Post interruption:  It’s hard to say something like this, but a tragedy struck our little private school this week. The visitation for one of my Freshman students is tonight and he will be buried tomorrow.  My heart breaks for his family and there is a hole in the heart of every person at the school.   Something like this puts things into perspective.  We feel entirely different about our foundation issues now.  It seems superficial in the scheme of things. We are holding each other as a family, thinking about what’s really important, and praying for those who are closest to this trauma.

Back to the scheduled post:

I appreciate all the supportive emails after yesterday’s post.  There are lots of awesome ideas in the comments there.

Some good friends also sent these ideas through private messages:

“Don’t forget the little stuff. I don’t know how your bills are but setting a timer for the shower, always making sure lights are out in rooms you aren’t in and things like that really help!”

“Do you have the HyVee Fuel saver card? I just signed up, and I was careful and bought store brands on sale or others at a good price that also had the fuel saver discount, and in two weeks, I have $1.01 off per gallon.

Also, I noticed they have gift cards that have fuel discounts, too. I know JCPenney is one of them. For $25 gift card you get 12c/gallon and for $50 you get back 25c/gallon. Then you find a coupon to go use your gift card.”

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But also many of you landed on the idea that savings alone can’t fix a big money problem. It’s true!

There are things that could go on my list of 200 ways to save $100 that I don’t want to add.  Things like stopping ballet or violin lessons.  Not only would our kids be sad, but we would be affecting the income needs of other families. We’ve had to make decisions like that in the past, like with a sudden job loss.  But if I can find another way, I’d like to do that.

Then there are things like our internet connection.  We’ve already let our house phone go (we use Magic Jack) and have never had cable television.  But I earn my money through the internet.  So our quitting internet service would be like DH quitting his job so we wouldn’t have to buy the gas to get him there.  It just doesn’t  make sense.

There are other things we pay for that end up saving us money in the long run.  Things like a menu subscription :). Or a membership to a discount warehouse.  Or insurance.

If I stopped paying anything–the house, electricity, food etc. and saved every dime we brought in over 4 months would we have $20,000?  Nope.

So when simply slashing the budget and saving isn’t enough it’s time to consider earning more money.

Selling excess things around the house is a good place to start for fast cash.  It’s not a permanent solution, because when the stuff is gone, the income stream is gone too.  We have an upright freezer we could part with. An air hockey table (that the kids love); our piano, my guitar, a clarinet, some tiny violins, our furniture, and our wedding rings.  The reality is these are items we use, every day.  We would feel the loss.  In the scheme of things they are just things and I could let them go.  But if I can earn money another way…that would be best.

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I could expand my businesses already in place to earn more online. It’s scary for me, this earning money online thing.  To do that, I have to put myself out there, make offers, experience rejection, read mean emails from hurting people who forget I’m a real person and it freaks me out.  I’m terrible with handling criticism.

But also, it means I get to help people.  I only make money when I meet a need, give encouragement, make a better life possible for someone else.  And while doing that I get to help my family at the same time.  It amazes me how business works!

Of course I don’t have to work online to make extra money.  I could  teach classes; sell crafts; teach classes on how to do crafts :); do yard work; get a part time job; take on custom sewing.  I’ve done them all, but in this precarious situation of ours, I have to be choosy.  I have 6 children, I teach school part time and run 3 other businesses from our home.  It’s my primary job to keep the family running smoothly, so I have to consider the time it takes me to earn money and choose the most income for the least amount of time.  If I say yes to an opportunity to spend a lot of time for a little return, then I give up the chance to use my time to make the kind of money we need.

To do that well, I have to stay away from income streams that earn an hourly wage (like custom sewing or making crafts). And instead choose sources of open ended income where I do the work once and get paid for it multiple times (like video courses, drafting sewing patterns or writing ebooks).  This type of income earning is less guaranteed.  What if I spend all this time making a digital product and no one buys it?  It’s still scary.  But it’s my best shot.

There’s no perfect solution, just the best one for our current circumstances.  And we don’t have to walk the path alone.  And when I reflect on what has happened over the last few weeks, I’m thankful for God and his providence.  He doesn’t make bad things happen, but allows us to walk through them to refine us and help us grow in faith.