Ten Years

Yesterday, April 24th, was our ten year wedding anniversary. Hurray for us! If I get to feeling industrious in the next couple of days I'll scan some pictures from the wedding and early years. They were all taken before we had a digital camera or even a computer. Yes, Virginia there was such a time before everyone had such things! It will be a busy day today. Bella and I have haircuts at ten, later this afternoon we'll drop off the kids for a sleepover at their grandparents. Will and I have a special date night planned. Somewhere in there I need to make some desserts for a home group function and get to the market. On the subject of groceries - Thanks to the goodly influence of my friend Jessica I have started couponing. There's a lot to learn to make it worth my while and yet not get sucked into the trap of buying something just because it's "such a good deal". There are tons of blogs, websites and books that guide the newbie, but the big takeaway for me was this: To really impact your budget the key is to get to the point where you have reserves of the more expensive household staples such as diapers, cereal, shampoo, toilet paper etc. Here's what I mean, when you need something and go out and buy it then it is a Seller's market - you are going to pay full price or more for that item because you have to have it right then. On the other hand, the wise woman begins to store up these things which in turn allows her to wait and only purchase them when the price is advantageous, therefore creating a Buyer's market. So it isn't an instantaneous thing but I'm on board now and having a ton of fun doing it. Interestingly, this is a biblical principle. Proverbs 21:20 tells us that the wise, by diligence and care, lay up and increase wealth, while fools spend-literally, "swallow it up," greedily." Wow. I have some other things planned which sound fun and will save money, I want to make my own yogurt and laundry soap. Stay tuned, it could be a disaster but I'm going to try!