I have 2 routes...

I have 2 routes I take to work.

One is the highway.

The other is a main street that eventually winds through a golf course and ends up at my house.  The "other" route is also a good route to take once traffic hits and also it allows me to hunt for coupons and stop at like 8 stores all on the way home so there is no doubling back.  I love the "other" route when the sales are hot...

The "other" route also passes this church that has the best quotes on their sign:

"healthy boundaries in friendship"

"praying for your boss"

"keys to self sustaining relationships"

"when God says NO to your prayers"

"what to do if children hurt you"

"marriage"

"marriage part 2"

"preparing for it all"

and my FAVORITE

"what will it cost if you are wrong"

I reallly thought about that - especially since we like to keep ourselves prepared for a lot of situations.  What would it cost us if we are wrong and nothing happens? Well, let's see what does it cost us now?  Monetarily?  We are not spending more than we did before actually we are spending less.  Convenience?  Well, I probably had a few more hours of free time before per day - which were often spent at the book store or cafe writing or drawing --- I can always resume that if nothing happens - actually I can resume it now - we have a spare room i can oil paint in right now.  Space?  We are sacrificing a bit of space but our guest room is still a room with a bed, the office resembles an office plus a dog bed and the master bedroom is just a parking spot for a king size bed. Reward?  Peace of mind and listening to that Spirit that urges you to be prepared and do all you can do for yourselves and your family.  Downside?  Some months there is no downtime...but so what.  Even if there is no downtime the satisfaction and savings far outweighs the loss of "downtime"  downtime is a western concept - an AMERICAN concept.

In the 2 years we've done this - we've only had to make 2 major donations of stuff that was about to expire and we had about 20 lbs of cornmeal that was past it's prime which we mixed into the compost (great compost this year).  Other than that we've had few things expire because I'm good at keeping tabs on it.  And I donate it about 2 months pre-expiration to food banks where I know it will be eaten quickly.

2 years ago our extended family gave us a hard time about putting up stuff.  Now they all save because of what we are doing and all our houses are fluid.  I am happy to keep all of us saving.  I am happy to have items for trade.  If you see items that aren't the healthiest of products I buy them because of requests - because my friends/family would buy it anyway I might as well get it free if I can't convince them to not eat it at all.

so What will it cost you if YOU are wrong?