Is Staying at Home a Waste of Your Time?

I just read another wonderful post by Lady Lydia at Home Living! It really speaks to me about keeping the home and how important it is whether you are a mother or just a wife. Please go read it here and tell me your thoughts! I, of course, do not think that staying at home is a waste of time. I agree completely with Lady Lydia's post. Unfortunately we do have to deal with people, women and men alike, who do not value our position at home. I know that my husband loves having me at home but unfortunately, due to our finances, he needs me to go back to work. I am not happy about this but in being submissive to my husband I need to oblige. He only wants me to go back to work until we have our first child (besides my 2 stepkids, of course, but they don't live with us) and then I can come home. He doesn't want anything to come in between me staying at home once we have children and feel that this will help prevent it. Unfortunately our finances are so bad that I need to get a full-time job. We have really been avoiding our finances for the past few months since I quit the lawfirm and it is time to be honest and work on paying our past due bills. We will continue to live our life the same with the low budget groceries and not going out and spending lots of money so hopefully we will be able to make our debt load more manageable. I do feel, that before I get a job outside of the home, I need to organize my life better around here so I am able to keep the house fairly the same as before. It's hard because I feel as though I am just getting the hang of things around the home and now I have to relearn how to prioritize my time. I was not very good at keeping the home when I was working full-time. I will have to rely on the Lord even more now for my strength and patience during this difficult time. I will keep all of you posted!

Spending Way Too Much in Gas!

Gas has to be one of our budget busters! I added up what we spent in gas last month (this is an estimation because certain items in my checkbook I wasn't sure if it was for gas or if hubby got a drink and a snack at the gas station or had to buy wiper fluid.....need to start asking if after every transaction!) and it looks like we spent $432.67! And I don't work! So I rarely use the car for anything! Honestly the truck stays parked most of the time because it isn't working too good right now! That is ridiculous! It works out to be filling up about 2 times a week. Doesn't sound too bad I guess. Last month we did drive a lot because my best friend was getting married and she lives in Cincinnati (about 40 miles away). We also have to get the kids every other weekend and where we meet is at least an hour away. So we have to drive that Friday and Sunday every other weekend. The one thing that saves us is that Tim carpools to work. He drives every third week. But where he meets for carpool is like 9 miles away! Living in the country definitely has its drawbacks sometimes! It really scares me because I need to get a job for the time being and I'll have to drive a minimum of 20 miles roundtrip everyday! Our gas bill can't go up anymore! We really don't go anywhere else (now that my friend's wedding is over) besides Tim work, pick up kids, grocery store and church. Luckily our church is 5 minutes down the road! Sorry I'm just ranting but it helps me to see why we are struggling so much right now! I've always had a hard time adding up our gas bill for some reason and figuring out an average. I'm hoping that this is close to right so now we can start working on it and figuring out a more realistic budget. I really wish gas would go down! It makes it such a struggle for the average family! Well that's enough of my ranting for today! Have a great day!

Struggling While Trusting in God

Me and Tim have been struggling financially for quite a time now. It started before we got married and has continued into our married life. It gets better and worse all the time. Right now we are in a very tight spot. Tim really wants to get a part-time job but there aren't many jobs hiring right now. A lot of the local stores he could work at close at 6pm so that doesn't help. He would really like me to continue staying at home. I have really gotten in the groove of things and he enjoys coming home to a peaceful and clean house and more importantly a happy, sane wife! He also figures that we will start trying to have kids soon so what's the point of me going back to work. I struggle with this. Not because I don't enjoy being at home full-time, because, believe me, I do. I love it! I really think that my job in life is to be a wife, mother and keeper of the home. I think that Tim's job is to be our provider. But it gets so hard when you are struggling and I know how tired he will be if he gets a second job.

This is where my faith in God and his plan comes into place. I have to trust in God and that if we are doing what is right and putting everything in his hands that it will work out someway, somehow. Being a fairly new Christian that is hard for me. I'm sure it is hard for the most veteran of Christians. How do you trust that God will take care of it? We are a society of taking control, especially as women, how do we let it all go? Most women can't even let their husband take control. Believe me, I was one of those women before marriage. My perspective and attitude has changed so much since becoming a married woman. I still struggle however, financially, emotionally and spiritually. I guess I have to learn patience, a little more self-control and a lot of faith!

There are No Economic Hard Times

What do you think about this? I read a post on Living on a Dime's blog and the author says that it is mostly because of people's lifestyle. I have to agree. Although me and my fiance are having a hard time it is because mostly of our past choices. And we don't even have much to show for our past choices. We have tons of credit card debt but most of my lifestyle choices dealt with drinking and eating out. Nothing to show for all of that except for the extra weight :( People are whining because they have to give up premium cable and fast internet and can't drive their big SUV's all over town. Most of those people probably didn't have the money to live that lifestyle then so now they are unprepared as some prices are going up. I'm not an expert in this area but I am definitely learning and trying to be a more conscious consumer. Read the blog and let me know your opinion!

My Car is Gone....A Blessing in Disguise!

So I haven't posted in awhile and that's because life has been pretty crazy around here. A few weeks ago my car caught on fire! I won't go into specifics but everyone's alright! I was in a friend's house when it happened. Well, it ended up being totaled which would be pretty bad for most people but we are thrilled! This car has been such a burden for us. The car payment is entirely too high and the insurance on it is ridiculous! We just got our insurance for without this car (which was a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon GT - nice sporty car!) and it dropped over $100 per month! We really need something bigger! We had the Tiburon and a small truck and my poor stepkids are squished in the backseat every other weekend. Since I'm working from home we are able to deal with one car for right now. It is definitely a challenge! It is amazing how so many people got along with just one car for so long. Luckily Tim carpools to work and they take turns driving every week. So I get the car every other week. It's just amazing how something that could be such a tragedy turns out to be such a blessing. We are so thankful for this turn of events. We'll probably end up getting a used mini-van and try to pay cash for it. We saw one in town for $2500 but we need to wait for Tim's old 401(k) to come in from his previous job. Hopefully it will still be there! Have a good day!