Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Can you really feed a family on $100.00 per week?

Grocery shopping can be a pain and costly.  However, if you are serious about wanting to make extra money and willing to CHANGE, then one of the answers can be as simply looking in you refrigerator or kitchen cabinets!  If you want to save money or make money it is time to start trimming the fat from your life and it can start with grocery shopping!

One of my mentors put me to this challenge 1 1/2 ago. (she is a Christian, married, mother of 5 an a self-made millionaire! . If you want to debt free, have a better relationship or open a business, then get people in your life you can learn from. You don't want to be them but learn what they have done.)  It has taken me this long to get it down!  However, with a little attitude adjustment and willing to change, we have saved lots of money and are no longer in debt! ( I should say no longer in debt minus the house)
 
Cooking is not my favorite nor am I good at it and I love to eat out!  However, I knew this wasn't healthy, good on the pocket book nor was it teaching my kids on how to be wise with their money or how to run a house hold.  I pulled up my big girl pants and was willing to do what needed to be done! 
 
I have saved money and this is without coupons but as soon as my sister in law teaches me how to save money with coupons I will be saving even more money!!!
 
Challenge yourself to 100.00 per week for groceries!  I know it sounds nut but it can be done.  How bad do you want to go on that vacation?  How bad do you want to start a small business?  How bad do you want to stay at home with your kids or pay off your credit card?  If it is bad enough, well you can do it!
 
Here is what I do:
1.  Obviously, make a list and plan for only a week!  ( I say obviously, but a few years ago, I never made a list and just bought whatever I wanted and way too much and that is gluttony.  We should only be buying what we really need.  (for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothe them in rags. Proverbs 23:21)


2.  A friend of mine told me a few years ago, how she only shops on the outside aisle and never in the middle.  I buy a few things in the middle aisle but only a few. 
 
3.  stop buying all that crappy junk food!  I buy snacks but try to stay focused on healthy snacks.  If you have a sweet tooth bake!  Think about it, if you have to bake your cookies you are not going to be eating them everyday because it takes time and work!  It cuts down on cost and your waist line!  ( we are lucky Mark works for a baking company, so when we want store bought doughnuts he can surprise us and bring them home! Also, I try to keep Mark away from grocery shopping too!  He would buy more snacks and less healthy food!!!)
 
4.  No more boxed food! once I learned what is in all of that, I stay away. If I have to buy something in a box,I try to buy organic.
 
5.  By cutting down on buying snacks, junk and more than I need, I'm able to buy organic milk, fruit, eggs and cereal.
 
It's really not hard at all it just takes discipline and work! Stop eating out and  start cooking at home.  Maybe you are reading this and say DA Kim!! If so, you rock!  Unfortunately, evn though I may have known these things, I was off course and thankful for the people God put in my life to help get me back on track! 
 
 Remember, "Luke 16:10 Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters." This applies to how and where we spend our money and yes even at the grocery store matters to God!

Is God trying to shut the door and why?

I couldn't agree more with the devotional I read on FB this morning.  The title, "When God Closes the Door."  I don't know about you but that is sometimes really hard to understand at times, let go and follow God's lead  especially when it is something we love doing, been doing for years or when you  KNOW God has placed a dream on your heart but yet he just hasn't opened the door you want to  be opened yet! 

If  you read my blogs, you may or may  not know what I'm passionate about and what dreams God has placed on my heart.  A few years ago, he gave me a glimpse of what he wants me to do, but he knew I only believed in him and he needed me to have a relationship with him.  He didn't just shut the door he slammed it!  I didn't want to give that dream up because I felt like I was failing or quitting. God spoke to me, ( not in a way were I heard his voice! I felt it in my spirit loud and clear and in his word) He told me it wasn't time yet, to wait on him and for me  not to be tempted to push myself out there just to prove to  other people what HE has called me to do. Wait on him and so I am.  (waiting on him doesn't mean I'm just sitting here and doing nothing either! I'm studying, reading, and let God work on me everyday.  So when he calls and says it times, I'm ready! Whatever you are facing, don't stop working on yourself and your relaionship with God.)

But let me tell you, if I didn't listen to him and kept on pushing and pursuing a dream on my time, I would of missed the biggest blessing I could ever ask for and that is homeschooling my kids. I could never of imagined myself doing this and yet God did.   It's not a glamours job and  the world may not know my name but my kids sure do know who their mom is and I definitely know my kids too!

If God is trying to shut a door, especially if it is with something you  love. It doesn't mean it is over.  It just means he has something better for you or he just has to do some work in you first!  Trust God and just keep moving forward! I know that sounds easier than it really is. We have to let go of whatevery one else thinks and get rid of our big ego's! As soon as you do, you will be amazed by what God will bring in your life!   God knows before I can go out and speak his word, He needs to work on me and for me to pay attention to what matters first and that is God,my husband and kids! At the end of the day that is all that really matters...

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

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