More Thoughts On Saving Money

This will be more of an exhortation and encouragement than it will be practical advice...but we must challenge the way we think and the way we normally do things every now and again to be sure we have not slipped off the course we need to be taking.

The biggest hindrance I have found to saving money is peoples attitudes. Lets be real here...you could save more money if you really wanted to. I don't need to hear your excuses...trust me I have enough of my own ;o) But it is what it is...the truth.

I have known women who complained about how little money they had for this and that...but stocked up on soda and juice bags for their kids. I have known people who complain that they can't afford groceries and go and apply for food stamps...but smoke a pack of cigarettes a day and drink a case of beer a week. Seriously? They're not broke, they just have their priorities wrong.

And let me just say up front...I really don't care if you smoke, or drink, or buy soda and juice bags. I would encourage you not to smoke...it will kill you...but I smoked for a decade, I understand too. What I won't do is listen to you complain about how you have no money.

People feel entitled. I don't know why...someone lied to them I guess. And if someone else hasn't lied to them they seem to have lied to themselves. They have decided that what the "feel" about something and what they "like" somehow equals a justifiable need in their life. That's just not true!!

I cringe inwardly when I hear people say "Oh I NEED my ." No they don't...almost never do they "NEED" it. They desire it, they want it, they like it, they wish they could have it...but they don't NEED it. I can hear you already too.."but I need my coffee in the morning"...no you don't. No more than I do. I drink a pot of coffee a day...but if tomorrow all coffee disappeared I wouldn't die (I can't promise anything for those around me for awhile, but that's a different story ;) ) . Coffee is not a NEED, it's just a really strong want. But the reason I cringe is because the people who really believe that...are believing a lie. A lie that says that their wants are needs. Those false needs become little false idols.

False idols and grocery shopping...when was the last time you thought of that? When was the last time you've gone thru the grocery store and thought "have I lost perspective on this item?" I can hear the voices again...I hear someone saying "but Campbell's soups are better." Yup, they may be...but is anyone going to die if you have generic soup instead of Campbell's?? No, I don't think so. But are you willing to remove that Campbell's idol and "reduce yourself" to a generic? ;o) "But I like Campbell's better!"..and my response is "SO!" If you have no money worries and you want to buy Campbell's by all means Knock Your Socks Off!! But if you need to save money you're just going to have to suck it up.

You have to be willing to do without the things the "world" tells you you need...or your kids need.

Do you know what my kids drink? Water! Imagine that...water. They get ONE very SMALL juice cup (not the supersized ones now a days) of Sunny D each morning with breakfast. This is brand new for us..I don't buy juice...it's sugar water. Sunny D was on sale for 59 cents a bottle and a single serving has 100% of their Vitamin C needs. I bought 8 bottles. That Sunny D will last a Long time by only allowing the one small serving a day. Because I have saved in so many other areas I can now do things like this and not have to worry about it.

Later that first day after the Sunny D one of the Princesses asked me if they could have more. I told her...are you ready? Brace yourself....I told her "NO". (I know, gasp!) That same Princess said "But Mama, I want Sunny D" to which I replied "too bad, you may have water." Guess what she drank...yup, water.

My girls don't have fancy snack foods. There's no chips, pretzels, candy, gummies. If they want a snack we can cut up an apple for them to share. I get two $5 bags of fruit a week. They have 5 pounds of apples and oranges in them. So $1 per pound for the fruit. If they don't want an apple or an orange...well, too bad, they can wait till the next meal. No one is starving around here.

Do you see where I'm going with this? I could go on and on, and perhaps I already have. But it amazes me to see mothers in the grocery aisles piling their carts high with junk they don't need and then cringing as they get their bill. I imagine the burden of credit they're probably under, the stress they seem to ooze. And I feel sorry for them. I wish they could see how crazy it is.

We need to change the way we think. We need to do our best to feed our families healthy food in reasonable serving sizes. But we need to keep some perspective too. Food is fuel...it is something to keep us alive. It's not much more than that. It's not just about what it tastes like and what it feels like. It's not even about what we like...everything you eat doesn't have to be something you love. To put things in perspective lets remember that thousands of people starved to death in this world...TODAY. Do you think they would eat a generic? Do you think they would care if it was something they didn't really like? If it wasn't their favorite?

Our food supply is not nearly as secure as people would like to think it is. Our world isn't as secure as we'd like to think it is. We need to realize that things may not always be the way they are now. We may not be able to run to Kroger and get whatever we want whenever we want it. We may not be able to get all the exotic and out of season goodies we've all come to just assume will be there. We may not be able to afford all the things we think we "need."

I want you to think about something...according to the USDA reports we spent just under 10% of our disposable income on food in 2007. In the 1940's and 50's it was over 20%. People in other countries spend up to 55% of their income on food. Imagine next time you go shopping if you could only had HALF of the money you do to feed your family. What would you be buying then? Can you save money now? If you had to? Can you save the money and then use it to stock a pantry...yes you can...and I hope you really consider doing that. Think as you go thru the store. Challenge your ingrained thoughts.

You can save money...but you have to be willing to think differently than you have before and differently than your friends and family. You might have people snicker at you. You WILL get crazy looks in the store when you have 60 bags of veggies, 50 boxes of noodles and 50 jars of spaghetti sauce ;o) But you WILL save money, and you WILL have a stocked pantry. But it all must start with a change in attitude and by putting things back into their proper perspective.

Dia Duit my friends. Not a light and fluffy post, but sometimes we need to be more than light and fluffy.