Planning For the Future

Lately I feel this urgency to make plans and get organized for the remainder of the year. Its already May 22nd and the year will be half over before you know it! Do you have New Year's resolutions you need to think about..... again.....? I do.

I think I am being led to prepare for the year(s) to come. Not in a panic or in a stressful way, but slowly and methodically. We need to trust God to take care of us, but as part of that care, we need to do the things he leads us to do.

I don't want to be a lazybones! LOL (Proverbs 6:6 - Go to the ant, you lazybones; consider its ways, and be wise, Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest.)

My husband and I discussed the situation of the economy this morning. His job brings him face to face with the high price of gas daily and how it affects farmers and truck drivers. My friend, not only is gas going up, but there is no way around food prices going up dramatically or perhaps food shortages.

But as I stated, there is no need to panic, we just need to be wise.

I started cleaning out our freezer this morning and making a list of those foods that would be good for stocking up on. Also the need for rotating the food to use the oldest first. In the past I tended to just stock up on things, put them in a certain place and leave them there for the future.

I want to be a good steward of the food that is available by freezing it, BUT, knowing full well that the freezer depends solely on electricity to work... I'm going to put equal energy and money into non perishables, such as rice, pasta, and canned foods. I've heard many sad stories of freezers that stopped working and it was a week before the owner realized it and all the food was lost. Or in my own experience, a hurricane which knocked out the electricity for a week!

Speaking of hurricanes, hurricane season starts in a couple of weeks and we should all check to see if we have necessary supplies on hand to be prepared for that or other emergency, such as batteries, flashlights, canned food, bottled water, etc.

Luckily, I have not just started trying to be frugal and have acquired many frugal skills which will come in handy no matter what the future brings. I also have to say that this past two weeks, when I limited my grocery shopping dramatically and planned our menus, we cut our food bill dramatically! The new plan is a keeper.

I don't want to forget the needy either! If we are prepared for the future for our own families, we can much more easily help those less fortunate, or those who didn't plan for the future! :o)

I'm also thinking about Christmas. I haven't done the things I planned to prepare for Christmas 08 yet! Now's the time to be purchasing some gifts as we go along, or making them. I tend to wait to start making gifts when its too late or I'm too busy to get them done.

I'm starting two lists today: 1. Stocking up on Food; and 2. Christmas preparations.