99
Days of Summer: Day 4 of my path to my semi-annual shopping trip.
Hopefully you have been following my journey this week and been inspired
to become more purposeful and frugal in your shopping habits. My tips
are not about what is the right way or wrong way to live a Dee-Cluttered
life, they are meant to inspire you to seek and try those things that
will work best for your life, family, and home. For our family, 6 month
shopping has been a key ingredient in keeping our budget and health in
check. We have eliminated impulse shopping, because we are rarely just
walking through a store. We eat at home most of the time because there
is always something to cook that is appetizing. We have taken control
of our health by being in control of what we put in our bodies. All of
these factors contributed to our decision to shop this way. Today I
will compare what I have on hand to what I purchased 6 months ago and
this
will enable me to determine what I
need to purchase this trip. I will go into the stores knowing exactly
what I need. If something is on special that is not on the list I
consider if I can substitute it for something else instead of
automatically adding it to my purchases. This keeps me within my budget
and adds variety. My list is easy to compose because it is in a data
base that I just print out and highlight. It is divided into categories
that match the way the product is divided in the store. Because I only
shop at 2 stores, I know the layout and am not spending time searching
for just a few things in numerous stores. Over the years I discovered
the "savings" of looking at ads and going to various stores for the best
deal was not a big enough savings to spend the time and energy. After
price comparing we found the best places to shop for our needs. We
start at Aldi's and buy everything we possibly can. They do not take
coupons and only carry one brand of each item. They do have specials
items and sometimes these are very beneficial. Because of the design of
their store we are able to fill 2-3 carts in about 1 hour. I call it
"no brainer shopping" since there is nothing to compare price wise. You
either want what they have or you don't. We take this first load home,
put away refrigerated and frozen items and place all the other bags by
the pantry. We take a break for food. This is essential! Then head to
my least favorite, but most cost effective, store, Wal-mart. I use
coupons and we purchase everything else on our list. This part of the
trip actually takes a little longer than the first portion because of
price comparing. We then bring it all home and work together to put it
all away. We do not buy produce at this time. Each weekend we go to
our local market, with CASH in hand, and purchase our needs for the
following week. Once we have put everything away we treat ourselves to a
good dinner OUT. Tomorrow I will reveal the cost of this venture and
show you the savings.
Word
for Today, Outlived: There is a song we sang this past Sunday that has
become the cry of my heart--When it's all finished and I've breathed my
last, may my life be the song of Your love, that as Your witness I
outlived my past, gave my heart for your body and blood. There is
someone in my life that has brought accusations against me and not a day
goes by that I pray if there is ANY truth to them, may I outlive them.
In other words, may who I am today be so great a witness of God's love
and work in my life that if the accusation is true, the people in my
life would find it hard to believe. Living this way and having this
desire does not negate the past, it promises the future. I can easily
allow the words of my accuser to overwhelm me and rule my feelings.
There are days when the words are actually crippling. This is what
Satan would like to do in each of our lives, throw the past in our face
and try to convince us we are not good enough for God's love and
forgiveness. That Jesus death is not enough to cover what and who we
were. But, we can outlive our past, not in our own strength, but by Him
who is our strength. I am not the same person I was yesterday and I am
certainly not the same person I was 10 or 15 or 20 years ago. May we
all be willing to look at each person in our life as who they are today.
We need to be aware if we are crippling someone by not letting go and
forgiving and seeing them for the new creation they are in Christ. "Oh,
sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things." "They
overcame...by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony."
No comments:
Post a Comment