Jill @ Living on a dime interview. Very inspirational!!

Hello everyone! Here a a great interview I wanted to share from Jill @ living on a dime.

I was recently interviewed about debt free livingand how living without debt relates to my faith. I thought you'dfind some of the answers helpful, so we'll be including some ofthem in the newsletter. -Jill

Interviewer: What are the top lessons you would give a family oreven a single person who is dealing with a tight budget?* Stop spending.* Don't think that using a credit card or getting a loan will makeit better. Going into more debt will not help you get out of debt.* Get rid of your pride. You may have to shop at garage sales for awhile. You may not be able to have your kids in sports and youmight have to say no to friends when they want you to go to anexpensive restaurant. Pride is a sin. God didn't kick the angelsout of heaven because they murdered someone or were doing drugs,drinking or smoking but for pride.* Stop worrying about what others think or whether or not you aremaking a good impression. We constantly tell our kids not to givein to peer pressure but we do it all the time. We Christians can beespecially bad about worrying what other Christians are going tothink of us. That is the same as when your kids worrying abouttheir peers.* Cut back on everything. You can save 50% on your grocery billbefore you even go to the grocery store by simply exercising goodportion control with your food. It is better for you, too. Go froma 30 minute shower to a 5 minute shower. Not only will you save onutilities, but your skin will thank you.

**This should be number one: tithe. Right now when others arepanicking about their 401k's or about what their stocks are doing,I don't have a worry in the world. I have invested my money inSomeone who has promised that no matter what happens in the world,including with finances, I and my children will be fed and takencare of. He has demonstrated His faithfulness over and over. To me,my tithe is the best savings a person can have.* The real test of a person's character occurs during hard times.

**Keep your integrity, be responsible and be trustworthy andhonorable whether your situation is your fault or not, whether itis fair or unfair. Proverbs 22:1 says "A good name is moredesirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silveror gold."I once received a notice of foreclosure on my house. I had 2 weeksto come up with $35,000 and I couldn't sell my house. I didn't have$35. I wasn't sure what to do. If I lost my house, my kids and Iwould literally be out on the streets. After a few moments ofpanic, I prayed and God told me what to do. One of the first thingsI did was to call the banker and tell him I wanted to start up ourold business, which I knew nothing about and had no money forsupplies, no customers and a limited market.What loan officer do you think would say, "That's great-- forget the foreclosure and you don't even need to make a payment untilyour business is up and running well"? None that I know of, butthat is exactly what he said. We had banked there for a while and,because of that, he knew I always paid my bills (the foreclosurewas because of my husband's debts he incurred when we wereseparated). The loan officer said "Jill, I know you and trust youto pay so I'm not worried."Everything God tells us to do is for a good reason and it isusually for our good. He wants us to have a good name because He knows at times when things hang in the balance, a person's goodname can tip the scale in the right direction.

* Don't decide you are going to change your ways and then expect God to suddenly produce a miracle and make all of your debt goaway. God loves you, but He is also a just God. He expects you topull your weight and if you spent 5 years carelessly spending, youmay have to work extra long and hard for 5 years to get yourselfout of your mess.It would be like telling my teenage son to clean his room. After amonth goes by, he is out of clean clothes, can't find anything andhas been grounded by me for failing to do what I told him to do. Hetells me how sorry he is, insists he'll never do it again andrepents all over the place, but he still has to clean his room,which is such a big mess it is going to take twice as much work.I forgive, but he is perfectly capable of cleaning it himself, sohe has to clean up his own mess.

Here's something to think about:In Matthew 6:24, the Bible says "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will bedevoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." We always think that this verse relates to having lotsor money, that it only concerns the wealthy or those seekingwealth, but it can pertain to the poor and those in debt, too. Be careful. What controls your waking thoughts? God or money? Whatdo you seek after more? God or a way to pay your debts? What do youtalk about more with your family? God or how the bills are pilingup "in these hard economic times"? Do you spend all of your moneyeating out, playing a game of golf, buying your kids sportsuniforms and dance lessons and having your nails done or do youfirst tithe?I have found most people give their money to whoever or whateverhas their heart and soul. I don't say these things to condemn youbut to get you thinking, "Do I have things mixed up? Can I dosomething differently? Do I need to change something, even if it issomething small?"We guard our families in so many areas. Don't let Satan sneak inthe back door with this and destroy you, your family and your testimony.

Crystal Light free from Vocal Point

Well I recieved the neatest package in the mail yesterday. It instantly caught my eye when I walked in the house. I recieved the beautiful container with samples of Crystal Light PureFitness flavored as Grape, Strawberry Kiwi and Lemon lime!!! I can't wait to try them. I really should have took them to work with me today and had one, it may have kept me from eating that yummy little Fast Break candy bar!!! So where do I get the goodies????

Wait no longer, head over to Vocalpoint.com, you will get emails asking if you want to try product and when you take a survey you are rewarded also. Don't worry, they don't sell you email and they do not bombard you with lots of annoying emails. Pure fact or I would not participate. Check the out...ohhhh I forgot to add that I got 3 $2.00 off coupons if I choose to buy them or share them. How great is that???

Have a blessed day,

Tracy

Attitude

So I posted a thought for the day on facebook and my smarty little sister with a not so good attitude replied with LMFAO...uggggg..

So here was my post:
If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attidtude. Don't complain.

Maya Angelou

After she posted her comment it got me to thinking, why would someone feel that way or say that??? If a person does not feel that life is not treating them so good than they would not have such a good outlook on life nor have an attitude of gratitude. I was personally raised in a home life with bad attitudes, bad moods and sometimes bad conditions. (lack of food, fighting, no electric, ect...)
So how did I climb out of that type of mindset and way of life? I have a wonderful husband that is my rock and also my sandpaper. I know God brought me to this little town I live in today so I would marry DH.

So here are my reply's and how I have helped climb myself out of the nasty attitude problem that used to be so embedded in me. But one thing is for sure I did not change on my own or of my husbands doing. It is because of the saving grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for the blood shed on the cross for me.

So to put this all together I know that our attitudes effect every part of us right down to our pocket books! The attitude battle starts in you mind, your way of thinking and what your are fixing your thoughts on.

Here is some awesome inspiration on attitude:

Have you heard the saying, "Attitude Is Everything"? While attitude might not really be "everything", it is the single most significant determining factor of success in many situations. Here's how it works:

Change your attitude and you automatically change:...
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1. your perspective

2. the way you interpret things

3. the decisions you make

4. the actions you take

5. the results you get

Attitude:
by Charles Swindoll [wikipedia.org]
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home. ...
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The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

Uggg...Food Waste Friday

I really did not want to post this today but I am a follow the rules kind of girl! Who's rules??? My own! I want to be accountable to myself and I am going to stick with it. So, this looks like alot of food and it is. Let me shed some light on some of the food waste here...At work we hold alot of workshops and we divide up the left overs and take them home so they will not go to waste. Well....we have had alot of workshops this month and will have all summer long. This is a plus and minus all in one. Plus...no cooking and saves money, minus....it's is not usually diet friendly and we will be sick of it by the end of the week. So the most of what you see is food we have been munching on for the week. It is alot less now than when I brought it home. I did however let a bag of spinach and half a bag of lettuce go to waste and also my little steak pieces for my lunch!!! Uggg! I need to get better at this...this is where I beat myself up for not doing better by sticking to my eating plan and then planning food for my family. I will not let this get me down but try to do better next week. :0)

It's Food waste Friday

Today is the first attempt to post with a group of bloggers that are holding each other accountable for the food waste of the family. I wanted to jump in to help keep myself accountable, cooking creative and saving the family money for better things to come :0)
So it does look like alot but you have to remember I am a newbie. I have always wanted to do better and have tried I am praying for God's guidance on our new journey. I am giving it all!!!!

Suze Orman

What do you think of when you hear her name??? She is a financial guru of the females!! I have listed to hear book on tape, (thanks to the library) and know her story. When she speaks I listen, I want to share with you her new web-site I just found http://www.moneymindedmoms.com/

Check her out and also don't forget to sign up for her email list and you will get "5 simple ways to save $500.00

Have a great day,
Tracy

Monday grind.....

On my adventure to being a better planner, cook and steward of our money I worked like crazy in the kitchen last night. At least I was in the air...the poor fellas were at ball practice in the hot, hot sun.

So friday DH and I did a little meat shopping, this was a good thing. Everytime I buy steak (which I always buy the best priced meat for the budget and try to make a miricle out of it), he almost always comments that it's cheap meat!!! I reply "yes" it fits the budget! But I don't say it sarcastically, those days are not in me anymore thank you Lord for changes :0). While at Country Mart I had him personally pick out the meat and tell the butcher how he wanted it cut. Pretty brilliant of me I think, (winking). So I had run out of freezer bags and did not get them until yesterday and had to package the 60.00 worth of meat, mark it and store in the freezers. Now the real challenge will be to use it, I have always had good intentions but somehow some of the meat get freezer burnt because I fail to make a plan to use it.

While prepping the meat and feeling very smart and Martha Stewart like I also cleaned the fridge out. Hmmm, here is another place I fail at. I threw out 1 green pepper, one tub of baby tomatoes, and some freezer burnt brats. Why did all that go to waste, my lack of planning and keeping up with our food. I might as well threw 5.00 in the trash which I would never do. So my new goal is to stay on top of the fridge, freezer and our meal plan. I did take a picture and will post it for the friday food waste post. I am new to this but very inspired to do the post, wish me luck that I may not have anything wasted next week.

Green Peppers

The other day at work we had a catering that left us with a large amount of left overs. Well that my friend is what we at work love!!! That means no cooking dinner tonight, yah (see me waving pom poms). This day blessed us with fat fries, cole slaw and chicken strips. We ate the chicken strips all weekend, I did not have to cook until sunday night. That was nice. But all the fries, what to do??? So I chopped them up and put them in my pampered chef dish sprinkled some cheese and add left over cooked bacon. The new breakfast dish was a hit with the guys. Score one for mom, (big smile) I still have some left so I need another idea, please share. Oh yes, if forgot to say I cooked them in my new convection oven that I got for half price. Double yahoo!!!!
In part of my effort to cook yummy home cooked meals and save money I cut up 6 green peppers yesterday and stored them for later use. I love peppers especially since I got them 4/1.00!!! (big smiles) I am going to get more hopefully if they go on sale again. In the winter they are like .99 a pepper. We eat them alot with mexican food so bring on the sales :0)!!! I also tried my hand at making stuffed bell peppers, I could not find a recipe I liked so I made my own. They were not bad but I didn't hear the guys asking me to make more, they liked the inside mix and want more of that but not the peppers...lol.. So I have a new recipe to make minus the peppers.. I also found another use for my laptop, no more hand writting recipes, I can just search it and read it from the lap top. I have just now figured that out and I have owned it since Feb. hmmmm, a little slow I am.

I also scored a New George Forman Grill for 10.00, organizer trays for .25 a piece, some like new Star Jeans for 3.00, 2 purses under a 1.00 each and a whole box of red votices and candle holders for 5.00 ( they are for the upcoming weddings in our family) We did pick blueberries to stockpile as well and almost blundder that. Our friend told us they were 3.00 per bucket and when we went to check out they were 3.00 per pound, 82.00 please the cashier said. .....Uggg, she made us a deal half price because that's what the other farm charges!!! Lesson learned???? Always asks the prices for yourself.

What bargains did you find?

Dreaming of a debt-free life

I read an article of how a man would tweet his weight daily in hopes of keeping himself accountable to loose weight. So in the article it asked the ?, what if people did that to keep themselves accountable to living a debt-free life? I thought to myself "wow" what a bold move!!! But, I have a dream of living a debt-free life and I know I can make it a reality! So here I am, I have pondered blogging this and decided to make this it's own blogging adventure. Here is where I will share the stories of the journey, my inspirations, wants desire and whatever else pops into my head. So this is the beginning, I just put it out on the world wide web for everyone to see!!! My debt, my burden I carry around knowing I still owe for. I hear people all of the time saying well you gotta have payments, you can't avoid it, It's gonna happen, it's ineviable...hmmmm what do you think? I feel with my whole heart that God does not want us to live in bondage and be a slave to the lender. Yes, the bank I pay every month for my house,car and credit card are my masters I am a slave to making payments to those nice people that gave me money when I did not have it.

So on to my frugal thoughts, I am determined to add on to my house and not remorgage it and still take the vacations I am dreaming of! Is it all possible I ask myself, then I answer myself and the answer is YES, anything is possible. So I have been on my debt free binge and getting my family on board with me. They are doing pretty good so far. I paid off our last Dr. bill (for my nose surgery 2 years ago) this week!! So we are down to the house, (almost under the 42,000.00, can you see the huge smile on my face!!!) The jeep 8000.00???, the Visa, not sure what all was on that or where in the world it came from!!! Yikes, 1600.00 and my new laptop compliments of Dell 1700.00 I had to have it to do photography, my home pc would just lock up!!!! I am not on it like I thought I would be, but I am still glad I have it. So why am I bareing my financial soul to the world??? I want to be accountable and document the journey and maybe inspire others to do the same.

Please feel free to leave your opinions, ideas, inspirations or great blogs and websites.

Have a blessed day,
Dreaming of debt freedom