Welcome

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Known in America as Black Friday. The now famous holiday shopping mad dash day that brings out the nasty in people as good will takes a back seat. As I took my son John and dog Cindy for a walk today, I got to thinking about my own personal Black Friday. Will I ever have one?

Black Friday got it's name as it is the sale day that helps retail stores make up for slow sale, ie, going from red or debt to in the black or out of debt. I think we all need to stride for our own personal "black Friday." A day we balance our check books and see we are in the black, not in the red with no hope for the green to cover it.

No, I am not a money whiz. I am, however a tightwad and proud of it. This last year has been trying for our family as we started off 2011 like so many of you, dealing with income cuts. Ours, a whopping $600.00 a month hurt. I am used to adjusting. Add to it, our oldest son was jobless most of this year and lived with us. He did come to us with a saving account and no debt, but this year took a toll on him as well. Our younger son will never have a job. He is disabled and fully dependent on us for care. In March of this year after a nasty seizure, he lost the ability to control his bladder. That means we buy him Depends or as we like to call it, disposable underwear. They aren't cheap. They took yet another big bite out of our income.

Still, I am not whining. This has been a great year for us. Anything you can fix with money is not major in my book. It is the things money cannot buy that hurts. Health, happiness, joy, and peace of mind, just to name a few. What are some that you can think of?

I am starting this blog to focus on two things. How to live on less and have more and how to be happy with the situation you are in. If we can all do that, we will all succeed. My goal is to help you find life tips, both money saving and soul searching. This is your place to have a say, so post away.

Thank you for stopping by and lets see just how much we can grow together in the year to come.