5 small changes to start NOW to save you big $$

Hey everyone! Right at this very moment writing this, we are in what seems like an endless Covid-19 quarantine. I completely understand why it is so very important and MUST be done, BUT, I (like so many other Americans) just want to go back to work. I want my paycheck back. I want to know that there will be enough money in the bank to pay for our monthly bills, groceries, gas, etc…and without a paycheck all the certainty just flies out the window. Government help doesn’t come fast enough and it seems like everything is out of our control. It is a hard time right now, BUT I have good news. (To find the $ saving changes scroll to the bottom- but you will miss all of the proof that it works!)

Some of you are new to this, but some of you are like me and have faced this monster before- the “how am I going to make it through” monster. The mind-numbing “we are NOT going to make it” monster. The world-devouring, soul shaking, mind splitting realization that from here on out life would always be different and living in constant fear that you are going to loose it all might become your new normal. You see, before I created this business (due to my overly sensitive premature twin boys needing truly natural products that we couldn’t afford so I had to make) our lives were turned completely upside down. Before the boys were born I was working 10 hour shifts at an ortho clinic, making great money, just purchased a house on 18 beautiful acres with a whopping $1,500.00 per month mortgage, and life was great. We were living on cloud 9. But, like the saying goes “What goes up, must come down” and boy…it came down hard.

Due to our high mortgage, I had no choice but to work, even after we found out we were expecting twins. I was still working 10 hour shifts every day of my work week while I was high-risk pregnant. I didn’t have a choice. I had to work or loose the house. We had a three year old daughter- I was NOT going to loose her home. By 28 weeks of pregnancy I had gone into early labor 4 times. Every time the contractions started and I was admitted we found that after completely resting my body they would go away on their own (typical sign of overworking your already stressed body). The third time my doctor told me to go on light bed-rest, but I just couldn’t afford to. I didn’t tell anyone about my doctor’s recommendations, instead I brought a chair into my lab at work so I could sit all day instead of being on my feet thinking that would help. A couple of weeks went by and I was right back in the hospital. That last time was the real deal though. I was 28 weeks. My contractions did stop, but my doctor told me that the next time the contractions started I would most likely deliver, and with a gestational 28 week twin birth, the survival rate without side effects were not great. I was forced to go on full blown bed-rest. The don’t get up unless it is to shower or use the bathroom- no gravity on the cervix at all kind of bed-rest. I was scared for our future.

We were down to one income. We could no longer afford our house, the car, our bills, nothing. It was the most terrified I had ever been to that point. We somehow made it though. I made simple changes that added up (don’t worry- I’m going to tell you what I did that saved us). Even after the boys were born at 32 weeks and we lived in Nashville bouncing back and forth between the Ronald McDonald family rooms and a hotel for weeks on end until our boys were released to go home from the NICU. When you think your child is dying you don’t think about work. You don’t think about paying your bills. You actually don’t think at all, you just kind of react. The weeks of just “reacting” left a huge mess for us to come home to, along with over $18,000 of medical bills insurance didn’t cover. We had no money, three kids (two of which had numerous medical conditions to tend to), and were seriously in a place we had never navigated before. Our lack of income, new medical bills, over due monthly bills, and late payment fees hit us like a wrecking ball. Our mortgage company continuously hounded us and finally informed us that without payment in x days they would start to foreclose on our house. We didn’t have the money, and we if we lost the house we didn’t know where we were going to care for our kids at. That was the first time in my life the thought became a realization that we may have to live in our car. Our world was falling apart. Our marriage was falling apart. We were no longer ourselves and were individually falling apart. I cried until literally there were no more tears, and I prayed. I prayed HARD. EVERY SECOND. EVERY DAY. I PRAYED.

Do you know what the root of the pain was? Lack of control. For the first time in my life I felt like I had no control. No matter how hard I swam, I made no ground. No matter how hard I fought, I still lost. No matter how hard I jumped, my feet never left the ground. My hands were tied. I felt like I was drowning and the weight of the water filling my lungs was more than I could stand. I became a different person. That situation changed me forever. I knew I couldn’t stop fighting though, because the second I stopped fighting was the second I felt like I would fail my family. BUT, when you feel like you are drowning- the more you thrash and kick and scream and fight the more you wear yourself down until you get to a point you just have no fight left and the waters WILL swallow you. Listen to me- instead of fighting, lay your head back, relax, and just float. It can be scary at first, but trust me, God will carry you through. He won’t let you sink. I promise.

The worst time in my life gave me the best life I could ever dream of. God had to put me on my destined path and I am so stubborn it takes a lot to get me to move from my ways. I never could I have tasted Heaven if I hadn’t swallowed pieces of Hell first. Because of the hard times we went though, I can now TRULY appreciate EVERYTHING as a blessing. I am a better person because of it. I am actually THANKFUL that we went through it. When this virus chaos hit and everyone panicked- we were alright. We had faced that monster before, and we beat it. Now that it was staring us in the face again, we knew there was nothing to fear b/c we had the tools to beat it a second time. You CAN beat it too.

I found so much comfort in the quote, “I love when people who have been through Hell walk out of the flames carrying buckets of water for those who are still consumed by the fire.” And that is when I started looking for people who had walked through those fires before me, so I could learn from them.

Here are some buckets that helped put out the fire around us:

1.) Figure out what you truly NEED and what you don’t. This step is VITAL. It is hard, but it will save you.

-You don’t need your hair done.

-You don’t need your nails done.

-You don’t need to drink sodas.

-You don’t need to go out to eat for every meal- or even at all.

-You don’t need to drink alcohol.

-You don’t need to smoke cigarettes, dip, or chew tobacco.

-You don’t need that high dollar TV package

I know you feel like you need these things, BUT those are all LUXURIES. You can’t afford luxuries right now, but one day you will be able to afford them again. These are all necessary sacrifices that WILL help get you through this beast we are all fighting financially. You can live without anything on this list- but you can’t live with out water, electricity, food, transportation, or a house. Put your money towards the things you truly can not live without. WATER, ELECTRICITY, FOOD, ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD, TRANSPORTATION. Everything else can fall away… except for insurances (life, car, health, homeowners) they are pretty important too.

2.) Find out how to substitute your luxuries with lower cost items so you can retain some sort of normalcy.

-Hair- when you can’t take it anymore do a hot oil treatment with warm olive oil (or even just plain old mayo- works great!) to give yourself a shine boost. You’d be amazed at how much better you will feel with this small step. Then check out some videos on new hair styles for your now longer hair!

-If you MUST have your nails done- no more acrylic. Get a $0.96 bottle of acetone and remove the acrylic so you don’t have to worry about getting them filled and just simply paint them. It’s not what you are used to but it is better than nothing. We only have to do this for a little while. This is a small sacrifice.

-Substitute your sodas with cheaper alternatives- we used a lot of kool-aid back them BUT if you are a full blown addict you can get the cheap sodas for $0.68 in the 2 liter option (this is an accurate number- I just bout two 2-liters yesterday and paid $0.68 each- it was store brand and they taste just fine) . Then make sodas your treat. Drink things that are cheap to make such as tea, kook-aid, lemon-aid, etc through out the day and as a reward drink soda with dinner.

-There are thousands of videos online about cooking and meal planning. Watch one. It is not hard. You only think it is hard because you have never had to do it before. It is actually so much easier than you think and so much better for you! Your world will be forever changed once you learn how to cook. I have faith in you! You can do it! Once you learn to cook, learn to meal plan- that played a HUGE roll in getting our grocery bill down. I feed 5 people every week for just $50. Breakfast, lunch, dinner- seven days per week- $50 for 5. I couldn’t do that without meal planning.

-Alcohol, cigarettes, and tobacco- this one doesn’t have alternatives. I (believe it or not) am a prior smoker- I was really young you guys- all of you non-smokers don’t judge ;) I remember a day back when I was smoking, that our accounts were empty until we got paid again and I had our last $5.00 bill in my hand. I needed gas and cigarettes. I had a decision to make. I had to get to and from work, had a daughter to take to and from the sitters, we were in a tough spot and I had a choice. I made the choice alright. I choose to buy a cheap $2.83 pack of cigarettes (it that tells you how long its been since I’ve smoked lol!) and put the remaining $2.17 in my gas tank. I was a horrible mom that day. That was the day I prioritized cigarettes over my daughter. That was the day I loved myself more than her. I made sure that I was taken care of before I made sure I she was taken care of. My gas got me to work and back, got her to the sitters and back, got me to the grocery and back, in an emergency would get her to the hospital ER if needed, and I didn’t care where I could or could not get to just as long as I had my smokes. I hated myself. I felt like those cigarettes made me a “more pleasant person- you wouldn’t want to catch me if I needed a cigarette” but the truth is they made me a WEAK person. That day in the parking lot I made a choice that NOTHING would ever again have that kind of power over me. I was stronger than that. I was not so weak that I would put ANYTHING over my daughter again. I don’t care how bad I wanted something, I was going to be stronger than it was. And I was. That was my last pack I ever purchased. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t binge eat, I don’t binge buy. NOTHING controls me but ME. I DECIDE, not my habit. I will never again be so weak that I loose my ability to choose. How about you? Can you put it down? Can you choose?

-TV- this one is a hard one to let go. This was always the last one on the list to go for us. We have our DVR, the kids have their shows, it brings us peace and entertainment. BUT, we went and bought a $10.00 tv antenna that gets local channels just fine. We can’t pause, record, or surf never ending channel line-ups BUT the air channels are entertaining enough if times get hard enough. Plus, most people have phones with unlimited data- netflix and hulu are great options if your service is good enough (NOT and option for us as far out as we live. No cell phone coverage, only satellite internet available, and just no good alternative options for us other than the tv antenna)

3.) Get smart about how much you are spending on water and electricity.

We have a rule- every second the water runs or electricity goes is a nickel. Once you put a price on use things change. I don’t leave the faucet running when I brush my teeth b/c that is money going down the drain! Ten minute showers MAX (5 minutes is plenty of time to get yourself clean)- time yourself- you will be surprised at how long it takes you to shower. The whole time I’m in the shower I’m thinking “this is $$$ going down the drain!”. Leaving the fridge open- $ going down the drain. TV or lights on in a room no one is in? $$ going down the drain! Running the AC or heat when it is beautiful outside and the windows could be open? $$$ going down the drain!! Running a partially full dishwasher? $$$$ going down the drain!!! Stop pouring $ down the drain by getting smart about your water and electricity use and waste. If my kids leave their room and a light is left on- they give me a nickel. If they take over a ten minute shower they give me a nickel. That is the rule. We simply don’t waste.

4.) Household cleaners and bath supplies aren’t a huge part of your monthly spending, BUT they do add up. When we were financially hit the hardest good old vinegar and castile soap replaced 100% of our store bought products.

Castile soap replaced: (We used both bar and liquid. You can make the bar a liquid by grating it and adding a bit to hot water)

-shampoo, body wash, face wash, dog shampoo, dish soap, laundry soap (with borax added), and our hand soap.

Vinegar replaced: (when we ate oranges I dropped the peeling into my vinegar jug to make a citrus infused vinegar so it didn’t smell so bad)

-glass cleaner, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaner, counter top cleaner, dishwasher rinse aid, fabric softener, toilet cleaner, and dog potty stain cleaner.

A $6.00 bar of real castile soap and a $3.00 jug of vinegar would literally last us months. It isn’t fancy, but it got us through.

5. Garden, can, freeze, anything to produce your own food. It is easier than you think.

Gardening, just like cooking, doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be as easy as putting a plant in a pot on your patio. Plants need three things: soil, water, sunlight. BOOM. It will produce food. Find a sunny spot, throw some seeds in the ground, keep the weeds out of your area so they don’t block out the sunlight, water when the soil looks lighter in color and dry, then watch your hard work pay off.

Once you start getting food from your garden- what you don’t eat- freeze for later. Don’t let it go bad- throw it in a freezer bag. When all of the grocery stores were empty- we had lots left over veggies and soups frozen from last year. If you decide to make spaghetti sauce from your tomatoes, make a double batch and freeze 1/2 of it. Or if you make a vegetable soup- make a double batch and freeze 1/2 of it. If you don’t want to do a double batch freeze what is left over from dinner. I have tons of single serve soups in the freezer in bags that serve up as a great meal on fend-for-yourself night. Everyone gets a home cooked meal and I have to do zero cooking! Win-win!! It isn’t that hard to “put food up for winter”. You are already cooking it… why not throw what’s left in the freezer rather than the trash?

Canning- ok, so this is super scary to a lot of people. If you are new to canning- start out with jelly. Then move up to pickles. Then move up to tomatoes. Those are the three easiest things to can and the best news is it is really hard to mess those three things up. It is as easy as putting them in mason jars and dropping them in a pot of water (google water bath canning for more information). The pressure canning veggies like green beans, corn, and potatoes get a little trickier- not b/c it is hard- you just have to pay a little more attention to pressure in the pot and the timing. I would master water bath canning before I started pressure canning. Because I regularly can to preserve food- both water bath canning and pressure canning- I have been able to grow my skills over the years so that now if I used to buy it at a store I have in a jar in the pantry. Chilli, beef stew, shredded chicken, chicken broth, taco meat, roast, apple pie filling, all sorts of veggies, apple sauce, jelly, jam, preserves, I mean, literally the sky is the limit (except anything with noodles or dairy- DON’T can those). Best part is… they will NEVER freezer burn lol! No more running out of freezer room, waiting to thaw, etc. I would much rather have dinner from a jar than dinner from a frozen bag. So much faster :) I will offer food preservation classes when this virus quarantine is over and the produce starts coming in well for any of you who are interested :)

6. Last and most important: Keep the faith.

I know this is called “5 small changes” but…this is important in order to do the previous 5 steps. Know that you will get through this. Know that even though it is hard right now, it won’t always be. Keep your faith. Raise hope up. Things will turn around. Life will get better again. Probably even better than you could have ever imagined. I have learned to totally trust the saying “Everything happens for a reason” and “When you feel yourself in a bad place don’t think ‘Why is this happening to me?’ instead think ‘What am I supposed to learn from this’ and your life will become so much greater. There is no bad, just blessings and lessons”. God won’t let you fall. He let you fail. Lean your head back, give it all to God, and float.