Money, Money, Money

(Photo courtesy of www.photos8.com)

"Money is the root of all evil." Many people have misquoted that famous verse from scripture. In fact, the verse says, "Love of money is the root of all evil."

What's the difference?

Love of money, in my opinion, is a big problem because it causes people to put their trust and faith in something fickle. Though the huge problems that have spread across Wall Street and now the country are definitely NOT a good thing, there are lessons to be learned.

1) Don't put faith in things.

2) Don't spend more than you can afford.

3) Have a back up plan.

Some of the stories we read about in the news are heartbreaking. Families who've been forced to leave their homes after one or both parents loses their jobs, companies downsizing, businesses going bankrupt.

But some of the stories make me frustrated. The people who could "afford" a $400,000 mortgage who've lost their home because they really couldn't manage a payment that size after all. The people who run up so much credit card debt that they just move to another credit card when one is maxed out. The well-off families who have been living "the life" and now have to cut back to only 2 modest sized cars instead of 4 SUV's, stop eating out every day, and cancel their masseuse and maid services and are just so put out over it. Oh, to have those kind of troubles!

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't always been responsible with my money. It's still a struggle to this day for me to pass up "great deals", even if they're at the local thrift shop or lawn sale. If you don't need it, it's still a waste, no matter how cheap it is.

My finances now look quite a bit different than they did eight or 10 years ago. Several things influenced me. One was that I had quite a bit of credit card debt myself in my early 20's. And let me tell you, it did not feel good. Another thing that influenced me was meeting my then boyfriend, now husband who is very responsible with his money. I also started reading a lot of great books about living more simply and learned a very important lesson while reading, "Your Money or Your Life". This book teaches many, many lessons but the most important thing I got from it was this: Your money is your life energy. How you spend or save it allows you to live in the manner you most want to live. In other words, if you are working some stressful job that makes you very unhappy but brings in a large paycheck, you're expending your life energy for that money. You could decide to move to less stressful job with a pay cut or start a business of your own. But only you can decide ultimately if it's more important for you to make a lot of money or do work that you enjoy but make less doing it. And for some (many?) people, giving up the "extras" seems like too much of a drawback.

Another excellent book that I'd highly recommend is "The Simple Living Guide". This book is chock full of great ideas and best of all, the ideas are practical and lead to a more balanced way of living. The author doesn't encourage readers to sell their homes, move into studio apartments and grow sprouts for food. She instead recommends looking at what's working and not working now and making small adjustments until you get where it is you most want to be.

The Simple Dollar is another great resource and it's online (free!). Many great articles about finances and how to start making changes.

Most importantly perhaps, is remembering that money is just an exchange. It's not magical. It's not the most important thing in life (if it IS the most important thing in your life, you might want to re-evaluate). Personally, I don't see anything wrong with having it, as long as you don't keep it all for yourself. Remember that saying, "Love isn't love until you give it away?" Same holds true for money, I think.

Thursday ramblings

I love old stuff. Case in point, these wonderful, candy colored Pyrex bowls that I scored at a tag sale some years ago. I use them ALL THE TIME! In fact, I have other bowls languishing in my cupboards that I should probably get rid of. I don't though just in case, (horror of horrors!) these bowls should break someday. Then where would I be?

Our society is such a throw-away place these days. Buy it cheap, use it for awhile and then pitch it when it breaks. Part of the problem is the junky, crappy stuff we're buying. Another part of the problem is being too lazy to research ways in which an item can be fixed. (Remember my laundry basket? Still going strong!). Sometimes people don't have the skills they might need to fix things. I darn mine and my husband's socks. When I told him to put his holey socks (the clean ones!) in my mending basket, he laughed. He didn't believe I knew how to darn. In fact, he didn't even think that "darn" was a verb. And let me tell you, that my mother-in-law is not one to waste things. Surely she must darn socks? I'll have to ask her sometime. But some people don't know how to darn, or fix a laundry basket or repair a toaster oven. Some of us are just too lazy or unmotivated to learn these type of skills. And some, like me, are sure we would burn our houses down if we tried to repair a toaster or any other electrical gadget.

Still, all this waste gets on my nerves. This is one of the reasons I hate big box, cheap-crap stores. It's not so much that I feel they are taking over small towns and wiping out mom and pop type establishments (though in many areas, they are), I just don't like what they stand for. It's like the mentality of the shoppers in those stupid commercials for The Christmas Tree Shop. You see these women, carts piled high with loads of stuff I'm sure they didn't go into the store intending to buy. Betty, says to her friend: "Marge, did you see this chop-o-matic? It's ONLY $5.00!!!!" Marge: "Wow! $5.00? Let me get 10!" Marge's hands furiously snatch up chop-o-matics and throw them into her groaning shopping basket. Betty: "But Marge, you don't even cook!" Marge: "Who cares! At that price I can't afford to pass them up!"

"Who cares?" seems to be the mentality of a lot of shoppers these days. "Who cares that the people who made these jeans only got paid $.17. I got them for only $19.99. Now that's a bargain!" And, "Who cares that this junky little stroller/microwave/toy is going to break in 10 days, I'll just toss it out and get a new one."

And I'm certainly not saying it's all the fault of the consumer. Many companies now make things that will break quickly so that customers will keep coming back for more. A lot of times it's faster, cheaper, and easier to toss something out than to have it fixed because it costs less and is a whole lot more convenient to get a new gizmo than try to have a broken one fixed.

Grrrr, makes my blood boil.

If you, too hate waste, try this experiment. The next time something breaks and you are going to have it replaced, try to find out how it might be fixed. The next time you're about to buy a new piece of clothes, see if you can't find something just as cute at your local thrift store. The next time you really, really need something for your house, kid, dog, guinea pig, see if you can't find another alternative to brand spanking new. Could you borrow it? Barter for it? Repair something that would make do?

Creative thrift--hopefully the wave of the future.

Oh my Gosh, my Sister is Famous

This is my sister, Celeste. On top of being a multi-novel writing , freelance journalist for many years, she is also an editor, baker, artist, farm girl, and all around creative person. For the past several years, Celeste has really gotten into traditional music. Cajun, French, Irish, Celtic--she loves it all and plays and sings it like she was raised in a family of musical professionals, instead of a family where music can't be read.

Celeste was recently featured in a special section of the Rutland Herald called "Talking Pictures". Here's a link to the section that was produced, complete with clips of Celeste performing. She is good. And no, I'm not just saying that because we're related.

Go and check it out for yourself. I dare you not to like it.

New, old projects

This is Ella. By day she's a school secretary, but by night she takes to the stage, "Ella the Enchantress" is what she's called. Ella sings and dances, making her audience forget their troubles. Thoughts of paying for the new furnace, the dishes in the kitchen sink, and the friend who's been sick for weeks fall away as the audience sits, captivated by Ella's voice and movements.

I've been on a recent creative buzz lately, which is great for two reasons:
1) It's wonderful to finish up some projects that I started and never completed.
2) It keeps my stress level more manageable. It's hard to feel stressed when you're up to your elbows in glitter and paint and bits of fairy fabric!

Ella is just one of the art pieces that I listed recently on my etsy shop. The theme of all my art work is "re-done". I use as many recycled materials as possible, giving new life to things that otherwise might just end up in the trash.

Stay tuned, there will be more items going into the shop as time allows.

Ch-ch-cha-changes

I was just thinking this morning as I performed my morning "getting ready for the day" rituals how different they are now than in the past.

Like many things I thought could never change, my bathing rituals are certainly different from when I was in my teens and early 20's.

Here's an example of my past grooming practices:

Wash hair with chemical shampoo and condition (if necessary) with matching chemical conditioner. Use perfume-y (and probably toxic) yummy smelling bath gel. Shave legs with disposable razor and more perfume-y shaving gel. Apply scented lotion and/or powder/perfume after shower to seal in scent. (I read somewhere about "layering" scents in high school and did this for a long time). Don't forget to apply a lot of chemical anti-perspirant! Apply 2-3 products into hair while blow drying. Put on arsenal of conventional makeup with scary ingredients that I can't pronounce onto my face, after rubbing in a moisturizer full of still more ingredients I can't pronounce. Spray hair liberally with hairspray. Done!

Yikes.

Now my routine is a little different. I'm certainly not a full on crunchy yet. I still wear makeup. I still use some chemical products on my hair and face. But my routine has been cleaned up significantly since the ole' days.

Now my grooming routine looks something like this:

Wash hair (I still use non-natural shampoos as they all seem to make my hair as flat as a pancake--anyone have good suggestions?). Sometimes clarify hair by adding a little baking soda to shampoo to remove any residue. Soap up with natural soap fragranced with essential oils. Shave using shampoo or soap with razor that has replaceable cartridges. Apply almond oil to face and body after shower. This oil is GREAT, absorbs quickly and never leaves me feeling greasy. Or alternately, apply a natural body butter or add a drop or two of essential oil to almond oil for fragrance. Dust baking soda under arms in place of deodorant. Dry hair and add a little mousse or spray (again, I haven't been able to find good natural alternatives but am open to ideas!). Apply mineral makeup and traditional liner/mascara (suggestions for the best natural one you've used?). Done!

There has been so much in the media in recent years about what we are putting on our faces and bodies. What was eye opening to me was a time when my grandmother, we called her Memere, was in the nursing home. She got pain patches to help her and my mother described how the patches worked. Basically, like the nicotine or birth control patches they are placed directly onto the patient's skin and are then absorbed into their blood stream!

Hello!

If medication can be applied onto the skin and absorbed, then where are all these lotions and oils and soaps and deodorants going?

If you have any interest in this at all, or even if you are a skeptic, you really should check out Skin Deep. This organization has a database of all all the ingredients in popular cosmetics and what their potential dangers are. It also gives the product a score of lowest to highest danger. Thank goodness I just found out that my chemical mascara is only a 1 (lowest danger) but I'm still going to keep searching for a good, natural alternative.

Tell me about you~have you made any changes to the products that you use over the years for health reasons? What do you think of all the research around toxic ingredients being found in cosmetics? Leave a comment and let me know what you think about all of this.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my one year anniversary of launching my freelance writing career. Though I have been writing for a long time, it was January 12th, 2008 when I went out on my own--my first day as a self-employed writer.

There were many reasons for choosing to pursue this. I actually made a (lengthy) list of the reasons that were most important to me. I titled it "What I want more of". Here are a few of the things I jotted down:

1) More time to help others/causes I believe in.

2) Time for devotion/meditation every day.

3) To feel fulfilled through my work.

4) To do really well at writing--to reach others, to be paid well, and to be acknowledged as a good, hard working writer.

5) To give back and become more generous.

Looking back over the past year I see where I made mistakes (quite a few, actually) and where I was successful. I can honestly say that mistakes and all, this is the best job I've ever had and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Working for myself meets my needs--not just financially. It goes deeper than that. I'm back to being myself. For a long, long time I was someone who tried to stuff myself into the molds that other people expected me to fit into. Now I feel . . . free.

For any of you out there who are contemplating a big leap of faith, I offer this unsolicited advice: Don't over think it. Pray, pray and pray some more. And then let go and be amazed.

New Year, New Goals?

What are some of your goals for the new year? I prefer goals to resolutions--goals are something tangible that I can work toward in small steps, whereas resolutions sound so final. Either you are successful and complete your resolutions, or you fail. Goals can be tweaked over time and adjusted as you change and grow.

With that being said, there are a few goals that I want to keep working on in the year ahead. One is to do more for the environment. It's all fine and good to talk and write about how important making changes for the environment are, but sometimes it's easier to talk than walk if you know what I mean. For instance, I'm starting a new branch to my writing service, focused on environmental writing. For my new venture I'll need business cards and brochures. My first instinct, of course, is to get these as inexpensively as possible as long as they still look professional. I can get 250 business cards online for under $20, including the shipping. That's hard to beat. But then I started thinking--is that the message I want to send to my clients? Cheaper is better? Not exactly. So I started calling local printers to ask about recycled paper options (none). Then I went online and started researching recycled paper options and found several. After doing some price comparisons, I asked for samples from one company so that I can see and feel the four papers I have in mind. After I order the paper, I'll need to bring my PDF to a local printer for printing/folding/cutting. All of this will cost me a lot more time and money than if I had simply ordered the cheapo business cards online. BUT what positive effect will this decision have?

1) I'll be supporting a local print shop.

2) I'll be using 100% post consumer recycled paper.

3) (And possibly most importantly) I'll be living my values.

I don't want to be one of those people who laments the fate of the planet and doesn't do much to change it.

Here are some personal goals for the new year:

1) Hang my laundry on the inside line more. We recently added this indoor clothesline to my office. It can be taken down when I have visitors and clothes dries in about 8-9 hours.

2) Keep composting throughout the winter. This is something I've not been good with in the past. It's a trek to get to the compost bins in the snow but this year I'm going to do it as much as possible.

3) Keep buying used whenever possible. Recycling is great, but it still takes energy to transform something old into something new. A better option is to use something old if possible.

4) Fix things instead of throwing them away. My laundry basket's handle broke and I was wondering if I would have to recycle it. Then I decided to try to fix it instead, inspired after reading "The Tightwad Gazette". I used a drill and made a couple of holes and then wired a paperclip through to hold it together. Feels sturdy to me!

5) Find more like-minded friends, business acquaintances and others in my community to connect with. It's great to have so much information online regarding green living. I have my favorite blogs which I read regularly, and I read magazines like Mother Earth News, Grit, and Mary Jane's Farm for inspiration. But as wonderful as all of these resources are, there is nothing like talking with someone who's on the same page as you are. It makes you feel much less alone in your journey toward more sustainable living.

6) Eating real food. For the past couple of weeks I've been trying to incorporate a lot more fruits and vegetables into my diet, along with more natural sources of protein. I have noticed a big difference in how I feel--less moody, more balanced and more energetic. This is something I definitely want to continue in the new year.

7) Making home a homestead. I have a whole list of ideas I'd like to eventually incorporate to make our home and 3/4 acre a true "homestead". I'm going to be prioritizing my list soon, and hopefully will successfully complete at least three things on the list before next fall. At the top of my list for this year? Building raised beds for the garden, building a cold frame and planting berry bushes or strawberry plants.

These are just a few goals for the new year. I've got lots of others, but these top my list. What are some of yours? They don't have to be environmentally related, share them anyway!