Apr 24, 2017 | Family
One of the biggest struggles I have as a wife, a mom, an employee, a striving entrepreneur, and just an overall Christian woman is knowing how to balance all of the duties and responsibilities that comes with all of the many hats I wear. From the start of the day to the end of the day, after working, picking up kids, cooking/picking up food, helping with homework, getting the kids ready for bed, working on my “side hustle”, spending time with the “hubster” and attempting to sleep without my mind racing about starting this all over again. Just thinking about…
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“Did I put the clothes in the dryer? Nope! Now I have to re-wash the clothes…AGAIN”
“What are we going to eat tomorrow? Let me get out of the bed and take the chicken out and let it unthaw in the refrigerator.”
“Did I sign my child’s reading log today?”
“Did my child read today?”
“Note to self: Don’t forget to pick up snacks for Children’s church on Sunday.”
“What am I wearing tomorrow?”
I mean, it’s a wonder I get any sleep at night.
Although there is never a dull moment in my life, with all the constant busyness of “Our So-Called Life”, I would not change it for the world!
I love being the wife to a loving husband.
I love being a mom to three boys.
I love being able to help with homework.
And I am grateful I have a job that allows me to pay off debt.
But with all the love and gratefulness, I sometimes need a break! As a wife, a mom, and all the other titles I have, sometimes I just need to steal away and just enjoy “Petrina”—the woman! I need to get some alone time…some “Me” time…some quiet time. So, what do I do to take some time to gather myself without spending money? Here are three tips!
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Mar 26, 2017 | Family
The days of having one parent working while the other parent stays home to take of care of the house and kids have changed over the last 50+ years. Due to the emergence of women entering the workforce and the high cost of living, the need to have both parents working has significantly increased.
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According to an article on www.monthlyreview.org, “Married women increased their participation (in the workforce) from 24 to 61 percent (between 1950 to 2004).” (“Women & Class”, July 2006, www.monthlyreview.org).
With the influx of having two parents working, the increase of extracurricular activities, schoolwork, homework and the hustle and bustle of everyday life, the amount of quality parents spend with their kids is nearing “slim to none”.
I am a true believer that if, as parents, I do not plan to spend quality time with our family, that time could easily get away from us. Although I enjoy my job, side hustles and being able to contribute to our family finances, I want to ensure with the busyness of life and having young kids that my husband and I create memories that our children will cherish forever.
Now this may appear to be challenging, particularly since we are in the middle of our debt-free journey; however, we have come to the realization that is does not take a ton of money to leave lasting memories. Here our four ways we are creating memories on a budget.
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Aug 6, 2015 | Family
It is BACK TO SCHOOL time and we are ready and eager to begin a new school year. There is, however, one thing our family does every year to aid in the assurance of our children having a safe and fun-filled school year—we cover our children in PRAYER.
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Our goal is not only to ensure we build a “financial legacy”, but we want to ensure we are leaving the “spiritual legacy” that was passed down to us. Both my husband and I come from Christian homes. My dad is a pastor and my husband’s father is a minister; therefore, our faith was a vital part of our lives growing up. Everyday my mom made sure she prayed for each of us every morning before we ran out of the door (or got out of the car) for school. And if our friends were with us, guess what? She prayed for them too. Just like our parents prayed for us, the legacy continues with my husband and I praying for our children.
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Jul 13, 2015 | Family
This past week my husband and I celebrated 10 years of marriage and was able to get away (without the little ones) to spend some alone time together. It was Fabulous.
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Antwain & Petrina, July 9, 2005
One of the many conversations we had pertained to our goals and vision for our finances. We realize that statistically, many marriages fail over one single topic—money. And after being on the high and low side of money throughout our our marriage, we reviewed and discussed our finances. So after 10 years of marriage, we have learned that although we view and do money differently, we have to view and do money together. In order for our marriage to work, we learned we both must:
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May 25, 2015 | Family
Statistics show that the very first place children learn about money is where (or with whom) they spend most of their time with—their parents. They learn how to view money, how to spend money and the importance of money, not just by listening to what their parents say about money, but observing what their parents do with their money.
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Courtesy of dollarphotoclub.com
As parents, subconsciously we show our children what is really important to us with our actions and not just our words. For example, waiting in line for hours at Foot Locker for a $300 pair of Jordans rather than spending that same $300 to pay for our child’s past due tuition tells our children (without words) that looking good is more important than doing well (getting a good education).
I had great role models growing up. My parents kept debt slim to none. We always had a home and we knew how to give. How did we know? By watching our parents. (Side note: I also learned, however, how to sneak new clothes into the house without making our father aware, but that is “neither here nor there” LOL)
Needless to say, actions speak louder than words and our actions have been our financial demise for generations.
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