Trust and Garage sale-ing

I've been on a quest for a big pot since May. My beautiful $5 Kroger hibiscus had outgrown its second home and its roots were poking through the soil. I needed at least a 5 incher- preferably 17. Has anyone priced pots lately? That size starts at $25. Definitely not in the Dave Ramsey budget. So I figured someone somewhere had to be getting rid of a pot that size. My goal was under $5 as that is all I paid for the plant in the first place.

So off to a neighborhood garage sale. What a lesson. We have too much junk in our world and then we try to sell it to someone else. I think baskets have babies in the middle of the night when no one is looking. And vases. Every sale had both. I went to one that looked like a department store. Wonderful displays, aisles to walk through and it was stocked! I complimented the older gentleman and he said its he and his wife's hobby- it took them three months to get ready.Imagine. Three months to get ready to sell stuff you don't need. Glad he's retired.

Another garage looked like a living room. The walls were a beautiful country red, stenciled with ivy, white shelves with assorted country knick-knacks. I ended up knowing the charming people that lived there and she told me that all the items on display in her garage had been gifts to her and she didn't want to give them away, yet had no room (or decor-theme) to put them in her home. What a great idea! I was doubly blessed by her as when I was leaving, I told her I was on a quest for a large pot. She said she had one in her basement- ran and got it and it was perfect!She wouldn't allow me to pay her for it, so I stayed within budget -yea!! I learned the lesson of patience once again. God will and does provide all I need (or want) in His timing- in a much bigger way usually! The pot was 17". I needed to wait...and trust...and be patient in the small things which is sometimes harder than the big things. I can't make a job happen for my husband, but I could have gone and bought the $25 pot. I'm glad I didn't so I could once again see God's faithfulness in action. I will continue to trust and wait for his plan for our finances.

Blue toothpaste

We all have it. Stuff. Mounds and mounds of stuff. Part of our "Total Money Makeover " is not buying things we don't need. So it is with "gazelle" intensity that I am scouring cupboards looking for everything I can find to use up before I have to buy new. It is AMAZING (and scary) to see what I have found.

Blue toothpaste. I'm down to no toothpaste (not even the little ones you get in a hotel for travel) , and I find a treasure in my daughters' bathroom. Blue toothpaste. Well, it comes out white, but turns blue to stick on your teeth to show you where the plaque is , so you can brush it off. Designed for kids to make brushing fun. No telling how much I paid the dentist for this little treasure. And obviously it wasn't enough to entice my young ones to use it, hence the full tube.
But no complaints, I may be able to go another month on this stuff. So look for me, with plaqueless teeth, and blue lips (the stuff stains!) At least I've saved $1 and gotten rid of some stuff. What "stuff" can you find to use up?

Now if I could only find some deodorant that doesn't smell like Old Spice.....