We have an apple tree in full blossom right now! Anna apple trees produce wonderful tasting apples and are perfect for the climate we live in now. We also have a fig tree, citrus trees, guava trees, strawberry plants, peach and apple trees, onions, etc. I would plant a lot more if I felt up to it. Anyways, back to Laine's Letters and how they paid their home off.
The series begins HERE. 33~ We have used a credit card most of our married life, but we have never paid an interest charge on anything we've charged. We pay it off as soon as it comes in. So we charge only what we can afford. Then a sale is really a sale, no interest charges. We've never charged furniture. Rather we buy it used or use items given to us.
34~ My wedding ring has been broken for three years now (diamond fell out). But I'd rather see the house paid off, so I've been waiting patiently. On Valentine's Day, Art bought me an old fashioned silver ring to put in place of my wedding ring until we can afford to fix it. There have been so many things like that. Our CD player has been broken for over a year. Our television was broken, so we used this little one in its place. The kids' friends used to laugh when they saw it. But we had a goal to pay off our house, so we kept working with what we had.
35~ Last year the dentist told me that Abbie had a problematic tooth which wouldn't come out without going to an oral surgeon. As I mentioned before, we don't have dental insurance. So Art told Abbie he would give her $10 if she got that tooth out. I prayed and prayed, while she pried and poked at that tooth all summer. Finally, at the end of the summer, she got the tooth out! I'll never forget how excited we were. Now she has to have orthodontist work, but we have been praying and saving.
36~ We wash our own cars. Or we hire our kids to wash our cars giving them some spending money for a good job done.
37~ I love to learn, so I am always learning whenever the opportunity. I have attended many classes on different subjects over the years to help me be better at my job. Some were free or near free, but so helpful. Like my photography class. I took it at night when I had two children and was pregnant with my third.
The Food Network shows that my uncle tapes for me are like mini cooking classes. I just feel so blessed to learn from these incredible chefs and cooking teachers. After we get done watching a program, we all head out to the kitchen to whip something up! It just puts you in the mood. ~Smile~
38~ I learned to plant or transplant flowers or plants. This helps in saving money in the garden. I love ivy, geranium, lavender, and rosemary for my area. They are great growers without a lot of water. I am constantly reading up on gardening, for it's an area I would like to improve on.
39~ We have built up a family library. I love good books. I have so many wonderful books. Many of them I bought at the thrift shop. I've always got my nose in a good book. So do my children. I've taught them for years that they can learn anything if they've got a good book to learn from. And that you're never too old to learn, rather you'll be learning all your life. I never think I've got something down, rather I keep trying to learn and improve on what I do already know.
40~ I've learned to spend according to what comes in, not what is projected. That would be like counting your chickens before they were hatched. Not good financing.
Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.
Proverbs 13:11
