This is where the rubber meets the road

Shannon got his first paycheck at his new job today. It isn't even enough to cover the rent, much less any other expenses. Before everyone panics and thinks we're sinking, we do have reserves, and we did expect this check to be low, even though it's nearly a full pay-period's worth of work. Shannon works in sales, so he gets a base plus commission. While he is training, he just gets the base. Unfortunately the base salary is only about 2/5 of what he was making at his old job. I talked to him today (he's in Utah for job training), and he thinks he can up his income fairly quickly. I believe him. He's pretty good at media sales. We do need to survive until that happens, and I don't want to go through all of our reserves. So, cutting expenses is what we will be doing. Time to triple my efforts.

Tags: Saving money, budgeting

My Connundrum of the Day

What to do? What to do? After I washed my bathroom rugs last week, it became apparent that the toilet lid cover is in very sad shape. I'm trying to save money, and I don't really want to replace it. If I replace it, I need to get a new rectangular rug and contour rug, as well. The ones I have now are useable, but they're faded, and if I get a new lid cover, it will be obvious that the other rugs are really old. I could just take the lid cover off, but the toilet lid isn't in great shape. One of the downsides of renting. In the past, I would have just headed to Walmart to pick up a new set of rugs. The new me is going to think about this for a couple of days, though. I guess the fact that I'm going to wait before making a decision is progress.

Entitlement

I think a huge reason behind our debt-laden society is the sense of entitlement people today seem to have. We take out mortgages we can't afford, because our friends have huge houses, and we think we should have one, too. Instead of buying a car we can afford with cash, we take out a loan to buy a brand new car that depreciates as soon as we drive it off the lot. We are constantly competing with those around us, trying to be bigger and better. The solution to America's debt problem is contentment. When we're content with what we have and willing to live within our means, the debt problem goes away. I struggle with contentment as much as the next person. We rent a modest duplex when it seems all our friends have nice houses, and sometimes that is really hard. But I'm comparing myself to the wrong people. The people I should be thinking about are the ones half a world away, who would be overwhelmed with gratitude to have what I have. I really am blessed. My family has a safe place to live, we drive cars that run, and we have enough food and clothing to get by. There are so many people in the world who don't have the very things I take for granted. In Philippians 4:12, Paul writes, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." That is my prayer for myself, to learn to be content, no matter what the circumstance.