This all started very much by accident. We lived like everyone else around us…begrudgingly week to week. Everyone else seemed to be in the same situation so we didn’t let it eat at us all that much. Of course we wanted more, but each time we mustered up the ambition to read about budgeting and other ways to save and make money…the books were so mind-numbingly boring that we didn’t get far. We’d decide on some simple half-assed plan and quickly forget about it a couple days later.
Aaaaaand then…I got sick. Sick enough that I lost my job and it didn’t look like I would be able to succeed with a normal full time schedule. Sheer terror. Trying to get through the medical crisis while adding a monetary one seemed like it would literally break us. Tempers were short, arguments were long, and we really couldn’t see anything except bleakness for our future. For a time a “future” together wasn’t even something we were sure about. We really were not prepared for any of this to happen.
In a panic I started doing research online for different ways to save or make money. Talk about overwhelming! The sheer amount of “fake” opportunities out there are difficult to wade through. I gave up on that avenue a number or times and instead focused on saving money.
My first mistake was not starting at a reasonable newbie-level. I only sought out the most extreme money savers. Go big or go home, right?! No. Do not do that to yourself. It gets scary overwhelming within a matter of minutues. Don’t do that to yourself.
It only took me a couple months of starting and stopping and surfing and researching before I settled into a little groove where I could take in some of the info and actually use it before I attempted something a little more involved.
I am STILL learning and STILL not to any sort of “extreme” anything unless you count extremely motivated. It has become a challenge. I have learned so much over the last few months that I bet it’s at least a 2 year degree. I am a rabid note taker and have filled 3 briefcase style file accordians with notes and folders and ideas and plans. I have learned I love paper organization, saving money, DIY vintage furniture projects, home renovations, online schooling, and website building.
I got myself way in over my head but I was loving all of it so much that I just kept telling everyone “I can do this.” AND, I CAN DO THIS! As a matter of fact, I am hoping to ROCK this!! I would love to help anyone else out who maybe just found themselves in a world of trouble but who are also motivated problem solvers. It’s a whole new world and the possibilities are endless. If you put the time and research into what you are trying to attain, you most certainly can get there. Start small, take notes, read INTERESTING blogs/articles, and just keep moving forward.
I’m the LAST person that anyone would have thought would be starting a blog called Thrifted Living! I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing how far I can take this and what I can accomplish.
