First off, sorry it has been sort of quiet around here. It's not that I don't love you guys and wish that I could write post after post after post. But, my heart just hasn't been in it lately and we all know that a post without heart, is like a book cover without a book in it--it is easily ruined and doesn't really serve a point.
(not sure that makes sense....)
Basically what I'm trying to say is I've missed writing, but I have nothing that is interesting to write about.
Here's the deal. The carpenter and I have decided that it is time to put our house projects on a standstill. With the way things are going, we can't really afford to do many projects right now. No, Jonathan's job situation hasn't changed at all and he is still being an amazing provider (thank you my love!), but that being said, money isn't readily available right now.
Over the summer we took too many vacations and it is catching up to us. Time away = no money earned and a lot of money spent. Thus is the life of a self employed carpenter and his wife!! So basically our bank account levels finally caught up with us.
Well, they didn't go up actually...but oh! you know what I mean.
Thus, the kibosh has been put on all unnecessary house projects until the end of the year.
We have decided to, instead, focus on building our emergency fund. We loosely follow the advice of Dave Ramsey, along with the knowledge both of our families have instilled in us, and therefore are being very careful about the money that we spend. We don't believe that it would be beneficial to get a loan to fix up our house. Debt is a scary thing and Jonathan and I like to avoid it at all costs. Yes, it sort of stinks, but I rather keep my stink-filled house then lose my beautifully fixed up one to the bank. Does it make sense? I don't think I'm speaking another language here. :)
We believe that this is also being a good steward of God's money. After all, it is His and not ours. We want to make sure that we are giving Him the say-so in our spending and not focusing selfishly on our own interests. So, our goal is to have a good cushion in our emergency fund first and then start saving money for house projects. We also are thinking of other ways that we can be using our money for the kingdom of God. We have a sponsored child, but I would love to see us support something else. Maybe that would mean putting money towards an organization or not-for-profit that is spreading the gospel.
So, what does that mean for the blog?
From now until the end of the year, you can expect posts about various low-budget projects. i.e. stuff that costs nothing or very little. I also plan on sharing some other household things with you: my cleaning techniques, menu planning ideas, and maybe a few pinterest-inspired crafts that I have been working on. What do you think? Are you with me?!?!
