The best things in life are free

I don't want to air all my dirty laundry here so let's just say we have financially hit a rough patch. Don't get me wrong, we live very comfortably in a home we own and generally want for nothing. We do however survive on a very TIGHT budget with very little if any wiggle room. We are dedicated to trying to stay as debt free as possible and are a one credit card household. We shop at thrift stores, cook from scratch, live cable free, make our own household cleaners etc. all in an attempt to live as simply and frugally as we can. I am blessed to be able to stay home with my children and to homeschool them. That being said, last month we had some unexpected car repairs upwards of two thousand dollars. This debt was not budgeted for and has resulted in us falling behind in our monthly Verizon obligations.

Yesterday morning my son awoke to find..gasp..that our Internet access had been shut off. He proceed to throw a bit of a fit ranting on about the injustice of it all. I quelled the tiny voice in my head that want to yell "shut up you spoiled brat" and instead used this moment to remind my children and myself how rich we really were. We sat down at the kitchen table and made a list of all the wonderful things in our life we have that are free. Here is our Fabulously Free List:

* denotes mom's contributions all other entries provided by my groupies

1. Sunshine
2. rain puddles
3. morning snuggles
4. grandma's kisses
5. friendship
6. the beach
7. the library
8. being healthy
9. brothers and sisters
10. the smell of a baby*
11. public playgrounds
12. sand castles
13. fairy houses
14. sleep*
15. bear hugs
16. PBS
17. NPR*
18. a loving marriage*
19. mud pies
20. the zoo
21. ninja skills
22. Halloween candy
23. bird songs
24. rainbows
25. ideas
26. comets
27. doggie kisses
28. E's giggles
29. smiles
30. the stars
31. oxygen
32. Lego club magazine
33. clouds
34. homegrown food
35. silly faces
36. singing
37. museums
38. a supportive family*
39. moonbeams
40. pretty pink sunsets

Making this list provided us all with some much needed grounding, it opened my children's eyes to the beauty and intrinsic value of the world around them. It also helped me to let go of my stress and realize I was already wealthy beyond words. I'm getting paid in sticky kisses, spit up and baby smiles today...ain't life grand!

PS: We caught up on our bills today so please don't worry;) Gotta love payday!