Where Do I Fit In?

Where do I fit in? That's a question that has been plaguing me for some time now. I just didn't realize that was what was bothering me.

I've been doing a lot of thinking (as I mentioned in a previous post) about myself, God's plan for me, the state of the world economy, etc. And that has brought me to a realization that I am missing out on what God's plan for me really is.

I've been spending too much time lately in the carnal (self driven) world. I haven't been paying enough attention to what really matters, my relationship with God. The things I do don't make Him happy. They hardly make me happy for crying out loud!

Because I've been short circuiting the power that God sends to me with my grumbling and my carnal (self driven) thinking, I'm missing out on His blessings, and my ministry. God has a ministry for all of us. The problem is, what is it?

I'm going to be doing a lot of praying and meditating on His word, listening for Him, for His guidence. Where does He want me to be?

Do you know? Because I sure don't! ;)

I'm taking the plunge today and putting an ad on Kijiji to start selling eggs. I'm really rather excited about it! It will be the first time I've ever sold something like this. Pray that we will be able to recoup some of the cost of keeping the chickens, please!

This homesteading, simple life, frugal living thing is tough. I know everyone already knows that, right? I just thought it beared repeating. ;) Over the years, we've developed some habits that we need to change. So, what we've decided to do is change one habit at a time. I mean, if we try to tackle them all at once, I think the whole family will implode. ;)

Starting Nov. 1, we are going to work on our frivilous spending in the form of eating out. We tend to stop in at McDonalds to grab something quick more often than we should. It's really just too convenient. But, we just can't afford it anymore.

So, to work to that end, I'm going to be bringing back the weekly dinner menu that we used to use, but during the selling of the house and the move went by the wayside.

Every two weeks, I sit down with the calendar and my meal list and schedule each dinner meal for that pay schedule. Then, using the recipe for each meal, I make my grocery list with only the ingredients used in each meal. Of course we have our basic need grocery list as well.

By using this method we can usually shave at least $50 off our grocery bill if not more.

If anyone needs more information on how to set up a workable dinner list, let me know. I can post a more detailed how to here on this blog.

Taking The First Step Towards Frugality In Shopping

We're on our way today to make our first steps towards frugality and simplicity. Unfortunately, that means spending money, which seems a bit backward, doesn't it? ;)

Everyone in our family needs winter coats, snow pants and boots, including my husband and I. Hubby also needs new shoes, I need new jeans (the knees and for lack of a better word, crotch, are almost completely worn through and aren't going to last much longer) and dress pants. The kids both need some mucking around clothes for cleaning out the chicken coop so they aren't wrecking their school clothes. We're looking at close to a thousand dollars just for winters coats and boots! So, we're heading to a second hand store today!

We've never shopped in a second hand store, so this will be something very new for us. We're having a hard time convincing our teenage daughter that it will be ok for her to buy something there. I'm hoping that once she gets there and is able to see the quality of the clothes that she'll start to understand that it's not the end of the world. Being in highschool, appearances are very important to her and she's afraid. She doesn't want to be teased by her friends and those who aren't her friends.

This is a huge step for us! I'm excited and very proud of my husband and I. Normally we would just head to WalMart or the mall to buy these things and spent way too much money. This is a great step in the right direction.

I'll be sure to stop back in and let you all know what we got!