"Don't Let Sin Find A Place In You. Recognize It As Soon As It Presents. Contemplate Your Weakness Objectively

"Don't let sin find a place in you. Recognize it as soon as it presents. Contemplate your weakness objectively so you recognize it when it knocks at your door. Actively name it when it calls and actively dismiss it, confess it, and replace it with a virtue. REJECT IT! Don't feed it! In this life you are becoming what you will be. In the next life, you will be what you have become. How do you become? By acting on either your vices or your virtues."

Ways I save money:

I have lived low income for a very long time and this is how I save money. Personal care: I leave my hair long and put it up if I want it out of the way, only cutting the ends maybe once a year or less. No dye, no "styles", no lotions/potions, no hot appliances. Simple and healthy. I never do mani/pedi unless I do it myself, but no polishes. I only use a one skin moisturizer. Also no make-up. I am 60 and people can't believe how young I look. Shoot if I look that young, why gob it up with expensive bottles and tubes of stuff nobody needs putting MY money into some company's pocket. I need my money. They don't.

Clothing: I only buy what I need and sometimes it is used or given to me as a gift. I wear it until it falls apart. I don't have many clothes. How many shirts can you wear at once? One, right? So how many clothes do you really need. I would say I maybe spend $100-200/yr on clothes, probably most socks and underwear. I have a coat I've been wearing for 40 years. Still looks great because it was a good coat. Laundry is only done when it is dirty. I did buy a small portable washer because the laundromat is a killer. This cost $350 and saves me $900/yr. I dry everything outside on a drying rack or inside on the same rack in the winter. My clothes don't wear out as quickly.

Housing: We rent and we rent less than maybe what we want and then make do. If they approve a mortgage for 200,000, buy a house for 150,000. If you can afford 1000 for rent, only spend 750. You get my drift. Always live under what you can afford because all the maintenance, insurance, taxes, and upkeep will also be less. This way you can save. I seriously have very few cleaning products. A bit of all purpose cleaner (I honestly just dilute ammonia with water) goes a long way. Nobody needs all the potions people create. I have simply used hot water on the floors. How sterile does a floor have to be? You're going to walk on it immediately and it will be dirty again, so really, who cares. I have the same old furniture I have had for years. Decent quality, well taken care of, and its lasted decades. Some of it was my grandmother's or mother's. It still works.

Food: LEARN TO COOK FROM SCRATCH. EAT LESS (I can guarantee most people eat way too much of all the wrong things). FINISH IT ALL AND USE THE LEFTOVERS. I buy stuff on clearance, even fruits and veg and quickly process them, stew them, blanch and freeze them, or whatever is appropriate. I have gotten a whole box of fruit and veg for $5 and not one bit of it is wasted in this way. Beans and pulses are good protein. Learn to cook them. Never buy processed, pre-cooked, out of the box foods. You are paying for someone else to do the work. Make a big batch of something and eat it all week, or freeze the remainder and make something different mid-week. LEARN TO COOK. LEARN TO COOK. LEARN TO COOK. Shop the sales at one store only. What's on sale/clearance is what I am eating this week, but this only applies to fruit/veg, meat/dairy, and simple foods. Junk food on sale still isn't food. If you have to make all your own cakes and cookies, you'll eat less, because you can't be bothered. Don't buy ready made.

Transportation: Buy used, no-fun, and buy cash if you can. Keep it until it literally gives up the ghost. Keep it maintained. If you can't afford to do this, you can't afford a car SO GET RID OF IT. Any place that is within a 30 minute walk, WALK, don't waste the gas. You DO need the exercise. Combine errands or do errands to or from work so you aren't making extra trips. Obey traffic rules at all times, it keeps your insurance low. I have a 2012 Civic and pay under $70/month.

Time: STOP WASTING IT. Take all social media off your phone. Take all shopping apps off your phone. Throw away all advertising that comes into the house immediately. Get ad-blockers so you're not tempted to bloody shop. Your money belongs in your pocket, not theirs. No matter what they tell you, they're not doing you favours. If you aren't in front of a screen, you can cook, do laundry, clean your home, mend, iron, and take care of what is yours so it last longer. GET OFF SOCIAL MEDIA THAT WASTES YOUR TIME. The only thing I have is Tumblr and I am on it maybe a half hour every couple of days.

Entertainment: Use the library. Everything in it is free: movies, books, audiobooks, games, stuff, TV shows, printing costs only a few cents and saves you on stupid dried out ink for your printer you rarely use. Play board games or video games. I can rent both at the library. Visit your local pool, park, join a community sports team, take a hike, go to the beach. If it costs a lot, somebody is benefiting more than you. Change your way of thinking. Instead of thinking "a nice dinner out with a few drinks and a show $$$", think instead of going for a walk with a friend/family and maybe grabbing an ice-cream and a coffee at McDonalds or somewhere cheap. You'll have just as great of a conversation and your bank account won't look like a yawning empty cavern.

I guarantee you that I am just as happy as you, and probably, because I have no debt at all, I might even be more happy than you. Think about it.

Lord help me live this day quietly, easily; to lean upon Thy great strength, trustfully, restfully; to wait for the unfolding of Thy will, patiently, serenely; to meet others peacefully, joyfully; to face tomorrow, confidently, courageously.

~St Francis of Assisi

I really struggled with the idea of Mary while converting, but THIS comparison was one of the things which conquered that fear.

Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant

The Original Sin

I often think the "original sin" was marketing. Think about it. Adam and Eve having been given their marching orders, "You can eat all this great stuff, but don't eat the fruit of this one tree", are immediately greeted by The Salesman who twists God's words and tells them, "No, no, THAT is exactly what you need to do! God knows that you need this! It will make you know all sorts of great things, just like God! And today only, we have free samples already picked of this great little fruit. Step right up and have a bite!" And the rest is history as they say. Marketing. Taking what isn't good for you, what you don't need, and what you can't afford, and making it sound like all that and a plate of chips. Am I right?

Such amazing craftsmanship!

Manitoulin Island quillboxes, with designs using only the natural colour. Porcupine quill embroidery (quillwork) on birchbark, trimmed with sweetgrass. From the collection of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation. 1. Marina Recollet 2. Jean Mishibinijima 3. Delia Beboning 4. Josette Debassige 5. Marina Recollet (side view of #8) 6. Eric Beboning (side view of #7) 7. Eric Beboning 8. Marina Recollet