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1. Great ways to save money
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5. Crafting and DIY projects that have very little cost.

Lots of great ideas that are FREE and at your fingertips!

Check it out. www. pinterest.com

It's been too long

It's been too long since I have posted here. It has NOT been because I no longer wish to live minimally, it's been because my TIME has become the most minimal thing in my life. 

* I am in a play. So glad to be back on stage but the time consumption has been a bit ridiculous.. but I must admit that I have loved every single moment of it!

* Back in school 45 minutes away at Henderson. It's so good to be back, but yet again another time drainer... on the road nearly 2 hours each day not to mention the time in class PLUS the homework.

* I'm back to work part time. I really enjoy working at the gym and I am so grateful for this job, but yet again-- time gets sucked away!

Here are some things I have noticed while being so busy:

1. I either spent hardly any money or I completely overspend.
I'm either too busy to stop and buy anything OR I am so involved in my crazy schedule that I lose track of what I spend. I have realized that I spent SO much time keeping our finances in order, checking on our account balances, coming up with plans to live more simply--and now that I have no time for that I NOW realize it may have been an extreme amount of time I spent in this area. So maybe, just maybe, I was so consumed by trying to live on less and get out of debt that I neglected other parts of my life? What do you think... is that possible?

2. Sleep is so important! 
I always knew that and I have always coveted my sleep, but NOW MORE THAN EVER I look forward to simply just going to bed. When we work our bodies so hard all day and keep ourselves so busy we really do need to allow time for REST!!

3. I long for simplicity more than ever!
I know that life will ALWAYS be busy. There is no way around the busy-ness of life, but there are things we can do to allow peace and tranquility in our lives. Yes, I have to go to school. Yes, I have to work, and Yes, frankly I needed the chance to be back on stage. I needed it for ME. But it has never been so evident or important to me to get to a calm, simple stage in my life.

Sorry for the long delay, I do have some very real reasons for the absence but I promise to try and do better!

It's that time of year!

We are creeping up on my favorite time of the year. It is coming slowly, but surely. :)

FALL. I love FALL! Pumpkins, lattes, candles that smell like warm vanilla sugar, jackets, leaves, cold mornings, blankets, Razorback football, and FALL CLOTHES. There is something about fall clothes that I love.

Ya see, summer is fun if you are in a swimsuit, but I find it to be VERY hard to dress cute, yet age appropriate in the summer. Everything is too low and too short. I'm not a hoochie dressing kinda person, so I really struggle to find cute things for the summer. THANKFULLY dresses made a comeback this year.

**Side note... did anybody notice that like dresses went away for a while?!?! I remember about 4 years ago needing a dress and going to every store in town and could not find ONE single dress for a woman under the age of 75. And now--they are back!!!!**

anyway, Fall clothes are awesome. But that ALSO means that it's time to go through them and get RID of a bunch of clothes. And honestly, getting rid of things makes me ALMOST as happy as getting NEW things. :) There's a good feeling that comes from purging things from my closet. It's like I feel a weight lifted when I get rid of things that I don't need/want/or wear.

Ask yourself:

So, here we go--almost at another season's ending and the start of a new one. TIme to clean out those closets and drawers and GET RID of things that you don't need!

Benefits to purging your wardrobe:
1. LESS CLUTTER in your life
2. LESS time spent picking something out in the morning
3. MONEY to spend on other items that you actually NEED and will WEAR
4. A nice little TAX DEDUCTION for making a donation
5. Cuter, nicer, BETTER items. When you own less, you can own better.

And on the subject of wish lists...

My wish list may be a tad extreme, but it's okay to "Wish" ... as long as it doesn't over take your life. :)

1. A very cool, sporty, luxury type car.

I think I could really rock this car :) very fun, sporty, and spunky! LOVE IT!

This Lexus has been my dream car for a LONG time!! I love the RX 300. The newer ones I don't like as much.


2. Some fancy new boots for fall. Not cowboy boots, I am good there, but some nice-all leather- boots for work. Something super stylish that will last forever! Remember the boots that Monica bought on Friends? They cost more than her rent and then she ended up hating them and losing them?? Well, those boots were perfect but oh my dear! That is MY Fear. Buying some super nice and fancy boots and then hating them.

3. Anything with diamonds in it. :) I am a diamond fa-REAK! I love diamonds. Earrings, bracelets, rings... you name it, I love it. I don't have that many diamonds which is TOTALLY fine, but in a perfect world on my own personal wish list I would add a very bold DIAMOND on it. And it can be DIAMOND anything :)

Sometimes it feels good to make some big, extravagant list of "wishes". :) It makes me realize that these things are kinda silly. BUT, i'd still enjoy them :) :)


What are your wishes? What are the secret things that you REALLLY want?? It's okay to share :)

We STILL have wants...

One thing that I get asked a lot is how can I live a life and "not want?" Well, I wouldn't know... :) I live a life that has many WANTS! MANY MANY at times.

I think it comes down to being able to look at the bigger picture with these wants.

I would love a new car. I mean LOVE a new car. In March, I sold my beloved Honda Accord Ex-L with nav-leather-sunroof-auto everything-and simply beautiful-and bought an old car. I paid cash for it. I had been adiment about paying extra on my Honda because my plan was to pay it OFF and drive it forever... and then I just started thinking about how I actually could sell it, make a profit, and go pay cash for something. When I did that my monthly outcome changed more than I expected. Read the full story here. Anyway, I had only thought of really a car payment going away and insurance possibly going down but I had NO idea the amount of money I would save.

My car is not a looker. It's not terrible but it's not a young, hip or desireable vehicle. But it gets me from point A to point B. AND, it allowed me to live debt free! (well, now I have medical bills but that's a whole different subject). I do not regret my decision even though I do see lots of Accords on the road and sorta/kinda miss mine.

But everytime I start to feel like DANG-I sold my beautiful car-- I think about how much more money I have. How it feels great to have basically no debt. And how this car is kinda fun... :)

But I still have wants. I would LOVE a new car. There is actually a Benz that I am just DYING to test drive. But I know if I test drive it--it will be ALL over. I work hard. I pay my bills. I save money. I try to help others do the same. "I deserve this car"...

At the end of the day living minimally is not easy. It actually requires more self control than I feel I have -- especially at this moment while I have the car I want pulled up on my computer and SAVED. Oh vey--I need help :)

Control your wants. Remember how blessed you are. Remember how fortunate you are to have less clutter in your life and less debt. That's how I talk myself down. And USUALLY it works... unlses i'm on a car lot or in a shoe store :)

An awesome reminder...

Sometimes we all need this reminder.

It is so easy to get caught up in things that you want that you can forget how blessed you are to have what you have.

Just yesterday I was stuck in traffic and began adding to my "list". I keep my list with me at all times and I keep up with my "Wants". FIRST of all I do it to track how good or bad I am doing at keeping my wants down. Second I do it so that I have a written record of what I have said i wanted and then i can refer back to it. It helps me balance wants vs. needs and even more than that, it helps me to see what I REALLLY want to save for and purchase.

ANYWAY, here I am jotting down a few things I want when I look up and see a lady who has garbage bags tied around her feet (i'm guessing those were being used for shoes?), looked like she hadn't eaten in days, and was out walking in the heat.

We as a society do NOT realize how blessed and fortunate we are.

Sometimes we need reminders. Sometimes we need to stop and take a breath and just be grateful for what we already have instead of ALWAYS wanting more...

Maybe I have to change MY perspective

I've said it before, but it's so true... our perspective on can make or break a situation. If we perceive someone talking down to us, then we get upset. Even if our perception was wrong! If we percieve things negatively, then we will more than likely act in a negative way.

The same goes for our finances, our wants, our desires...

Let's look at it this way. From a personal way. I have a huge stack of bills sitting on my desk. Doctor bills from the surgery, co-pays due, medications that need to be refilled, bills from my ER visit, not to mention just everyday-gotta pay em-lights and water are necessity--kinda bills! I could:

A. Be SO stinkin' mad that the vacation I wanted to go on is now going to be a downpayment on a new car for my doctor! 

OR

B. Be so grateful and feel so blessed that I can pay these bills. With or without a vacation, my family is provided for.

Ya see, I have had to remind myself that it IS about perspective. One perspective makes me feel less stressed, more relaxed, causes me to smile, breathe, sigh, and say a prayer of thanksgiving! The other causes me to feel depresses, down, pale (because I need that time in the sun of course), and aggrivated with EVERYTHING in my life.

Obviously those are pretty extreme, but unfortunately they are the truth. We so quickly go to this negative place of feeling sorry for ourselves because we can't afford something, when WOW--look at the blessing we have in that the bills that DO stack up, can be paid. With cash. And there is tons of food in our fridge. And our kids are happy and healthy. and we can take them to do fun things. And we have jobs.

It's so easy to get down, but I encourage you to look at how you take a look at things :) Being negative helps no one.

Make the choice to be happy with what you already have! What God has already blessed you with.