And "Gluten-free" means "three times as expensive".
This new diet is wrecking my grocery budget. I'm feeling very guilty after my adventures in the grocery store today. Darn that Dave Ramsey; he's taken all the pleasure of shopping away from me!
My new goal is to figure out how I can feed Jim and I organically and gluten-free AND stay within my grocery budget. Can it be done? We'll see!
I'm hoping it can be done. Otherwise Jim and I will be getting even skinnier.
Showing posts with label Money woes.... Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money woes.... Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tales of unemployment...
As many of you know, Jim and I went through a very difficult season in our lives and our marriage last year when Jim was unemployed for seven months. At the time I was going to nursing school full time and working two jobs at the hospital. Our monthly income added up to be exactly half of our monthly bills. To take on more hours at the hospital, I sacrificed any free time I had, including Sundays.
I wish I could say that I handled this time well, but the truth is I struggled. A lot. In my relationship with God, in my relationship with my husband, in other relationships. Although I knew God was in control, and was at work especially during this difficult time, my faith was very weak.
Jim and I have two very dear friends facing this exact season in their lives and marriage today. While I do not wish that kind of hardship on anyone, I feel as though I should share what God taught me during that time and how God blessed us in the end.
1. God always provides. This lesson was learned very practically as Jim and I counted up our monthly expenses and our monthly income, and saw a large discrepancy between the two numbers. Yet, even as our income was only half our expenses, each month every bill was paid and every need was met. We experienced the seemingly impossible - two bags of groceries left on our front step, a check in the mail, cash slipped into our wallets... yet, "with God all things are possible".
2. God has a plan. The question Jim and I most often asked during this season was "Why?". And we soon found out... seven months later. God had a specific plan for Jim involving full-time ministry, and He used unemployment to grab Jim's heart and place him in exactly the right place. Before this season, Jim struggled in his job, feeling unfulfilled and as though something was missing. Now Jim is at peace, knowing he is exactly where God wants him. That kind of peace is perhaps the greatest blessing we have experienced.
3. God is in control. This lesson may seem redundant after the last two lessons, but for Jim and I, it was very much something that we specifically learned. In the midst of the financial hardships and the why's, Jim and I struggled with knowing God was in control. Often during this season He felt so far away. Jim and I both felt that our prayers were hitting the ceiling and falling back down, and for the majority of those seven months, we did not see God's hand clearly. Don't get me wrong, Jim and I both knew that God was ultimately in control, but its one thing to know it in your head and know it in your heart. It wasn't until after this season was over that Jim and I were able to truly say in our hearts "God is in control".
There were many other lessons learned during this time that I won't go into. I think to sum up everything Jim and I experienced would be accomplished by a passage from Malachi. If you are not familiar with the last books of the Old Testament, I highly encourage you to read them. Malachi is my favorite book of the Bible, mostly because God puts His thoughts into terms simple enough for me to understand!
Malachi 3:6-12 (ESV)
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
As my pastor shared last week, this passage is often used in the context of tithing in the church. For me, it so adequately describes what God was trying to say to us through those seven months. God tells us, "Return to Me and I will return to you" and then He tells us we have robbed Him. How? We robbed God, so to speak, of ourselves and the blessings that He has for us. How do we fix this? By bringing our full selves to Him, leaving nothing out. And then, He promises us that if we put Him to the test, He will open the windows of heaven for us and pour down a blessing until there is no need. No emptiness, no confusion, no lack of gain. When Jim and I were able to fully surrender ourselves to God, the windows of heaven were opened for us. Not just in a practical sense dealing with our physical needs, but in all ways. God provided for every need - spiritual, emotional, mental.
I wish I could say that I handled this time well, but the truth is I struggled. A lot. In my relationship with God, in my relationship with my husband, in other relationships. Although I knew God was in control, and was at work especially during this difficult time, my faith was very weak.
Jim and I have two very dear friends facing this exact season in their lives and marriage today. While I do not wish that kind of hardship on anyone, I feel as though I should share what God taught me during that time and how God blessed us in the end.
1. God always provides. This lesson was learned very practically as Jim and I counted up our monthly expenses and our monthly income, and saw a large discrepancy between the two numbers. Yet, even as our income was only half our expenses, each month every bill was paid and every need was met. We experienced the seemingly impossible - two bags of groceries left on our front step, a check in the mail, cash slipped into our wallets... yet, "with God all things are possible".
2. God has a plan. The question Jim and I most often asked during this season was "Why?". And we soon found out... seven months later. God had a specific plan for Jim involving full-time ministry, and He used unemployment to grab Jim's heart and place him in exactly the right place. Before this season, Jim struggled in his job, feeling unfulfilled and as though something was missing. Now Jim is at peace, knowing he is exactly where God wants him. That kind of peace is perhaps the greatest blessing we have experienced.
3. God is in control. This lesson may seem redundant after the last two lessons, but for Jim and I, it was very much something that we specifically learned. In the midst of the financial hardships and the why's, Jim and I struggled with knowing God was in control. Often during this season He felt so far away. Jim and I both felt that our prayers were hitting the ceiling and falling back down, and for the majority of those seven months, we did not see God's hand clearly. Don't get me wrong, Jim and I both knew that God was ultimately in control, but its one thing to know it in your head and know it in your heart. It wasn't until after this season was over that Jim and I were able to truly say in our hearts "God is in control".
There were many other lessons learned during this time that I won't go into. I think to sum up everything Jim and I experienced would be accomplished by a passage from Malachi. If you are not familiar with the last books of the Old Testament, I highly encourage you to read them. Malachi is my favorite book of the Bible, mostly because God puts His thoughts into terms simple enough for me to understand!
Malachi 3:6-12 (ESV)
"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?' Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.
As my pastor shared last week, this passage is often used in the context of tithing in the church. For me, it so adequately describes what God was trying to say to us through those seven months. God tells us, "Return to Me and I will return to you" and then He tells us we have robbed Him. How? We robbed God, so to speak, of ourselves and the blessings that He has for us. How do we fix this? By bringing our full selves to Him, leaving nothing out. And then, He promises us that if we put Him to the test, He will open the windows of heaven for us and pour down a blessing until there is no need. No emptiness, no confusion, no lack of gain. When Jim and I were able to fully surrender ourselves to God, the windows of heaven were opened for us. Not just in a practical sense dealing with our physical needs, but in all ways. God provided for every need - spiritual, emotional, mental.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
And Speaking of Money...
Maybe it's the new leaf Dave Ramsey has helped me to turn over in my life, or maybe it's just plain common sense, but I've been studying into our current economic woes now for the past few weeks and I came across this article today from Forbes.com. Even for this financially-inept nurse, it put the proposed solution into a new perspective.
7 better uses for $700 billion
If the bailout sounds like a lot of money, that's because it is. What else could it buy? How about health insurance for everyone, or fixing all the roads and bridges?
Wall Street's crisis is about to become Main Street's crisis, as bank credit freezes and loans dry up. The government's fix: $700 billion to buy up the bad loans choking the system.
It's a monster plan, but there's little choice, according White House and Federal Reserve officials. Though much of the money may return to the nation's coffers over time as the Treasury sells off the mortgage-backed assets it will purchase, the bailout will severely limit what the government can afford to spend on health care, energy, infrastructure and education in the years ahead.
New bridges and guilt-free electricity
Let's start with the nation's infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates our nation's bridges need $180 billion in repairs, with our rail infrastructure in need of $185 billion in maintenance. California wants to spend $40 billion for the nation's first high-speed rail network to connect Southern and Northern California.
Saskia Sassen, a professor on Columbia University's Committee on Global Thought, points out that infrastructure investments would feed directly into gross domestic product, based on job and enterprise growth. And we certainly have the builders to do it. Unemployment in construction is 40% higher than in manufacturing.
Arizona Public Service, an electric utility, is building the nation's largest solar power array in the desert near Gila Bend, Ariz. It will be able to power 70,000 homes using only the sun's rays -- and will create thousands of high-tech green energy jobs. Construction costs will be about $1 billion, but the utility says the 3-square-mile project will pay for itself in about seven years. With $699 billion left over, you could put even more of the Southwest's desert to work in creating clean energy.
Peace of mind for the environment and our bodies
Health care and climate change are other major concerns. Kenneth Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University, points out that for $150 billion you could provide every American with private health insurance and create a universal automated health-information system.
When you consider that the National Cancer Institute receives $5 billion a year in funding, you could multiply its budget by 10 and provide private health care to every American.
McKinsey, a consulting firm, estimates it will cost the U.S. economy $150 billion a year to stabilize greenhouse gases by 2030. For three years, $700 billion could pay for the cost of both health care plans (in case one doesn't work) and cover the cost to reduce carbon emissions.
Defend the borders, the economy and our academic edge
Since global trade isn't going away anytime soon and America's ports are getting increasingly crowded, using the money for port expansion might be a smart idea. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, container volumes at U.S. ports have increased by 7% a year over the past 20 years, far outpacing capacity growth.
National security is also a concern. After five years in Iraq, most estimates for the war's cost tally into the $500 billion range. Unlike investments in distressed assets, paying for the Iraq war won't produce a return, but $700 billion would stem the government's future debt obligations to its creditors.
Then there's education. The U.S. currently spends about $500 billion annually on public education, yet still finds itself slipping behind many other industrialized nations when it comes to giving the next generation the skills it needs to compete globally.
The difference, of course, is that government spending for any of this would require a massive tax increase, with no chance of getting any of the money back. The upside: At least it would be a sure bet.
This article was reported and written by Matt Woolsey for Forbes.com.
7 better uses for $700 billion
If the bailout sounds like a lot of money, that's because it is. What else could it buy? How about health insurance for everyone, or fixing all the roads and bridges?
Wall Street's crisis is about to become Main Street's crisis, as bank credit freezes and loans dry up. The government's fix: $700 billion to buy up the bad loans choking the system.
It's a monster plan, but there's little choice, according White House and Federal Reserve officials. Though much of the money may return to the nation's coffers over time as the Treasury sells off the mortgage-backed assets it will purchase, the bailout will severely limit what the government can afford to spend on health care, energy, infrastructure and education in the years ahead.
New bridges and guilt-free electricity
Let's start with the nation's infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates our nation's bridges need $180 billion in repairs, with our rail infrastructure in need of $185 billion in maintenance. California wants to spend $40 billion for the nation's first high-speed rail network to connect Southern and Northern California.
Saskia Sassen, a professor on Columbia University's Committee on Global Thought, points out that infrastructure investments would feed directly into gross domestic product, based on job and enterprise growth. And we certainly have the builders to do it. Unemployment in construction is 40% higher than in manufacturing.
Arizona Public Service, an electric utility, is building the nation's largest solar power array in the desert near Gila Bend, Ariz. It will be able to power 70,000 homes using only the sun's rays -- and will create thousands of high-tech green energy jobs. Construction costs will be about $1 billion, but the utility says the 3-square-mile project will pay for itself in about seven years. With $699 billion left over, you could put even more of the Southwest's desert to work in creating clean energy.
Peace of mind for the environment and our bodies
Health care and climate change are other major concerns. Kenneth Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University, points out that for $150 billion you could provide every American with private health insurance and create a universal automated health-information system.
When you consider that the National Cancer Institute receives $5 billion a year in funding, you could multiply its budget by 10 and provide private health care to every American.
McKinsey, a consulting firm, estimates it will cost the U.S. economy $150 billion a year to stabilize greenhouse gases by 2030. For three years, $700 billion could pay for the cost of both health care plans (in case one doesn't work) and cover the cost to reduce carbon emissions.
Defend the borders, the economy and our academic edge
Since global trade isn't going away anytime soon and America's ports are getting increasingly crowded, using the money for port expansion might be a smart idea. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, container volumes at U.S. ports have increased by 7% a year over the past 20 years, far outpacing capacity growth.
National security is also a concern. After five years in Iraq, most estimates for the war's cost tally into the $500 billion range. Unlike investments in distressed assets, paying for the Iraq war won't produce a return, but $700 billion would stem the government's future debt obligations to its creditors.
Then there's education. The U.S. currently spends about $500 billion annually on public education, yet still finds itself slipping behind many other industrialized nations when it comes to giving the next generation the skills it needs to compete globally.
The difference, of course, is that government spending for any of this would require a massive tax increase, with no chance of getting any of the money back. The upside: At least it would be a sure bet.
This article was reported and written by Matt Woolsey for Forbes.com.
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