Simplify

Well, it's happening again . . . the colder weather blows in and the overtime hours diminish. Such is the life in the construction industry. The past few years, I have had my job at Axiom as an income supplement. I could work as many days as needed in the winter and take my kids with me. But this year we gave up that option.

In going over our financial situation yesterday, I found a deficit if Mike is forced to go down to 40 hours a week. My nature is to brainstorm and try to come up with some idea or rearrange some sort of payment arrangement. Here is what I came up with:

Cable-Around $50 a month and useless to us. The news is not reliable, TV shows we like can be found online or on Netflix and we can always rent movies and use the DVD player. CUT!

Gas-One time a week to the store. Lately I have not been very good at this. We have to plan better. CUT!

Food-This is a tough one because quality food costs more than junk food. However with a few changes, we should still be able to save. Our milk and meats are all organic, hormone and GMO free. We try to stick to foods with as few ingredients as possible. If we want cookies, I bake them. We make pizza from scratch. No preservatives and cheap. So, flour, sugar, real butter . . . all single ingredients and inexpensive, esp in bulk.

Let me explain a little why we feel so passionate about this. Have you ever noticed the Amish are healthier than much of America? They do not immunize, they grow and eat their own foods. They have less instances of cancer. Their lifestyle is friendly to the body. It's natural. Here is a link:

http://www.naturalnews.com/027930_Amish_health.html#

Even though they eat REAL butter, raw milk, lard, sugar, etc, they are in better shape. They are ONE ingredient. Have you ever looked at the nutrition info on a tub of margarine? I used to believe that it would be healthier to cut the fat. Everything I bought was nonfat . . . nonfat ranch, ice cream and snacks. These items are not only loaded with cancer causing chemicals and ingredients, but they are often more expensive than just basic ingredients. So cutting out the convenience foods, allows us the extra money to buy local clean meats and milk.

The crazy thing is Mike and I have actually lost weight since we have started this more traditional diet, we feel better and know that our children are eating the best quality possible. Buying locally also supports our local farmers. WIN-WIN!