Things I have learned while Larry is in between jobs.

Hey ...I know it has been awhile...I have a hard time just sitting down and composing my thoughts.  Quick posts on FB/Twitter are easier to do on my phone.
But this idea....I needed a keyboard to capture all of my new found knowledge.
Here goes:

Larry resigned his job April 2014 due to many reasons including stress/health/company changes/relocation/etc.   He worked until July 3 2014 training his replacement and wrapping up his over 20 + years with this company.  From July - Dec we had a partial income since he was doing some contract work.  We quickly got on a tighter budget starting in July.  Sort of reminds me of when we first were married.....we had to LIVE on a budget for many years.

In Jan 2015, the income ceased.  We reassessed and found ways to tighten the budget even more.  Yes....Larry is ACTIVELY looking for a job and has had numerous interviews and sent out a boatload of resumes.  We are confident that God is in control and has everything in His timing.  He has sustained us in every area and our finances are holding pretty good.  Praise the Lord for our savings.

So....here are the biggest things I miss being able to do without thinking a 2nd thought:   treating our children/grands out to eat and buying for the grands when I see something cute.  I have had to restrain myself and just not go mindless shopping.  I am so thankful that my kids/grand kids love me and Pepaw for who we are and not for what we buy them.

So....here are the funny things I have done to help tighten our budget.  It was probably a good idea  to do these things....get rid of surplus and do some cleaning out.  Mind you....I have always been a careful shopper but in the last 10 years I never had to be on a budget.  I will break up my musings into several posts so you won't get bored.

1.  NO STOCKING UP!  I was the kind that always had spares of alot of essentials.  When snow predictions came I was prepared with the TP/paper products/etc.  Not now....I keep on hand just what we need for the week.

2.  REGULAR HAIR PRODUCTS:  My hair is so thin and hard to style that I started using volumizing products to help me get "that look".  That became costly so I scoured the house and found all bottle of shampoo/conditioner/etc and started using them.  I figure that my hair will have to suffer along with the rest of us.

3.  DETERGENT!   Laundry detergent is expensive when you are watching your pennies.  So....I found that I had excess of that on hand and between my home and the townhome I started using it up instead of purchasing the kind I really like.  We survived....and our clothes did have that BABY FRESH smell....since I had a surplus of Dreft and Baby Downy.

4.  DINING OUT!  Our eating out habits were one of the first things to change.  We were used to eating out whenever/wherever we wanted.  Now......it is only because of a coupon to keep our total meal under $10 or if someone else is paying.  Totally different for us....and a little humbling.  We really don't eat out more that once or twice a month maybe.  I have worked towards trying to cook more and keep ahead so that temptation to default to a restaurant is not there.

Well....that is enough for this post.  Stay tuned....there is more to come.
Thanks for tracking with me.