Last year in August we moved back to our hometown, feeling beaten. We had just a little money to live on. My husband began working immediately for a friend of his working in his mulch yard. He was selling mulch, loading it for customers, etc. It was a little money. He also started his own lawn care business. He got a little business throughout the fall, aerations, leaf work, etc. I was working at Michaels as much as I could.
Money dwindled fast. We were rubbing pennies together.
In December, a friend of my husband asked if he could help him out for a bit of time. His father was ill and he needed to go tend to him out of state. He asked if my husband would run his lawn care business while he was away. He didn't know when he would return. Of course, my husband said yes. He worked hard all through December which helped us get through Christmas. The winter was tough but my husband continued to help out his friend when he needed help. We scraped together pennies from here and there.
In February we instituted a "no spend month". While it was consciously hard to not spend money at all, it wasn't as hard as we thought because we really didn't have much money to spend anyway. It also snowed in February, twice! That meant that my husband was able to shovel snow and make some money.
March came and we were given the news that my husband's friend's father had passed away. My husband again came to the aide of his friend and helped out with his business, all the while working his jobs on the side.
In April, my husband's friend announced that he was going to move out of state and asked my husband if he wanted to buy his lawn care business. They drew up papers and by the end of the month we were running a fully operating lawn care service again. We merged his business into my husband's existing small business.
From there we have been cruising. This summer we have been able to go out to eat more, pay off a ton of bills (more money than I want to think about) and over Labor Day weekend we actually went on VACATION!
Now instead of wondering where the money will come from (well we still worry), we have employee issues. It is pretty sad that our best employee is our 16 year old son. We have one other guy who works for us now, since my son is focusing on his schoolwork now. He is a great employee and had worked for my husband on a very part time basis for years. Now he is fulltime and filling in the gap that our son left.
Each September seems to be the start of a new year in my eyes. I am excited about this year and the possibilities it holds. The bills are getting paid and slowly we are starting get the kids back into the activities they enjoyed years ago. It is comforting to know that we can pay the bills!
Looking back on this past year I am reconfirmed in my marriage. I have chosen my best partner. He is such a hard worker. He is positive, loving, and supportive. He will do anything for us! He is adventurous and willing to consider pretty much anything, crazy or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment