Twenty ways in 20 days, day 12. Patience...

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I just realized that I never posted about my challenge yesterday! Sorry about that!!

Last night my 6-year old was playing with our puppy. He threw a toy up in the air and knocked off one of my favorite vases that we got from our trip to Arizona last year:

Sigh...Those of you who know me personally, know that I'm a very impatient person. I want it all and now! But, especially in the last few weeks, my patience has really been challenged. I certainly learn new levels of it that I didn't know I was capable of.

Patience is one of my husband's biggest virtues (they say, that people in a couple should complement each other, right? :) And now I learn a lot from him!

Yesterday, when I was looking in the wet eyes of my terrified boy, I knew that there is so much more in life than some broken vases. And that family comes first!

So I gave him a big hug and told him he's going to clean a bathroom for a week...Just kidding :)

What made you happy yesterday?

My thoughts on our unemployment budget...

Pin It                                           "In hard times people look for different levels of luxury"
                                                                                                    (Norman Love)


This month is the first for us to really have a bare bone budget. And as the month goes on, it keeps getting harder and harder... I'm trying not to complain. But sometimes the realization that my husband will be out of work in about two weeks gets daunting...

I want to be honest with you - I miss the little things. Pickles from the Russian store, new spray paint for a project that I planned before everything started falling apart, Lyndt chocolate...I know, none of these things are necessities but it doesn't mean, I don't miss them...

As I've been reading through the book "Money secrets of the Amish", I find that I'm a little spoiled in life. After all, their dream indulgence is salad dressing or Ritz crackers... But this new level of frugality is still not easy for me. Not at all. It's even a bit scary.

I know you could say that there are millions of people in the world who have it worse than us. After all, we have delicious food on the table and clean water every day. And we have many reasons to feel rich other than money. So it's silly for me to feel deprived but I do. Please, don't judge, I'm not perfect!

I think, the hardest thing about it is that we were always pretty frugal pinching every penny. We rarely had indulgences or treats. But now, when I have to say "no" to my children even more, I sometimes wonder if it will ever end. I don't want to be your next door millionaire but I don't want to feel guilty either when I want to buy my boys string cheese but it costs as much as two gallons of milk...

Now that's one depressing post from me, right? :) I promise, I'll be back to my smiley, bubbly, light-hearted self very soon. It's just that funky mood that I was talking about yesterday...It happens to the best of us :) 

Now I'm going to read some of your blogs because, I know, it will instantly make me feel better :)

Have a wonderful day, everyone!!

Twenty ways in 20 days, Day 11. Family games.

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I'm in a little funky mood today, so no usual Monday menu post... I've been working all day, and just feel a little overwhelmed and tired, physically and emotionally.

So I unplugged the computer this evening and we spent some time together as a family. Among other things we played UNO for more than an hour. It was so much fun! Sometimes we all need to just unplug from all the worries of the world and enjoy ourselves:

It definitely made me a little happier today.

And how was your Monday?

Life's simple pleasures...

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 Do you have days when everything (or most of the things) seem to go right? The day when you keep getting that "Yep, this is what I am supposed to be doing" feeling? Today was one of these days for me.

Nothing special happened. I just enjoyed a nice weekend with my family. First, we didn't have to work. As much as I like to make some money (especially now), it's nice to have some slower days when we can just relax.

I cleaned our house while the boys took Toby to the vet to get his booster shot yesterday, and today it's still not completely in shambles (this doesn't happen very often). And to put a cherry on top, I taught my 6-year old how to clean a toilet today. Now to pat myself on the back...:)

For dinner we decided to go out. Gasp...OK, it's not too bad :) I know it's not the time for us to go out right now but my husband received an Olive Garden gift card for his Birthday from my best friend, and we hadn't used it yet. We haven't done anything fun for his Birthday or Father's Day, so we decided that, maybe, we could do it tonight. We also used a coupon, so our total before tips was only $2. As for tips...well, it's a totally different story.

We had the most amazing waitress today. She's a tiny lady, about 5'2" and 63 years old. She loves to talk, and she actually ended up telling us a lot about herself. Her husband recently passed away but she receives a lot of support from her family. She has 9 children - all boys. But not just boys but three sets of identical triplets. How cool is that??? I can only imagine how fun their family pictures look :) And if you look at her, you would never guess she had to deliver triplets three times in her life. But what's even more amazing is that she has 15 grandchildren, and not a single girl :) She was just so awesome and loving to our sons. She definitely knows how to handle boys :) 

At the very end she actually did something absolutely unexpected - she brought us a full-size dessert free of charge. Just because she wanted to do something nice for us. Honestly, it brought tears to my eyes. I can assure you, our tip was very generous :) Because she absolutely made our day, with her story and with her kindness!

To finish up this day, we went to help clean the Church before Sunday meetings tomorrow, and after that my older son and I decided to walk home. It's about a 10-15 minute walk but it was a free and precious time to spend with my boy chatting, laughing, racing each other, smelling flowers and just being together. You really don't need any entertainment or to spend money to enjoy time with your kids. All they need is care, all they need is you.

As I said, there was nothing big about this day but it was still very special, full of life's simple pleasures. 

How was your day??

Twenty ways in 20 days, Day 10. Books.

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Looks like I already reached  half of this challenge. Where did the last ten (twelve, if we count weekend) days go?? I think, before I know it, the Kid will be back to school. Sigh...

Oh well, we are talking about what makes us happy, right? :) I guess, him getting knowledge should make me happy too :)

One of the things that I really like to do but rarely have enough time for is reading. Every Saturday we go to the library and get a nice selection for the kids and for ourselves. I wish, I could say that I read at least a book a week but sometimes I'm lucky to sneak ten minutes a couple times a week (and yes, it's often in the bathroom :)

But I looked at my book stash today and thought I would share it with you today:

I guess, in my search for a more frugal and content life I gravitate towards books on that topic too:) I'm actually reading mostly Jeff Yeager's book (the one on the right). Let me tell you, the guy is nuts at times (you know, eating goat heads and all..) but he has a few great points in his book on how to live with less and be happy.

"The money secrets of the Amish" my husband brought it home tonight because it was on hold in our local library. I can't wait to read it!

And I always like some clean Amish romance too when I need some light reading :) I could never live in isolation like they do (oh, without a computer. Are you kidding me??) but I think Amish people deserve some applause.

And yes, Debby, your book is in my book stash too right now :)

So what made you happy today? And what are you reading right now?