the Gospel of Abundance

I'm not church bashing, really I'm not (well, ok maybe a little)... there was a time when all that I ever saw on the tv evangelists was more and more talk about the ABUNDANCE that God was supposedly going to provide everyone. (one particular 'gentleman' w/slicked back black hair, a big ol' smile, and a southen accent stands out in my mind) Of course, they were quick to post their 1-800 number with someone ready and willing to take your credit card number so they could take this 'message from God' all over the world (do ya smell what I'm steppin' in?)... um.... excuse me?

And now our 'nation under God' is floundering. And we wonder why. A long time of over indulgence in the name of God has resulted in broken promises... mortgages not paid, car loans in default, investment accounts dwindeling...

Now don't get me wrong... husband and I don't even begin to pretend that we get it all right. We've been in a number of tight spots that not for the help of a willing friend or family member and we would just be another one of the statistics... but in all honesty, I don't think we've been overindulgent. We bought our house for 10% less than its appraised value. Its a fixer-upper for sure, but I know that we're also building the skills and knowledge to make us (partially) self-sufficient homeowners. Sometimes we've had to learn the hard way (like when husband installed our $100 thermostat wrong and it let the ac & heater run at the same time for a month), sometimes we've lucked into a more affordable solution (like when my stepdad's nephew came and fixed our heater blower motor for no labor charge), sometimes we've un-necessarily spent money (like $30 a month on a home warranty that denied repairing our broken heater blower motor), and a lot of the time... we wait. We wait to fix it until it NEEDS it or until we've saved enough to do what we WANT to do.

And that gets me wondering... do we as a nation know the difference between needs and wants anymore? When we attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, his guidelines taught us that food, clothing, shelter, and transportation are NEEDS. Note that furnishings, decor, landscaping (sorry C-re!), remodels, brand names, designer labels, dining out, elite neighborhoods, and new cars are not a part of that list. Because, none of those are needs.

I wonder how many Americans that are currently floundering realize that driving a hoopty (sp? ha!) is OK. Heck, until December of '08 husband and I both drove cars that were over 10 years old, and husband still is driving that ol' Jeep (its 12 years old, btw). And the 'new' (2005 Ford Taurus) car that I'm driving we bought from my mom with cash. We would still be driving the other vehicle that we had now, if that deal hadn't worked out for us. And that would be ok.

I wonder how many of them have closets full of clothes that they paid for with a credit card. I know that none of my clothes (w/ the exception of mmmhmmmm 'unmentionables' bought on credit when I was newly married and very stupid about money) ever sent us into debt. In fact, to be honest, when husband started his new job last fall at a very elite private school and needed new work clothes, I sent him to Goodwill. He came out w/ 4 pairs of khaki slacks (some still had tags on them!) for under $20. All were in great condition, and all will go back to Goodwill this summer b/c he has lost too much weight from coaching (what a problem to have, huh?). And all will be replaced w/more slacks from Goodwill. And none of the preppy kids at his school know a thing about it. And we're talkin' about kids who KNOW how to check out each other's designer labels.

So, what I'm saying trying to get at is this... I'm not judging you if you got into yourself into a bad spot. Because we're still digging ourselves out of credit card debt. We've been there. And its not fast or easy to dig yourself out. Its work. And we have to be willing to work. And suffer a little. And sacrifice. And honestly, the only abundance we have any hope for, will not come in this life.

Inspiration!

I don't know about most of you, but getting into February gives me those "when will Winter be over" blues. While I do have my birthday and valentine's day to cheer me up as we make our way through the last of the potentially really cold months, I still look soooo forward to spring.

One website that I've found recently giving me a lot of inspiration for both outside our home and inside is: http://www.remodelingguy.net/. This guy has tons of great resources and ideas along with ENCOURAGEMENT! Woohoo. So definitely go check him out.

Oh, and we got one of those project guides from Lowe's last summer and I've had this picture on my fridge ever since:

Husband and I have big plans to do this on our side yard. I'm scouring craigslist daily to see when someone is offering soem free gravel that we can use to get this project started (did you know people are offering that all the time?!)... additionally, since Santa brought us some outdoor toys for our backyard, we want to create a play area (something like the one below, which is just a picture I found online) to keep mud and grass to a minimum and fun at a maximum. Our local 4H group offers free mulch every spring, so I just need to wait to see them post the sign and husband will be on his way over for a few truckloads...

... its nice to get the projects out of my head and down somewhere to give me a little hope for warmer weather to come! Got any big projects coming?

It is time...

We are one of those families that doesn't have a large decorating budget for our home. Scratch that. We don't have any decorating budget for our home. I make or piece together a lot of the things that we use, or find things on sale or whatnot. Much of our furniture is that good ol' handmedown newlywed stuff. I'm totally ok with this. We are working hard to get out of debt which means that having a new couch is not a priority. But, that doesn't mean I want my house to look like trash. Like so many couples, we have left our bedroom as last. More often than not, it becomes the catchall for baskets of laundry that need to be put away, miscellaneous papers and books that husband hasn't sorted through, etc.

But I'm ready.

I'm ready to have a pretty bedroom. I know that I can't guarantee that it will always stay pretty and clean and neat. That just doesn't happen with a household that contains two parents who work full time outside the home and two toddler girls who haven't quite figured out how to always help with putting things away themselves (although older daughter IS learning).

We have new bedroom furniture, an anniversary gift to ourselves last year (yes I know it makes no sense to pick out nice pretty grown up bedroom furniture and not also buy nice pretty linens) and our walls are painted a really great shade of grey (that I love, but husband is getting tired of, although I'm certain if I can actually DECORATE the room he will love the shade again).

So I want to find something like this:

Its from anthropologie's Izak collection. The duvet is $200. Surely I can find something COMPARABLE (maybe not in quality, but in design) at a better price...

should I buy a plain comforter (the cheapest, plainest I can find) and attempt to make a duvet for it from fabric I can find at the fabric store?

should I buy a less cute print (not that I've found one) and try to pretty it up with other accessories in the room?

should I buy a solid color comforter and find some other accessories?