Blogging Away Debt

There is so much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving day. One thing I am very thankful for is all of you. We wouldn’t have come as far as we have without your support. We’re getting our financial house in order and we are realizing what is really important.

Today we had a fairly quiet Thanksgiving. We had our usual big holiday breakfast and then we had a big turkey dinner. We’re going to be eating turkey for weeks. Turkey casserole, turkey sandwiches, turkey and gravy…yum.

Tomorrow I am tempted to go to one Black Friday sale. I am making something for my parents and siblings for Christmas and the one component I need to buy is on sale. I’ll have to wait until after Christmas to share what it is on here. I’m not sure how the idea came to me, but it’s turning out pretty neat. It’s also nice to make something instead of tossing money for a gift that won’t mean as much. I hope everyone likes it.

In closing, I’d like to share a quote with you from Frederick Keonig:

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Economy is Rippling Down

by Tricia

I guess it was bound to happen. Our area usually isn’t too affected by downturns and upturns in the economy, but we are finally starting to see the effects of the economy rippling down. The news is starting to report on more businesses closing their doors for good or shutting down for a while. Most of it sounds like a cash flow problem, since demand and consumer spending is low.

Looking in the paper, I noticed that there are less job opportunities – about a 2/3 reduction. Some of that could be due to it being winter. But it’s still lower than normal.

We probably aren’t helping things much at all – we aren’t spending that much money right now. Our favorite restaurant no longer has its flair because we figured out how to duplicate our favorite items from it at home. Even McDonalds isn’t as special since we have made our own modified Big Macs successfully (thanks to Top Secret Recipes).

Plus it’s winter! Right now it feels like 7 degrees out with the wind. BRR. I’m content with sitting on the couch snug with a blanket. There’s no desire to go to any store to go shopping LOL.

There is an article at the MSN Smart Spending blog that asked if frugal people are ruining the economy. Tough question. While I definitely don’t believe frugal people are to blame for the current economic condition, I know that our family is affecting local businesses if we no longer spend money there. It’s a small impact, but if there are more people out there like us – it turns into a big impact.