Things are looking up

I am completely amazed at the response I received for my post about being discouraged. Thank you all so much for encouraging me along and praying for me and my family. I really, really appreciate it.

I went to a Casting Crowns concert last night (the tickets were paid for months ago when things looked better financially), and I was reminded that my problems are not the worst in the world. And God has it all in control. I’m getting to the point where I can’t wait to see how He works it all out. So I have a renewed sense of optimism about our situation.

And speaking of our situation, things are taking an interesting twist with my husband’s job. First, a few sales have come in this week, so that will hopefully buy him a little more time. He also has a couple of new job leads, so even if something happens at his current job, he has a couple of things to fall back on.

Perhaps the most exciting thing is that he talked to the owner of an ad agency about his options for freelance copy work, and the ad agency owner gave him his first freelance copywriting job. He’s writing a radio ad this week. My husband has been advised to put a portfolio together, and then the ad agency owner will refer my husband to a few more people. We’re in the early stages, but it looks like self-employment may be an option in my husband’s future. That would be a nice change.

I also did my first grocery shopping of the month today, and I just had to brag a little. Yesterday I said I was trying to cut my grocery bill this month, and I’m using the Grocery Game. Well, the Grocery Game has me shopping on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday for the best deals, but I needed some cereal to get us through the weekend. So I did a little coupon shopping on my own, and look what I bought!

I went to Fred Meyer, which is the Pacific Northwest’s version of Kroger, armed with my coupons from last Sunday’s paper. All the food was bought with coupons. And the clothing, including that lovely pair of Sketcher’s shoes, was on sale for 70% off the lowest marked clearance price! I really needed new sneakers, too! My old ones are 4 years old, and I wear them all the time!My grand total for everything in the picture was $64.17! $25.17 was spent on clothing, and the other $39 was spent on the food and laundry detergent. I saved $84.31 off regular prices, so I’m pretty proud of that.

One thing I can see is that my initial grocery bill might go up while we’re stocking up. For instance, I normally wouldn’t buy four boxes of juice boxes in one week, but at $1.50 a box, I wanted to buy the maximum. I’m in charge of soccer snacks in a few weeks, so I’ll use a couple of boxes for that. My pantry is still fairly well stocked, so I’m going to devote as much money as I can to buying things at low prices, and try to eat up what we currently have to keep the grocery bill manageable this month.

I feel like we’re on a roll now! We’re going to get through the tough times, and I just know there are better times ahead!

And just a reminder: On Monday morning, each member of the M-Network will be posting their best and worst financial decisions. You won’t want to miss it! My choices might surprise you, so be sure to check back Monday morning!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Tagged as: Casting Crowns, Grocery Game