A Lost Wallet

We didn't have much when we got married 12 years ago.  Our living room furniture was borrowed from a friend, and those last few days before each payday...well, you'd usually find us eating with my parents.  My favorite Bible verses in those early days were Proverbs 30:7-9:  "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:  Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."  My husband and I both worked full-time, didn't have kids, drove an old Honda, and rented a little duplex.  And we were happy and content!

Fast forward 12 years to where we are now.  We are now a single-income military family, and I homeschool our four kids (ages 7 and under).  We have two cars, and we own our own home.  We are still happy and content, but I have also learned a lot along the way!

I love to organize, and I am constantly going through our house de-cluttering and getting rid of things that we don't really need.  I also love to bargain shop, and I especially love the challenge of seeing how much I can shave off of the weekly grocery bill.  I thought I had a pretty good system going, until my husband lost his wallet a few weeks ago.  We had a limited amount of cash on hand while we waited for our credit and debit cards to be replaced, and I learned a lot more about being thrifty while we waited!

I read through a lot of blogs over the past few weeks, and collected quite a few ideas for saving money and living more simply.  Some I had already implemented in my own household, and some were new to me, but they all helped to inspire me to start this blog...my own little collection of money and time saving ideas.