I Learned Contentment From Driving a Chevy Caprice and more...

"I don't ever want you to drive a car that someone else would covet." This was my dad's mantra when it came to cars. And he did a great job of living it out. Case in point: My first car was […]

Here's what's new: I Learned Contentment From Driving a Chevy Caprice Gretchen's $50 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan I Learned Contentment From Driving a Chevy Caprice “I don’t ever want you to drive a car that someone else would covet.” This was my dad’s mantra when it came to cars. And he did a great job of living it out. Case in point: My first car was a gray Chevy Caprice. It had been my great grandpa’s car and we inherited it when he passed away. I didn’t have the money to buy a car and had just gotten my license, so my dad designated the Caprice as my car. It wasn’t pretty, but it was in great condition (my great grandpa had taken meticulous care of it) and had low mileage (my grandpa bought it new and had had it for a number of years but didn’t drive but within a 20-mile radius of his home). We called it the “Gray Boat” — because that’s sort of what it looked like. It was a big car, it was gray, and it didn’t really fit young and petite me. But it was a car, it had four wheels, it rarely ever had issues (I can only think of one time that I ended up stranded on the road with it — and that was because of a simple little issue with wiring!), and it was incredibly trustworthy for all the driving I did while I was in my late teens. (I taught violin lessons to a number of different students and drove to their houses to teach, worked as a waitress, and worked as a mother’s helper and babysitter. So I spent a lot of my day driving from place to place!) I learned so much by driving the Gray Boat and I truly believe that my dad’s desire to “give us cars that no one would covet” was one of the best things he could have done for me as a teenager. Here are three powerful lessons I learned: 1. It Taught Me to Worry Less About What Other People Think When you drive a “clunker car”, you quickly have to check your pride at the curb. And honestly, if people judge me by the car I drive, they are not the kind of people I want to be close friends with. Learning this lesson at an early age meant I went into marriage with a lot more freedom and a lot less need to feel I had to apologize about or give an explanation behind the cars I’ve driven or the frugal lifestyle choices we’ve made. 2. It Taught Me Gratitude For What I Have My dad was kind to let me use the car as my own. Other than paying for my gas, he paid for any car repairs (or did them himself) and paid for my insurance. I’m grateful that he was generous to do this. I drove that car with gratitude both to my dad and to my great grandpa. And it was a little way I felt a connection to my great grandpa even though he had passed away. 3. It Taught Me That Contentment Isn’t About Stuff The biggest lesson I learned from driving that car was that you can be plenty fulfilled and happy while driving a car that isn’t all that eye-appealing. Contentment is a state of the heart that is unaffected by your outside circumstances. You can choose to be content even when you are driving an old car, wearing very used clothes, and eating lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Knowing this to the core of my being has been a huge gift to my life. It’s caused me to have so much more joy, to embrace life exactly where I am, and to make the most of right where I’ve been planted instead of wishing I could be in someone else’s shoes. I drove that Gray Caprice up until marriage — when my husband and I bought his family’s old white mini van and that became my new mode of transportation! And I went into marriage a firm believer that Old Used Cars can be a blessing in disguise — to the tune of thousands of dollars in savings! photo credit        Gretchen's $50 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan Sprouts 1 Cantaloupe – $0.98 1 Green Bell Pepper – $0.50 2.11 lbs Navel Oranges – $2.07 0.94 lbs Roma Tomatoes – $0.83 1 Sprouts Ketchup – $0.99, used $0.10/1 Mobisave rebate – $0.89 after rebate 1 Organic Valley Butter – $3.99 used $1.50/1 printable – $2.49 after coupon 1 pkg Chicken Drumsticks – $1.37 Total after rebate: $9.13 Dillons 1 can Campbell’s Soup – $1.99, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon 1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99 1.61 lbs Bananas – $0.95, used $0.10/1 Mobisave rebate – $0.85 after rebate 2 Avocados – 2/$0.77 1 pkg Red Grapes – $1.97 1 Cucumber – $0.50, used $0.25/1 Checkout 51 rebate – $0.25 after rebate 3 Totinos Pizzas – $0.99 each, used $1/3 printable AND $1/3 SavingStar.com rebate – $0.32 each after coupon and rebate 1 bag Kroger Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – $7.99, used $1.50/1 e-coupon – $6.49 after coupon 1 pkg Nabisco Ritz Crackers – $1.88, used $1/1 Checkout 51 rebate – $0.88 after rebate 2 Kroger Cream Cheese – $1 each, used 2 $0.50/1 e-coupon – $0.50 each after coupon 1 Kroger Peanut Butter – $1.50, used Free e-coupon – Free after coupon 1 Nestle Chocolate Chip Morsels – $2.50, used Free e-coupon – Free after coupon Total after coupons and rebate: $14.18 Aldi 1 gallon Milk – $2.18 2 Frozen Pizzas – $1.99 each 2 dozen Eggs – $0.67 each 1 pkg Flour Tortillas – $0.99 1 loaf Bread – $0.99, used $0.10/1 Mobisave rebate – $0.99 after rebate 1 Unsweetened Applesauce – $1.89 1 Half & Half – $1.89 1 pkg Corn Chips – $0.99 1 Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate – $1.19 1 pkg Rice Cakes – $1.29 1 pkg Frozen Broccoli – $1.19 Total after rebate: $17.82 Total for all grocery stores: $41.13 Menu Plan for This Week Breakfasts Cereal x 2 Eggs & Toast x 2 Fruit Smoothies & Pancakes x 2 Broccoli Cheddar Quiche, Orange Juice Lunches Tossed Salad Bar Peanut Butter & Jelly Rice Cake Sandwiches, Applesauce, Sliced Green Peppers x 2 Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks Fruit/Veggies/Crackers/Cheese Leftovers x 2 Dinners Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Homemade Freezer Biscuits, Green Beans, Grapes Build Your Own Haystacks French Toast, Eggs, Cantaloupe Venison Roast, Potatoes, Carrots Chicken & Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Tossed Salad Frozen Pizza, Chips & Dip, Brownies Savory Crescent Chicken Pockets, Tossed Salad, Steamed Cauliflower        Latest finds on Pinterest You there. Sitting in your yoga pants with the mom hair look. I have something I want to whisper in your ear today. You may have seen the Royal Baby Announcements and festivities unfold. You may have seen the pictures of Princess Kate headed home from the hospital looking stunningly gorgeous just 12 hours after giving birth. And you might be feeling just a little bit like you don’t measure up... If that's you, you NEED to read this post. How Choosing Gratitude Changed My Entire Life. Expressing gratitude doesn’t require money. It doesn’t require much thought or effort, but it can change our whole outlook on life. I say this, because I’ve experienced it personally. Three years ago, I started keeping a Gratitude Journal — a small notebook where I recorded a few blessings from each day Most of us suffer from dehydration, whether we know it or not. Many times, we think we have some physical problem in need of medical attention, but the cause could be that we just need to drink more water! Drinking more water boosts your metabolism, fights fatigue, improves your skin, encourages better digestion, relieves headaches, and might even improve your mood! Which is why it is so important that we make getting hydrated more of a priority. Latest finds on Pinterest You there. Sitting in your yoga pants with the mom hair look. I have something I want to whisper in your ear today. You may have seen the Royal Baby Announcements and festivities unfold. You may have seen the pictures of Princess Kate headed home from the hospital looking stunningly gorgeous just 12 hours after giving birth. And you might be feeling just a little bit like you don’t measure up... If that's you, you NEED to read this post. How Choosing Gratitude Changed My Entire Life. Expressing gratitude doesn’t require money. It doesn’t require much thought or effort, but it can change our whole outlook on life. I say this, because I’ve experienced it personally. Three years ago, I started keeping a Gratitude Journal — a small notebook where I recorded a few blessings from each day Most of us suffer from dehydration, whether we know it or not. Many times, we think we have some physical problem in need of medical attention, but the cause could be that we just need to drink more water! Drinking more water boosts your metabolism, fights fatigue, improves your skin, encourages better digestion, relieves headaches, and might even improve your mood! Which is why it is so important that we make getting hydrated more of a priority.     Click here to safely unsubscribe from "LITE Feed, Money Saving Mom®." Click here to view mailing archives, here to change your preferences, or here to subscribe • Privacy Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz, LLC, 365 Boston Post Rd, Suite 123, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.