I am grateful for my lifestyle that I get to live right now, today. It’s not always convenient or easy. But I get to do things that many do not. Living in this era of over-priced cost of living is certainly a challenge for many.
The story that led to me getting here is a bit of a Cinderella tale. What was supposed to harm me became my Blessing. Why am I grateful for living in a small Trailer? You see God is good even when something bad has been put in place. God can turn that around. I don’t talk in great detail of that event. Often I’ll say it was “inconvenient” or “a difficult time”. But it was more than that. I’d say good versus evil shows up all over the place. It did for me. Prayer helps. God is good.
I’ve experienced what I’d call “working poverty”. Back then, to buy food it was on my credit card just like taking out cash advances to pay my rent. I went through a chapter in life that I could do nothing but work. There was no fun activity. There was no room beyond the essentials. I could not afford meat and eating eggs felt like a luxury item. I was unable to make it without credit cards that served as a bridge to the essential supplies I needed and the modest income I earned. I’ve lived that for real. I remember going to work, packing my lunch and co-workers mocking what I had to eat. It was not an easy time. People can be so unkind.
Today, being able to shop at thrift stores for discounted goods to save on the expenses of life is extremely helpful to me. Because I use frugal shopping to offset expenses, it allows me to do things like order brand new items such as vitamins and other supplies. Some things I buy brand new. My life is so much better now than it used to be. All it takes is one event to uproot the “good life” and turn life into a tornado of financial problems to manage. I nearly gave up on God back then. It seemed so unjust, so unfair. Looking back I see how I was made into a better person. I became more resourceful.
During that time, I remember shopping for groceries one day where so many well-dressed seemingly rich people were shopping, too. An elderly woman was there, and I could see her contemplating what to get. Not out of want, but out of what she could afford. To the others, this woman was invisible. It’s amazing how many people do not see what’s right in front of them. This woman was in poverty, real poverty. No one seemed to notice her but me. I don’t know why. How could women with $200 hair cuts and Starbucks in their hands not notice this woman? Maybe that was God’s plan. Maybe I was supposed to see her. It was an interaction that I have not forgotten. In that moment she was a teacher, someone from which I would learn. We had a wonderful interaction.
In the world right now, I wonder how many Senior Citizens are struggling to stay warm this Winter, to pay basic bills and get their groceries and other supplies. In America, what I’ve witnessed for people facing real poverty is not someone choosing to go without a desired item to save money, it’s a difference between eating and not eating. That’s what the woman taught me at the grocery store years ago.
I was in the same situation, I could make rent and buy 20.00 worth of food a week. It makes you humble, greatfull and appreciative.
I was blessed and made things work, and in the end it all worked out.
Experiencing financial challenges definitely made me a more grateful person. Especially over the long term. Back then, it was hard. One thing I remember is the people I knew for so many years acted like nothing was wrong. Almost like being broke was contagious or something!