Packing Lunches

Since money is extremely tight we had to cut out all the extras. No more grabbing lunch out. This is easier for me since I am not in town. Hubby however works two jobs. I had to get in the habit of packing two meals for him each night before bed. He leaves around 530 in the morning, so there is no way I am going to pack something then. I have found if I pack his lunch the night before I am more likely to actually do it, and he can grab it and go in the morning. Something I have done to help make packing lunch time easier, is to divide up lunch items as soon as I get home from the grocery store. Before putting snack items away, I divide them into the jelly size mason jars (more on the plastic lids later). It takes more room in the pantry, but its incredibly easy to grab and go. Same principal applies to yogurt in the fridge. That way when I am gathering lunch items, I can spend the least amount of time needed. Typically I will pack two leftover meals (one for lunch and one for dinner) as well as a dairy snack (yogurt with home canned jam or applesauce) and one or two snacky snacks (think pretzel bites, trail mix, etc). I will also fill a mason jar or two with water and crystal light). I hate spending money on individual packages of a larger item because you are mainly paying for the packaging. It takes only a couple minutes extra for me to divide up a larger package when we get home from the store. Packing lunches has saved us soo much money, especially on the double shift days (where hubby goes from one job to another). Before packing lunches, we would just grab something quick $5-10 each meal per person. If hubby works 7 days a week and 4 of those are double days, we would be spending $55-110 on meals a week. There is no way we have that kind of money to throw away on cheap food- not even good quality food, Im talking about fast food here. So not only are we saving money we don't have to waste, but we are eating more healthy home made food. Let me tell you though, it does take dedication and planning. Some nights I just want to fall into bed and sleep but I will remember I need to make his lunch. Yes, he could pack his own, but I think he is already doing so much by working two jobs. My "second' job is to support him in as much as I can. I don't think its fair to make him pack his own lunch at 11 pm when he is getting home. Call it an act of love if you will... Do you pack lunches? Buy food out? Eat at home?

So Blessed

God is good!  Less than two weeks since moving back I got a job in my small town doing what I love!  I had been planning on looking for work, and was presented with this opportunity to nanny for a family in my town.  As my mom would say its a "God Thing".  According to the US Census Bureau, there are 975 people in my town.  There is one bank, one stoplight, two restaurants and three liquor stores.  My chances of finding a job in my town were basically nil.   We are about 30 minutes away from any town.  You can drive in 4 different directions to towns, but they are all about half hour.  So working in town I thought was my only option.  The main problem with that, as I found out before, is that my whole paycheck would go to gas.  I had been offered a retail job in town, but at the pay rate, it wouldn't be worth it.  It was hard to turn down a job offer, but knowing that after gas and other working expenses we would only be netting $100-200 for full time employment.  I decided to trust that something better would come along.  I knew that either I needed a good salary for a town job, or something decent yet closer to home.  And that's what I ended up with.  Less than 5 miles from my house is a fun family who needed a nanny.  Full time, four days a week I get to spend quality time with some adorable little tots.  I thank God for providing exactly what I needed.  I don't think I could handle the stress of retail or office work right now.  I know childcare can definitely be stressful and its not all cuddly and cozy.  But God knows that I need down time.  I need to sit on the lawn and blow bubbles.  I need chubby baby army reaching for me.  I need snuggles and hugs, and that's exactly what he gave me.  I am so incredibly glad that I didn't settle for the retail job. My prayer was not that God would give me something specific.  My prayer was that God would show me where I need to be.  And I believe He did.  So my friends, I encourage you to trust that God will provide, even (and most especially) when you don't see how.  He knows just what you want and need, and in time he will provide. 

Extra Income

This month, for a few different reasons (some to be announced soon) finances are super tight. I love my nannying jobs, but needed to take on something extra. Thankfully we have family friends who run the food operations for our local amusement park and D League Basketball team. They were incredibly generous in giving me some weekend shifts. This past weekend I got to work at the Santa Cruz Warriors game. For the night I felt like I was back in high school working at the Boardwalk. The uniform hasn't changed much since then (nor has the food). Next weekend I will be back in the arena serving beer and hot dogs. On Sat morning I am also proctoring a CBEST test for extra income. That is all to say that in the course of one week I will be working 4 different jobs for 4 different people. I am definitely not above taking on extra work when the money gets tight. What are other ways you earn extra money?