I enjoy doing lots of different things. I enjoy doing them enough that some of them I have turned into a business. But, that business rarely, if ever, makes money. However, I usually don’t lose money. Maybe that makes my businesses more of a hobby that doesn’t cost anything, I don’t know.

My husband then, is the bread winner of the family. But he has unique circumstances as well when it comes to how much we make and when. He is a General Contractor, but a small one. We build 1-2 houses, or 3 or 4 garages, or a combination each summer. In the winter he does small jobs like remodels and sheet rocking, that can be done inside, but those are less reliable and the money isn’t always as good.

When he’s not working, there is no money coming in. It has given us a unique perspective on money and how to manage it. In the past it has also made us less sympathetic for people who work regular jobs and get paid leave, benefits, and bonuses, and then complain if there’s a hiccup in their income stream or if they use up all their “paid time off” so if they need to take more time off they just don’t get paid.

It’s probably not a very charitable way to look at things, and sometimes I tried to change my attitude. But sometimes I allow other’s to influence my attitude negatively anyway. Sometimes it depended on why the person was in the financial situation they were in as well, whether it was poor use of their resources and they knew better, or it was unforeseen circumstances.

But, when we start our big jobs at the beginning of the summer I always breathe a sigh of relief. We save as much as possible during the working season to make it through the lean season, but as prices for gas and groceries has risen the amount we need raises as well.

I am so grateful for the Lord’s help in this area. He helps me to see where we can cut back, but also to see better ways of managing the money we do have so that it goes further. This past spring I created a spreadsheet with our expenses so that we could see exactly how much we needed to live on, and consequently how much I need to save through the summer.

I was shocked at how much the cost of living had risen. What we used to be able to do with $40,000 for 6 people, we now need $75,000 for 5 people to live. That’s $40/hour if you work all year long. And that is pretty basic stuff like food, gas, electricity, phone and internet service, and taxes. That would be to buy everything from the store as well. We try to be frugal, we grow a garden every year, my husband works on our cars himself which saves us quite a bit in vehicle repair bills when those arise, etc.

This has given me a new perspective on other’s and their financial struggles. I am less apt to judge people who are struggling financially. I have also started looking at the hourly rate of jobs I see open up. When I was growing up, $20/hour was a great wage, especially if you were young and didn’t have a lot of experience. I started out at $3.85/hour. Now, that $20/hour won’t give people enough to live through a month. It makes me worried for the rising generation, especially if they are not money savvy.

When I finished my expenses report I sat down with my husband and my kids to go over it. My kids are older now, teens and adults, but we’ve done this on several occasions in some for or another. It has helped them consider their requests for things more thoughtfully, to know how much we need just to survive. It has also given us a good reason to require them to work for something they want that has not been budgeted for. This has helped the kids become more aware of how much they cost, what necessities are, and what wants are and that you don’t have to have everything you want, especially not right this second.

This life sometimes feels crazy and out of control, I don’t think that is going to change any time soon. But I have found that as I budget, stick to my budget, pay my tithing, and serve the Lord to the best of my ability, He always helps me see how to make our resources stretch and cover everything we need. We can even afford some of the wants.