When Job Loss is Good

Losing a job is a painful thing if you are the "breadwinner" for the home, and there are still homes where that lifestyle exists...husband or wife working, while the other partner stays home to take care of the children or the home. We did that by choice, and live fairly simply as a result.

But in many homes, both husband and wife have to work...or do they?

While I'm sure there are cases where it might be necessary, in this post I want to share something that came into my inbox from "Flylady", the site known for helping woman get their homes in order. It was a testimonial that a woman from Colorado shared about how many things she did not have to spend money on when she lost her job...remember of course that she did have a husband working...so her story does not apply to all, still there are lessons that we all can learn.

Here's some of what she shared, and if she ever finds her way over here, I hope she'll say hello:

• Transportation: one vehicle now needs fuel only once a month instead of twice a week; fewer oil changes; less tire wear. Garaged vehicle doesn't get as dirty, can be washed at home instead of at the drive-thru. We're considering selling it to lower insurance & other costs. But it's paid off, and nice to have on Errand Day.
• Drycleaning: dropped to practically nothing.
• Clothes: t-shirts, blue jeans, socks & tennies cost less than blouses, suits, pantyhose & high heels.
• Food: Biggest cost saver. Groceries instead of eating out. Plenty of time to shop for bargains, plan & cook meals.
• Utilities: We pay more attention to lowering the thermostat, turning off lights, using & heating less water.
• Exercise: Who needs the gym when there are daylight hours & the great outdoors?
• Housework: Amazing how much can be done during an extra 60 hours per week.
• Sleep: Finally being able to get to bed on time, wake without an alarm clock. No more chronic sleep deprivation.
• Material things: With time to take good care of what we have, less needs to be replaced.
• Repairs: Why hire someone when there's time to do it oneself.
• Entertainment: Doesn't need to cost so much. Time to find & attend free local stuff instead of traveling & paying big bucks.

I think there's a few tips in here that can apply to any of us, whether we're working or not!

Praying Penny Pincher

Are you feeling discouraged as you listen to the news, money being thrown here and there to help stimulate the economy, but "every day" folks like us not having a clue how it will affect us in the future? Hearing about some of that money going toward million dollar bonuses and wishing you could have just a few thousand sent your way? Family members unemployed and struggling to make ends meet?

I think one of the best penny-pinching tips I can share is to pray. Not just random prayers, but connected focused prayer to the Creator of all things, God, the one that we learn about in the Bible. Let me share something personal with you...it's not uncommon for me to wake up in the morning and have "worry" thoughts flood my mind. Will my son get his job back again? Will my husband be able to learn the new skills required at the new job he just started? What can I do to help bring in some extra money? That added to the concerns of most Baby Boomers...aging parents, grieving parents that have passed on, concern for now-adult children who are trying to make ends meet, concerns over the future...will there be a such thing as "retirement" for my husband...and on and on the list can go if I let it. What to do, what to do. Well here's what I do, and sometimes it takes all the energy I can muster at that time of the morning, but it's so worth it...I remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6, or read them:

"....do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

What great and hope-filled promises! Each day will bring with it new challenges, the last part of the passage tells us, but each day, the solution is the same. So why do we get ahead of ourselves?

So I commit each one of the things that are worrying my mind to prayer, give my worries to God. It is something I'm working on doing on a regular basis throughout the day...to help me to remember to pray, I've done something practical...set my cell phone reminder alarm to go off 3 times each day, and whatever worries may have been tumbling through my mind during the past few hours, once again are turned over to Him.

Is "Penny Pincher" a Negative Idiom?

Recently I visited a blog that decided to connect one of my posts to theirs, which was very nice, but as I read the definition of the idiom "Penny Pincher" on their blog, I shuddered a bit.

According to the blogger, a "penny-pincher" is a person who is "unwilling to share or spend money". Ugh! I never want to be considered someone who is unwilling to share...maybe unwilling to WASTE money, but not unwilling to spend it wisely.

One of the NICE things about spending your money wisely is that it leaves more available to share! Our society has become a bit greedy, I think...not everyone, believe me I know there are many generous souls out there, but there's that natural tendency in us to think of ourselves first...in fact,phrases like "look out for number one", or magazines with titles like "Self" and other similar book and magazine titles are "selfish" and perpetuate this thinking.

PLEASE know that I have my own definition of a "penny-pincher", and that is someone who is careful with how they spend their money, right down to the penny, and because they are, they have some money to spare and to share!