So I just keep on keeping on, and hanging on, and going on!
There is so much I wish to do but this body of mine doesn't wish to cooperate so often. :( You know the saying, "It takes money to make money" ??? (Sure you do - everyone does) Well, it's true; but so is this! It takes money to regain health!
Why is it that the more you see a doctor, the more you need to see a doctor? And why is that when a doctor gives you a prescription for one ailment it causes a few others to develop for which you need a few more prescriptions for? Why aren't doctors really interested in helping people get healthy?
MONEY!
That's what it's all about! Money! See, if the doctors make you well then you don't need to see them so much so they don't make as much money. And if they don't give you a prescription when they see you then the pharmacy guys don't make as much money either. And somewhere in the picture are all the other entities that make a little money with every visit: the clinics, the hospitals, the labs, the insurance companies... there are so many people (jobs) with a vested interest in keeping you coming back time after time. You wouldn't come back if you were well!!!
HOW does it take money to regain health?
The basic recipe to regain health is to do what your body needs to be healthy.
1. You need to stop doing things that make it unhealthy.
2. You need to start doing things that help it be healthy.
3. It's best to both 1 & 2 at the same time until you regain full health.
Sounds so simple! So easy! Right?
Wrong!!!
Let's take #1 - what makes us unhealthy?
Pollution, chemical exposures, poor quality foods, a lack of nutrients in whatever we take in, lack of exercise. That's about it. "Garbage IN, Garbage OUT" is really all our unhealthy bodies are saying to us!
Let's stop it!
Pollution - just for us personally it's expensive to remove pollutants from our environment. Same with chemical exposures. Poor quality foods - we can buy higher quality at a higher price. So again we're back to money. Same thing for nutritional values of anything we eat or drink... takes more money to get more quality. Exercise is maybe the one thing that doesn't need to cost more for us - we just need to make it a higher priority in our lives and do it more often. But exercise alone generally won't make us completely healthy.
To regain health takes money!
Let's look at #2! Start buying better quality foods with higher nutritional values... those cost more, but aren't you worth it? Remove all the chemicals from your home - the cleaning stuff, the shampoos, toothpaste, body washes, soaps, cosmetics, air fresheners, etc. Watch for furnishings that contain chemicals that emit fumes into your home. And what about the foods and drinks you consume? Some are loaded with chemicals and carcinogens and other harmful stuff. Read all the labels carefully! Ask questions! Do your research!
But, to do a really top-notch job (there's a lot of stuff to replace!) with this it takes more money!
I mean, let's face it! Look around you! Who do you see with the most health problems? Those with the least money! I'd be willing to bet that if you could take away the money issue, make it so everyone has equal access to the best quality foods and the highest level of nutritional value for everything they ate and drank then you would find lots more healthier people. They would just keep on getting healthier too!
Right now I am so tired of always needing more money to keep doing what I'm already doing! It's making it harder and harder to save up for things I really need yet! I need to eat totally organic foods, and drink totally organic beverages. But the highly processed stuff is cheaper and fits my present budget better. :( I need to build up my own business more. But that means more printing stuff from my home computer (business cards, flyers, info sheets, invitations, etc.) or paying someone else to do it. I need to keep my bills (rent, utilities, phone, car, groceries, etc) paid up but that gets tricky when the cost for those things goes up and the income stays the same, or worse, goes down!
Bottom line... IT TAKES MONEY!!!
Showing posts with label fuel costs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fuel costs. Show all posts
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
An Interesting Turn In Life
If you're still counting with us, it's been 254 days of striving to be as green as possible in our lives. More to our lives, it's been that long that we've been reusing as much as possible, reducing what we use to start out with, and recycling everything else if it's possible. It began as an effort to save money and to get healthier. It's evolving into a different way of living.
What began in one way has turned to another - a broader sense of understanding how every tiny thing we each do can and does affect things around us, things that we often don't see as a part of our life. We have been successful in cutting costs and yet our bottom line is no different, perhaps worse, because outside of our control costs increased for the things we do still need. As fuel prices skyrocketed to nearly $5.00 a gallon around here every commodity rose prices saying it was related to their fuel costs increasing. Hundreds of people here lost their jobs as some companies closed their doors, no longer able to afford to stay open - due to rising costs of operations. Yet, when fuel costs came down (presently they are about $1.70 per gallon) no one saw a correlating decrease in the costs of any commodities.
My grocery bill is still well over $100.00 per week! That $100.00 can now fit into just 2 bags instead of 4! We're buying less packaged food, lots fewer snacks, sticking mostly to essential things like veggies, fruits, grains, beans, seasonings, some dairy, some meats - getting things in bulk as much as possible. In general we buy less food now.
The cost of electricity and natural gas has risen enough to make our monthly bills 20-30% higher even though our usage has dropped by as much as 40%!
Insurance costs went up about 10% over last year.
We've had some other changes recently - thus my reason for not getting back here sooner than now. ;-)
Since August one of my older kids has moved out and is attending college in another state! And my three high-school kids are now being homeschooled. This began in large part due to the rising costs of getting them to their charter school (22 miles one way - a round trip made as often as 3 times a day, usually 5 days a week) but has also been something we have wanted to do for some time but just didn't have the right circumstances before now. So alongside my niece whom I've been homeschooling the last few years (she's just 7) we now have 3 high-school juniors working on finishing the requirements for graduation within the next year or so.
This has brought about an expansion in our aspirations towards a lessor carbon footprint and a more earth friendly lifestyle.
They are learning the "wonders" of cloth napkins, and dishtowels; of using the same glass instead of another from the cupboard each time they want something to drink; using more durable things over disposable things.
When we had to get up earlier, rush to get everyone ready to go out, get them to school by a certain time, our whole day was full of rushing to one thing after another and we did often use disposable things to make it easier, faster, more available to our schedules. Now we've eliminated that too. We're not rushing - most of the time.
We are also developing plans for home-based businesses: perhaps making eco-friendly items to sell; making jewelry; a photography business of some kind; selling artwork of various types that we make; and there's always my business - offering non-toxic household cleaning, personal care products & healthy supplements.
The best thing to come out of all the recent changes would be the increase in our own individual spirituality. We have worked at living Christian lives all along but somehow now it's more a lifestyle than before. Somehow now, we are each more Christ-like as we do whatever we are doing in our daily lives. We begin the day with Scripture & prayers, we end the day with Scripture & prayers, and we often turn to Scriptures as well as pray many times during our day. It may be done together as a family, or individually as the situation merits. We are filled with many blessings in so many ways!
Yes, we still struggle and the money coming in doesn't yet exceed the money owed but somehow the essentials get covered each time and whatever can wait keeps waiting. But in so many ways life is the best it can be in these days and times; and I will keep on giving all my earthly best!
What began in one way has turned to another - a broader sense of understanding how every tiny thing we each do can and does affect things around us, things that we often don't see as a part of our life. We have been successful in cutting costs and yet our bottom line is no different, perhaps worse, because outside of our control costs increased for the things we do still need. As fuel prices skyrocketed to nearly $5.00 a gallon around here every commodity rose prices saying it was related to their fuel costs increasing. Hundreds of people here lost their jobs as some companies closed their doors, no longer able to afford to stay open - due to rising costs of operations. Yet, when fuel costs came down (presently they are about $1.70 per gallon) no one saw a correlating decrease in the costs of any commodities.
My grocery bill is still well over $100.00 per week! That $100.00 can now fit into just 2 bags instead of 4! We're buying less packaged food, lots fewer snacks, sticking mostly to essential things like veggies, fruits, grains, beans, seasonings, some dairy, some meats - getting things in bulk as much as possible. In general we buy less food now.
The cost of electricity and natural gas has risen enough to make our monthly bills 20-30% higher even though our usage has dropped by as much as 40%!
Insurance costs went up about 10% over last year.
We've had some other changes recently - thus my reason for not getting back here sooner than now. ;-)
Since August one of my older kids has moved out and is attending college in another state! And my three high-school kids are now being homeschooled. This began in large part due to the rising costs of getting them to their charter school (22 miles one way - a round trip made as often as 3 times a day, usually 5 days a week) but has also been something we have wanted to do for some time but just didn't have the right circumstances before now. So alongside my niece whom I've been homeschooling the last few years (she's just 7) we now have 3 high-school juniors working on finishing the requirements for graduation within the next year or so.
This has brought about an expansion in our aspirations towards a lessor carbon footprint and a more earth friendly lifestyle.
They are learning the "wonders" of cloth napkins, and dishtowels; of using the same glass instead of another from the cupboard each time they want something to drink; using more durable things over disposable things.
When we had to get up earlier, rush to get everyone ready to go out, get them to school by a certain time, our whole day was full of rushing to one thing after another and we did often use disposable things to make it easier, faster, more available to our schedules. Now we've eliminated that too. We're not rushing - most of the time.
We are also developing plans for home-based businesses: perhaps making eco-friendly items to sell; making jewelry; a photography business of some kind; selling artwork of various types that we make; and there's always my business - offering non-toxic household cleaning, personal care products & healthy supplements.
The best thing to come out of all the recent changes would be the increase in our own individual spirituality. We have worked at living Christian lives all along but somehow now it's more a lifestyle than before. Somehow now, we are each more Christ-like as we do whatever we are doing in our daily lives. We begin the day with Scripture & prayers, we end the day with Scripture & prayers, and we often turn to Scriptures as well as pray many times during our day. It may be done together as a family, or individually as the situation merits. We are filled with many blessings in so many ways!
Yes, we still struggle and the money coming in doesn't yet exceed the money owed but somehow the essentials get covered each time and whatever can wait keeps waiting. But in so many ways life is the best it can be in these days and times; and I will keep on giving all my earthly best!
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