I so respect your strength and courage in dealing with disabilities and continuing to work. LOL – I love the “lower than whale poop” concept. I must remember that one ….. so appropriate.

Take care and thank you for your comments.

How a man can work out for 2 hours a day and claim disability is outrageous! I actually qualify as being handicapped and would never even think of filing for disability ’cause my problems don’t preclude my mind and fingers from working and there are lots of jobs that don’t involve physical labor. You really were married to a guy who’s lower than whale poop!

BTW, I had a mutual friend tell me that one of my ex’s comments after the divorce was “yup, lost my meal ticket.” Sheesh.

I am sooooo glad you’re out of all that!

My lawyer is a woman, and hopefully on my side. She certainly was a goddess in court when we got the restraining order.

Whatever happens, the worst part is over – getting away from his influence and learning to be independent.

Sounds to me like you are very frugal. I’m trying to do things that are free, like go to the street fair with a thermos of drinks and munchies. We have art shows around and things like that and for the price of admission you can walk around all day with a friend, and its very easy to pack something nutritious for lunch.

Best sellers at the library are a joy. I sold a bunch of my unwanted books to a book store and now have $6 credit on used books.

You’re very encouraging to talk to.

On our honeymoon, hubby and I cooked like maniacs getting lots of meals ahead so when I went back to work I wouldn’t have the chore of having to cook every night. Thank God that we did as I got sick 3 weeks after we got married and was totally and thoroughly incapable of standing most of the time much less cooking. Those meals saved the day! Now with treatment I’m doing well enough to cook a couple times a week, but don’t have the energy to ever do a massive cook ahead except for something like spaghetti sauce.

Everyone’s reasons and needs for saving and being frugal are different. I have found that many ‘frugal’ things I used to routinely do as impossible now, but also some spending activities are out of the question. For instance I haven’t been to the movies in 7 years–can’t handle the sitting with my feet down that long. We occassionally buy DVD’s that we watch more than once so the cost of entertainment is very low. I check out the best sellers out of the library rather than buy them, that type of thing.

This year i’m starting a massive budget. My worse case scenario for my divorce would be to pay him alimony of 828 a month. So I’m trying to save $828 a month. If it happens, I’ll be acclimated and have savings. If it doesn’t I’ll still have savings, and paying him less alimony will be a blessing instead of a shock. I feel sort of empowered. I sat down and inventoried my freezer and cupboards and organized a good deal, and realized I have tons of things stored. I cooked ahead today, some things to eat this week, and others for future weeks. I’ll try to make ahead dishes weekly and stagger them for variety.

I’m sorry to hear about the arthritis. I have some of that too. Ah the joy of getting older.

May this be a blessed year for your and your husband, and successful as well.

Take care

Also best wishes to MizPat, I know very well the relief from being free from a man who was so emotionally abusive and I am now in a wonderful marriage with a guy who takes his marriage vows seriously.

2008 in the beginning was very emotionally and physically rough on me as my arthritis was out of control for the first few months and many family troubles, but the year ended with peace and a change in the way I take my meds and a CRAVING for salads and better foods has left me feeling healthier than I have felt in years.

Financially 2009 started out with a bang! Got an unexpected check in the mail from the state that is part of the old/disabled home tax rebate. Unfortunatley, it comes from the proceeds of gambling in our state and I wonder how many people throwing their money in the pot thought it ‘isn’t much’ or ‘I can afford it’ or ‘maybe this time’ or whatever reason that gamblers use to continue on that slippery slope. I thank you! Do I approve of gambling, no way, but I thank them anyhow. Our propane delivery had come that day and the check covered 2/3 of it.

Looking forward to a good year and wish the same for all of you.

I needed a new wallet. Coach was where I felt I had to buy it (because that’s where I had been buying all my leather accessories for years). I picked out a simple red wallet. Bonus — it was on sale for $100.00. Very quickly, though, I learned that it scratched so easily I couldn’t use it.

Something changed in me after I accepted that my $100.00 wallet was worthless. I bought a new wallet. A simple black wallot that looked every bit as attractive as the red wallot. This time, though, I bought it at an outlet store only after making sure that it didn’t scratch. It cost $20.00. I still carry that wallet today. It hasn’t scratched yet.

As for the red wallet. It’s prominently displayed on a shelf in my closet. I see it everyday as a reminder to think before I spend.

When the crash of 2008 hit I was ready.

May this be a year of growth, self-sufficiency, health and joy for all of us