I'm a natural doodler, list maker type with lot's of pieces of paper with every though that comes into my head, it would be funny if one day those thoughts float around as others try to piece it all together.
A few days ago I drew up a chart with what I needed to focus on in my life. In no particular order:
Continuing our family ancestry. We have asked a lot of our family for photos, I've scanned in all my Nana's and Mum's albums and my husband's scanned all of his. We've been on ancestry since the beginning of the year and we both have family trees traced back to the 1700's. It's prompted many conversations with family, and I love the idea of raising our children with an annual Family History Evening so they can learn about their past ancestors.
My marriage is also important to me. I grew up with my Mum and sister since the age of eight, and spent summers since the age of fourteen visiting my dad with my sister. I came to live close by to my dad for college just before I turned nineteen. I think I turned out better than many children raised in two parent families. When I met my husband, I thought my family was nuts, but his family was just as nuts and there were just a lot more of them!
And when things don't always go to plan you can always say "I'm sorry".
My husband and I have been in our new home in the Carolina's for about four months now, and when we moved here we knew nobody. We're taking the time to cultivate new friendships in our neighborhood, at church and with people we work with. We're naturally introverted, so it takes time for us to open up. Another way to build with friendships is to invite them to participate in your traditions.
A lot of our traditions include travel. Sometimes we're questioned how we can afford to travel so much. Our first reason is we have no vices. Our second is that we live on percentages, and it's by no means perfect, but it's a balanced way for us to spend and save for our future. We divide it up into 40% household, 20% Roth IRA and savings, 10% Holidays and donations, 10% Vehicles, 10% Food and eating out and lastly 10% Guilt free spending money (5% each).
Savings also helps us to fix up our home. We bought a short sale, and although at one time it was loved on, it needed an update. We've been in the midst now for four months and I'm sure it will take at least another year. We looked at real estate to see if we'd want to move again in five to ten years, but our home is paid off and putting it towards a future garage guest suite with two additional bedrooms, a sunroom and a kitchen pop out will give us an extra thousand square feet and a reason to stay and raise our family here.
I also like to find balance to spend time working on what I love. I wish my life were a mixture of Susan Branch and Ina Garten. I look up to them for their homemaking wisdom. I also work as an interior designer preserving old properties and on several personal projects like my project life binder, watercoloring and writing a memoir of sorts, maybe one day I'll be a mom, or have my own little shop, or teach more design classes or host tea parties for the elderly.
Last, but not least practicing happiness and health. With all my grandparents passed, and my dad passing away at only fifty-four I've realized life is short. I've come to terms with death, and even find peace in knowing that I will pass one day. If I'm blessed enough to live to a ripe old age, and to fulfill my wishes to have a large family, and to live by my motto...Live Gracefully. Laugh Joyfully. Love Gratefully, then I will be happy.
So, as I laugh along the way as I try find balance, I hope over time as we settle it will fall into place. Any if you are a master balancer, or always juggling, I'd love to hear what's important in you life.
Back in college I wrote one of my English papers on what is now known as the middle class squeeze. It has always fascinated me to compare how different people live such different financial lives and oftentimes we all have such different journeys; in making money, investing money, spending money and enjoying money.
My first interest was as a young child. My mom was an internal auditor, and bookeeper for over sixteen years before changing careers to take care of the aged and those that suffer from mind altering illnesses such as altzheimers. She was a single mom from the time I was eight, and so she openly would discuss money with my younger sister and I. She showed work ethic, and also is extremely frugal and taught me the art of streching a dollar.
I grew up in an idyllic English village, and had many friends. One of which had parent's who were getting ready to sell their home for over threequarters of a million, to retire in France. One would assume from the outset that they must make a lot of money, however her dad would often talk of how they managed to get to this point with a mere salary of no more that thirty-six thousand pounds in his lifetime. His wife, also didn't ever work. Instead she stayed home, to raise four children and to oversee projects. So how did they get there? Well, my friends mom cooked a lot. Her own breads, pastries, and they would also entertain their friends who would oftentimes bring a side dish, or a bottle of wine. They also found ways to buy rental properties. And now, although retired they own a home in France that has a Gite {rental home} that brings in a liveable income, so they don't have to tap into savings for many more years.
Anyways, as I travelled to America at nineteen to come to college, I got to experience a cultural difference between the amount earnt, the amount spent and also noticed that a lot of American's were either too tired, or too busy. Obviously, other Western European countries are this way also. I think the biggest difference in culture is how we interact with each other. In Europe, if you visit your friends, you oftentimes stay through the night chatting, talking, eating until either you invite them to stay for the night, or they have to go to bed. Whereas here, after dessert your guests have left and you're watching re-runs on DVR...and you know they are too because they tweeted it. Maybe we are spending money on conveniences because we're too busy, or too tired to do otherwise?
Or, is it a sign of the times. If you've read Elizabeth Warren's book 'The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle Class Parents are Going Broke' you'd be rivited. It discusses how the most un-financially well off, are women with children in the 21st century. Here's the book description:
It talks about how today's two-income families earns more than a generation ago, but has less money to cover living costs. A result of womens liberation? Or have we re-conditioned ourselves on what's a need or want? Also, what are we teaching our children? Because afterall, we are the role models for the next generation.
I found this piece by Sandy Smith, really intersting. She compares the cost of living and income's earned today compared to the 1950's.
"The 1950s were a time of great prosperity and economic growth in the United States. Today, looking at the decade objectively, we realize it wasn’t quite the post-war utopia portrayed in the media of the day or the nostalgic recreations since. Nonetheless, many look back fondly on what they view as a simpler time. One thing a lot of folks envy from that time is the cost of living. Everything in 2011 seems so much more expensive. Of course, no one in today’s world expects to pay 18 cents for a gallon of gas, $25 for a man’s suit, or $1,500 for a brand new car[1]. Still, paychecks just don’t seem to go as far now as they did then. Or do they?
Many Factors to Consider
When you compare the cost of living in the 1950s with today’s cost of living, you have to consider a variety of factors. For example, some things are actually cheaper to produce now than they were in the 1950s. Of course, most of today’s goods and services come with higher price tag, but people also get paid proportionately more.
Household Income Then and Now
In 1955, the median household income in the U.S. was around $5,000[2]. That means half of all households earned more than $5,000, while half brought in less. Adjusted for inflation, that translates to around $25,000 today. However, today’s median household income is just over $40,000. We’re not really making that much more money though. That $15,000 difference can be attributed, in large part, to the increase in the number of two-income households since the middle of the twentieth century [3]. The big difference between expenses then and now is the amount of stuff we buy. We also tend to live in much bigger houses.
Average Home Size 1950 vs. Today
The average size of a new house in 1950 was 983 square feet. In 2004 it stood at 2,349 square feet [4]. At the same time, family size went from about 3.5 persons per household, to around 2.5 today [5]. A bigger house incurs more costs, even with fewer people living there.
Consumerism
We also buy more things to put into our homes today. Comedian George Carlin once described houses as “a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.” TVs, computers, mobile devices, game systems, microwave ovens, and gadgets of all sorts fill a typical 21st century dwelling. In the 1950s, a family had a television, a few radios perhaps, and the most basic of household appliances and furniture. Today, many houses–certainly most new ones– have central air conditioning. This was unheard of in the 1950s, even in warmer climates.
There were fewer cars as well. By the end of the 1950s, less than 3% of households owned three or more vehicles. In 2009, it was almost 20% [6]. More cars mean more car-related expenditures–from routine maintenance and fuel to major repairs and insurance premiums.
A Dollar Then, a Dollar Now
So, we’re buying a lot more stuff with roughly the same amount of money, meaning consumption is taking up a bigger portion of household budgets. But do the items we purchase cost more today? The Bureau of Labor Statistics website has a fun little online gadget that allows you to convert dollar amounts from one year into those of another. For example, a loaf of bread in 1955 cost around 18 cents, which converts to about $1.50 today. Depending on the brand of bread you buy, that sounds about right. A new car in 1955 was about $1,500. Today, that same car will cost you $12,000. That may get you a pretty basic car, but remember that the 2011 model is much safer, gets better mileage, and has a lot more features.
TV Time
Of course, some items have come down in price; televisions for instance. In 1955, a new TV would set you back $250.00. That’s $2,100 now. For that kind of money, you could now buy a top-of-the-line TV. Even with $250 in today’s money, you could purchase a far nicer set than the one your grandparents used to watch I Love Lucy and Milton Berle. Then again, we’re buying a lot more of them. In fact, while the average household is 2.5 persons, it has 2.86 televisions [7]. Also, in the 1950s, programming was free. Today, most people have cable, or satellite, a monthly expenditure that easily runs over $50 a month. Add that to household expenses that people in mid-century America never dealt with, like Internet and mobile phone service.
Living Large
If you were to live like someone in the 1950s, you could live fairly comfortably. Indeed, by mid-twentieth century standards you’d be well-off, even with a modest income. However, living in a small house with one television, no cable or satellite service, one car, no air conditioning, and so on is seen as a low standard of living in 2011. You could certainly cut back some. Do you really need three high-definition TVs or a 3,000-square-foot house? You likely need a computer and Internet service, because that’s simply the way the world is now. Mobile phones are more of a necessity now as well. Have you looked for a pay phone lately?
Perhaps we need to assess what we really want from our standard of living, and adjust our expenditures accordingly. On average we are living better now than at any point in history, but the key to happiness may be in finding ways to make it more affordable."
It really is thought provoking. I could compare all day. But I hope I made my discussion light, about how we must be good examples to our children. Talk with them about finances, so they have an understaning. Also, finding ways to make do the 1950's way and possibly re-evaluate the stress that mom's are having with having to help provide for their two-income families. Do we look enough at whether some cultures, compared to others have maintained a financial happy balance, that leaves us less tired, less busy and more fulfilled to enjoy our lives. Ultimately, we can make decisions in our homes, are we making the best ones. I'll definitly keep the thought in my mind, hope it sparked on in yours.
Just the other day a friend of mine posted this photo on Facebook, with a posting about how she feels about both welfare recipients as well as corporate giants. I typically don't get involved in such discussions, as we all have formed opinions based on our life experiences, and more often than not it's often difficult to change another person's views. I just hope to highlightwhat I see as an economic issue on our economy, that doesn't involve the government, it involves us, the families of America.
So, I went ahead and posted my thoughts:
"We can all make a difference to the world in our very homes. Raise children who are self sufficient, and want to give and help others. Be educated on the world, its politics and money and make well informed financial decisions. It's the hypocrites who could blame the government and yet they aren’t able to micro-manage within their own households. Be smart consumer, and support mom and pop shops who are trying to raise their middle class families by hard work. If every household in America stood by those old fashioned values, we wouldn't have so many mega superstores; instead we would have small businesses that are focused on family, and the local community. I have tried to instill these values into my life, and am all the more happier shopping at local stores. Look up project 3/50, and you’ll see what I mean. Spending money in your community, ensures it stays in your community."
One reason for our economy having such in-balance is how each American household chooses to spend. For this reason, I have been a proud supporter of the 3/50 project.
Did you know that when you buy from a local brick and mortar store, or a family owned and operated restaurant that $68 of your $100 will go back in your local community. That's money they can then continue to use on other brick and mortar businesses, and so on. Here's ten reasons that support locally owned businesses.
When we buy from mega superstores, we are putting money in big corporations pockets. Many retail or fast food workers can barely afford to thrive, have low work morale and don't have the means to support their families. Only $48, from $100 spent in chain stores goes back to our communities. Also, it promotes low income work, and outsourced jobs.
Here's a really interesting article, called 'Is Wal-Mart Destroying America?'
"America absolutely loves Wal-Mart. 100 million customers visit Wal-Mart every single week in this country. But is Wal-Mart good for America? That is a question that most people never stop and ask. Most of us love shopping in big, clean stores that are packed with super cheap merchandise, but the truth is that Wal-Mart is destroying America in a lot of ways. As you will see below, Wal-Mart has destroyed tens of thousands of small businesses and countless manufacturing jobs over the past couple of decades. Wal-Mart has become a gigantic retail behemoth that sells five times more stuff than any other retailer in the United States. Unfortunately, a large percentage of all the stuff sold at Wal-Mart is made overseas. What that is costing the U.S. economy in terms of lost jobs and lost revenue is incalculable. But Wal-Mart is a perfect example of where our economic system is headed. Our economy is becoming completely and totally dominated by highly centralized monolithic predator corporations that ruthlessly crush all competition and that will stoop to just about anything in order to cut costs. In the future, will we all be working for gigantic communal entities that funnel all of the wealth and economic rewards to a very tiny elite? That sounds very much like how communist China works, and red-blooded Americans should want no part of that. America is supposed to be about free enterprise and competition and working together to build up this country, and Wal-Mart is destroying all of that.
The following are 20 facts about Wal-Mart that will absolutely shock you:
#1 The average U.S. family now spends more than $4000 a year at Wal-Mart.
#2 In 2010, Wal-Mart had revenues of 421 billion dollars. That amount was greater than the GDP of 170 different countries including Norway, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates.
#3 If Wal-Mart was a nation, it would have the 23rd largest GDP in the world.
#4 Wal-Mart now sells more groceries than anyone else in America does. In the United States today, one out of every four grocery dollars is spent at Wal-Mart.
#10 According to the Economic Policy Institute, trade between Wal-Mart and China resulted in the loss of 133,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States between 2001 and 2006.
#11 The CEO of Wal-Mart makes more in a single hour than a full-time Wal-Mart associate makes in an entire year.
#12 Tens of thousands of Wal-Mart employees and their children are enrolled in Medicaid and are dependent on the government for health care.
#13 Between 2001 and 2007, the value of products that Wal-Mart imported from China grew from $9 billion to $27 billion.
#14 Amazingly, 96 percent of all Americans now live within 20 miles of a Wal-Mart.
#15 The number of "independent retailers" in the United States declined by 60,000 between 1992 and 2007.
#16 According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Wal-Mart spent 7.8 million dollars on political lobbying during 2011. That number does not even include campaign contributions.
#17 Today, Wal-Mart has five times the sales of the second largest U.S. retailer (Costco).
#18 The combined net worth of six members of the Walton family is roughly equal to the combined net worth of the poorest 30 percent of all Americans.
All over the country, independent retailers are going out of business because they cannot compete with Wal-Mart and their super cheap Chinese products. Often communities will give Wal-Mart huge tax breaks just to move in to their areas. But what many communities don't take into account is that the introduction of a Wal-Mart is often absolutely devastating to small businesses....
A study of small and rural towns in Iowa showed lost sales for local businesses ranging from -17.2% in small towns to -61.4% in rural areas, amounting to a total dollar loss of $2.46 BILLION over a 13-year period.
When we buy stuff made by people working for slave labor wages in China, we destroy good paying American jobs and we make America poorer.
Wal-Mart often tells one thing to the public and then does another thing in private. Sadly, the truth is that Wal-Mart does not care about U.S. manufacturing jobs. Wal-Mart just wants to get products as cheaply as they possibly can, and most of the time that means getting them from China.
I was president of the Southwestern Apparel Manufacturers Association. There was a meeting sometime between 1985 and 1990. Walmart had contacted our organization and asked if they could meet with us at our beautiful Apparel Mart we had here in Dallas, which has now been razed, because all the independent merchants don’t exist that used to come to it. Two people from Walmart came down and they said they were going to be sourcing goods from overseas and we would have to meet those prices for consumer products and to get ready for it—we are going to be sourcing the world. Walmart was the only company that came out and said this.
It was sort of shocking: I was selling them some merchandise at the time. On the back of their trucks it was saying “Bring it Back to America!” They had the big “keep it in America” program going at that time on the big signs in the stores. Meanwhile when I reminded the buyer of that, she told me, “that is just for domestic consumption, we’re going to buy at the cheapest we can anywhere on earth.”
As I have written about previously, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.
We are losing millions of good jobs that cannot be replaced. If you can believe it, the United States has actually lost an average of about 50,000 manufacturing jobs a month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with China was the biggest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world, and Wal-Mart played a huge role in that.
In fact, Wal-Mart has actually been forcing some U.S. manufacturers to pack up and move overseas. The following is from a recent article by Amy Traub....
Walmart’s market power is so immense that the even the largest suppliers must comply with its demands for lower and lower prices because they cannot afford to have their goods taken off its shelves. Companies that used to manufacture products in the United States, from Levi’s jeans to lock maker Master Lock, were pressured to shut their U.S. factories and moved manufacturing abroad to meet Walmart’s demand for low prices.
Unfortunately, the vast wealth that Wal-Mart is sucking out of our communities is not put back into our communities. The profits are funneled out to Wal-Mart executives and shareholders. We may enjoy the low prices, but very little of the money that we give to Wal-Mart gets recycled in our local areas.
In the old days, you could actually support a family selling electronics or running a general store. But you can't support a family working at Wal-Mart. The vast majority of the jobs that Wal-Mart creates are very low paying. Large numbers of Wal-Mart employees are actually on welfare, and this is part of the reason why we have seen such an explosion in the number of the working poor in America.
At this point, more than 40 percent of all jobs in America are low wage jobs and the middle class is rapidly disappearing.
If we do not support American jobs and American manufacturers they will continue to go away and the welfare rolls in this country will continue to explode.
There is not going to be any prosperity in this country without jobs. Unfortunately, most Americans simply do not understand how good jobs are being systematically destroyed in America every single day.
The path that America is headed on today is only going to end in complete and total disaster. We are being transformed from a wealthy nation into a poor nation. In the end, we will be dominated by a very tiny elite and everyone else will either be among the working poor or will be totally dependent on the government.
Our system is supposed to be about open, honest competition. But that is not what Wal-Mart is about. Wal-Mart is about crushing small businesses and manufacturers here in America and getting us all to buy their super cheap Chinese-made goods.
Just something that has been of interest to me. If it tempts you to shop local, eat local and buy handmade then I feel like the I have done a glimpe of highlighting an issue.
