BLOG CANDY aka FREEBIES!!!
I will be giving away BLOG CANDY to one happy commenter!!
Got your attention with that line didn’t I??
This year is the dawn of a new Year….and era in our country.. bet you wonder how this figures into stamping. Well, it does on a round about way…let me try to explain…
Our country and it’s citizens are going through a rough time. We don’t have it as good as in days past…things are harder to acheive, sales are harder to come by, even paying everyday bills for basic necessities is getting harder to do. So we all have to tighten our belts a bit, get a little “greener”, use and re-use, recycle, re-purpose items and learn to do more with less. My last few years working for the government, we were being given more and more work, less time to do it in, and less people to do the work. There was no overtime authorized most of the time. It was considered “contributed comp time” or some term like that. In other words, we put in the hours to get the job done, whether it was 40 or 60 a wk and weekends, and we “contributed” our time for the good of the organization. Guess that was good training for “RETIREMENT”!!!
I recently had my knee replaced and have had some difficulty getting up and down my stairs to my stamp studio. I did manage to have a Mini Stamp a Stack last week (with the help of my daughter who helped me cut all the cardstock).. for some of my faithful customers. …sooo… I thought while I was getting all my pictures taken of the pretty cards and such.. I’d do a poll with those of you who read my blog regularly. I will pick a random number using random number generator to give BLOG CANDY to one commentor. All you have to do is leave a comment, answering my question:
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1. How is the economy impacting my standard of living? Is your family doing as well, are you struggling and having a hard time, are you having to go out and get another job?
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2. If you had to get another job, are you working out of your home (such as an independent contractor for Stampin Up!, Avon, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef), or are you working outside the home at a local store, hamburger joint, cleaning houses, babysitting??…what all are you doing to help out?
3. Are you going back to school to change your career? 
Here is my response to this poll… to give you an example.
1. My family is temporarily worse off than it was 1 yr ago. My bills have gone up, my expenses have gone up, food prices have increased, and of course there are always “the refrigerator conks out”, “the car quits (a new computer had to be installed), medical bills , etc..My daughter who is going to school to be a nurse, quit one job that was not working with her schooling and finally got a job working at a local big box store. They promised full time hours, but due to decline in retail sales, no one has been getting “full time hours”. This is impacting whether she can go into her nursing clinicals when the time comes.
2. What are we doing about it? Well….I’m cleaning out stashes of supplies, selling my retired stamps (even though I wanted to keep some of them), and trying to scale down as much as possible. I am going to be having more Specialty classes using my Stampin’ UP! training, once I can get up and down the stairs better!! My daughter is also looking for a 2nd part time job to help fill the gap. We don’t eat out, we cook from scratch, we use renewable products (in other words use GREEN products) instead of using a lot of disposable items. We recycle everything we can, donate a lot, and try not to throw out anything that can be re-used or re-purposed. I have used cloth napkins since the 70′s before it was popular to “go green and use cloth napkins”!!!
What are you doing to help the economy?? Here’s a blog where the lady has some things to say about how to have a good home, live modestly, and some just good plain common sense approach to life. Go to Penny Raine. I’ll warn you, Penny Raine is a Christian lady who home schools her children and her philosphy on life is built around her love of Jesus and the Christian lifestyle.
I think we are all feeling the pinch. I was laid off last year. I had a good severance package but I will need to find a job soon. I am trying to structure my finances so that I can have a comfortable retirement and still have something left for my children. It is doable but I may have to work past the age of 66 when I will be eligible for full Social Security.
I’ve been a lurker up till now, but the chance to chat a bit and win some blog candy has brought me out! LOL
1. We aren’t starving, but any means, but the economy has impacted us quite a bit. You see, my husband is a missionary/pastor and we live in Canada. Our support comes mostly from American churches, and we exchange our American dollars for Canadian to use here. The American dollar as weakened considerably in the 5 years we’ve been here, while the Canadian dollar has gained. As a result, we have about 30-40% less spending power than we did then – that’s like losing 30-40% of our support! So my husband finally had to do what we’d dreaded: he got a full-time job just over the border in the US (we can’t work in anything other than ministry in Canada at this point), 1 1/2 hours’ drive one-way. So now he’s working full-time and pastoring full-time – and somewhere in there he manages to sleep! LOL
2. We’re downsizing. Selling things we don’t need and looking for a smaller, cheaper place to live. I have an Etsy shop, and our daughter has one for her jewelry. We don’t make much, but every little bit helps! I’ve always cooked mostly from scratch, and I’m beginning to find ways to recycle/upcycle things to save money. I’ve always been a frugal grocery shopper, too, which helps any time.
Through all of it, though, we’ve learned that we never go hungry (we both could stand to lose some weight, even!) and God pours out blessings upon us that we never see coming! It’s a rich life, maybe not so much in money, but in learning and growing!
Karin Moyer
to me
show details 7:04 PM (5 hours ago)
The economy has really affected our family. In October of 2008 my husband suddenly lost his job due to downsizing. He was a salesman in the truck and automobile industry, selling to commercial accounts. He was not able to find another job in that field until December of 2009. Now that he is in sales again the amount of sales is very, very low. Since he makes his income on commissions only, it is becoming a situation where we are beginning to wonder if we will have to sell our house. I can’t work – I’m on disability, so I am not able to pick up the slack with our income by working more or getting a different job.
We are taking things one day at a time and praying alot. We continue to hope that sales pick up enough that all our bills can get paid. We have 2 grown children living with us and that really helps, since they pay a decent amount to us for living under the same roof. Both of them would love to live on their own but with the economy the way it is they know that their jobs might not be there tomorrow and so they are biding their time.
I think of all of the people in our country who have lost their homes and am so thankful that we still have ours. So many people are hurting, not having enough money for all the bills, or for food, etc. We don’t ever go out to eat anymore. We used to do that on a regular basis. We don’t shop for things we don’t really need, and put off buying clothes and other items if it is not really necessary. We have gone for quite a while without health insurance and still don’t have it. It will kick in in April, but then more $$ comes out of his paychecks for that, so I’m not sure how positive of a situation that will turn out to be, even though I know it is a necessity.
With all of that I remind myself every day there are alot of people worse off than us. I just hope things begin to change for the better.
I hope this spring that things pick up with the economy but where I live more and more people continue to lose their jobs and it makes me sad.
We are definitely living a little less posh these days, feeling the financial crunch. More home cooking, less fast food. Using things longer before replacing them. More handmade, less purchased. Even my crafting sees fewer new items. Using what I already have has become a necessity rather than buying the latest gadget. I do not plan to re-enter the workforce or go to school.
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I would like to chirp in here as well, thanks for the opportunity.
We have a small car lot and thanks to “cash for clunkers” and the economy, we are struggling to stay alive. We have two children in college that are unable to find a job to help pay their way, so we are doing what we can. We are lucky enough to not have lost our home or our jobs, so I thank God for that. We are healthy, also, thank God.
I have stepped up what until now was mostly a hobby. My Stampin’ UP! business We are cooking from scratch,and reusing, rrepwhatever we can. We also are nnot spending money unless it is absolutely necessary. Whatever it takes, that what we will do. I alsoo cannot see what I am stamping for some reason, so who really knoows what I have written, LOL.