1/2 price living

Well November 2009 is in the books, and I gotta say .. I'm quite impressed!

We are a family of 4, living on 15 acres out in the country with a house, quonset, 2 vehicles, a couple roosters, and a dog ... and in November 2009, We did it on $1550.00! I find this pretty damn good.

Now I will have to say, We didn't take a vacation, no major bills were due (taxes, car insurance), and We didn't have anything major go wrong. So I guess it was one of the better months for expenditures.

However!! With that $1550.00, We had people over for a huge Thanksgiving meal, took the kids skating at the local indoor arena, bought the kids some mascot clothes from a school fundraiser (total gimmick), rented movies, went to a downtown Holiday festival, and took the kids swimming, and went out to eat once or twice. Not to mention the 'basic' things that just about everyone does ... pays for the mortgage, heat, electricity, satellite TV, internet, gas, and all the things that go with daily living.

Now I'm sure the government would say that We are living in poverty by only spending this much. I bet the government statistics would say that We need to earn closer to $3000.00 to be considered normal, and that We should be getting food stamps and heating assistance and such. Well you know what? The government can 'Eat My Ass'! I think We live pretty damn good. I may not have a brand new car, a small mansion, 3 cell phones, 6 credit cards, or the latest and greatest gadgets .. but I also don't have a lot of stress in My life of how to pay for all that shit, and I'm not running like a chicken with his head cut off trying to constantly entertain Myself and My kids by involving them in every activity known to man.

So what's the point of trying to live off of less? THE JOB!! It's the job stupid! Not only do I have less stress by living a 'simpler' life, but I'm not pinned down to a job requiring 40, 50 hours a week, and all the stress and responsibility to go with it. Yes .. I am working (I'm sorry), but just barely working!! I work a few days a week, and only 6 hours a day on top of it. But to top it off, I have NO responsibilities to anyone, I just show up, take My time doing stuff to keep Me busy, and leave. And their happy with that because most people these days don't even show up half the time. And apparently they're going to throw a few hundred bucks into My checking account now and then. Good enough. And to top it off, I could quit tomorrow and We'd still be just fine.

So half price living has it's advantages. It's cheaper (duh!), it's simpler, it's a lot less stress, and it really keeps the family tightly together because you rely on each other, instead of the rest of the world to entertain You. Yeah .. I might not have My kids in advanced karate, or ballet .. but We do pull out the 'marble board' and the 'Sorry' game quite a bit, or I have time to personally help them with their homework ... and I think in the long run, that will pay for itself over and over, and I ain't talking about money either!

So everyone out there who lives a more 'sophisticated' lifestyle than Me, have a nice life. You can have the stress of paying a lot of bills that you don't need, and worrying that your next raise will cover the the balance increase on your credit cards. I, on the other hand, think there is nothing much better than NOT having to say "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go."