Archives for April 2020

Two Year Bloggerversary Update – Revelation Through Writing

April 27, 2020 By Deanna 10 Comments

Hello, my friends! I am reflecting on my two year anniversary since I began blogging, also known as a bloggerversay, on April 19, 2018. On that date, my first article on my own website was published. At that time, I was blogging under the moniker, Ms. Fiology. If you are here, you know I now blog at Recovering Women Wealth.

I’m a fan of celebrating milestones and/or anniversaries. Earlier this year I celebrated 10 years of sobriety and just before that a little birthday of 47 years. It’s amazing how the birthdays keep coming every year, but I swear I’m getting Younger Next Year. 😉

While I do stay active and fit, it only takes one weekend with my niece & nephew to remember, the years are stacking up!

Anyway, as time continues to roll forward and I’ve kept up the habit of blogging, I naturally have some reflections. Future directions? I am not so sure about that but I do know one thing, I’m called to write and teach.

If you will, please journey with me on this post as I share my reflections, lessons learned, intimate thoughts, and prayers for an uncertain future.

Revelation Through Writing…

How to Wisely Use Your Stimulus Money

April 20, 2020 By Deanna 8 Comments

Okay, people, I think most of us have received our stimulus money as a result of the CARES Act. Its delivery method depends upon your data from your most recent tax returns or Social Security. If you’ve received refunds or SS money via direct deposit, you’ll get it that way (quicker) or if you’ve opted for snail mail, you’ll get it that way (slower). I’m in the former group and got mine last week.

Warning, I recently watched Rocky IV so there are a lot of Rocky GIFs/analogies splattered throughout the post. 😉

That being said, I wanted to write a post with my two cents on how to use our stimulus money wisely. This post is based solely on my opinion; however, I have seen and heard many others talking about this recently so, no doubt, these things play an influence.

Although, I’ve purposely not read anything on it so I could really think and pray about it without much outside influence.

I’m separating my advice into two camps:

Those who need the stimulus money
Those who don’t need the stimulus money

Before I dig in, let’s define stimulus –

A thing that rouses activity or energy in someone or something; a spur or incentive

Let’s face we’ve all been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or another!! Me, I downright need some hugs!!

Some day we’ll be able to do this again!!

This stimulus $ is meant to do one of two things – stimulate the economy (which has taken a bad beating) and aid individuals and families who’ve also taken a beating.

The stimulus money, for those of us who are not hurt financially, is meant to incentivize us to spend some $$$ and get that big ‘ole economy going again! And for those who are hit financially, it’s meant to help you survive.

No matter which way you look at it, many folks and the economy as a whole have been beaten up badly

How Frugal Minimalism Can Help You Repay Your Debt

April 13, 2020 By Deanna 6 Comments

Lately, I’ve become more interested in minimalism as I’ve been consuming Joshua Becker’s stuff. My first revelation of how little I need to be happy occurred while I was paying off my debt. During that time, I made many sacrifices such as living with my folks in my early 40’s, reducing my spending and consumption, and plowing most of my income to my debt.

I recognized I was making all of these so-called sacrifices and yet I was no less happy. The most important things to me, relationships, were still a part of my life. I simply removed the spending money factor from the equation. Sure it required some creative thinking on how to foster these friendships in new ways. However, spending time doesn’t have to cost anything

Over the past several years, I’ve enjoyed a minimalist Christmas. Additionally, as I’ve moved into apartment living, I’ve learned to live in smaller spaces and reduce the number of things I own. BTW, I’ve moved to a new apartment recently and it’s phenomenal. I owe you a post about the sweet deal I struck up!

Additionally, I’ve reduced the amount of clothing & shoes I own and am embracing a minimalist wardrobe. I love, love, love it.

So this article talks about how you can embrace minimalism & frugality together in an effort to pay off your debt. I think we are all a little stressed right now with the COVID-19 pandemic occurring. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever been through before. It’s hard in so many darn ways!

I would imagine that anyone who currently has debt and/or little or no savings and might be feeling the heaviness of this. I used to feel that heaviness, Every. Dang. Day., when I lived paycheck to paycheck.

However, now with the huge downturn in the economy, many folks are additionally facing layoffs. Ugh.

Good Nelly has written the following guest post for my readers on how she sees the intersection of minimalist and frugality being useful to use in paying off debt. Let’s face it, none of us is spending a lot of money right now. So, if you are able to engage in any of these strategies now for future freedom, more power to ya!

Enjoy and happy freedom to you. I’ve added my commentary in blue below too. 🙂

The World May Never be the Same Again – A COVID-19 Resource Guide

April 5, 2020 By Deanna 3 Comments

Well, it certainly appears that we are in this for the long haul. We are playing short ball while playing the long game. We may have jumped quickly into the practice of distancing, shutting down and staying at home. However, it seems we will slowly return to normal…when that is even possible.

Additionally, the new normal may be different in the future.

That being said, I want to use my platform for the sharing of relevant information.

One thing is for certain and that is we are all in this together whether we like it or not.

I’ve heard Mr. Rogers quoted several times this week,

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” – Fred Rogers