The Blessings of the Budget

I was going to talk about something else today, but after this morning, this is pretty much the only thing on my mind, so I have to share this. 

We are in an interesting economical situation right now. 

Currently, we have been blessed with more money than we've had in a long time. We're still not very wealthy, but we at least have a sizable buffer in our savings, and that's been really comforting. 

Even so, we are trying REALLY hard to stick to our budget. We're also trying to save up for a few things and so last paycheck, we didn't put very much into the grocery portion of our budget. 

Then, we ended up feeding some extra people, which was great, and we were grateful to be able to help out. It simply left us with no extra grocery money. 

So, we were in a strange situation where we didn't have any money, but we actually did. We weren't sure what to do. We ran out of eggs on Friday, and we didn't have any fresh fruit. We contemplated going to the store and getting those two things, because they are kind of necessary and we actually DID have money...just not in our grocery fund.

However, after we went to the temple on Saturday, we stopped at my grandma's house to pick up Kevin. After we ate with them and piled in the car, Grandma came over and handed us a carton of eggs and a bag of fruit. She also gave us a bag of potatoes. 

I know it wasn't a coincidence that she just happened to give us the specific items that we were really in need of. I know that we were blessed for our service and for going to the temple. I have some pretty wonderful family members too. 

That wasn't the only blessing we've seen though. We get paid today, and we've been low on quite a few other things, but somehow (like the woman in the bible who provided food for Elijah and whose oil and flour never ran out) our supplies have lingered until today. For example: we were sure we were going to be out of milk by Sunday, but we still have some left. 

What have I learned from this? I have learned that when we try to stick to our budget, that the Lord helps us out. I have learned the blessings of going to the temple and paying our tithing. 

I'm excited to go grocery shopping today, but we're also going to try and be really careful not to spend all of our money right away. 

Hopefully it will last until the next paycheck this time. 

The Danger of Carrying Too Much

Sunday morning, I went out to get our groceries from the night before.  It was non-perishable stuff, but we'd left it in the car overnight because we didn't have the energy to bring it up to the apartment Saturday after we returned from shopping.  So, while Grig was in the shower, I ran out to the car, and got the groceries.  I had bags on both hands and it was fairly heavy, but I'm strong so I wasn't too worried. 

I walked across the snow (it had snowed that morning) and up the stairs.  I began to try and go faster.  I was making excellent progress up the stairs when I tripped on my skirt!

I fell forward and rapped my knee sharply against the edge of the stairs.  Pain shot through my leg, and I froze for a second.  Then, I got back up to my feet and went back inside.  I put the groceries away and went about my business for a while before I decided to take a look at my knee. 

It was fairly bruised. It was also swollen and protruding.  It was beautiful.  Or something.

Anyway, it hurt for a while.  Sunday, it was so sensitive that I couldn't even touch it.  Today it's doing much better. 

Sometimes I try to do way to much at one time.  I think I can take care of everything all by myself, that I don't need the help of others.  Marriage has been very good for me.  It's helped me to learn to depend on other people, and that they won't let me down. 

When I had my c-section, it was a little difficult because I'm used to walking things off.  I've been very healthy most of my life, and if I was injured, it didn't slow me down for long. 

After the c-section, I could barely walk.  I had to depend on a lot of people to help me, and I still probably tried to do too much.  However, because so many people helped to carry me along (and the baby since I couldn't pick him up for a few days) I was able to make it through it.

It's hard to say no.  I like to help people, and I have a really hard time not helping if I think I can.  The problem is, if you always say yes, you end up eventually tripping and falling.  Be careful not to help others so much that you end up injuring yourself in the process. 

If you're piling other people's stresses on you, let them go.  Let them do as much as they can, do what you can, and then don't stress about it.  You've done what you can.  You don't need to carry all the groceries up the stairs.  It doesn't do us any good to serve if we can't walk afterward.

Sometimes it's okay to make more than one trip, or to ask others to help you.  They certainly won't think less of you for it, and they'll feel happy you gave them an opportunity to serve you.

Don't be like me
and end up with an injured knee.

A Little Poverty Never Hurt Anyone

Being poor isn't much fun.  When Grig and I moved recently, we were doing pretty well financially.  However, previous to this move, we had been blessed with an apartment that was owned by loving family, and they didn't require us to pay rent.

Thanks to their generosity, we had been able to save up a bit of money, and had reduced our college debt by quite a bit.  Before we moved we weren't rich, but we weren't really poor either.  We'd been able to pay all of our baby bills (which were pretty substantial considering that I had a c-section).

Since we've moved, however, we've joined the world of the grown ups.  Our money that we saved was mostly spent in those first few weeks when Grig wasn't working as many hours and he was signed up through a temp agency.  For a while, we didn't even know for sure that he was going to get the job full-time.  However, we had faith.  We knew this is where we were supposed to be.

We had decided to get a three bedroom apartment so that Grig's brother Havelock could come and stay with us.  It was decided that once he arrived and found a job, he would be able to help with the rent a bit.  The rent is a decent price for a three bedroom apartment, but it is still quite a bit of our income.  However, he couldn't find a job for a few weeks, so we've had to pay the rent on our own.  (As a side note, he found a job, and he starts today!) 

We've had to become very careful on how we deal with our money.  I created a budgeting system on Excel that works great for us, but with all of the finances we've had and a few surprise bills, our money nearly disappeared.  We couldn't buy groceries because we didn't have money for it.  We didn't have any furniture when we moved, and though we were able to buy a bed, we couldn't buy anything else.  We have been dirt poor, and it hasn't hurt us at all.

We've learned so many wonderful things because of it.  We budgeted our money before this, but never with the same caution that we do now.  We only buy what we absolutely NEED, and we're still working on discerning what groceries can wait until we have money.  We have given up a lot of things that we wanted for a later time when we can afford them.  Neither Grig nor I have credit cards, and aside from a (comparatively) small college debt that we are working on, we don't plan on ever going into debt.  We only want to buy things that we have saved up for and can afford. 

We've also been so blessed!  Every piece of furniture that we've really needed, someone has given us.  When we started, we had a tiny end table, a rocking chair, a lawn chair, a desk, and entertainment center (with no t.v.), a book shelf, a bed, and a tote that we use for a desk.  We didn't have a couch, a bed for Havelock, a table, or a microwave.  As the weeks have gone by and we've been trying to stay within our means, others have stepped in and given us furniture.  We've been so grateful as we've learned to rely on the Lord and on friends and family.

We've had enough, but no more.  As Havelock starts his new job and Grig continues to work, we should be able to begin saving again, and move past the poverty line.  It's been tough, but really, it's been okay.

A little poverty never hurt anyone.  It's only made us stronger as we've come closer to each other and to the Lord.