A Penny for a Pinecone?

My parents weren’t perfect parents, they could be a little strict, did some redneck-strange things and often drove me crazy, but one thing they did do right, was teach us how to work hard.

When I was little, probably ages six-nine, my parents had a massive pine tree in their back yard. It was big and it was beautiful, but it also had a lot of pinecones. We couldn’t mow the lawn until they were all picked up. There were hundreds, sometimes thousands of pinecones on the grass at one time.

To help motivate us, my mom offered to pay my sister Eleena and I a penny for every pinecone we picked up. The money we earned usually went towards school clothes and supplies. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to make money! We would go outside and pick up pinecones in sections, counting each one into piles of 100. Then we would load them into a grocery bag and drop them on the other side of the ditch to be burned. One day I remember making $11 each. That is 2,200 pinecones we picked up! We counted every single pinecone honestly and always got the job done. The lesson my mom taught us is simple, if you want something, then find a way to get it even if the work is hard.

I read somewhere this quote and from memory this is the best I can do (If you know the exact quote and its source, let me know)

Do not say “I cannot afford that” but rather ask yourself “How can I afford that?”. Saying you can’t afford something, is the lazy man making excuses.

Scott and I want to buy a home in the near future, but most lenders require at least 5% and usually 10% down. This might not seem like a ton, but on a 300k home this is up to $30,000(homes in Washington are expensive). I keep finding myself mumbling, “We can’t afford a home”.

The lesson my parents taught me keeps returning, “If you want something, then work hard for it”. Most people wait around forever for the  “job” that will buy them all their wishes and dreams, they pass up penny-for-a-pinecone-jobs because they are beneath them and their desires always remain unreachable. Being a stay-at-home mom can be frustrating at times. How am I suppose to make money if I don’t want to work outside the home? I don’t want to go back to work (I was lucky in Idaho that my job only took me away from Lincoln during his naptime) because being a “mom” is the most important job in the world to me, but there is always something I can do.

And that “something” is make sacrifices.

We currently live in a very nice, large apartment. It has three bedrooms, two baths, a laundry room, dining room, huge kitchen and tons of closets and storage space. I love it! The rent is reasonable for the area, but our complex is increasing our rent by $200 a month!

That’s when I asked myself, “How can we afford a house?” and the simple answer was downsize. And downsize is what we are about to do! We are moving in less than two months to a one bedroom, tiny, tiny, tiny apartment. Yep, four of us in ONE bedroom. It probably sounds crazy, almost as crazy as picking up a pinecone for a measly penny, but it will save us about $1000 a month and the end reward will be a beautiful house.

It is going to be difficult and my children and husband might not make it out alive, but I know that it is what we are suppose to do and in the end this small sacrifice will all be worth it.

If there is something you want and is a little out of reach, ask yourself, “How can I afford that?” and remember the answer isn’t always make more money.

The one thing I’m not willing to sacrifice, is time away from my babies.