My husband and I have gone from having barely any stuff to having a lot of stuff back to barely any stuff again.  When we were first married we spent a lot of time eating and enjoying our dinners together.  We got to know our neighbors because we would take walks but as our marriage progressed we obtained more stuff that required us to work longer hours to afford & maintain.  This stuff required our attention to make sure no one took it from us, we did not lose it and to keep our stuff in tip top shape.  We put our stuff before ourselves and the stuff became the most important part of our topics when we did get a moment to talk.  Now we are back to the barely any stuff and it is so good.  We are back to really hearing each other now and the stuff does not have a voice in our conversation.   There are a few things we consider necessities but those items are the ones that are contributing and pulling their weight in comparison to the time we spend to pay for and maintain.  My husband and I are doing the thriftiest thing a couple can do regardless of the stage of their relationship.  We are not putting stuff before our relationship.  When we see a new toy we first ask what will we sacrificed for this item.  If there is a sacrifice to us we don’t buy if it contributes equal we do.  For instance our cell phones.  We have the plan were we can talk free to each other as much as we want and we can talk with our kids because they have the same plan.  We do not subscribe to text, picture or any other money drainers.  We only use this tool to stay connected and we do not allow it to dominate our existence because someone is forwarding us a joke that interferes with our time.  In connection to our cell phone, when my husband and I are together we do not run to answer that ring unless it is really not interrupting anything.  We work to show each other that we are important and the outside world can wait.

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I mentioned that I clean a club house that I get a little pay for and free use of the ameneties.  Well what I'm seeing at this club house sickens me.  This club house caters to the local University college students (19-24 year olds).  What sickens me is these young adults roll out of bed drinking around lunch then the continue to drink the rest of the day.  This club house is absoulty beautiful.  They trash this place.  It takes a full crew to pick up the beer cans each mornnig to move the chairs out of the pool.  In the club house I have broken beer bottles and broken stick to the pool table and sand tracked from the volly ball courts.  The tanning room has tanning goo squired onto the wall.  These young people walk through with their heads held high like they reigned from some royalty or something. 

Parents YOU ARE NOT doing your young people a favor by giving them the Prince/Princess mentatlitiy.  If you are a guilty parent of doing too much -- love your kids and teach them pride in their belongings by having them work to earn and maintain possessions.  One way a young child can work for belonging is the priveledge of a nice soft bed.  They should make that bed daily. They should care for their pillows by fluffing and placing on the bed neatly  They should look at that bed as a prized possession.  Shoes they should care for their shoes by washing and polish.  Clothing should never be discarded onto the floor.  It their clothing is only worth walking on donate those items to someone that would treasure those items.

If you do these things when your kids are growing up then the rest of the world will not have to suffer their existance but rejoice in knowing them.

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My husband's craft is categorized under construction but he has a specialty.  His specialty can really take him about anywhere we would choose to go.  When the kids where growing up he would go "hit" jobs and come home a few months then go again or we would get lucky and he would have a job close enough to drive. We always said one day, I would travel with him.  Well one day came BUT we had grandkids and I had a very good paying job.   We remodeled houses when he was home and I kept them rented plus I worked a full time job.  We literally was working ourselves to death but putting money in saving.   We were so tired with life and each other.  Our health had started being affected and everyone we knew seemed to be getting a divorce.

My husband and I made up our minds to do something when we did taxes about three years ago but only got the guts when tax time rolled around again and we owed yet again. We now have sold our big house,  our rental houses and only kept one that is one block in from the beach.  This house is a very tiny shotgun house with only two bedrooms and one bathroom.  We have stocked this house, we have given stuff to both of the kids and donated items to a local church thrift store.   I always tell my daughter and son if God means for it to be so it will make it easy if he does not mean for it to be so he will make it hard.  It was amazing how easy it was for use to sell those houses (in this horrible market!).  We invested some of the money and took an extended vacation (4 months) of  all places, THE BEACH, during one of the worst of economic times in our country.  It was glorious!  Our grown kids thought we had lost our minds (but still called for money).  My husband and I had never spent that much time together and we had been married almost 30 years.  The first time my husband ran to open my car door I didn't know what he was doing.  In the past he would have been in the driver's side impatient because it took me a tad longer (we got a laugh out of that one when I told him I thought he had bumped his head).   The biggest lesson we have learned about being thrifty is to invest time and energy into your marriages.  Our marriage is strong after 30 years when desire is usually replaced with apathy we are vibrant and very much interested in each other.

Other lessons have been, you can live just as good on less if you are creative, you can be very happy as long as you are willing to get out of your box, there is so much to see and do even in little small towns and best of all people are so interesting talk to everyone you meet or at least smile.  So many opportunities for fun have started out this way.

We have not tried the camper deal yet because when we priced paying for one, additional gas  and parking, the saving was not that much significant.  We found that when workers come to town to do various jobs the motels will give discount rates.  I take my own bed sheets, pillow and towels anyway.  I clean my own room with products I like.  So far we have stayed in a motel and now we are in a townhouse that is leased by 3 college students that are not attending school in the summer.

I have always been pretty thrifty (that is what allowed us to have so much on a construction worker's salary and an office worker's salary).   Our friends made basically the same amount but we always seemed to have so much more.   It basically came down to:  we did not drink, do drugs or smoke our money away.  I'm not a shopper and don't watch TV.  We invested in quality stuff, we take care of our stuff and used it up.

Now my full time job is finding ways we can save money on one income while traveling.    I have cleaned rooms at the motel we were staying and got paid about what was being spent there.  I am now cleaning a club house for a very fancy planned community with townhouses .  This club house is beautiful  a pleasure to take care of such beauty. It has pool tables, weight room, tanning beds, movie theater and pool that has a water fall.  There are volley ball courts and horse shoe areas also.   It takes me between 2-3 hours, 3 days a week and I'm paid  $100.00 wkly + free use of the amenities.  The young people are amazingly accepting of us.  They let us play too -  we don't even miss cable.  My husband is also bringing a few baskets of laundry a week from one of  the guys he is working with that is traveling without a spouse.  He pays about $25 a basket (about 2 loads).

I met a young mother yesterday who is traveling like we are and have their child with them (they are home schooling).  We compared notes and it was so interesting hearing their story also.  Like us they were fed up with the wife and children staying behind and never seeing dad.  Mom said she was doing so much homework at night she decided that if she was going to be the teacher she might as well teach her what she wanted and not the garbage public schools are teaching now.   The daughter was only 10 but she was so interesting to talk with about her adventures.

The "kids" and grandkids visit and they have so much fun because it was all new.  Funny thing is the other set of grandparents told our daughter recently they are planning their escape to be within three years from now.  They are seeing that we are just a close to the children as they are but we have been creative.  For instance I have sent a manila envelope with Ziploc packages of sand and shells.  I sent pictures with it and all and told them I wanted to share it with them.  I was able to go to Mardi Gras and sent quite a bit of "fine" jewelry to my grand daughter and a few fun items to my grandson.  I have tried parasailing with my grandson (talk about a rush!).  We all have the same cell service that allows us to talk free.  My 9 year old grandson called me last Christmas and begged me to go to a store (he was reading the newspaper for the town were we was at on the internet)  to see Santa arrive and to give him his wish list.  My husband and I had the best time.  We waited on the parade that brought Santa in by boat with about a million (at least it seemed that way) little kids.  We took pictures and got our picture with Santa giving him our grandson's letter. He has this picture in his room.

My grown kids and grandkids can't wait to hear from us and we have some good conversation about what is next where most people don't talk.

I'm researching (with the grandkids) 3 different places right now and have about narrowed it down to a small town in West Virginia next.  My 5 year old granddaughter likes the sound of Mississippi.  She wants to see the river

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