Beautiful Homemakers

Being home has an impact on our children.  It provides them with a feeling of stability and security.  We teach them manners, character, our Christian values, what the Bible says, and how to live and spend our time.  With the internet, they need more watching than ever before, at all ages.  Long hours of time at home teaches them to be content, gives them time to dream, and models for them how a Christian home functions differently than the rest of the world.  We teach them how to care for the family home by doing chores with them.  We teach them how to be cheerful, and to be content with what the Lord provides.  We teach them financial principles.  We teach them how to make the most of what we have.  We bake with them, and teach them how to cook.  We kiss them, and we play games with them.  We read to them, and pray with them.  We are needed at home. God called me to be a homemaker and I love to be at home.  O...

I discovered this 1926 Agnes Sligh Turnbull short story ten years ago, and periodically I feel the nudge to re-read it.   Even though it is set 100 years ago, it freshly portrays what seasoned homemakers know , and what many younger women just starting families may have never been told.     Societal attitudes in general may have changed, but the basic needs, wants, and values of people haven’t.   Life is always hard, no matter the decade, and our choices on how we spend our days working matters greatly.   When Queens Ride By,  a short story by A gnes Sligh Turnbull Jennie Musgrave woke at the shrill rasp of the alarm clock as she always woke—with the shuddering start and a heavy realization that the brief respite of the night's oblivion was over. She had only time to glance through the dull light at the cluttered, dusty room, before John's voice was saying sleepily as he said every morning, "All right, let's go. It doesn't seem as if we'd been...

Is the desire of your heart to be at home with your children? Are you on the fence about coming home because you don’t see how it could possibly work?   Do you not have children, but desire to be a homemaker just the same? Are you already at home but need help in making ends meet? Every woman has financial concerns about coming home and surviving on only her husband’s income.   It is scary to contemplate…your heart will begin to pound as you prepare your budget and realize that there is absolutely no way to make ends meet on only one income…but you WANT to be at home! A book full of encouragement, Janine has given you straight-forward guidelines, and financial principles found in the Holy Bible.    She shares her action plan of over 125 little steps to help you gather your courage, step out in faith, and successfully thrive on one income! Take delight in the Lord ,   and He will give  you your heart’s desires.   Psalm 37:4 ...

A. Sarnoff In 1995 I was saddled with my own debt AND debt that wasn't mine - stolen info, fraud, etc.  In 1997 my roommate taught me how to clean up my credit.  I did what she said, and, at the same time, I paid off my OWN stupid debt!   It took me two years.  In 1999 I bought my first home.  In 2014 I became 100% debt-free.  You can do it, too!  One year from now you will wish you began TODAY!   So do it! You can read about how to do this in my book, How to Thrive on One Income.   Or you can subscribe to my new website ThriveOnOneIncome.com and receive the first 5 chapters of my book for free, including the chapter on how to clean up your own credit file.   Thanks!

We all need one.  If you are single, then it all falls on you.  But if your hubby is working, can you find a way to work less, and live on less?  The majority of people actually can, but won't.  That is up to you.  Where there is a will there is a way kind of thing.  If you want to work, that is fine.  I'm not trying to get you to quit.  Just keep in mind that the "Research shows that women who work 41 to 50 hours a week are 1.6 times as likely to develop heart disease and 1.5 times as likely to get cancer compared to those who work 30-40 hours per week (averaged over a 32-year period).  The more hours you toil, the higher your risk."  Allard Dembe, Sc.D., Good Housekeeping, Jan 2017. This is mainly because once you get home, your work doesn't end - it's just beginning.  So your life is nothing but work.  And I'm concerned about the women I see who work themselves to death.  End of speech. So here goes:  ...

Living on One Income - The Prequel Comment: "We aren’t living in luxury! We don’t have a large home, we don’t drive luxury cars, our kids are in public school, we don’t have maid service, and we don’t even go on vacations! There is no way we could make it on my husband’s income, but I WANT to be home!   What do I do?" Over a decade ago I read an article by Patricia Chadwick called “Leading Me Home”.   Patti has graciously allowed me to share a snippet of it here, and the majority of the article is in my book How to Thrive on One Income . This article was so encouraging to me! “While we didn't live an extravagant lifestyle, my husband's wage was low, and his work was seasonal. In my mind, there was no way I could quit my job. Over and over again I would feel the Lord prompting me to become a homemaker. I would hear Him speak to me when I read the Bible. I would hear His voice when I heard a sermon. In my time of prayer and devotions, I would feel Him promptin...

Calm.   Peaceful.   Happy.   Content . Happy Family 1955 Eloise Wilkin No more mad morning dashes out the front door. No more being late to work. No more snapping at the kids. No more schedule rearranging. No more sick days. No more melt-downs in the mornings. No more, “Who is picking up the kids today?” No more, “Who will pick up dinner?” No more, “Who will stay with the sick child?” No more, “Not now, I’m working.” How would your life change? He begged her to stay home.   She didn’t feel adequate.   She couldn’t accept his care of her.   She feared abandonment.   “What will it take?” he asked.   She jokingly replied, “A Porsche Cayenne.”   Within a week he had one delivered and demanded she resign.   He told her that he and the kids desperately needed her to be at home.   The chaos and negativity of her job was destroying their home life.   She quit, and the above was her partial list of what...

The Job A. Sarnoff When my baby was 2-1/2 years old, my old job called to see if I could fill in for two and one-half weeks while someone was on vacation.  Lured by the easy money, I readily agreed. I was to begin on a Wednesday, so my DH took off Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I left a full fridge, no dirty laundry, and a sparkling clean home.  I was gone 10 hours.  I came home to dinner and a clean home, happy to see baby and daddy. Thursday, same scenario, except the house was no longer sparkling. Friday, I came home to no dinner and a messy house.  I was exhausted, and as I hadn't made the mess, I went on strike.  I wasn't going to do any dishes, laundry, or housework on my weekend.  I did take over caring for baby. For the next two weeks, daddy took baby to grandma and grandpa's house.  Then he went to work.  When he picked little one up, grandma had dinner ready and waiting for him. I began working 12 hour days.  A...

Photo credit You can alter your life by altering your attitude .   ~ Unknown I embraced my situation in life on April 3, 2000.  I found a support group for a problem in my life that filled me with fear.  I took baby steps in ending the reign of my clutter (I believe I was one of FlyLady’s first 100 people).  I was also one of Rhonda Britten’s (of Starting Over fame) first clients.  I acknowledged myself for the many baby steps I was taking in several directions and my self-confidence grew.  I began to visualize how I really wanted my daily life to be.  It was indeed a journey and I had many instances of confusion deciphering, “What am I committed to?  How do I act?  Where do I spend my time?  What do I want out of life?”  Yet because I was now consciously searching, writing and taking notes, spending an hour a day in prayer, devotion and learning, I had many key instances of clarity, vision, and discovering who I reall...

photo credit We had to cut 60% of our budget in order for me to stay home. I had started a list of all I did in this post, but it was soooo long, that I eventually took the 240+ steps I took while living on one income and becoming debt-free, all while homeschooling our child, and expounded on them in my book How to Thrive on One Income .  The blessings of living on one income are so worth the effort! Know that you must be agreed that you being home is more important than a higher income.  If your husband is resentful you will encounter problems (or if you really want to work, then you will sabotage yourself at home).  You can have a trial time as well – he might not believe you can cut expenses.  But you can!  Joni McCoy of MiserlyMoms.com has a wonderful audio tape telling her story that is incredibly inspiring. You must know WHY it is important for you to be home.  Finding Your Way Home , which I talk about in its own post ( here ), is a...

A. Sarnoff FlyLady taught us to use our calendars, and I’ve had to take that a step further for my sanity.  I use FIVE calendars for five very different purposes. #1 MY BILLS CALENDAR – A little planning NOW, and every year thereafter will be so easy! I detail this calendar thoroughly in my book How to Thrive on One Income. #2 MY BEDROOM CALENDAR I used to be able to say, “I change our sheets on Wednesday.”  But then came along a sweet, little, bedwetter.  I never knew when those sheets got changed.  Sometimes it was daily.  Sometimes weekly.  If there were no accidents, then I’d forget! Thus, my sanity was once again saved by a free, pocketbook sized calendar that I keep on my dresser.  I write when I change each bed (and towels also).   I also keep track of more personal things in this calendar, things I don’t want company in my kitchen to notice!   #3 MY FAMILY CALENDAR     If you need help...