Living Life in Rural Iowa

The Friday Thoughts might give you the impression I am obsessed with certain things, but then again maybe not. Many people ask what I think about things and I am not a very good talker. I will start trying to put my thoughts here every week and see what happens. I am going to keep it to five things that have been on my mind or heart, but I am not making any promises. 

1. Well, there is certainly something going on in the air financially in this country. All signs are not pointed to the good either. If you are not paying attention to the financial news in other countries, you might want to be. If a recession or depression happens in this country (again), this will be hard on everyone. So many people depend on the government or other services to stay alive and that may not be possible if something happens. 

For the frugally minded, this might not be such a hurt for you. For those that are not frugally minded, you might want to jump on the spend less, save more train. Having cash reserves …

(Circa 2007 when this journey began)
I am the only one who can do for myself and my kids. Of course I have a great support group of family and friends who help, but at the end of the day I am still the only one there for my kids. I have to do the work required to keep up the home, bring in the money, and to do for ourselves. I have to do the canning, be worried about security, working to stay of debt, keep buying groceries to eat, and be creative.

I learned really fast that being a single mom, after being married for eleven years, came with a steep learning curve. Suddenly I had to do two parents' worth of work as one person. I had to figure out a lot of things for myself. I had to change my ways, look further down the road, and prepare for it. Preparedness became extremely important to me because I never knew when the child support would or would not come. I might have $700 in child support one month and none the next month. 

Now child support isn't an issue, but then it was. Ha…

I actually hate shopping. I rarely buy more than what is on my list and do not really want to go into any store. I also don't like that people give you weird looks when you buy 4-5 items when you should only need one. I also don't like to explain myself when they ask questions. 

So I am an online shopper. I know some preppers don't like to buy online because it is easier to track what is purchased, but I also live in rural area and don't have big box stores near me to pay cash for my preps. With the advent of security spy cameras, they know who is buying what and where at anyway.

One of my favorite ways to save money and continually add to my preps is to use Amazon's Subscribe and Save. I like that I can set it and forget about it. Around the 20th of every month, they send me an email asking to make sure this is what I want to be delivered or give me a chance to change my mind. 

Using Amazon's Subscribe and Save is easy!
1  If an item is available for Subscribe and…

This August I will be sending my second child to college. I have sat through two college orientations and my favorite session is the personal safety session for parents. I have learned a lot about how to help my college-age kids safe while at college. I have a lot of confidence in my girls being able to protect themselves and being aware of their surroundings while at college. 

However, let's be real here. There are some potential situations that girls or any kids can face at college (or even high school). Some situations may be unavoidable, bad decisions may be made, or small problems can become big problems. Drinking, drugs, sexual assaults, bad roommates, thefts, and fights can be situations they could face.

In light of this, here are twelve safety tips for college students and young adults. These are tips that have been given by safety officers, campus police officers, and some common sense tips from myself. These are tips that can be used to avoid or prevent a bad situation fro…

Dear June, where did you go?
Time for the June update! 
My Goals For 2015

1. Clean, de-clutter, paint, re-carpet, fix ceiling,  and organize Paige's room. This room is an unorganized disaster that needs some serious help. Plus she is at that age where she is growing out of everything: clothes, toys, books, etc.

We are doing a lot more decluttering than I planned. Which is great! She has gotten rid of a lot of clothes, shoes, and toys. We have a little bit more to do, then we can find the carpet completely and clean it to see if we can make it work. We also picked up another headboard and bed frame (for free) to replace the bed we are moving to her room. 

2. Clean, organize, paint, and re-carpet the office. This is where I work at home (most of the time). It doesn't work for me. It doesn't really work for anyone.

I have been doing some serious reorganization in the office. A lot has left the office including all my personal books which are in my room now on shelves. I am working …