Why I choose to shop at the expensive grocery store

Where I am from, we have a Super box store and a few grocery stores. Now as far as grocery stores in the area, people’s biggest complaint is that they are too expensive, but I beg to differ.

Think about the big box stores. Why do women especially say they love to shop there? It’s because they carry EVERYTHING! If you need to get some items for dinner, it’s there. If you roll around and realize that your child needs thick socks for the fall/winter season, it’s there. If you need to get a filter so you can change the oil in your car, it is there. If you name it, it’s probably hiding out there somewhere. What is the problem with this philosophy? It sounds like that would be the ideal setup. The whole family can go to store together where the husband can find what he needs, the wife can find what she needs, and  the children can find what they want. As an added bonus, you only have to haul your kids out of the car one time because there is no need to go store-hopping. There is one word, though, that is quite a danger to all who enter the big box stores:

EVERYTHING.

The problem with a store carrying all you need is that most people tend to drift. They go from aisle to aisle to help them remember what they need (if they didn’t bring a list). The issue is that you start to find plenty of things that you don’t need but want. For example, you head down the cereal aisle to get oatmeal for the week, then you see all of the bright colored boxes behind you and realize that the kids hate oatmeal so you need to get them some cereal. Then you say, “Well, some mornings they may not have enough time to sit down with cereal so you buy them Pop tarts. Now that you bought the cereal, you realize, “Oops we are out of milk.” So you head to the dairy department where you pick up some milk. Then you say, “Oh wait! It is fall/winter season and the kids are more prone to get sick so I better pump them with vitamin C.” so you grab them some orange juice. The cycle will continue until a $3 trip to the store becomes an $83 dollar prison.

To be fair, this isn’t just for women either. Men are better at manuvering through the store better, but even some of them get tripped up. They may make it to the auto section to get oil and a filter successfully, but if they see one of their friends or family members, you may as well take the kids for a second trip around the store. This problem is created from that one word. EVERYTHING.

Now lets take a look at more expensive grocery stores. I prefer them for a number of reasons.

1. Variety

If you love to cook exotic foods or even slightly complex dishes, grocery stores, usually have more culturally appropriate food. For instance, I was looking for Housin sauce to cook some Beiijing Wings and failed to find it in the big box, but could easily find it in the Asian food section at the grocery store. SCORE!

2. Design

Now I am not a marketing genius. I haven’t even graduated from the Dummies guide to marketing, but one thing that I have noticed is that as a customer, I only go into the grocery store for what I want/need.  This is even more true in an “expensive grocery store”. I make a list and pretty much stick to it. Every now and then, something will catch my eye, but I don’t travel down every aisle, and I only go on an aisle where I know I am going to purchase something.

3. Price

I know I’m going to get some backlash for this one, but in a more expensive grocery store, the price of items may be higher than the big box, but there are ways that it can be cheaper. For instance, I usually check the sales ads for the store before I make my list. That way I can make the most of my trip. I also to sign up for any free “store cards” that will allow me get additional savings. The last way that I save is through coupons. In the big box, they don’t necessarily spit out coupons of things that you need, but at the more expensive stores (depending on which one you go to) will give you coupons at the end of your trip which ensures savings for the next time.

To be fair, big box and expensive grocery stores both have great benefits, but in my experience on a teacher’s salary, it makes more sense to do my shopping at the expensive store.

Which do you prefer?

Need a Financial Advisor?

Here is a lesson in finance from Pharaoh. The land of Canaan and Egypt experienced a surplus of seven years in which people probably lived as we do. They probably ate their fill and more, didn’t worry about saving much because they assumed that things would always be as great as they were. Then, they were hit with the inevitable. Every generation experiences this. It is the slow down. The slow down in resources also known as a recession. Then they started to feel it. They recognized all of the dollars they didn’t save, All of the leftovers they didn’t eat, and all of the frugal things that we didn’t do because they though the surplus would never end.

But it did.

It always does. When it does, the ones who had so much fun spending money, start spending their health trying to figure out how to survive their current lifestyles on a smaller budget. So how do we remedy the situation? Well, there is a money manager who is not readily mentioned in financial books. He gets over-shadowed by those such as Solomon, Abraham and David.

His name is Joseph. Most of the time, you hear Joseph’s story from the perspective of him being sold into slavery by his brothers and being a leader in Pharaoh’s affairs, but what you fail to realize about him is that he was an excellent manager of money. During the surplus, since God had warned him that there would be seven years of surplus and seven years of famine, during the surplus he saved one fifth of what they produced and stored it for the lean times. When the lean times struck, he had enough food to last him during the famine.

He did this for a period of seven years in which the surplus started to end and the hard times began.

As the people around him who had been enjoying those seven years of more-than-enough started to run out of money, they had to go to none other than Joseph to get access to Pharaoh’s treasury so they could buy more food. This worked until they ran out of money.

Once they ran out of money, they had to go back in order to avoid starving so they gave up their livestock for food. Once they ran out of livestock, they had nothing else to give but their bodies (service) and their land in order to survive.

Then Joseph via Pharaoh’s treasury  provided a way for future income in which he gave them seeds and made them give back one fifth of what they had back to the treasury.

In other words, he provided passive income to ensure that the treasury would always have money in it.

It may seem like he was taking advantage of others, but just like us, we know that in times of plenty we can enjoy ourselves, but it won’t last forever. So let’s try to be wise in our investments when times are good so that when times get bad, we will be as prepared as Jospeh, the financial advisor.

Have you received “THE BURDEN”?

This post is not as funny and light-hearted as my usual posts because my heart is heavy now. This may not be politically correct, but I need you to see my heart. My question to you is, have you ever received “THE BURDEN”? If you don’t know what this is, it is a strong prompting to pray for someone or something that you may not have been thinking about lately. It may come through a spontaneous thought. It may, as mine usually do, come in a dream. Not the usual nightmare with monsters and zombies, but a nightmare where I know someone is going to die or where I see a school shooting in vivid detail in live time. Whenever I have these dreams, I never know what they mean. I just know that they are so strong that I either wake up crying or praying. These kind of prayers bring me to my knees in pure desperation. I never know if these dreams are the result of bad food or of something more, but regardless, they create a burden. They create a heavy load that I can’t shake. If you have ever experienced these, I NEED your comments. I NEED your prayers. This is not a joke or ploy to get people to read this blog. I am in tears as type this because I woke up at 4 something this morning with THE BURDEN. I need a Joseph or Daniel in my life to help me with these dreams and need some prayer warriors to pray over children all over the world that go to any sort of school whether it be pre-k, daycare, elementary, middle, high, or college. Pray for YOUR children, nieces or nephews that are in any type of establishment. I pray, this all is just a bad dream, but either way, cover your children in prayer.

Confession # 1: I am a thief

I’m a thief.

According to Proverbs 12 verse 12, it says thieves are jealous of each other’s loot, but the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit. Now this verse can be interpreted in a financial sense, but I see it in a spiritual manner. Many times I compare my walk with God to others believers’ walk with God. I want their passion, prayer ability, spiritual gifts, their intimacy. I am, in this case the thief. I want the gifts that they have instead of my own due to my desire to compare myself with them. I become jealous. Because of this jealousy, I’m almost 100% sure that my growth in my walk with God is being stunted because I can’t keep my eyes on Him long enough to be “rooted” in Him so that I can bear my own fruit.

Being rooted in God reminds me of the verse that I really liked in Colossians 2:7 which says:

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

My roots are supposed to be in Christ. To be rooted is to become firmly established, settled, or entrenched. To come into existence; originate. To cause to put out roots and grow. (Definitions from dictionary.com)

This leads me to Psalms 1 which says

Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers, but they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

The tree in this verse is planted by the riverbank meaning that its roots are near the water where the roots can take in the water and nutrients from the soil in order to grow to its full potential. If at anytime this tree is cut from the roots, it will die. It cannot live without the vital nutrients and water that the roots provide. This is much like my walk with God. If I do not stay rooted in Him, the Living Water, I will perish. Being in Him is vital to my life because He is my life.

What is the living water? It is the Holy Spirit which is given to us to us by our belief in Christ.

John 7:38-39

Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, “Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”

(When he said “living water”, He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him, but the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)

Now I have to make sure that I don’t let anyone or anything cut or block me from my roots which are grounded in the Living Water. That means sin, doubts, worries, comparisons, jealousy, lust, etc.

So If I stay grounded in the Water, as a tree, what kind of fruit should I bear? Apples? Peachers? Nope. There is a fruit that is much more special than any other fruit that I could partake of in my physical body. It is the spiritual fruit.

Galatians 5:22 goes in depth as to what kind of fruit I should be bearing.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things.

Now this is how my fruit should look, but if I am producing the kind of fruit in Galatians 5 verses 19-21, then I seriously need to take an inventory of what’s going on in my life.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealously, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Looking at all of this is helping me to keep things in perspective. As I look at others, I need to make sure that I am rooted in Christ so that I can bear the kind of fruit that I am supposed to be bearing. Comparing myself to others is a way of blocking my own fruit from growing as it should. I need to entrench myself in Christ! He is my only source of life!

Say what you mean

You need to say what you mean. We like to think that we do, but in many cases, we say the direct opposite.

For example, what do you mean when you say:

“I’m not trying to judge her, but…”

“That dress is too short. She looks like tramp. I wish she would go and put some clothes on.”

“I’m not talking to him. He’s a Christian and Christians are hypocrites.”

“I can’t believe she got that job. I work harder than she does.”

“Look at those rims on his car. He can’t even afford a nice place to stay.”

What about this: “I’m not trying to pry but…”

“Are you and your boyfriend having problems?”

“Why are you still living at home with your mama?”

“Why do you and your spouse have separate banking accounts?”

“I’m not one to gossip but…”

You heard that they are getting ready to layoff a few people in your department.

“The government is going to hell in a hand basket.”

” Minorities are the majority in the U.S.”

“I’m not trying to be mean but…”

“He has an ugly girlfriend. How did she get him?

“Girl, you look like a busted can of Pillsbury biscuits in those jeans.”

“He is such a weak man. I don’t think anyone would truly want him.”

Whatever the case may be, in saying phrases like these, they are a laser point focusing in on the fact that you are EXACTLY what you say that you aren’t trying to be. If you are going to be mean, pry, gossip, or be judgmental, be that. Just don’t pretend like you don’t. The best advice that I have is from the hearts of old. If you aren’t going to say something nice, don’t say it at all.

Men!!! This is for you!

Women. We can be gorgeous, brilliant, adorable, sexy, and cute. We can be pure, holy, godly, studious, and giving. We can be unique, nurturing, and graceful.

Men, let’s face the facts though. Sometimes you may get a woman who is  nagging like a dripping faucet. She may be contentious in nature always having her boxing gloves handy. She may bash you, make foolish decisions, and make you almost one crayon short of a whole box. Yet, regardless of which kind of woman that you may have, I think most of us have been all of these things at some point.

If you are on facebook or twitter, it doesn’t take long before a woman complains about the man she has or the one that she wishes would appear. We seem ungrateful and dissatisfied. We demand things from you and make you feel as if we have it all figured out, when we really don’t.

Here is the truth, men.

We need you. No not in that sappy kind of I would DIE if I didn’t have you kind of way, but in the we need you to lead kind of way. We need you to take care of your household. We need you to love and respect us. Regardless of what kind of woman you have or had, I want to say this on behalf of all women everywhere.

THANK YOU!

Thank you for taking care of and loving your children whether or not you are with the mother of the child.

Thank you for being respectful to women treating women like queens instead of objects.

Thank you for being a leader who takes control yet asks for input from your woman.

Thank you for being a provider and taking care of our need for food, shelter, and clothing.

Thank you for putting up with our nagging (we know you have to have the strength of an ox to deal with that).

Thank you for taking initiative whether it be to help us clean the house, put the kids to bed, or to fix the leaky toilet.

Thank you for being faithful to us when your friends said it couldn’t be done.

Thank you for being proactive in starting businesses, moving up in your company, and being creative.

Thank you for surprising us with little things that you know make our hearts melt.

Thank you for spending time with us while forsaking others.

Thank you for being understanding when our ideas aren’t always the best.

Thank you for being YOU and for being the man that God made you.

On behalf of all women beautiful and poised or nagging and controlling.

We love you and we appreciate what you do!

Just a few sexual thoughts

If you are young and single, this message is for you. If you are married this message is for you. If you are a Christian this message is for you. If you don’t believe in the bible or God, this message is for you. As a young woman, I have made many mistakes. Because of those mistakes, I had to lean on God incredibly hard to become that woman that I am today. Don’t worry. I’m no where near where I need to be, but if this message can help someone who is young and defiling his/her body in any way, I will be thankful. When dwelling on 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. This is what came to me.

In verse 18 it says to flee sexual immorality. When I think of the word “flee” I think of someone running for dear life away from a very undesirable situation as if their life depended on it. For example, when slaves were in captivity and decided to run away from their master’s homes, they fled because they knew if they were caught, they would be beaten and possibly killed.

Or nowadays with all of the dogs that are biting children, if you see a vicious, rabid dog ready to come after you or your offspring, assuming you didn’t have a gun or stick, you would run using every inch of stamina that you had in order to deflect any hint of danger.

If we think those things would be dangerous, why do we play with sex? To be honest, sexual immorality should be the same way. If you have impure thoughts you should flee and think of those thoughts as eventually causing death. In reality, it will because thoughts lead to sin and sin leads to death. It may not be a physical death, but worse than that, it will cause a spiritual death or separation from God. Once you experience the salvation of God through Jesus Christ, the last thing that you want to do is to be separated from Him.

In verses 19-20 I understand that we were bought with a price through the blood of Jesus Christ. My body is a temple in which the Holy Spirit lives. Now if by committing sexual immorality, I am sinning against my own body, what right do I have since my body doesn’t belong to me anyway?

For example, what if my mother owns an apartment complex and my friend and I move into one of her units in order to save money. Lets say we put holes in the walls as we hang up family pictures, we put stains on the sofa after eating numerous lunches and dinners on the couch, and we take the paint off of the wall with tape that we used to keep notes up. Once we move out, whose responsibility is it to fix up the place? Although it would be considered my responsibility, the likelihood is that the damage would come at an expense to the owner to repair the walls, replace the sofa, and fix other deformities in order to get it back to the original state that it was once in. This is the same way that we do God. We do things that are sexually impure that harm us physically, that cripple us emotionally and once we are done having our fun and spitting on God, we crawl back to Him praying that He will put us back together again. My body is loaned to me because God bought it when he sacrificed His only Son in order to save me. So for me to disregard this fact is selfish because I damage my body and then expect God to come to my rescue. He has through His grace and mercy, but He is by no means required to. That is why if you damage your body because of your own foolish actions, you have no one to blame but yourself and your disinterest in truly fleeing sexual immorality.

With that being said, to the gentleman out there ( I’m talking to the so-called Christian guys). This goes for you too. I think all men are strong, intelligent, and powerful individuals especially when they learn to put their desires aside to serve God. I know that culture is telling you to do things that sexually impure, remember this: Who is your master? Is it God or culture? Is it God or your homeboys? Is it God or that woman? You men, just like us women have a responsibility to live according to God’s standard. Yes, it is difficult. I know because I still haven’t gotten it right 100%, but I strive to be holy as He is holy. Boy do I have a looooong way to go, but my heart is turned towards Him.

Stop trying already!

Think of this. You have a little gut that you got from the result of bad eating habits. This has resulted in high blood pressure or diabetes.  So you think, “Hmmm I want my sexy back as well as my health. I’m going to TRY to lose weight.”

Or this, you just had a baby, but those pictures of people like Jennifer Lopez who had twins and look like she never carried a baby a day in her life taunt you. So you put down the chocolate bar (no not dark chocolate. It’s not like you want to be healthy or anything). You take your hand out of the potato chip bag and say, I am going to TRY to lose weight and get this awful baby fat off.

Maybe you’re already physically fit and decide that financially you need to cut expenses by not eating out as much, so you pass Red Lobster, and move on to the grocery store so you can purchase the ingredients necessary to make a nutritious and delectable meal.

Or you have a goal to travel to Japan in a year so you take extra shifts at work, don’t buy as many clothes, and only use the dollar menu at McDonalds for a while to save money.

You do all of this because you are TRYING to reach your goal. Here is the problem with trying to do anything.

It becomes an excuse for why you aren’t already doing it.

Your goal could be losing weight, starting a business, going back to technical school, getting your master’s degree, saving $1,000 for your emergency fund or doing a little traveling.

Regardless of your goal, have you noticed that when most people try, they fail to carry it out and see it through?

To try is to attempt to do or accomplish something. When you attempt, you have the mindset that if I exert a little effort and it doesn’t work, I can try it again. Or you may say that if you try something and it results in failure, you will try something different. Yet, failing doesn’t always mean that a plan doesn’t work. It may mean that you aren’t pushing yourself enough or that you have unrealistic expectations.

For example: Let’s say the person in the first example has high blood pressure and wants to lose weight so they can lower it and reduce their medication. If that individual eats the proper foods for a day, exercises religiously, and alleviates some stress from his life and then goes to the doctor in a week to see if their blood pressure has decreased, what do you think will happen?

More than likely, their situation will be the same because they only TRIED to do the right thing for one day. One day is not going to cut it. It is going to take the person actively applying good habits every day for weeks and months to see a result.

The same goes with finances. Will it help if that person that wants to travel to Japan cuts back for a week only to go on a shopping spree two weeks later? They are hindering their progress in the long term only to gain in the short term. Even if they said they were TRYING to make it to Japan in a year, no one would believe them from looking at their actions.

So, if you want to do something, do it consistently. It’s not enough to TRY or to just do it temporarily. You need to make realistic sacrifices each day, week, and month until you reach your goals.

Why am I so broke?

Confession: I get paid once a month. Yes, only one time within 30-31 days. That means I have about 4-5 weeks between paychecks, and boy can it get hard. Below are the 3 stages that I experience during the month.

First of the month, I get a nice fat paycheck!

(That’s the beauty of a lump sum)

Picture from cosmoloan.com

Step 1: Sail through the first two weeks at full speed. More than enough groceries, eat out a couple of times, all bills are paid…

Picture from wikipedia

Step 2:   The wind stops blowing as hard. Now I am stretching meals, not eating out at all and have no extras.

Step 3: Wind is stagnant and I am stranded. This boat no longer sails. At this point, I am looking in the BACK of the refrigerator, freezer and cabinets for anything that I can throw together as a meal to last us until the next paycheck.

Once I hit step 3, I wonder, “Why am I so broke?” At this point, I feel as if I don’t have much of anything, and usually, I am right. With a nine month old child at home, this is not a great place to be. How do I function to ease the situation?

• I try to do one big shopping trip to the grocery store once a month. I try to keep my grocery bill for the month at $250 including my son’s formula and baby food.
• I pay all of my utilities and other monthly debts on the first day I get paid. That way, if I reach the end of the month and don’t have any extra money, at least I know that we will have food, shelter, and heat (since it’s starting to get cold).
• I try to use between $50 and $60 a month to get all of our meat for the month. I usually get chicken, ground beef, and steak as my major  three.
• Once I buy my meats, I separate them for 2 servings using Ziplock perfect portions bags  and then sticking those bags in gallon freezer bags in which I use a permanent marker to write the name of the meat and the date on the bag (so I can keep up with the age of the meat).
• For example, if I buy a large pack of ground beef, I separate the pack into thirds or fourths so that my husband and I can eat off of one pack of ground beef at least 3 times.
• I use baking soda and vinegar to clean because they are cheap yet efficient.
• I try not to eat out much unless it is to get a Hardee’s breakfast on Saturday mornings (with coupons).
• I cook almost every day even on weekends.
• I take my lunch to work.
• I tithe. Most people will say, “Well why do you tithe even though you have to stretch your money and feel broke?” The truth is, I trust in God. I can’t explain it, and you won’t until you do it, but when you give with a cheerful heart, it seems as if God takes care of your needs. Now please note that I do not tithe in order to get something back. If I was in it to get something, I would probably take that money and put it into a rental house or buying things at auctions and selling them online, but it is an issue of believing that God will take care of you. I know that some churches just like some charities  misuse the money, but for every church that misuses the tithe, there are plenty of others who use it to help others who need the money way more than I do.
• There was a time in college that I will share with you in which I believe that my faithfulness in tithing was blessed by God.

I was at Georgia State University getting my degree in early childhood education. I was at a point in the program where I had to student teach. Anyone who knows about the field of education knows that when you student teach, you work for free. Well, if you have bills, which I did, or responsibilities which I also did, working for free wasn’t going to cut it. Since I was working during the day full time and going to school, my options were to find a weekend job or to work at night and live off of two hours of sleep. It’s not the most ideal situation when working with children. One day, my aunt called me to ask if there was anyone in my program who could babysit for her friend who had three boys after school for about 3 hours everyday. At first, I told her I would and begin to think of those who would be qualified, but then I thought, even though I have never been a baby sitter, I could do it and it would potentially bring in income for me. We agreed to a payment of $13 an hour which was double what I was making at the daycare that I had been working at before student teaching. That job turned out to be one of the best jobs that I have ever had because the pay was good, the hours were ideal, and the boys were…well they were boys. Yet, I loved them and they were sweet and respectful.

Then, right before I stopped working at my job at the daycare, I had another teacher pull me aside and ask me if I would like to help her do children’s parties on the weekends. The parties would last about an hour or two, and I would would get paid $20-$30 an hour. The money from the babysitting and the parties covered my financial responsibilities during that semester of student teaching.

Some may call it coincidence, but I say thank you God!

So when you feel broke, try a few of my suggestions above (If you aren’t doing them already) and see if they work. Also, I would love to hear from my readers what you do when you feel oh so broke. Let’s help each other prosper!

25 things that you should try before your 25th birthday

1. Travel to a different country!

The Netherlands is a wonderful place to start.

2.Get your CDL (commercial driver’s license).

You will never truly appreciate the responsibility that you have as a driver until you get into one of those big boys.

3.Pay off all of your credit cards.

4. Listen to Dave Ramsey and purchase The Total Money Makeover.

5.Learn to use a crockpot (this goes for males and females)

It’s a lifesaver.

6. Start a business.

I started a trucking business that only lasted for two months, but I never regret it. I’m excited that for once I started something that I really wanted to do, but was afraid to do. The next time I start a business, I plan on it being VERY successful financially and to have longevity.

7. Tell your parents/guardians to respect your decisions as an adult, so they can let you blossom in your adulthood.

8.Buy an old school car such as a 72 Cutlass or GTO and fix it to your liking.

9. Learn how to paint cars (it will save you some money when someone bashes their door into the side of your car in the parking lot).

10. Have a list of ways that you plan to provide for your family (if you don’t already have one) and start working on it. The list. Not the family. 🙂

11.Get rid of your cell phone. Ok, if you don’t have a desire to be as drastic as I am, Get rid of it for a set amount of time. A Day? A Week? A month? It will change your perspective.

12. Get rid of your cable. Between Netflix and Huluplus, you are good to go. If you like sports, befriend someone who loves to have company during football or basketball season and enjoy the game  for free!

13. Pay off your car.

Not having a car payment awesome. That’s one less company that you are a slave to.

14. Try a painting class like Masterpiece Mixers with family or friends. I found out that most of the time, the guys are better at painting than the girls!

15.Use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning. Whether you have sensitive skin, have a baby, or are a college student wanting to save money, those two are classics, but they work.

16. Clean out your car! Get those crusty fries off of the floor, clean your carpet, and refresh your interior since you probably spend a good portion of your day/week in a car.

17.Revise your goals. I know for me, I have plenty of goals that I would have loved to have accomplished by the age of 25, but I haven’t. Nevertheless, I still plan on accomplishing them.

18. Get away from social media for a day. No email. No facebook. No cell phone. Spend that time with your family.

19. Cook a meal at home. Wait. That’s not a joke. There was once a day and time where people had an oven in their kitchen that they could open the door, put meat like chicken inside for a certain amount of time and the chicken would be done. Then you could put it on a plate and eat it. Wow. From the comfort of your own home!

20. Get married. While some may argue that you need to have fun while you are single, why not have fun with someone who is your best friend every day? Will it be as easy to have fun once you are married? No? I’m 25 years old and married now, but I do know that it is more rewarding when you and your spouse have an exciting time together.

21. Have a baby. Honestly, I don’t know how people over 40 do it! At this age, your body and ovaries are at a prime time for you to reproduce. Also, as a female who has had a child, I am excited that I have enough energy to move around and entertain my son. I’m not sure I will have the same level of energy once I am 40. Even if I do, I think it will require more effort to maintain the same level of energy to do so.

22. Change your style. Whether it’s your hair, clothes, purse, shoes, or car, do something different.

23. Pray and be thankful to God on a daily basis for all he has given you or done for you. If you feel as if your life sucks, think about this. Are you breathing now? Thank you God that I am alive. Are you reading this? Thank you God that I have my sight. Is your brain functioning? Thank you God that I can think for myself and have the ability to change my life.

24. Buy something that could be a good investment in the future such as a house for living, renting, or flipping.

25. Read your bible. If you don’t have one, go to the nearest thrift store. If you don’t believe in God, at least read Proverbs. There is much wisdom located there. If you do believe in God, spend time in His word whether you have the bible app or paper version. Trust God, and give Him a chance to change your life.