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Welcome to Centsable Savings Stories and Struggles!
This week we are featuring Kelly from Faithful Provisions. Thank you for sharing your story, Kelly!
Who Am I?
My name is Kelly and I am a wife to the most amazing and wonderful husband and daddy in the world, and mommy to a boy and a girl under the age of three. I love to cook, shop for amazing deals and share what I do with others. God has faithfully provided for our family to allow me to stay home to raise our children and make the most of the income my husband brings home. I love to teach and encourage others who want to do the same!
I started blogging about only 5 months ago and love it! The following verses in Luke were my inspiration for the name of this blog:
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Luke 12:22-24
My Story
The first question asked when I meet someone or teach a class is “How did you start doing this?”
So, here is my story…
About three years ago, after our first child was born, I had a great job working for a big Fortune 500 company. After she was born, I immediately felt God tugging at my heart to walk out in faith and leave my great paying job. This was not an easy decision, I was bringing home half of our income and without it, and we were barely going to get by each month. As excited as I was to stay home, I really dreaded the financial impact on our lives… especially knowing that over 50% of marriages end in divorce due to financial troubles.
So, after returning to work for 2 months, I gave my 2 week notice. From that day on I was able to clearly see God’s hand in our finances and his deep care for us in our day to day lives. We did our first budget and were floored at how much money we were actually throwing away each month on non-essentials! It is amazing what you can live on, versus what you THINK you have to have to live on.
I was first introduced to this way of saving by my dear friend Bekah. She had always shopped this way; her mom had taught her to use coupons and shop sales. So, one night in January, she had me and my little sister over and taught us this new way of shopping. It was like a light bulb went on, and that was the beginning!
Over the next few months I got better and better at it and after 1 year, had reduced our grocery and eating out budget from $1,100/month to about $250/month! As I began to get better at it, I had friends asking me about how I did it and we taught my first class in my friend Christina’s home, with about 30 women. From there, we began to teach a class monthly in her home and they were always packed; we were starting to turn people away for the next month’s class.
From that, I began to start an email list of about 200 people who wanted to receive frequent updates on deals and coupon match-ups. After about two years of doing this, I decided (after much urging from my awesome hubby!) that I needed to learn how to make a living off of what I do by starting this blog and charging for classes.
Since starting my blog I have seen areas where my readers are most interested, and I do weekly and monthly posts on the following topics:
My Weekly Wrap-Up: On Saturdays, I post a rundown of my grocery trip with pictures and my budget tracking month to date.
Menu Plan Mondays: I post my menu plan each week, and link to orgjunkie.com to give my readers lots of options!
Budgeting Series: I will be starting a budgeting series soon and will kick it off by giving away Dave Ramsey items.
Monthly Updates: I posted my goals for 2009 (both personal and financial) and I do an update at the end of each month to let you know what I have accomplished or gotten off track on.
Cooking 101: I have found that many women are looking for tips and information on cooking. I started a series that takes different recipes, food preparation and stockpiling tips to make things easier in the kitchen.
I wouldn’t be where I am today without believing in God’s word and how He will faithfully provide for those who believe in His son Jesus. Through our faith in Him, we have been abundantly blessed and shown a way of life we didn’t know existed. My hope is that in seeing our journey, you will be encouraged to step out in an area that God is calling you too… to trust Him!
God Bless!
Kelly
Each week we feature a different shopper’s story. Centsable Savings Stories are the stories of people just like you who are working toward reducing their budgets, bargain hunting, living a more frugal lifestyle and constantly learning along the way. If you are interested in sharing your family’s successes and struggles, please contact Katherine at centsable.katherine[at]gmail.com. Blogger and non-bloggers are both welcome to participate. Click here to read the stories of shoppers featured in the past.
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