By hope
Well, my goal of not spending for two months failed when my heat went out, my glasses broke, etc. Not exactly spent. But I didn’t spend anything I didn’t have to!
Our neighbors
I don’t know if I’ve written much about my neighbors here. When we first moved into our house, four of the eight houses closest to us were rented. Over the past seven years or so, there have been some changes. Now only 3 of them are for rent. But most of our neighbors are of very advanced age. In fact, of the 5 non-renters, 4 of them had been there longer than us. We love our long term neighbors and some of our new ones too.
However, the downside to everyone staying here forever is that many of our neighbors are elderly. In fact, in the days between starting this post and now finishing it, someone died. His daughter called me today. (He’s the one who ran over my mailbox. You shared that, didn’t you?!?)
However, as his health deteriorated, we did what we could to help. We did his grocery shopping for him, and answered his calls for help with anything. I even managed to climb through his bedroom window one day to let the EMTs in when they couldn’t find the house key. For the past two years, the gymnast has been working out in his yard. We spent hours listening to him reminisce about the “good old” days in Illinois where he came from and raised his five children.
Unexpected help
All this is to give some story on how we restocked our cupboards and freezers. When he was last admitted to hospital and told the end was imminent (heart problems), he knew he would never go home again.
He had his granddaughter clean his food and give it to us and another neighbor. We got a freezer full of food – bread, meat and frozen meals, plus eggs, bread and some other canned items. Oh, and I didn’t mention it was Italian so this food is really good. I haven’t had to spend a dime on food for the past two months.
I’m also confident that with a small restock in the next week or so, we can go another couple of months without spending.
So this post is a gratitude post for our neighbor Mark. May he rest in peace.
Hope is a digital marketing manager and single foster/adoptive mother of five children. She has run her own consulting firm for over 15 years and took a leap of faith by returning to the corporate world in 2021 to a job and team she loves! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the spring of 2015, and feels like she has finally mastered the balance between family first and wise financial decisions.
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