Budgeting with Passion: Part 2

Well, after my last post on budgeting with passion I was invited that very night to a meeting with a few friends at Starbucks. The topic of discussion was "moms on a budget." A friend from out of town was there who I greatly respect as an amazing homeschool mother of 4 children. She shared with us about how her family of 6 lives on $1500/month including a $400/month food budget. And they eat really healthy homemade meals based on my personal favorite cookbook (also could be a textbook!), Nourishing Traditions.

After feeling crippled by my own greatly reduced food budget, I was quite inspired by what she's been able to accomplish on such a small amount of money. It's one thing to feed a family on Top Ramen and Mac 'n Cheese with practically no living foods in the mix, but another thing entirely to meet the goals of nourishing a family by preparing real foods organically, traditionally and seasonally. It's just not cheap, but there are ways to cut corners and find deals if the planning is done right.

What I found most interesting is that this amazing family has been able to accomplish so much with so little because they made decisions which have enabled them to live out their dreams and passions. They travel the world a few months out of every year with all four of their children to support missionaries in Africa and other parts of the globe. To do that, they've made great sacrifices which, I'm sure they would say, have brought challenges along with the immense satisfaction that comes with really doing what you know you're called to do. The convenience of taking the family out to eat at restaurants is just one of the opportunity costs of living this life they've chosen. And that is what budgeting and living life out of passion looks like. What can I live without in order to re-direct funds towards making my dreams a reality?

My friend made the same remorseful comment I have made myself: "Oh, just think of the money I could have saved if I had started living this way a long time ago!" Ha! Well, we live and learn and cut our losses along the way. The important thing is that we know NOW what it takes to be good stewards of what we've been blessed with. Feeling guilty about past ignorance isn't going to help anyone anyway, right?

Practically, there are simple things that can be done to save money in areas we might not have considered before. My friend, for example, makes all of her own cleaners and soaps for pennies. Laundry and dishwasher detergent, liquid soap, household cleaners, all of it. I've done some of this before, but I'm excited to branch out and really go for it myself. While I still really LOVE going out to eat, it is definitely something we have almost entirely given up. I must say that living outside of the city limits makes that discipline just a little easier as those conveniences are just a bit more inconvenient due to the drive. Country living wins again!

So I think that will do it for today. I have another inspiring friend I want to talk about in my next blog entry, so stay tuned!