I can't believe tomorrow is my last post on this series already! I'm already dreaming up my next blogging adventure, though this one has been rewarding, fun, and such a blessing!
To begin wrapping up in anticipation of tomorrow's final post, I'm going to post about some very personal attributes of our lives, and I'd appreciate it if all my readers kept an open mind, open heart and tried to just put aside any previous thoughts - good or bad - about this series. It will better help you understand where I'm coming from; trust me.
Tip #16: Boldly go where you've never gone. If you know me at all, you know I'm not a huge fan of major upheaval. But, if I had run from the significant changes I've had to make in my own life in the last year or so, I can promise you I would be in a much worse place! I had to be willing to change, or else we wouldn't have survived the trials we went through. But, we prayed, we discussed, and we tried new things. Not everything worked; for instance, shopping at Winco gives me anxiety like no other experience in my life. YES, they have decent and low prices on many goods, but it's not WORTH the money savings to deal with the anxiety to me. It's not a trade-off in my book. So for the nay-sayers, I never claimed to be the "best" saver or the "best" shopper; I was not a story on Extreme Couponing! (And I never will be!) I don't set out to be the best of the best; I set out to do mybest. Yes, my sacrifice of not shopping at Winco costs me an extra $5.50/ week on groceries or something like that, but it's low on my list of importance compared to my sanity. Which brings me to my next point!
Tip #17: Set Goals and Standards - then live by them. We try not to be tempted away from our goals and standards. Even if everyone in the family is going out to eat, we sometimes say, "no, thank you," or we wait until we have coupons (yes, you CAN get them for restaurants!) and/or gift cards. Also, this may seem a bit shallow, but if we have awful service, we ALWAYS let the manager know, AND submit online reviews. We feel that people are lucky to have jobs right now, and that if they were a terrible server and didn't do their job, their company should know. Most often, we end up getting gift cards in the mail. NOTE: We do NOT do this every time we eat out. Because Robert works for a high-end restaurant, our standards are high for service. We do tip generously, but if our hard-earned money is spent eating out, we ought to always have full water glasses (we don't order anything BUT water anymore), hot food cooked correctly, and friendly service. It doesn't necessarily have to be FAST, just quality. Just this week, for example, we chose to spend our entire entertainment budget for the month in 2 days. It was a personal choice. No one else can judge us for it. We'll know who to be angry with if, on April 30th, we want to go see a movie - ourselves. But we made that choice.
Anyway, that's it for this post. Tomorrow, we wrap up! :)
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