Financial Musings

It's harvest time on the old money plantation and all the pickings are going straight to the purveyors of overpriced athletic shoes, must-have denims, and Miley Cyrus's retirement fund.

I remember well the days when I was an active participant in the "Back to School" buying frenzy. It literally made me ill. Outfitting five kids for school, even in the old days, was a HUGE financial burden. As the kids got older it got worse. No longer could you satisfy them with Toughskin jeans and PayLess shoes. I distinctly remember standing in Montgomery Wards (the only credit card that wasn't maxed out) and having a tearful, rebellious, eight-year-old Carl yell at me that "nobody at school wears jeans with elastic!"

My heart bleeds for young parents today who are hit hard this time of year--I really think it's worse than Christmas. You get a few outfits pulled together, buy new shoes, underwear, socks, a lunch box and a backpack, then go to school and get the teachers' must-have lists. I fully expect to find out that first-graders are going to be required to provide their own laptops in the near future.

When we were young and poor I did what I could to stretch the family budget. I shopped for school clothes at the thrift store--Liza and Emily had pink and purple sweater sets one year that I found at the Goodwill. One of my best finds... I carefully stored and labelled outgrown clothes so that they could be passed on to the next in line. And I did A LOT of sewing. For some reason, I felt compelled to sew mostly matching themed outfits. For years, my kids looked like an Irish dance troupe or a bowling team.

I also baked my own bread, grew a garden, canned fruits and vegetables, and NEVER bought packaged or convenience foods (including cereal). And I bet you kids thought I did it just because I was crazy for projects...

In addition, over the years, I found creative ways to bring in extra income. Here is a partial list of my "make money from home" efforts:

1. Babysitting--a reliable source of extra $, but very restrictive. And I could never really warm up to other people's children in a big way.

2. Sewing--Rarely successful. Most people are unwilling to pay for anything that they think they can do themselves, and if they won't do it themselves, they aren't willing to pay what your time is worth.

3. Crafts--Ditto above. One year Lucille Lovstedt and I made stickpins out of pheasant feathers and shells. (Yea, I know...) We marketed them around Port Hueneme at the gift shops and souvenir shops. I think we sold four. To this day, I bet she still has bags of left over pheasant feathers in her craft closet .

4. Newspaper route--Great money...horrible job. But we stuck it out for seven years.

5. Fuller Brush sales--I actually did quite well with this. I put Carl in his stroller and walked all around my neighborhood in Santa Barbara selling Fuller Brush products. Unlike similar companies, the emphasis isn't on recruiting other people. They just want you to sell their excellent products.

6. Cleaning--Remember Mission Enterprises? Our little office cleaning business paid for a big part of Carl's mission. It's actually good work--offices don't get that dirty, and you do it at night when you aren't really doing anything else.

7. Recycling--My current money-maker. Every time my big Rubbermaid container gets full of Diet Coke cans, I trade them in for a crisp $10 bill. It's not big money, but it buys me a couple of fish taco lunches.

I am currently quite impressed with Carol, my poop-scooping lady. She makes over $1,5000 a month scooping poop three days a week. There's no overhead, and her only start-up expenses are latex gloves, a little shovel, a trash can and bags. She's very good at what she does and unfailingly cheerful.

Well, that's about it. Know that I feel for you this time of year. I know that times are tough, but this, too, will pass. Be prayerful and work hard and "all things shall work together for your good."