Make it Work and Get Back to the Basics! 12-26-11

Sometimes we can focus so much on what we don't have instead of what we do have.  I have been in a place before, when I wasn'’t working, where we really didn't have much food in the house and had $5.00 in the bank to keep our account open.  Now that's broke!  There are so many things that we do that are wants and not needs, but we consider ourselves broke.  Getting our hair done, stopping for fast food, buying those little extras are all things we want to do and not things that we need to do.  There are so many people that wish they could get their hair done or hair cut bi-weekly or even monthly but really they just can't afford it.  There are many that are trying to figure out how they are going to get to work when their tank is on empty and they have no money.  I remember after the earthquake in Haiti I started looking at things differently as far as what's needed and what's wanted.  I have slipped away from that thinking a lot!  Do our kids really need 25 shirts and 20 pairs of jeans?  Do we really need the entire MAC make-up collection, 15 COACH purses, or 50 pairs of shoes?  And the list goes on………........ If you/we are tired of living paycheck to paycheck there are a lot of changes we could make to make it happen.  Sometimes we get too caught up in what we feel we deserve because we go to work everyday.  Yes, you should always pay your bills and pay yourself something when you get paid.  But, how much are you paying yourself?  Americans are known to be over indulgers.  And we do; we over indulge in a lot of things and get confused about what we are owed and what we deserve.  I think I am going to try to get back to the basics and be more thankful for what I have and make the most of it.  We’'ve lost some of the “make it work” mentality.  My grandmother “made it work” with 11 kids and 3 bedrooms and we can'’t make it work with 4 kids and three bedrooms.  She could take one chicken, some rice and some veggies and feed the entire family and have some left over!  I got to get back to the basics!  I want to learn to take whatever I have and “make it work”.  Not necessarily out of necessity but just because.  Why not take what you have, make the most out of it, and actually have something leftover to save or use for something else?  I got to do better.  I’'m going to do better!  This is not a quick fix, or a resolution, but a lifestyle change.  Here we go………………….................... you comin'?