I got my taxes together yesterday. I found my DH makes $35,000 a year. $2,300 of which goes to doctors, meds, and the like. $1,300 went to church. We had $6,770 in stuff we gave away. Leaving us with $7,800 per person in our house for living. What an eye opener. How many families can say that they can do this? No wonder we can't save for college, do more family vacations, field trips, extra stuff in general.

Here is what we can do: we volunteer at the zoo. We get a zoo membership for free. Its an hour away so we have to budget gas carefully. We know the meaning of the word no, but we can save up for it. Believe it or not we can save up for a week in the Smokie Mountains. We just put 10% of what we get into a jar. My DS is the one that does most of it with his earnings neighbors pay him doing odd jobs. We know the meaning of work. Hard work at times. We know how to work together to get to the end goal. We are wonderful pet owners. We know the joy a pet can bring. We know the value of a family dinner. We know not to "blow" our dollars on something just because "Johny" has one. We know how to borrow stuff. Take great care of the item until it is returned to its owner. We know how to hunt for the deals. Our last trampoline was free. Just had to haul it away. Same with our two swing sets and my swing made for two.

My name is Honey Muffin and stuff collects me. We don't lack in stuff that is a fact. We have more to give and to share. There should be a group for people like me. Thing is most of it is free. It helps with taxes. It helps to redecorate our house. I keep the cream of the crop and pass on the rest.

Over all, I'm surprised at how little we have to "live on". With prices going up, it will be a HUGE challenge to make it all work. I've got to do more couponing. I've to save more too.