I might receive a little hate mail for this…I don’t mean it to be mean – this is meant as a wake up call.

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Lately, I have been hearing a lot about people having troubles buying food, paying rent, or even just paying their heating bill. Funds are limited and there just doesn’t seem to be enough to go around. One article I read was even saying that people making good money – 100K+, are feeling the pinch. As someone who does not even come close to that type of pay as a blogger – but has had my fair share of money problems in the past – I do think that I have a little advice for the ones that are having trouble making ends meet right now.

For anyone who has never checked out my little blog before, I will give you a little story…

In August of 2021 I found out that I was losing my job as a medical coder due to being outsourced. Though my emotions were mixed about it, I found comfort in the fact that we were in a good spot financially. But this didn’t just happen, it was the result of many, many intentional actions that we had made over a period of time.

Right before my ‘separation date‘ I posted several times on the subject of money – How to prepare yourself and your budget for tough times, Ways to save $$$ and live on less, and A change in our food budget – tips to help. After rereading these they still hold true, we still live by them to this day, and we are living comfortably on one income – Thanks to the Good Lord!

When I say comfortably, I mean comfortably for our family. Our house and cars are paid off, are they what I absolutely want? Maybe not, but they are mine. We have had the same cell phones for 5 years, we have stopped eating out except for when my husband gets a bonus – every three months, and even that’s not guaranteed. Everything that is a want (remember want is very different from need) goes thru a hefty scrutinization to check if it is really needed. And we have no – this is a biggie that a lot of people freak out about – TV! – gasp! Nope none, no cable or satellite, and no, we don’t live in the stone age. I don’t know how many times I have had to explain this to people that are completely befuddled by the thought. We have a television, and movies/series that we enjoy. And when we want to see something different, we rent movies from our local supermarket or borrow some from the library. But in all honesty, we do that very rarely, why, because we are busy and really, all tv is, is a time sink.

And to be honest, there is very little that is on tv that can’t be watched on the internet. Since the internet is such an integral part of everyday life now, pretty much everyone has the internet, if not there are a ton of places that offer it free, from coffee shops to the library, I even noticed our local tire shop has free wifi, there are even computers for use at our local library for free if you ever need to use one.

Also – the internet can be a useful tool, but don’t let it become a time sink – it can happen so easily. Remember time is the one thing you never get back.

Ok, I’m off my soapbox now – back to the topic at hand…

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So, saving money – what’s my hard to swallow advice – especially to all the millennials, and gen z’ers out there…

suck it up buttercup!

You are an adult, no one is responsible for anything you do but you. The problem with most the people in these ‘groups’ are that they have been coddled their whole life. They figure that if/when they get into trouble, mommy and daddy – or even the government will bail them out. Guess what, the only things in life you are entitled to is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, if you don’t believe me then you need to check the Declaration of Independence. You are not entitled to have anyone take care of you – and why would you, that takes away your rights to make choices. You give those rights up, you may not get them back.

You want to be prosperous, then you need to be productive…

If you are in a bad situation financially then you need to sit down and have a come to Jesus meeting with yourself.

I and many others have been in bad situations, made bad decisions and had to deal with a number of other stupid crap that has either landed in our laps or that we got ourselves into. You know what we did? We worked our rear ends off, got rid of stuff and did without and we overcame it – by ourselves. We didn’t ask for bail outs or forgiveness, we sucked it up and did it ourselves!

Yeah, it’s hard. Yeah, it’s gonna suck. Yes, I understand that not all of it is your fault, in the real world we don’t just live the with the choices that we make, we also live with the choices that our government makes, i.e. inflation.

That is what being an adult is all about, you pull up your big girl panties, put your faith in the Good Lord above, and do what you have to do. You do without, you get rid of stuff, you take on extra work, get another job, you give up free time, hobbies, sleep, favorite foods, travel, entertainment, and whatever else is needed.

And eventually the trials will pass, and life will go on. And at the end of it you can look at yourself in the mirror and hold your head up high because you gave it your all.

You can do it; I know you can!

–Dawn