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Dear Busy Mamas,
Welcome to the Three
Minute Mom
Newsletter, a
newsletter that we busy moms actually have
time to read! I'm Carey Keavy, author of Raising
Your Own Children, a book which teaches moms
to
quit their full-time jobs and make living on one
income work for them. Inside of each issue you will
find money-saving ideas, parenting tips, and
more...all guaranteed to be readable in only three
minutes!
Sincerely,
Carey Keavy
| Money Minute: Expect the Unexpected by Carey Keavy |
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“If you can count your money,
you don’t have a billion dollars.”
—J. Paul Getty
If you ask a group of people to trace the
source of their
credit-card debt, many of them will say they created
the debt
with “unexpected” emergencies. The mindset of
many of
these people is: “What was I supposed to do? It just
happened and I had to pay for it somehow! Why
does this
kind of stuff always happen to me? Just when I was
getting
ahead! I have such bad luck!” Let me tell you
frankly—luck
has nothing to do with it!
We live in an imperfect world where things break
down,
and unexpected things happen. Please embed this
fact into
your brain! Your car is going to break down at some
point,
and your dishwasher is going to poop out too! These
things
are inevitable. Let’s stop calling them unexpected
things,
and be honest with ourselves—they are expected
things. If
we are expecting something to happen—wouldn’t we
be fools
not to plan for them? In Proverbs the Bible says, “A
wise man
plans.” This refers to planning for emergencies,
expected
repairs and replacements as well as planning for your
life.
You may find that when you are home with the kids
and
your income has been drastically reduced, you are
almost
always on the verge of financial despondency. When
you fall
behind, you can no longer rely on an extra paycheck
to
rebound you from economic ruin. Having a safety net
is
essential to the success of our decision to raise our
children
above all other things.
You may be thinking, “We can’t even afford to live
now,
let alone save money too!” Believe me, we were of
that
viewpoint at one time too. We just started saving by
faith,
and it was then that we realized all of the money we
were
squandering away without even recognizing it. On my
husband’s blue-collar salary, we began by saving
$100.00 per
month in a money-market fund. In addition to saving
around
$350.00 per month for retirement, we are also able
to stock
away about $250.00 per month in our savings
accounts.
Emergencies do occur—as expected—but the money
is
there for us when we need it. We simply put our
hands back
to the plow and rebuild the account to prepare for
the next
expected event.
To open a money market account, either contact
your
bank, or a brokerage firm like Smith/Barney or
American
Express. Once you set up an account, most firms will
allow
auto-drafts for as little as $25.00 per month
automatically
from your checking account to the money-market
fund. You
may want to start there and increase over time. If
you can
afford more—then go for the gusto!
Keep in mind that this money is not for vacations or
that
new computer you’ve been eyeballing—but strictly for
expected events. You can add extra money into the
account
to save for all the fun stuff, just make sure you
earmark the
allocations on a handy piece of paper. You don’t
want to
steal from yourself and your future.
Financial experts say that one should have three to
six months
worth of income in an emergency fund as an ample
safeguard. If you just keep pluggin’ away you’ll reach
your
goal. You may have setbacks when expected events
happen,
but you’ll just need to turn yourself around and
rebuild your
savings. You can do it!
If saving is something new for you—get on your knees
before the Lord. Ask Him for strength and direction to
accomplish this task. Start small—simply make an
effort, and
God will honor you, meeting you where you are. “I
can do
all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”—
Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
Excerpt from "Raising Your Own
Children"
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| Mama Minute: After I'm "Mom" by Michelle Lloyd |
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As the ever nearing “empty nest” grows closer
and
closer, I often find myself asking the question, “After
I’ve been mom for 23 years, who am I now?” And it
isn’t that you aren’t “mom” anymore. It’s just that
your primary job for 23 years has been about the
nurturing, growth, and well being of others; your
children. When the day finally arrives that the last
one is now personally responsible for his/her own
clean underwear, “who do you become?”, “Who am I,
after I’m “Mom”?”
Now, I hold no resentment toward my children, never
let it be said that I do. But I will not say that I
might not have done things a little differently. I
might not have created such drama when a sock
went MIA in the laundry room or when their rooms
were a wreck. Trust me, in the end, you find that
those things really just weren’t that important. I
also might have taken a bit more time for myself.
Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with my own
identity and became, “Mom”. I love mom and all that
she represents. My children are happy and healthy.
But how much more might they have benefited
if they had known “me” and my interests?
My love for horses took a back seat when I was
expecting my first child. They had been a very
strong interest for me for many, many years. I rode
quite a bit as a teenager and planned to own my own
horses someday. My children never knew that.
Sure, they knew that “mom used to ride some”. But
they never knew my passion for riding and horses. It
wasn’t “feasible” to own them in the city. We had
more important responsibilities. But in all honesty,
this is who I was, this was about me. I let it go, and
with it, a piece of myself. How wonderful it would
have been, if I’d been able to give my daughter the
opportunity to learn about and care for the needs of
a horse?
I always wanted to own my own business and create
a life dependent upon no one else. What values my
children might have learned from that! What if I’d
created a business to leave to them or turn over to
them when they were ready? What if, what if...
what if I’d simply allowed them to know their mother
instead of becoming “Just Mom?”
When my daughter left home, bound for college
this “old me” began a fight to resurface. She came
about loud and strong. I am here now. I want my
children to know ME, not just as a mother but as
someone who has dreams and someone who is
capable of making those dreams come true. It’s
important that they learn who I was and who I’m
making sure I become.
I bought the horses. No, it isn’t “feasible”, but I did
it anyway. I thoroughly enjoy every minute that I
spend with them. I bought the land to build our
dream home, and a place that will incorporate the
free spirit of my horses. I started my own business,
and it is succeeding! www.
CandlesandCalligraphy.com But most
importantly, I’m still mom. It’s just that mom isn’t
losing touch with her own identity anymore.
Michelle lives in Memphis, TN and is
currently working
towards a move to North Mississippi where she and
her wonderful husband of 21 years have purchased
land. She has two children; A daughter, 20 years old
and a son, 15 years old and owns a business as a
distributor of soy/veg based candles, which also
offers
calligraphy services. Visit her site at
www.CandlesandCalligraphy.com.
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| Menu Minute: Quick Biscuit Pizzas |
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I absolutely get a kick out of inventing new
recipes!
I don't know why, really!? Over the years, I've tried
making pizzas for lunch a number of different ways.
The bagel pizza, the french bread pizza, the english
muffin pizza,...etc! Anything to avoid the doldrums
of dough-making! Well, I think I have finally
stumbled upon a "keeper" in the lunch pizza
department...refrigerated biscuit pizzas! Why are
these so cool?! Well, the refrigerated biscuit dough
is already pre-cut in a circle just waiting for you to
roll it flat and throw on your toppings! They are fun
for the kids because they can choose exactly which
personalized toppings they would like, or would NOT
like. They can even make their own! So please
enjoy...biscuit pizzas...my current food addiction.
You will need:
1 roll of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 jar/can pizza sauce
1 package shredded mozzarella cheese
Any toppings: olives, onions, mushrooms,
pepperoni, etc.
Open biscuit package and roll each
biscuit flat. Place on tin-foil covered baking pan
(You don't want to have to wash that pan, do you?!)
and add pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Bake at
about 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes, or
until biscuit looks browned.
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