voluntary simplicity/provident living

I have found a wonderful thing! Its voluntary simplicity! Its so wonderful because you can be as simple as you like or just change a couple of things to simplify your life.

I had to cut down my shifts at work for a number of reasons, they include:

-not being as involved as I would like with raising MY children
-cutting down my stress level
-not being a beast at any given moment
-I really hated missing out on everything
-making it easier for Jay to work at his hospitals
-and taking time out to work on making our house a home

So this left us in a bit of a pickle. For one reason or another my boss conveniently forgot that he promised me certain shifts(and for those of you who I work with, they were fair. I had my mandatory weekends just like everyone else. I just didnt think it was fair that I had to work every weekend when some didnt have to work any.) And he cut me down to 1 shift a week.
The 1 shift a week thing isnt going to pay the bills.....but I'm happier. So much happier that I have been trying to find ways to not have to work at all.

Quitting is not an option until our car is payed off. So we've been finding ways to make money to pay the car payment without me working. Thats not going so good but we have made some interesting changes to our budget which will hopefully save us alot of money. And it all comes down to voluntary simplicity.

Did you know that I can make a loaf of bread for around 10 cents?! Neither did I. The food budget is the biggest thing for us. By not eating out we saved $300 a week! And a welcome side effect is MORE MONEY and losing weight. The food thing is going to change ALOT!! How are we going to do it you ask.....

-We planted a veggie garden. It cost about $30 for us to put everything in. I could waste that much produce in 1 week!
-No more fast food!.....everyday........ once a week is good
-I figured that my fave meal costs around $5 to make and it lasts for 2 days! $2.50 for dinner!!(its a noodle goulash with tomato juice a little ground hamburger and spices)
-making wiser dinner choices and eating cheaper...eating cheaper is a whole different blog

I can think of a whole slew of ways to be more provident providers and chose a way of simpler living....its mainly saving money to me and being a little more self sufficient. Here are my ideas:

-I have to water my garden, so I am getting a rain barrell to collect rainwater and water everything with that when we have it. So that will cut down on the water bill whenever we get rain.
-make a conscious effort to not waste electricity. I am going to pretend we dont have an air conditioner....never had one until I was a teenager anyway and we survived
-try not to buy wants and impulse items at the store
-use coupons
-when we need a treat we'll have to make something, this I hope, will promote better family time and not spending as much money. I can make a cake or brownies for $2 instead of buying Gage a treat that would cost almost that much anyway. This way the whole family can have some!
-I am learning to sew. Kelty will have some hand sewn outfits from me. She's growing like a weed! Plus, its a good skill to have.
-De-junk my house and have a yard sale! I know some of you would love my junk!
- I'm going to try to make as much as I can at home. Instead of simply going and buying something we're going to make it! I made Jays b-days decorations instead of buying some.

If you guys have any ideas let me know!!