The loneliest time of year is around the holiday season. So many people are alone, lonely, and feeling the weight of not having a loved one to share it with! Go sit with them, be with them if you can! Jesus is great! He is my homeboy, but certain people don’t have family, don’t have a husband, or feel the sting of loss in the pit of their stomachs, and they just need to be loved on this holiday season!
I remember going to my husband years ago with a 12 credit cards confession. Honey, I have $25k in credit card debt. Not the thing you want to hear around Christmas time, but it was the truth, and I had hid it from him. You see, in my depression and anxiety, I would spend money to make myself feel better, only putting our family in a pit of financial despair. It was a December, and the next January started my journey to debt freedom! So I started it with a no spend month, and it changed my life. It set the tone for the rest of the year. That month I paid off 2-3 credit cards just by intentionally ONLY spending on what we agreed upon! And now friend, we are starting the New Year with only 1 credit card left! In just 2 years, we have paid off over $20k in debt! WOoohoo! And I share that story because no matter where you are in your finance journey, IT IS POSSIBLE! So how do you do a no spend month?
So this week, I decided to take a Homeschool Fall Break! We have been busy with sports and restaurants and all the things, and I knew that we needed a break as a family. We’ve been saving tons and paying off debt tons, so we had a good cushion to take a trip! We save weekly on groceries, doing my own nails and hair, making my own coffee at home ($130 savings just this month by not going to Starbucks), and so many other ways! So I took the trip instead of putting it on debt because as a family we needed it, and making memories is a core value for us! So here’s my 5 tips to traveling cheaply with kids!
So minimalism is a very newer concept to me! I’ve been decluttering for years now, but the idea of minimalism really intrigued me as a family of 6, sports, and all of the things. I felt like we were accumulating all of these things, and it was bringing me so much anxiety. My household was no longer was sanctuary, but a place I found overwhelming because it was no longer a space of peace, but a space of…..well….clutter. So I went on this journey to minimize our things, and after months of minimizing, I’ve become so much more happy with our spaces. I’ll share more on that soon! So what is digital minimalism? For me, digital minimalism is getting rid of the things digitally that don’t bring you joy and really leaning into the things that do bring you joy and help you create the amazing life that you want.
Tonight I bombed. I cooked a healthy taco meal that no one ate! Haha. It was a vegan fish taco in lettuce wraps, and I may have challenged one kid to take one bite, while another smelled it and ran! Haha! Luckily, I cooked a backup meal for my family (I’m stricter than most of them eating mostly vegan), and I don’t expect all of them to eat vegan especially Air Fried Heart of Palms from Tabitha Brown’s Instagram video! What is a heart of palm even! I mean what was I thinking! It was a weekday! I don’t cook new meals during the weekdays! I know better. My kitchen is a wreck and the heart of palms is starting at me AND even the dog won’t eat it! When a piece fell on the floor, she didn’t even eat it! Oh boy! But it’s ok! Because my kids are a bit older, we have meal time rules, and they complied with them, and it was great! Taco Night bombed. But we survived and laughed about it! But it hasn’t always been this way! Before, I did not love motherhood. I had 3 kids, 3 and under, and one older one and a traveling husband. It was hard. I felt isolated, depressed and alone, and most days I felt like a failure. That’s how I felt years ago, and with this pandemic, I know some of you may be feeling the same way I felt! The pressure of virtual learning, being home non-stop, and juggling work and e-learning. You will get through this time! So here are 5 ways to get through this pandemic, e-learning, working, or homeschooling with your sanity!
I was burned out! I was doing all the things while my sweet husband was traveling 5-6 days per week, not getting home until 10pm most nights if he wasn’t having an overnight stay. He wanted to help, but his job back then took him away from our city more often than not. And I was tired, experienced postpartum depression, and I just felt like I was drowning under homeschooling, nursing babies, and well... Life. And I remember meeting with one of my mentors, and she said, “What chores are your children responsible for.” And that conversation changed my life. Now years later, I finally feel as if we have a good system that works for us.
