “ mistake” when she was 41! The Dr. thought she was going through the change early! My brother was 21 years older than me ( lived and worked on the other side of the continent) and my parents didn’t use birth control as they wanted 2 children!

I consider us well off. Not rich money wise, but all our needs and more are covered! We have worked hard to get where we are, and we bought out in the country, a little home in an area that is lower priced. But we are happy, and I love my back window! I sit and look down to the back of the property and see a creek and the mountains, and the view and animals I see change by the hour! What more could I ask for???

Take Care,

Thank you for a thought provoking Sunday Morning inspirational write up.

Pat in Kitchener

Poor to Rich

Stress can be a drain on your mental energy, physical health and keep you locked into negative thoughts and thinking as well. When we constantly worry about having "enough" it tends to really distort our reality and can really blur illusion with reality. This all comes from our own personal perception and how we view the life we lead. When we learn to let go, when we learn to shift our conscious thoughts, when we learn to come to terms with our "actual needs" versus wants and luxury, we can leave behind the feelings of deprivation and change our views over to an abundant universe. While this shift is not always easy, one actually I use to struggle with long ago and now is my hubby's battle he must face, it is possible and the world becomes a better and easier one to live with.

Hubby is  at a place of contradictions right now that he battles, on one side of seeing how joyful we are and how really this world provides truly anything we could ever want or need. On the other side, he faces the feelings of jealousy and envy with those who live in big houses and drive fast sports cars and have all the shiny's and gadgets in between. On one side in a few years he wants to give up everything to travel the United States on Horseback, followed by giving up money and "living off the land" so to speak, giving up the doll drum of work, home, work, home. On the other side he states he is not living the life he wants, if it was up to him he would have the money to go to the casino once a week.

I pointed out these statements as highly contradicting, polar opposites, an internal battle he is facing. I also pointed out that years ago when we did make that kind of money , enough is never enough for him......give him a tiny line and he starts to real it out as far as it will go. The once a week casino trip becomes two, becomes three and so on. The whole time he becomes less and less happy as there is never enough money to fuel his desires, he wants to travel, he wants a motorcycle, blah blah blah. Then it must be further pointed out that if he did not spend ALL his extra money at the casino......he would then have enough to buy that house he wanted, or go to Hawaii, or, or, or.........He KNOWS all this but still the reality is hard to accept as truth. This comes from being raised as a high consumer and that shiny things purchase your "status." He is aware of this as well and is a cycle he truly wants to break, some habits are really hard to break though are they not?

We really have few basic NEEDS.. shelter, food, clothing, love and some kind of companionship. Well okay AIR and WATER too but you get the idea! Everything else really could be considered a luxury, not a must have or need, rather wants that fulfill desires.

Shelter and clothing only need to be simple too and shelter us from the natural elements....it does not have to be spacious, large, imported Italian tiles, or posh by any standards........a lean to could be said is a suitable shelter! This is why small spaces that we rent does not bother me, they are more than suitable! Clothing is the same, it does not have to be expensive or designer brand.....it has to be functional!

A poor person therefore tends to think  "I am deprived, I am lacking" meaning they feel jealousy over not having large flat high definition televisions, or go out to eat at posh expensive restaurants. They feel as if they never go anywhere or get to do anything fun.

A rich person however tends to think , "All our needs are met and more. We are blessed" Good homemade food in the belly, love in the house, shelter over their heads. Family board games on a Friday night, fishing at the local park on Saturday, root beer floats at home from cheap ice cream on Sunday.

A poor person tends to think," I am tired of juggling bills, life sucks!"

A rich person however thinks " It will all work out, what can I do to get these paid?"

A poor person may think " we never get to do anything or go anywhere ever "

A rich person thinks " Wow it's been awhile I really appreciate eating out today or visiting......(where ever) "

A poor person may think " It is embarrassing being poor, I an too embarrassed to have anyone over"

A rich person may however " We welcome any friend anytime, we always have plenty of floor space and will serve you what we have on hand graciously"

A poor person thinks " we never have enough! I can never buy what I want and we never have enough stuff!"

A rich person however thinks" We always have "enough" We lack for nothing and have no need to continue buying "stuff"

You get the idea I am sure, while I am not making fun of those who truly have need, I am stressing the point that for many, the feelings of being poor is more in their perspective of their situation.

If you have shelter, clothing, food.........the rest is a bonus, a luxury and in that case the poverty is truly only in the way you view it, but is not a reality. This is a line of thought that with a little effort, can be changed.

So I ask you, are you poor or rich? You decide............As for myself and my family we are extremely blessed and lead a rich life full of abundance and wonderful things :)

In This Moment We Have Enough

We lack for nothing, 3 meals a day, clothes on our back, roof over our heads, we are not found wanton. Our home is filled with comfortable furniture, desktop computer, laptop computer, high speed Internet, books, pots and pans, TV and DVD players along with video game systems and games. We have one vehicle, our monthly bills are paid every month.

Looking around our needs are filled, in this moment we really do not need anything, sure there are a few things I would like to get like a horse shoe set and badminton set, and a washer and dryer would be nice but even those wants at this time is pretty much limited to those few things.

In this moment, we have enough, we have no need for high consumerism and by defining our enough factor it will allow us to continue spending less than we earn and keep our expenses low. The one thing that will be added mid May will be our daughters violin lessons and the start of June will bring a few frugal camping trips to us but all in all we keep our expenses down, dirty and cheap!

Our refund this year certainly helped to fill in those few things we needed like our thrift store couches, car repairs and vet bills to get our dog and cat spayed, along with taking care of our kids birthdays as well.  But since we do not make purchases for status, at this moment in time we really do have enough for a comfortable lifestyle.

Being happy and comfortable with what we already have helps keep spending in check with our ultimate goal of getting hubby out of his 9 to 5 job in just a few short years now. ( our goal at the moment is October of 2015)

We are very blessed and love to fill our days with things we enjoy ( like just spending 2 days fishing and flying kites!) Joy does not need to be expensive, it simply needs to be enjoyable and bring laughter to your daily life. There are many things that can bring value or joy and either be free altogether or can be had at a very minimal of costs.

By seeing that in this moment We/You have enough allows us to find joy in the moment and not spend of frivolous expenses but rather put away savings or build wealth towards the larger longer term goals. For each that may be a different goal, for us, it is being able to spend our days together, hubby not having to leave for a job he does not enjoy.

Seeing we have enough now does not mean we do not have dreams or bucket lists or desires , I mean we are after all human! It is about deciding what is really important to us though and not just spending all our money on "stuff" that has no real meaning for us. It is about making frugal choices now in order to get where we want to go according to how we want to live our life and our values.

We have a good life, I have no complaints and in this moment as I look around a smile comes to my lips for in this moment I find joy in knowing we have "enough." At this moment, there is no need to spend on "more" and would make no sense whatsoever to do so.

It Does Not Matter Where You Are At...........

It Only Matters Where You Are Going.........

I have received several emails stating how much they appreciate my open honesty here on this blog. One of the reasons I started this blog as through our struggles at such a low income, it was not only us. Since 2008 I have read and heard so many others struggles, many being people who thought they would never see the day where such hardships took over their lives. Anxiety, tears, frustration, fear, not knowing what their future held for them, depression. This all came with the territory of economic collapse.

I started this blog with the intent of full  disclosure and honesty because I thought it may help others as this kind of struggle is not a stranger to me. Being honest to a very vulnerable level and knowing I may open myself up to a lot of criticisms of those who can not relate or fathom this kind of life did not concern me.

I felt the only way to help others was be disclosing our income levels, the sources of those incomes, how we spend it, credit scores, mistakes, splurges that perhaps should not of been splurged...... all of it....it could only help if open and honest about every aspect of our financials and style of living was out in the open for all to see.

Regardless of the economy, I wanted to show that no matter where you are at in this very moment is not what matters. The essence of this blog is where you are going that matters and if you have a goal to work towards there are no limits to where you can go.

I was told on a comment in another blog that my view that everyone has the same opportunities here in America was a ridiculous statement, that not everyone plays on the same playing field. That those who are raised in poor, high crime areas are not given the same opportunities as those raised in rich households that go to private schools and better educational opportunities.

They missed the point and I do not feel my view here is ridiculous, I refuse to let someone else tell me that because we are poor we do not have the opportunities to climb the ladder to one day be financially free or reach a level of success we strive for every breathing moment we are awake ( an in my case in my dreams as well as my mind is always working it out.....)

Perhaps as children not all have the same opportunities but that was not my point. I believe every ADULT American has the same opportunities in this freedom loving land of opportunity as every other ADULT American. We are where we are from the choices we make and we are all free to make choices, grow and learn. Opportunities come every day whether we recognise them or not, whether we act upon them or blow them off.......that is our freedom of choice. We all have the same opportunities to IMPROVE our circumstances and become successful, reach our dreams, set and accomplish our goals. Failure is NOT an option, something many immigrants coming over with nothing more than a dollar in their pocket are well aware of.

Our past does not define us today, nor does it tell us who we will be tomorrow, who we will be tomorrow is up to us. Our past is simply a reminder, a tool to learn from to grow from, to make better choices from. Once we realize we are free to make the choices that define our life..........we can go anywhere anyone else can and it is where we plan to go that is the essence of what really matters.

If someone may not have had an opportunity to get a good education.........libraries are free and within lies a free education to become a life long learner. As long as we continue to learn.....we continue to grow and our choices become more abundant. Our choices become wiser, once you realize learning can be free and that it is not necessarily only confined to 4 brick walls with a high cost.

I am well aware I have been called an Idealist, but I don't feel my views of opportunities for all is an idealist view. Rather I think it is a practical view that only a few may understand. Some may not know how to make different choices, they may of become so lost in the realities of their neighborhoods , they are not aware of anything but how life is in their general surroundings. Perhaps drugs have taken over their life and clouded their ability to make choices. Perhaps some just have blinders on to opportunity because change is hard for humans. It is easier to stay with what you know than to change and face the unknown.

Some may even ask, if I truly believe everyone has the same opportunities as we live in an abundant universe........then why are we so poor, why have we not succeeded yet. The answer? OUR CHOICES!

We have made many choices over the years that have led us to where we are today, not all of them good choices. Some choices were made to sacrifice monetary gain in lieu of building strong family bonds and keeping family value at the front. Homeschooling versus working, low paying wages rather than heart attacks..........

We are where we are from the choices we have made in our life journey. But where we are today is not what matters. We have a solid plan for where we are going and it is where we are going that matters. You can do it too!



I personally choose hope for I refuse to think where I am at today is where I will be at 30 or 40 years from now. THAT IS NOT AN OPTION!

WHERE WE ARE GOING IS WHAT MATTERS

where we are going is full of opportunities and the chances to make decisions to improve the quality of our life, our income levels, and experiences along this wonderful life we have been given.

You can do it too and I will continue to blog with complete and open honesty as if it can help even one more family then this blog has been worth everything I have put into it and will continue to put into it for a long time to come as you follow us from a poverty level of income to a successful where we are going!

Get a Good Education To Get a Good Job

Walt Disney, Richard Branson, Henry Ford, Milton Hershey,Jay-Z, Simon Cowell.George Foreman, Ray Charles, Jack London, Debbi Fields, Carl Lindner, Mary Kay Ash, Ted Turner.............

While the names above is by no means a complete list, they all have one thing in common.

They are all school drop outs, some dropping out as early as 4rth grade, others dropping out of high school and a couple with no education at all. Milton Hershey had nothing more than a 4rth grade education. Yet all went on to become successful Millionaires and household names.

Does going on to college to get a good education in order to get a good job still apply today or is it simply how we have been brainwashed to believe in order to spend more money. Does this simply mean a higher level of broke?

Does education lead one to financial freedom or does it lead to a financial lock down of being a slave to the almighty dollar while being told what to do, when to be there and how much one is worth?

What determines success, what leads to financial freedom? I mean the type of freedom where you have ongoing money coming in regardless of where you are and what you are doing? Not having to wait until you are 68 or 70 to start living after you worked the best years of your life away?

Is getting a good education in order to get a good job a myth that we have been led to believe in simply so there is a higher level of consumerism and money flowing in the direction of Wall Street, Banks, IRS ?????

Do you think all these millionaire drops outs simply get lucky? I don't think so, I think they had a large ability to think beyond the box of beliefs so many are spoon fed and simply follow along believing in the dogma they want us to believe in. I think they stopped to question what leads people to spend the way they do, earn the way they do, live the way they do. A fire was lit within them some see as being self starters or ambitious.

While I am not knocking college, there certainly is other ways to learn and gain an education without starting off with a huge debt over your head.

The ability to think out of the box of normal standards of thought though, I think can take you quite far on a path to financial freedom.

What do you think are key factors to financial success?  Do you believe a higher education plays into the equation at all?

I Want To Be a Beggar

While I posted about this on my homeschool blog, I had a very different take on this from a financial stand point so thought I would write about here from a different angle.

My 10 year old daughter hates baths and it can be a struggle and creative pursuit to get her to take one. (Then another struggle to get her out!)

The other day I asked "Are you going to take your bath today?"

Her response.........."NO, for all you know, I have plans to become a beggar! I better get started now!"

This got me to thinking............WHAT IF.

What if I would of chose such a goal as a child to grow up to become a beggar? What would that have meant and what significance would it have on impacting my life today?

Most children dream big.......ballerinas, astronauts, being rich and living in mansions, zoologists.......most are later very disappointed with how their life turned out in reality, not matching their childhood dreams in the least. Many become depressed with how life turned out.

But what if we turned the table and dreamt of becoming beggars, full time rustic campers, possums?

Then I  really let myself sink into thinking about the life of a beggar, how they would be dressed, where they would sleep, how they would eat.

Then I opened my eyes and looked around MY world and WOW what an impact it had on me! I have always been grateful for what I have, but looking at it from a stance of a beggars eyes it was an amazing journey for me. A new perspective altogether.

I had hubby join me on this exercise , thinking about the life of a beggar if that would of been our goal in life and then open his eyes and look around. I could even see his eyes get wide with wonder......we would think we far succeeded our goal, that we are living a rich and rewarding life full of wonderful modern things! We would feel elated to have such a wonderful warm home, full of modern conveniences, hot water, TVs, a phone, computers, heat, food........................


This is not meant to make fun of the less fortunate, but was for us, a wonderful exercise for gratitude...........a look into our circumstances from a very different place, a wonderful way for us  to experience just how blessed we are in the right here and the right now...............

Why the Poor Stay Poor

I must admit, there are times I read articles about the difference of mindset between the wealthy and poor or on why the poor in America stay poor with great amusement. I read these articles and the whole time I wonder if the people that gathered the information or wrote the article were ever actually poor themselves. Something tells me it is highly unlikely that they were ever poor or bothered to ever actually get to know a variety of families in the low-income levels of living. Frankly I would have to disagree with most of what these articles or statics say.

Health Care

If you look at the Alabama Cooperative Extension  they will discuss health care and the fact that 20% of Americans turn down Employer offered insurance, many siting it is too much of a cost. The article goes on to say if only they could get them to sign up for it how it would reduce the non-insured in America. Well personally I was in this situation myself at one time, I was offered AFLAC for a little over a $100 a month for a family coverage at the time. At the time I was a single mother working 16 hour days for about $1100 a month with a $700 mortgage a month and with a winter electric bill that equaled and sometimes surpassed my mortgage! (Yeah my stupid house had ELECTRIC heat in a winter state with a son who hiked up the heat when I went to work, the more I worked to pay the bill, the more he hiked up the heat!)

While people look at $100 and say it is not that much, well it is a whole LOT of money when you just do not make that kind of money. I was always in foreclosure at the time, my cars were always broken down, my house was the MONEY PIT of all houses where over $10,000 in repairs happened the year I got a divorce. Also looking at the plan they offered , never covered anything that actually went wrong health wise with my family! So yeah, I turned it down!

My husband was also offered BLUE CROSS for a small fee of $550 a month ummmmmmm yeah like that is gonna happen at exactly one whole pay check out of two! Don't think so! How exactly do they think they are going to get low income working families to sign up for ridiculously high cost insurance plans when offered? Sorry to burst their bubble but it is not gonna happen unless they offer a good plan at low cost.

They will also go into the fact that many poor refuse many of the free government programs such as food stamps and such. Refusing a system that is designed to help keep one poor keeps you poor?


It Takes Money To Make Money

I have heard the poor stay poor because they do not have the resources financially to seize the opportunities that would lift them out of poverty.

Seriously? Seriously? No really, Seriously?

Every American in this country has the same opportunities as everyone else, it is indeed an abundant universe. Why is it an immigrant can come over here with only a dollar in their pocket and end up running a successful business or become wealthy? Yet an American once starting the downhill spiral, spirals downward out of control? An immigrant sees opportunity in EVERY situation and are willing to act on them and work hard, failure is NOT an option for them.

While money CAN open more doors to the beholder of wealth,  it is certainly not lack of money that keeps the poor America in poverty. Perhaps lack of know how but knowledge can be acquired and learned if one is motivated enough to do so.Making money has never been easier or faster than right now in history not to mention all the opportunities that do not take much money at all to start a venture.

Gone are the days where it takes 30 or 40 years to see the fruitation of an idea manifest itself into wealthy enterprises. Things go at super hyper speed now that we are in a super information highway age, and what took Henry Ford 30 or more years to accomplish can happen in the matter of days in a garage today.

It is not lack on money that keeps one poor, it is the lack of willingness to gain new fresh knowledge combined perhaps with the letting opportunities slip on by when one can not see an opportunity for what it is when it is presented to them.

Fear if Success- It is easy to understand, what we know yet fear rises when new waters are to be tested. I would say that many who have lived a long time in poverty KNOW poverty. They know how to live, how to cut corners, how to struggle! When success becomes evident, anxiety of unknown territory rises, panic sets in and self sabotage comes into play. How we feel about money and wealth may have a great impact in this area as well. If we have been been raised with the "money is the root of evil, the rich are greedy, the rich are mean and evil, they take from the poor blah blah blah, the fear of ourselves becoming wealthy scares the living stuffing out of us!

Some literally can not picture a life of a decent house, nice furniture, paying bills on time, plenty of food, decent clothing, reliable cars.......it is too foreign of a thought if it has NEVER been experienced. The common reaction is to pull the rug out from under that unknown scenario when it is on the horizon and seems so close. A victory perhaps one does not really think they deserve or simply would not know how to live like that.

Poor Health/Poor Choices- Sometimes a lack of good health would defiantly keep one in the loop of poverty, I do know a few where their health would never allow them to forge ahead and this sadly can keep one poor. You have to have OKAY health at least to keep moving forward and to have energy to put effort into achieving goals. Without health you remain in a pickle jar and this can not always be helped.

On the other hand, some start out on the wrong foot making all the wrong choices. Miss money management, not knowing how to do anything frugal. Living above ones means, getting pregnant or married too young, drugs, alcohol, get rich quick scams, whatever.

Bad choices are bad choices and until a correct course is established nothing will change. This is really an area where if one is not willing to change, they will remain where they are in the out of control spiral going downhill the whole way.

It is easier to start out making the right choices, then to go back and try to correct 30 years of mistakes. Bad choices and decisions can defiantly keep one in poverty.

Poor People focus on Problems not Solutions:

Really? Have you ever sat around a table with a bunch of poor friends? First of all many poor people for a variety of reasons, DO NOT FEEL POOR! Shhhhhhhhhhhhh I let the secret out of the BAG, we have learned to enjoy and see the beauty in the simple things life has to offer. We smell the roses and have deep gratitude for the things we have in our daily lives. Many outsiders that would see certain things in our lives as a problem, we don't have a problem with! For example, many outsiders had a problem me and hubby went without furniture for 3 or 4 years, we used bedrolls instead of beds and such and we lived very comfortably in this manner yet many thought this crazy, bizarre and a great lack. You ever see a Japanese house? How we lived would of been perfectly acceptable there but not in AMERICA. Hmmm interesting how this bothered so many others when it NEVER bothered us at all! Gave us more floor space!

On the other side, sitting around a table with poor friends, while yes they may worry about meeting the heat bill, or if they will have enough food for the month, the ideas and hilarious scenarios that fly around the table are HUGE. They have big ideas, GREAT ideas, Innovative ideas all of which could be possible solutions. However this is the main problem here is that these ideas are just TALKING THE TALK and remain dreams as many times they simply do not know how to WALK THE WALK. This points back to the original statement of LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. They do not take the steps of goal planning or gaining the knowledge they need in order to turn an idea into a reality. Ideas without action keeps one poor.Lacking the knowledge of how to get the idea moved into a reality, keeps one poor. Knowledge is something few seem to want to seek out which in today's age has never been easier to do!

While there are many other ideas of why the poor stay poor or the difference between the wealthy and poor mindsets, these are just a few of MY personal observations and opinions. You may or may not agree with them but at least these opinions are coming from someone who is not a stranger to poverty. I may cover some more of the differences in future articles as there seem to be many!

Hope ya all have a great day, MAKE IT AMAZING!

Staying Positive When Poor

Awhile back I wrote a post about Staying Positive and thought I would do another post about Staying Positive When Poor. ( To be frank, it is because that is what came up in the keyword search for this blog so I thought I could go a bit more in detail on the subject!)


So how do you stay positive when you are poor?


1.) Focus on what you have, not what you lack- Modern Poverty is a  whole new game with 70 percent are living with video games, air conditioning, computers, DVD players and 700 square foot of living space PER PERSON. Compare that to undeveloped countries that live on less than a dollar a day and I think that alone has us counting our blessings here in America!  Our basic needs are food, shelter and clothes on our back and if we are meeting those needs than that is where our focus of blessings should be counted.

2.) Get Busy! Clean and organize house, draw, read books you can learn something from, start a hobby, start a business, create plans of action, go for daily walks or runs, exercise, you get the point! GET BUSY-GET ACTIVE

3.) Focus on Solutions, not problems- It is easy to get bogged down when we focus on the problems at hand , turn this around by focusing on solutions and coming up with plans of actions that will improve your circumstances

4.) Strengthen Relationships- Work on building strong, close relationships for their is strength in numbers, do not let your situation deteriorate your relationships, this is your team and a team needs to work together!

5.) Watch Comedies or put Feel good music on- The more you laugh or feel good the better so watch tons of comedies and laugh til you hurt or put on that feel good music, a smile on your face and a dance in your step!

6.) Try to always see the humorous side of situations- While this is not always easy, a person can usually find something to joke about almost any situation, learning to laugh at your circumstances can go a long ways in staying positive.

7.) Does not matter where you ARE- It only matters where you are going so have a plan of where you are going!

8.) Be Adaptable- Be ready to adapt to any situation, knowing life does not give you anything you yourself are not capable of handling. Adaptability goes a long ways in surviving circumstances. When we resist change, that is where struggle comes into play.

9.) Marvel at the Beauty of each Day- Take a moment each day to step outside or look around at your surroundings and marvel at the beauty of it. Each day is a miracle. Accept it for what it is.

10.) Obstacle or Opportunity?- Many times opportunities come in the disguise of obstacles, try to see the opportunities that surround us each and every day!

Determining Personal Assets: The Value of YOU

No I am not talking about material assets here that equate to your Net Worth! When I speak about your personal assets, I am not talking about the cars you own, nor the houses or how much you have in savings accounts or investments.

What I am talking about is is figuring out what YOU are worth as this may be important when figuring out ways to increase income streams.

Everyone has a unique persona filled with skills and special expertise based on your own personal life experiences, past job history, education, hobbies and past times that have developed over time into making YOU the most important asset you have, yet many do not ever stop to take into consideration. Before the start of a new year, and even before you set goals for the new year, it may help to write out a page that shows your Personal Asset Value. For everyone this will look very different from another!

Mine would look like this:

Past Employment
Certified Nurse Aide
Chore Worker for home bound elderly
General Laborer on Construction Crew
Waitress
Humane Society Employed Worker
Cashier as Gas Attendant
Molly Maids ( housekeeping)
Stall Hand at Arabian Horse farm

Self Employment
Scrap Metal Work
Candle Manufacturer
Professional Tarot Reader ( Surprised?)
Day Care Provider
Free Lance Writer
Hobby Breeder  for Local Pet Store
Authored 1 book (so far)

Accumulative Experience in Hobbies or Daily Activities

Organic Gardening
Frugality ( Oh yeah baby, it is a skill!)
Dog Training ( done it since I was 10 and still doing it!)

Animal Behaviorist ( I have a very keen gift of understanding the language of animals NO I CANT hear them talk! LOL just understand their language and signs on how they communicate or why the act certain ways!)

Cooking ( again since I was about 10 Lets see Chef Ramsey make a Delicious meal on 2 to 4 bucks!)

Camping 

Photography

Investing ( very amateur right now but improving my skills and knowledge every month!)

Birdwatching and Identification

Wilderness Survival

Physical Therapy and Disabled Children ( have 2 that have had to have daily extensive physical therapy!)

Homeschooling ( going on 9 years now!)

small scale farming



Well there ya go, a birds eye view of what would be considered my personal assets. I am sure if I really really really stopped to think about it, I could add to this list even more but it non the less is a good list!

Now looking at this, I can determine the things off this list that I have really enjoyed doing ( most of them to be honest) and how I could use these skills to generate money! It may surprise you that for the most part I have dedicated my life for 25 years as a stay at home mom. So taking that into consideration the list is pretty impressive as over the years I have fit things in that have built up my list of skills.

The more skills you acquire, the easier it will be to do something with it. You can also look at your list to see maybe what should be added and make a commitment over the year of 2012 to develop a new skill or two that will really add to your own personal net worth. Investing in yourself is one of the most beneficial things you can do. The more skills you have, the more marketable it is to turn to cash...........

What does your Personal Assets look like?

Staying Positive

When things get tough, the tough get going and when hard times hit, this certainly rings true. This is not a time to whine and bemoan and defantly not a good time to throw in the towel and vow to stay in bed for the next 6 months or more. Now I admit, while I do tend to stay in a positive frame of mind, this is not always easy, I do have my days and moments of despair, that feeling of overwhelming dread that floods over one from time to time. I have moments I want to close myself off in the bathroom and cry, especially when the knocks in life seem to be un-ending.

It can be extremely stressful, juggling bills from month to month when bills exceed income and we all know where it winds up eventually. You hit a wall when juggling will cease to work when you have juggled so much and so long that the end has come and there simply is no more juggling or magic acts you can perform. Financial Disaster is staring you in the face and you are facing shut-offs, no heat for the winter and more.

Michigan ties South Carolina for the third highest in un-employment in the nation right now with a 10.9 percent un-employment rate. Michigan also recently passed a financial assistance cut off where thousands of families were cut off of government assistance this past October after their 4 year of life time government assistance allowance was up. On top of that it was passed that Michigan has eliminated the child earned income credit while raising taxes considerably on the low-income earners while they will be giving big businesses huge tax brakes. A group is supporting a movement to restore a small part of the child earned income credit back, I doubt it will be met with any success.

While my family has never been on any government assistance at any time and we have always stood on our own, I feel for some of these families as there seemed to be no exceptions to the 4 year entitlement limit. Some of these families really needed it while they stayed home to care for severely disabled spouses or children.

But in spite of the gloomy picture and no matter how bad one's finances may appear, it is important to stay positive, even laugh at some of the tribulations and trials thrown at you. This is a time for TRUE GRIT and the time when one has to dig deep, become creative, become ambitious and keep on trying. It is a matter of probability, the more you try things, eventually you will swing the odds into your favor reaching that 1 out of 100 successes.

Yes it takes CHANGE and change on many levels at that if you are to rise again. Then again belief in yourself is a powerful thing, where anything can happen.............if you just believe and remove any limits you may of placed on yourself........so STAY POSITIVE for everything moves in cycles and this too shall pass.....

Financial Circumstances

While every family will have a different financial overview than other families, if you are finding this blog than you share some of the most frequent issues as others. While everyone may have different bills, costs of living, special categories and different food expenses, not to mention the differences between income levels and family sizes, many experience similar problems which is what led you to this blog.

Some of those issues would be

Living paycheck to paycheck

job loss

change of employment

not making ends meet

cut back in hours worked

divorce

death of a loved one

sudden change in size of family

not being able to pay bills

wanting financial Independence

emergency depleting funds

not prepared for emergencies


While I am sure there would be a host of other reasons why finances may not be on point where you would like them to be, these are some of the more common issues folks deal with when it comes to money. Money can be a highly emotional subject and it is hard to face the fact that something needs to change if you are serious about turning your finances around to a positive way of living with wealth building techniques. However without real desire for change and the willingness for action, combined  with positive attitude, it will never change which is why only a small percentage (10% or less) control 90% of the populations wealth.

If you are in a drastic situation calling for immediate change, then you will have to be willing to take drastic and extreme measures to change it around. It can be done, it has been done, nobody can  tell you it can not be done, but in the end it will be up to you and how bad you really want it. Nobody else is going to do it for you, so let me ask you, how bad do you want it and how much are you willing to work for it?