Why Blog?

Why blog? Why not blog? Maybe my life will be of interest to someone. Maybe my life's experiences will be helpful, useful, at the least, entertaining. So here goes.

Some history. I recently turned 50. Doesn't feel any different than 49, 45, 40, 35, etc. The body is a bit less agile, but I believe my mind is sharper, better able to assimilate incoming information and make better judgment calls. Haha...probably senility setting in. ;-)

I'm married, have two adult children and three adult step-children. I work two part-time jobs, plus do administrative work for our business. I have four cats and two dogs. I live in a house, on a not very large lot (I wish it were acreage). I enjoy gardening, quilting, cross-stitch, reading, camping, walking and spending time with my family (not necessarily in that order). I like to try new recipes but despise the day to day need to cook, the "what's for dinner" daily grind.

With the economy in the dumps I've pulled three books from my library to re-read: Amy Dacyczyn's (a.k.a. The Frugal Zealot) The Tightwad Gazettes I, II, and III. Thrift...tightwaddery...frugality. Call it what you like, but it has a place in everyone's life. The majority of us do not have limitless funds. Therefore, we need to pick and choose where we spend our hard earned money. Once we've decided what's most important (what our goals are), we can make choices to attain those goals. For instance, I would like to own our home and retire some day. Of course, I'd really like to live in the country on a few acres and then retire. :-) By making frugal choices I should be able to attain my goals. Do I really need to buy the most expensive toilet paper and eat out several times a week while enjoying a daily cappuccino on my way to work? Okay, so I already don't do those things. But there are many areas of my life where I could be more thrifty, not feel "deprived", and reach my goals faster. Some of this blog will be devoted to my attempts at practicing tightwaddery, frugality, and/or thriftiness. Maybe you all can learn a few things and share with me your thrifty habits, etc. I'd love to hear them.