A financial storm has settled on my home - and it’s raining bills, bills, bills.

I won’t bore you with the details.  It would sound kind of whiny anyway.

My husband still has a good income, despite the current start-up costs of a new practice.  We have a lovely home, even if we’re suddenly being hit with having to replace the water heater and the roof.  My gas-guzzling Suburban is still a great car for our adventurous family, despite losing another battle with the resident mice. 

****I like mice, they’re adorable, but now they’ve gone too far, decimating my car’s AC, again.  It’s time for an aggressive relocation policy.  If you’ve had any success getting rid of mice in your car or home, please tell me what worked.  We’re ready to try just about anything.****

This financial storm - decreased income, increased expenses - is hitting at a time when we’re all finding out just how much the price of oil impacts all costs.  Our gas bills have doubled, and so have our grocery receipts.  There are surcharges everywhere, and we can’t even pick up a pizza for the kids without cringing at the price.

Now I’m really going to get whiny.  Turn away.  Fast.

What this means for me - the homeschooling volunteering mom with no personal income - is that: I’ll have to slash our expenses; and I’ll have to start generating an income.

Oh, it’s going to be painful.  No more books.  I’ll have to read or re-read what I already have, or go back to the Library.  No more Starbucks Venti Nonfat Lattes.  I’m quitting cold turkey.  No more take out.  We’ll be on the home-cooked meal plan.  Not so delicious.  No more newspaper delivery, I’ll have to get the news online.  No more road trips to see my friends and family.  They’ll have to visit us over the next few months. 

The worst part of this whole scenario is that we’ll probably have to skip the family gathering at a Caribbean wedding that we’ve been looking forward to for the past two years. 

Okay, I know.  We still have food, home, health, and a loving family.  No more whining.

Resilient kids have that pioneering spirit!

We had a family meeting to discuss our current financial strategy.

My son - he’s a giver - volunteered to quit piano lessons.   My daughter doesn’t want to give up the harp, but she is willing to cut back on lessons.   She also offered to teach her brother so he could keep up his music skills.

It was lovely to see how they were willing to cooperate, even as I wished it was under better circumstances. 

Alex started sobbing when he found out that we would have to cancel our road trip to see our friends in Maryland, but Kayla stroked his head and comforted him with offers to teach him how to skateboard.  This offer was especially remarkable since earlier in the day she had made it clear that Alex was NOT allowed to skateboard with her.

Then, both kids offered to help out with our income and expenses.  They have plans to start a lemonade stand and to live off the land.  We’re going to eat the vegetables from our garden when they’re ready, and go squirrel huntin’ in the meantime.  Yeah, they’ve got that pioneering spirit!

I wonder if I could convince them to hunt mice instead?  Do you know of any good recipes for rodent vittles?

Get a Job, Mom

Bottom line, I need to get a job, or at least find a way to contribute to the family income.

I’m a highly educated, savvy woman.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to get a job, right?

If I bought into Leslie Bennetts argument in The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much?, I might be genuinely worried that I’ve failed to “protect (my)self against economic hard-ship by maintaining the capacity to support (my)self.”

Reading Bennetts’ book I might be led to believe that - in taking years off from the a career track to be a full-time mom - I’ve put myself in jeopardy of being a middle-aged has-been with no career prospects.  Ugh!

Okay, well, call me Pollyanna, but I think that I’ve picked up valuable skills as CEO of this family and through my volunteer work.

Just for fun, I filled out the Mom Salary Wizard on Salary.com.  It turns out that I should’ve earned $214,000.00 last year.  If only!  Masochists can even print out a check for themselves (but you can’t cash it in anywhere.)

Hey, I’m a valuable resource!  And, I’m not sure how yet, but I’ll figure out a way to generate a solid income stream.

Who knows?  Maybe I’ll figure out a way to be one of those bloggers who earn six figure salaries.  Of course, then I’ll have to deal with the stress of being a celebrity blogger.

Did I say no more whining?

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