Well, here we are, the last and final day of July 2023. It is incredible how quickly time passes by. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything, visit with everyone, and just to relax. We are inundated with the concept of being "busy." Busy dragging our tired bodies out of bed to race through traffic to go to a job, spend 8+ hours at that job making pennies while the business owner/government make mint, then race out of that job to grab some groceries/grab take out for a meal, race home to shower, pay bills, take care of the chores in our homes, fall in bed at night either sleeping like the dead or having racing thoughts of what we didn't accomplish preventing sleep...just to start all over the next day. We celebrate 2 days a week when we can actually enjoy our homes, and our family. It's a constant rat race. We have become enslaved by the need for more and more, in turn needing more and more money...in turn having to work more and more. It's such a vicious cycle.
In a recent finance class I took, it was said that majority of Americans no longer understand need, want, or living within their means. The instructor used the salary of $50,000 annual income. He stated, ideally, on that income, you should live like you made $25,000 annually. Basing that off of gross salary, he said that taxes are a constant expense and should also be figured into how you manage your money. This course made sense to me, even if I was not quite sure how people today could manage that. For many of us that have a mortgage, utilities, vehicles, for just the bare example...that would be a challenge. I know it could be done, as that was the model for finance for generations. I know with the current economic times, living on half an income is almost undoable. For many, living on a single income is not possible. With the cost of homes and vehicles alone, the debt most of us live with is huge. Just maintaining a home is a major expense. One problem, can decimate your savings in the blink of an eye. If you throw in a major life change: having a child, a layoff from that job, an unexpected loss of any kind would throw that budget into a tail spin. None of this even accounts for the wants like a vacation, going out to dinner, new furniture, etc. or minor needs like clothing, groceries, fuel, lawn mowers, etc. Sure there are exceptions to every rule, but just speaking in general terms. I honestly do not know very many people that could survive on $25,000 a year; without having to depend on the government. Years ago, it was said that when purchasing a home, you should be able to pay it off it full, in 5 years or less...meaning your home should not cost more the your five year income, minus other expenses. For example: let's use that $50K annual income, with $10K a year in other expenses. Your home cost should not exceed a cost of $200K, and realistically it should be about half that to fit the perimeters that were recently discussed, of saving half your income. When the cost of vehicles are now more than what I bought my home for....that seems like such a crazy thing.
I am in complete preservation mode currently. I have finally got a garden that is producing at a normal time again. The garden is starting to give us some smaller harvests, we have gotten to eat a few tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. I am working up corn today. It used to be a big ordeal when the sweet corn came ready. There'd be several people working together, and we'd all put some in our freezers. There would be several husking, silking, and cutting. Several more would be mixing and bagging. It was work, but it was also a fellowship of shorts...there was a lot of visiting, older wisdom and story telling. Doing it alone, isn't near as enlightening, but I have been thinking of those old times a lot today. I've been able to share a few things from the garden, and for that I am grateful. My work and effort does pay off.
The wedding planning, finalizing and organizing is just about finished. Several changes had to be made due to the time frame the kids had to work with. We're going with it, and several people have stepped up to help out. We are all grateful to those that have! I officially gain my bonus daughter into our family September 15th. Then the real work sets in for them. Marriage takes constant work and constant effort. Having to learn each others quirks, and annoyances, and how to deal with them can be a challenge.
The annual veteran hunt is planned, mostly finalized, aside from figuring out a fundraiser to give us a jump for next year's. I have had a lot of great people that have helped for several years, and without them, this event couldn't happen. My right hand, Janet, is my adopted Mom and such an amazing friend and person. Our personalities align, our hearts align and working side by side is easy. Our friends at True Impact Outdoors, their mission, their volunteers; align with the direction I want to go for our veterans. Our planning has included my husband, both my boys, our friend Slate, and so many community members from Clark County to Keosauqua Veterans Admistration. Without great people, we couldn't make this event possible.
Well, that is the end of this update for July. Hopefully, August and September will be kind to us, as the next 8 weeks are stuffed plum full of stuff.
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