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| On the window sill in the laundry room - iron, bank, rubber duck and marbles. |
Today my little bank sits proudly in the laundry room window and collects coins, and sometimes a dollar or two, that get left in clothing. As clothes washer for the family this is how I make a bit of extra cash.
Like many people I have talked to recently, I can see that I take money for granted. Not that I have piles of the stuff around the house. I just always seem to have enough to meet my needs. There have been times in my life where I counted (and recounted) every penny. These days I just whip out my debit or credit card and get on with my life.
Then there was Tuesday. Tuesday, two weeks ago, when I was out shopping doing my serious stocking up of paper products and such. Please don't leave when I tell you - I was at Walmart. On this day they had the best price for the items I needed. I was very careful to buy American made. As I neared the checkout area a sweet voice came over the sound system. "Attention, Walmart Shoppers, we are sorry for the inconvenience but at this time our service is down and we can not take credit or debit cards. Again, we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."
Hello? Help?!
I looked at a few of my fellow shoppers, we were all looking around like we had just heard that Elvis was in the store looking for backup singers and wanted to meet each and every one of us.
Disbelief is a weird thing.
I slowly started for the front of the store. As I walked I heard the announcement again. They were still sorry and they were still unable to accept any form of payment except cash.
I had a few dollars on me but not enough to pay for this afternoon's work. All the price checking and looking to see where things had been made would be for nothing if these guys couldn't get their computers up and running. They couldn't. Word got around through the shoppers - there was an ATM connected with the bank that was in the front of the store and for a small $3.50 fee I could get cash, pay for my groceries and leave. Or I could just leave, afternoon wasted, gas wasted to get there and I would have no Kleenex in my house. I decided that the ATM fee was worth it, got my money (I did great I got enough for all my purchases except one item - for a moment or two I thought I was a genius).
Sad thing was when I looked back in the store there were carts left all over the place. Are we becoming that much of a cashless society? Where does that leave us when computers are down?
That moment or two that I considered myself a money genius vanished when I realized: I am not prepared. I really don't have supplies at home. If I had had to leave the store that day it would have made our lives a bit uncomfortable. What if a neighbor had needed help? How can I help anyone if I can't help myself?
Coincidence time: Sometime during that week a blog I follow, Mockingbird Hill Cottage (yes, I started following her because I love the idea of naming our house - another story for another day). Anyway, Claudia at MHC is working with 4 other bloggers and they are doing a series on Thrifty Living 2012. It's interesting how different folks are making life work within their means.
A week or so later I also found Rhonda at Down to Earth (a blog about simple life). Rhonda is teaching me how to stock a pantry, really stock a pantry. Not the one extra roll of paper towels, a few bags of pasta, and a few cans of tomatoes and soup that I had been happy with for the longest time. To really stock up, to be prepared - to be ready at all times to take care of the people I love.
All of these blogs have me looking at homemaking in a whole new way. Not in the June Cleaver pearl earrings on while I vacuum sort of way but as a member of society who makes the world a better place because of the way I live.
I didn't mean to go on forever. It's just I'm on the verge of learning things new to me and I wanted to share. I'm also exhausted from working in the garden and I need sleep.
Tell me, do you just live day to day - or are you ready for anything come what may?
It's Thursday, join me at ColoradoLady 's Vintage Thingy Thursday to see other vintage treasures.
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