Category Archives: Uncategorized

Reinventing The Future

 

First, I must say, my how priorities change.

Despite my best intentions to navigate my life, health hiccups are defining this year for me. I’m laid up with a broken ankle for the second out of three weeks of complete bed rest, and another four weeks without being able to walk. I’ve been too out of it to write much beyond the occasional FB update and respond to selective emails.

I was coming online to finally post an update about the beach houses, when I glanced at the statistics: 50,000 pageviews! Even though I haven’t been writing frequently in months, the site is still averaging over 3,000 hits each month. And this post is the 450th that I’ve written since . I was originally inspired by my twin sister’s DINKs Finance Blog (which she recently bought back…), which is now has 1,000,000 hits. So even though my blog stats still feel puny, I feel it’s important for me to celebrate this blogging milestone

Regardless of my health circumstances, I haven’t had a will to write prolifically since our family trip to Denmark. I haven’t been motivated to truly define my/our new goals (on top of a becoming beach house owners and a busy pdx family.) I’ve been frustrated at work, and needed to reconsider my career goals lately, and I’ve honestly been fantasizing about not working lately. And no, it’s not because I’m enjoying being laid up, it’s more like a seed that keeps growing inside. When I think about my priorities, it’s really about spending time raising my children/family, creating my personal community, writing, volunteers, and contributing to society in meaningful ways. 

“Not working” really doesn’t categorize how I imagine spending my days. Rather like my current “days off,” I rarely sit down the whole day, and when I do, it’s with a to-do list in hand

Yet, fantasizing is very different that committing to, such as my good friend Kim who is blogging around the world I ‘ve had a great deal of my identity wound around being a working mom, as has my family. I don’t even know if Hubby could get his head around the idea being the only breadwinner, regardless how relatively close that aspiration might be if we really made it our goal. I’ve been reading The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future . It’s very inspiring to make me just want to go for a variety of ventures, without putting all my eggs in a heap.

So, I’m still in the research mode about what exactly might lure me away from devoting myself as a public servant, but I’m pretty certain that I’m ready to make the transition to entrepreneur. I’m ready to make my own hours, take time to write, be with my family, and take care of my body/soul.  

I know this transition will take a mental leap, but I’m feeling like risking it. For now I don’t have any big reveal about my plans, though it feels refreshing just dream out loud. Regardless of my eventual direction, the only way I’m going to reach the goal of reducing my hours and/or becoming an entrepreneur is to get my financial ducks in a row and write about the actions I take on this blog. With baby steps in mind, I’ll work to get a renewed view of our current finances, while defining what our lifestyle requires financially, as well as how we can living more simply through our values.

Wish me luck…both with my aching ankle and my fledgling dreams! 

Darcy

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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Fridays “Free”

I wrote a while ago about our Flex Friday schedule and how it saves us both time and money. It means long days (7:30-5), but it gives us every other Friday off.


So, when I started considering how money could improve my life, my first thought was more free time. During the fall I reduced my schedule to 36 hours per week, which is still technically full time, but means that I now have every Friday off. It’s meant that I now drop off and pick up our Big Guy on Fridays (Hubby does so almost all the time otherwise.) I’m also able to get some exercise, and a hodge podge of family tasks and errands.


I couldn’t agree more with Huffington Post editor Laura Rowley, “The company that can  create jobs where a woman can work from 8:30 to 2:30  is going to win and win really big.”   The  Huffington Post article  also discussed a  study finds that being happy at   work becomes less important to women’s overall well-being when they have pre-school children , possibly because this changes working mothers’ priorities.”

While I enjoy my current position and am committed to my career, I also feel like creating more of an equal balance for my family is essential. Now that I have a 4 days on and 3 days off I feel like I’m really able to make the most of my time in both places and give more of myself.


Do you have a flexible schedule?
Is it worth it?



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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.

Summer Schedule

Happy June! It sure doesn’t feel anywhere near summer here in Portland, but I’m doing my best to have faith that all this rain will help my garden grow (not drown it like last summer’s harvest). 


Yet, I am having the urge to make the most of longer days and am less inclined to spend my spare time blogging in the evenings and weekend windows. Life has simply been full lately…with mulching, vacation planning, a limpy doggy, and another funeral service to plan for the country fair…plus a very busy full-time career, two kiddos and a Hubby who desperately needs a date night (and some sunshine!)…very full indeed.


So I’ve decided that to reduce my writing schedule for the summer season. I’m planning to post on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I don’t want to write for the sake of writing, and I don’t need any self-imposed stressed in my life. So, when you hear from me, it’s because I have something I truly want to share and because I want to continue sharing our family trials and celebrations in the hope that I will inspire you to reach your own sustainable family goals.


Plus, I’m sure you’re ready to enjoy the summer sunshine too 🙂


Hope you will continue to follow our summer adventures…


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Sustainable Family Finances 
The story of a family creating an abundant and sustainable life.