Is it just me or has our society overcomplicated things that should be fairly straightforward?
Take food, for example. The overall process seems like it should be pretty simple. Grow or buy food. Cook food. Eat food. Done.
But when you get to the grocery store and spend the first 15 minutes just trying to pick a breakfast cereal from the 129 choices available, you quickly realize this might be harder than you thought.
So far in this series we’ve looked at ways to save money by being…
The final 4 C’s Strategy overlaps with #3 but I’ve kept them separate since each one has it’s own main focus.
Being counter-cultural in our approach to money helps us zero in on our own goals and work towards them without being influenced by what culture says we’re “supposed” to do. Once you’re comfortable going against the cultural grain, it becomes easier to come up with all kinds of creative money-saving ideas that are unique to your own situation.
If you haven’t yet, check out Strategy #1 and Strategy #2 in this series.
So you read last week’s post and stuck around for more? Three cheers for you!! Honestly, the first two strategies are super-important but not all that exciting. They’re kind of like brushing your teeth. Necessary and effective? Yes. Exciting? Not so much.
Thankfully, once you make some progress with Strategies #1 and #2 – learning more about finances and minimizing your financial temptations – you can save even more by using the final two strategies to reach your family’s goals.
If you haven’t yet, check out the first post in this series here.
I’ve got good news and bad news. First, the good news…
The fact that you’re reading this means you’re already succeeding at Strategy #1 – you deserve a reward! Go get yourself a cookie! (I’ll wait here)
OK, now that you’ve got your cookie and you’re in a good mood… here’s the bad news. I’ll just come right out and say it…
This next money-saving strategy is the most fuddy-duddy, Debbie Downer, wet blanket of the 4 C’s Strategies. To make matters worse, I’m posting it on BLACK FRIDAY! I’m doing this partly because this is the day when this message is most needed and partly because I’m amused by the irony.
So, brace yourself. What I’m about to say sounds cynical and probably not very cool. But I do hope you’ll keep reading because Strategy #2 has helped us save so much money over the years and I think it can help you, too!
Many homeschooling families (and non-homeschooling families, too) are living on one income in a two-income economy.
Our own household income was cut by 50% when I quit my full-time architecture career to stay home with our first baby. We had some savings and made it work for the short-term but once we decided to homeschool we realized the “dip-into-savings-and-just-don’t-buy-stuff” approach wasn’t going to work for the long haul.
The loss of one full-time salary or the switch to part-time income with fewer benefits is a huge adjustment. In a culture obsessed with money and material possessions you’ll need to muster all your courage and intentionality to stick to a financial plan that works.
But I’m here to tell you it CAN be done!
When my oldest son had some pre-writing work under his belt and was ready to start learning how to write letters and words, I researched the depths of the internet in the hopes of finding the one right, best method for teaching handwriting.
Long story short, there’s no such thing.
Some experts say cursive first, others say manuscript. Some say lower case first, others say upper case. They all seem to have an opinion about which letters to teach first and which font style is the best for beginning writers – D’Nealian, Zaner-Bloser, Palmer, Getty-Dubay, Wingdings (just kidding about that last one).
What size should the primary lines be for which grade level? Will tracing ruin my child forever, or is it a great first step toward handwriting success? And on and on and on…
No room in the budget for fancy school learning tools?
No problem!
(Even if there IS money available for the latest and greatest educational gizmos, buying more stuff just because you can generally isn’t wise.)
Please don’t feel like you have to OWN every cool-looking manipulative, learning center set and educational toy that exists in order to provide a high-quality education!
Whether you know it or not, you already own countless items you can repurpose to teach many – if not most – concepts. Or often, a DIY option will get the job done just as well as expensive classroom tools. And, by the time you’re done repurposing and DIY’ing, you’ll have saved enough money to splurge on a few really cool items that you just can’t duplicate at home.
