Being content with less!

I’m pretty sure I published this post before, but for some reason it showed up as a draft. Hope you enjoy!
One of the goals we have as a family is to live simply and within our means. Since we are now a one-income family it is definetely a challenge to make our dollars stretch, especially when it comes to buying diapers each week, wipes, baby food (YES! Still!).

I remember the days when my husband and I would spend mindlessly on eating out – SEVERAL times a week. In those pre-kid days it was maybe once a week when I would cook at home. I don’t even want to begin to add up how much we WASTED on eating out.
Things have radically changed since then but the wonderful thing is even though we are tighter financially we have truly learned how to be CONTENT with less.
To start off we really have had to evaluate luxuries we can live without.

One that I thought was going to be difficult was not having cable t.v. My husband’s love for sports made that one a tough one to give up but realizing it was something we really could live without financially- he agreed finally.
And yes…eating out was another sacrificial lamb we laid at the altar of our desires! Like the way I worded that? It’s so old testament sounding! So our new normal is MAYBE eating out ONCE A MONTH. Yes, only ONCE a month! If you had told me that 5 years ago I would not laughed in disbelief!
Now this one came before the previous two luxuries….moving to a cheaper county. We had to move from our beloved town which was only 10 minutes from the most beautiful beaches & communities around. This is the one that kills my husband the most…how he misses the last community we lived in! I do too but it was just too expensive there…our ONE bedroom apartment cost $1380/month. Right now we’re renting a home w/2 car garage in our new less beautiful community for under $900/month . You can’t beat the price! We’re glad to have a home to raise the boys in!
Not buying stuff for ourselves all the time! No I don’t like this one! I like not having to think about if I have enough money to buy something as simple as new shorts for my hubby or a new blouse for me. We really have to consciously evaluate our spending-not easy or fun!

I’m not one of those coupon moms either, so I guess I need to become one! I’m hoping this is a season we’re going through right now….of living on way less. I don’t mind giving up the luxuries but I know that God also promises to give us our hearts desires. I’m learning to be content… I guess I’m learning what really matters!