If you have leftover Valentine’s Day cards from the kids then use them to put in note in your kids lunch boxes.

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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A reader asked this. Please let us know what you think.

We currently live in Naples FL. It is a very expensive area and we cannot afford a home (we
have a small one bedroom condo that we own). We would like a small house - cabin and are
wondering if we should sell and move to a more affordable area such as the Midwest area-
Kansas, MS, etc. Anyone living out there - I’d love to hear what you think of the area. We have
no children and are in our early 40’s. Thank you!

Just my .02. But yes, I would move if that is something you want to do. Since you live in FL already then I will assume heat and humidity don’t bother you much.

I hate living in Kansas. I’m an outdoor person and I love to garden. Unfortunately, you can’t do that in Kansas if you have CFS. The heat and humidity about kill me. We usually have about 2-4 weeks of spring and 2-4 weeks of fall and then it’s either really cold or really hot.

I do like the fact that housing is cheap and people are nice for the most part. The attitude here does leave something to be desired. Jobs aren’t that great but a lot of people think “this is all I will ever have” type attitude and don’t strive to improve their lives much. They aren’t happy working in the aircraft plant or wherever but don’t strive to improve their lives by saving as much as they can to get out of there. It’s a “I have to spend it now because I deserve it because I hate my job type attitude.” In reality they get paid very well but just throw away money.

That I don’t like. I like people who strive to improve themselves and don’t wallow in pity. I do know that kind of attitude is all over the country but it is more prevalent here. On the other hand people do help a lot, are very kind and considerate.

I must say that even though I don’t like here, I would stay if it meant we could pay off our debt and get some good savings to move back to Colorado with a larger down payment for house. Housing is about 2-3 times what it is here. Mike is looking for work both here and there so who knows what will happen.

Different parts of the country have different pros and cons. Living in the city vs. the country has differnt pros and cons.

I have lived in several different states both city and country and there are different ways to save money in all of them. I get people all the time saying “i can’t save because i live in ……” Well the truth is you can save if you want to. It will be in different ways but you can. In NY the cost of living is way higher but so are the incomes more than in KS.

Anyway, that’s my .02. Back to her question. Do you like where you live? What are the pros? What are the cons?

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Today I was pouring boiling water into my teapot and dumped some on my foot. Don’t ask me how, I’m just born clumsy.

As I was standing there with my foot in the sink running cold water on it Mike laughed and said I should mention again to be sure and keep a bottle of Aloe Vera in the kitchen.

I have kept my Aloe in there for years and it comes in handy quite often! LOL

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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Since both mom and my brother’s wife are blondes we love blonde jokes around here. Here’s a great one my brother sent today! Enjoy!
Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

As a trucker stops for a red light, a blonde catches up and stops behind his truck. She jumps out of her car, runs up to the trucker and knocks on the door. The trucker lowers the window, and she says, “Hi, my name is Heather, and you’re losing some of your load.”

The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street. When the truck stops for another red light, the girl catches up again. She jumps out of her car, runs up and knocks on the door. Again, the trucker lowers the window. As if they’ve never spoken, the blond says brightly, “Hi, my name is Heather, and you’re losing some of your load!” Shaking his head, the trucker
ignores her again and continues down the street.

At the third red light, the same thing happens again. All out of breath, the blonde gets out of her car, runs up, and knocks on the truck door. The trucker rolls down the window. Again she says, “Hi, my name is Heather, and you’re losing some of your load!”

The trucker shakes his head and when the light turns green, the trucker revs up and races to the next light. When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of the truck and runs back to the blonde. He knocks on her window, and after she lowers it, he says,

“Hi, my name is Kevin. It’s winter in Kansas , and I’m driving the SALT TRUCK!”

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I bought Elly a really nice pair of white leather shoes for school at the thrift store for $2. She didn’t like them because they were all white. We were going to decorate them with some jewels and fabric paint but that would be costly.

I was wandering down the isles of the big W the other day and found some cool shoe laces for $1.150. I got a pair and she loved them! $3.50 for pair of shoes that looks brand new and are now “cool” to wear.

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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We had several people ask we are going to be having another crazy sale like we did last Nov. The answer is yes! In mid April we are going to be having another HUGE sale on Not Just Beans for Mother’s Day. (For some reason Mike would like to park in the garage this tornado and hail season.

So make your list and start saving up now!

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

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A reader sent this tip after our newsletter tip on storing meds in the kitchen to free up bathroom space. We keep our meds above the toaster and mom keeps hers in a drawer so we don’t have this problem but it is a good tip to remember.
Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

I wanted to tell you I was keeping my prescriptions over the sink in the kitchen and
pulled one out and the lid was loose–needless to say–my whole bottle of pills fell into the
dishwater. My doctor had to write a new rx and told me this happens all the time and do not
keep them over the sink anymore! Just wanted to warn people about that little mishap. Thank you. Helen

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I thought this was wonderful! Roxie sent it to me today and I had to share. I liked the comparison to life as a railroad track instead of hills and valleys. I always feel like we in the middle of crisis but things can always be worse. I really liked his insight!
Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

About Rick Warren (The PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE)

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having “wealth” from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,

“Purpose Driven Life ” author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California .

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend
trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always some thing good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,
“which is my problem, my issues, my pain.” But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You
more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.
That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful, moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD.

Thanks everyone for all the responses to the newsletter. We asked because the main reason people unsubscribe is they say twice a week is too much for them.

So I think we are going to have two seperate newsletters. One for saving money and one for grocery savings.

I appreciate all the input! It has been very helpful for us to know what you like and don’t like!

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com

Today is the first day in MONTHS that I have almost felt normal! I’m not sure happened but I sure feel better today. I have been so sick that it has been all I can do to force myself out bed, to do the dishes and pack orders.

It’s funny because you don’t realize how being sick constantly really affects you. I keep trying to do “normal” things when I’m sick and it just doesn’t work. That’s why I look the way I do in the painting picture. If I can’t do it, I can’t do it and I need to remember that.

That got me to thinking that people need to stop being so hard on themselves at times when life just isn’t normal. Ok, so we haven’t ever had normal around here but you get my point.

When you have a new baby, if the house doesn’t get cleaned don’t worry about it. Keep up the dishes and laundry and forget the dusting.

When you have toddlers, it’s ok if you feel like you’re going to loose your mind. If all you can do is go sit out in the car by yourself and read a book for 10 minutes when hubby gets home from work, then do it.

When your sick, go out to eat or grab a frozen pizza if you need to. Your family won’t die from a few “unhealthy” meals.

People need to remember to work with what they have and stop worrying so much! Don’t be lazy and do what you can but give yourself a break when you need it!

Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com