He is 22. I have talked about him here before. He is a very considerate young adult and always gives me the biggest hugs ever.

Well, yesterday, he had a funeral to go to. A friend of his, 18, killed in a motorcycle accident. Very sad.

But, I ran into him yesterday, after the funeral, in town, as I was running some errands.

He came up to me, gave me a great big hug. I said, Jonathan, I tried to call you back today to see what you needed. He said, mom, it has been so stressful lateley. He said his cell phone was dead and his car wouldn't start, but he was calling me to see if I knew where his dress pants where at (he was wearing jeans). He also forgot his wallet at home when a friend picked him up for the funeral. He hadn't had anything to eat and wanted to go with his friends to get something to eat. I gave him $20 cash and a $10 gas card I had just gotton from mypoints.com.

I went home feeling so sorry for him. I called his dad to tell him that his son's car wouldn't start and if he could possibly fix it.

I can't wait to call him this morning to see if he is feeling better. It seems he has so many of these types of challenges every day, just struggling to make ends meet, going to college, trying to work a part-time job. Please everyone, send good vibes to my son, Jon. Maybe it will help change his course.

About two weeks ago, my husband had to take me to the hospital because I was so sick. I never get sick, but apparently I ended up having very low iron, getting deydrated and my electrolites were off. I felt horrible. They gave me fluids and something for my nerves, because the stress of my life was very much taking hold of me while I was there.

Well, anyways, I don't have any insurance, so I will add that bill to my debt reduction area when it gets here. I asked the nurse how much that bag of fluids was costing me and how much that shot was she was putting in my IV, but she didn't know.

That was stressful in itself. I have been working so hard to pay down my debt, pay cash for the renovations being done on my house, my kids school and my oldest college, while just making all the regular bills and eating heathly. It was an eye-opener that I needed to slow down and only do what I can do with what money I have. I will let you all know how much that bag of fluids and shot cost me, as soon as I get the bill.

But, ten minutes after I got home, my DD passed out twice and we had to call an ambulance to take her to the Emergency Room. She has had cancer in the past, and we ended up having a battery of tests for her for the past two weeks. She is still in remission, just having a problem with her platelets clotting to quickly and causing her to have a low blood pressure. Hopefull, we have everyting under control.

Okay, so here it goes. I have these two very large Elm Trees that have died and need to be taken down. I know that it is probably costly.

But, my husband's brother is a tree guy. That is what he does for a living. He owns his own business. He says he will take them down for us next Saturday for nothing.

Okay, what's the catch. You see, I don't want to feel like I owe him; and, trust me, it will get brought up in the future; either by my brother-in-law or my husband. They will want something or throw it in my face; or make a big deal about it somewhere along the way. I get along great with my sister-in-law; and I do not want this to be a hinderance in our relationship.

So, I thought that maybe I could pay him about $500 for taking the trees down. I can't pay him in a one lump sum, but I can send him money over the next few months.

My question is 1) Do you think $500 is a fair price; and 2) I don't want to insult them by paying them either.

I am going to talk to my SIL today and let her know that I will be paying for the trees, so that it is not a shock when they get checks in the mail from me, but I hope it doesn't cause any hard feelings.

My mom grew up in rural Kentucky and would tell me stories of her youth.

It seemed they had everything, because 60 to 70 years ago, the days were simple to an extent. They worked harder, I believe, but they didn't have skateboarding shoes or ipods to complicate life. Those kinds of things that come with growth.

But, my grandpa was a blacksmith and worked out of his own shop, along with growing tobacco. Mu mom believes the tobacco, on a good year, brought in about $900 and along with what he made from blacksmithing, which I really don't know how much he made from that. I am sure it was sporadic.

But my grandma and grandpa would have to really plan for their years. They had a very large garden, did canning, smoking meat, gathering fruit to put in the root cellar.

I don't believe they had a house payment. They lived in the same two houses forever, one which burnt down. We have our own cemetary where my relatives on my mom's side are buried. There are 9 children who needed clothing, shoes, coats, underclothes, gloves and hats (which were probably sewn, knitted or crocheted). I find it very fascinating and would like to do an experiment.

As I lay in bed last night, I wondered what it would be like to really plan, I mean really plan for the upcoming year. How much beef and chicken to put in the freezer. How much canning you would have to do to have enough green beans, tomotoes and corn to last until the next harvest. How many cucumbers you would need to pickle in large crocks sitting on the back porch. How many berries to pick for jam. How much flour, sugar and honey purchase or to grind to last a certain amount of time, until the next buying spree. my mom said that grandma could make the best biscuits ever. How much wood to chop/buy to last the winter season. Do you buy a pig or a cow or both. Cows, of course, give you milk. I, don't have that option where I live, but that is exactly how I lived until I was 16. On a farm, with a garden, chickens, cows and pigs.

Also, what was Christmas and birthdays like. In their family, everyone got just one gift for Christmas. They all went to the same one room schoolhouse, which they walked to. The school is still standing. And, there is still tobacco being grown in the fields around my family's cemetary, which is way down a dirt road, through the creek and up a steep hill. It is actually across the road from the first house my mom lived in before it burnt down, then they moved down the road.

So, say we took the $900, plus what the blacksmithing might bring in and let's just round it off to $1500 a year to live on. With inflation today, what would that amount be (around $15,000). You tell me. I am not sure the inflation rate from 70 years ago. I am sure their was a lot of bartering going on in those days, something similar to our freecycles.

I do keep track of how much I use on certain items. I use about one large (300 ounces) laundry soap every three months. I buy 4 - 40 pound bags of Red Out water softener salt every 5 weeks, etc.

I think I will sit down with my kids and really make a bare bones budget with the poverty level today, and see what we can come up with. How much hard work we would have to do until the next harvest. To really think about what we should purchase, what we should sew or knit; and then do it with today's level of growth. Give them a clothing budget and they can either spend it on expensive things or visit the Salvation Army or garage sales.

I think it is something to think about; and maybe a lot of you already do. Let me know your thoughts and stories or what you would do or maybe already do. I find it fascinating to say the least.

Wow, this has been a great challenge.

So far, I have paid for all of my regular bills and debts.

A new foundation for my new foyer $386.00

My oldest child's college for this semester $365.00

My kids school classes which will be paid in three seperate checks over the next three months. This month $100.00.

Registration for Odyssey of the Mind $40.00

All of those added extras above doesn't leave me enough to pay my property taxes in full today. I am paying $400.00 on them today and the rest as I get it over the next couple of months. I have never done this. I have always paid my property taxes in full when due.

I will have to account in my budget for those extra items I forgot about (college, school classes, Odyssey of the Mind, and I think I need a house fund). I use to just use what my husband gives me as rent for my house fund, but his work has been slow, and I have not been getting very much extra cash from him. Such is Michigan's economy.

One thing I would like to add to my budget is tithing and giving more. I use to do this more often, but have found that I wasn't able to afford it, but the gratification and rewards are much greater than not doing it.

I usually re-write my budget in January, but it looks like I have to do it now, as Christmas, two of my kids birthdays are approaching and I need to add those items above and still stay on track for my Rapid Debt Reduction Plan.

Here's off to the table with a pen and paper.

I paid off one credit card - But I had to transfer money from my ING account and Savings account to do this.

I Spent:

$270.41 on gas, which includes the $100 I spent on gas for our vacation.

$495.34 on Groceries
$111.60 on Fast Food/Eating Out

Extras:
Giving my husband a budget B-day party at the Club $50.00 (this included a gift, pizza, pop, watermelon, cake and tableware)
Three other B-day gifts ($43.95)

Another blogger brought up stocking up for Dec/Jan/Feb. and I think that was a good idea to be ready for the winter seasons.

I have been building a new foyer which is not a heated foyer, but attached to a room that is, so it stays cooler than the rest of the house.

Anyways, in my new foyer, I am putting a small freezer and a pantry/cupboard to hold canned items and other house related items that I am stocking up on.

It is also going to have a really nice coat closet for all of our off season gear with a cute little settee in the room for putting on shoes and boots.

Here's to seeing how far our stocked pantries and freezers can go. This is going to be a fun and creative challenge. There are a lot of websites in regards to root cellaring, stocking up, canning, freezing, drying, etc. This will be a great subject to teach my kids.