Next week we’re celebrating our ninth anniversary. I can hardly believe it. When Matt and I got married I thought I was marrying a “soon to be college geography professor,” that was the plan, but as he tried to make ends meet in our marriage, he fell in love with being an entrepreneur. He sold cell phones for a while, had a store, even had outside sales team, then he got into selling insurance a bit, and kept looking for what was the perfect fit, working mostly from home. I went a bit crazy in those early days (ok, I still go crazy sometimes!), have to admit. Inventory in a 700 sq ft condo with a 1 year old!?
Finally he decided that he wanted to be a “wholesaler”, he made it big on Ebay for a long time, until it got too competitive…now he has his own wholesale consumer electronics company, (but, if you asked him for 20,000 craft paints, he’d get that for you too). He’s well connected, super friendly, and loves to get a deal, even better when he gets a deal for someone else. I’m excited that we’re going together to the upcoming ASD tradeshow in Las Vegas!
So, long story short: I married an entrepreneur and know what life is like without a paycheck, without benefits, without any stability. How do you make it through the ups and downs? The answer is: #1 Faith! God does provide, always! #2 a well stocked fridge, freezer, and pantry (1 year supply of the staples at all times: for us its black beans, brown rice, canned tomatoes, rice milk, napkins, TP, that sort of thing…) and #3 pay bills ahead a few months when you can, this helps a lot!
Now that I’m an entrepreneur as well…we better stock even more in our pantry! That reminds me, this is a great time of year to stock up with all of the case lot sales, great deals at Farmer’s Markets, etc. FREEZE, can salsa, peaches, make freezer jam, do what you need to do to prepare for the unforeseen…you’ll be glad you did.
Today’s Magic Wand:
Take a good hard look inside your pantry and freezer. If you didn’t get to “pay” yourself for a month, would your family be able to eat? Take inventory of what you do have and figure out how to make meals with what you got. What would you need to add? For example: You have 20 lb. bag of rice, and some cans of refried beans, so you could consider buying some salsa and canned corn for your pantry so with those ingredients you could make a Mexican dish. Think about MEALS when you are stocking up, not just bulk.
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