Family Meeting

Last night we had a family meeting about our goals and vision for our family over the next year. It went something like this -

Mom: Last week Caleb (8) asked "If we took all the money we have right now, could we pay off Dad's student loan?" I told him, "Actually, we could, but instead, we are going to need to live on that money, so we won't be paying off our student loans this year unless we have other money coming in." He then asked, "Well, Mom, what if we live on the money we have and put everything extra towards the student loans? Would we be able to pay them off then?" And that was when an idea hatched. What if we do just what Caleb said, live on what we have and put the rest towards debt. How far could we go with that plan? And, how could we accomplish it? Once we did accomplish it, then what would we do?"

Brennan(13): If we did pay off all our debt, then we could buy any gaming system we wanted, and all the games to go with them. That would be so awesome. (He said this with a smirk because we don't own any gaming systems other than the handheld one he spent the better part of a year saving for).

Dad: Seriously, think of all the cool things we could do if we didn't have to make a student loan payment, or a car payment (this one is new now that we are "self-employed") or a house payment. We would be free to live and work however we chose. Wouldn't that be great?

Mom: And, we could save for college and build businesses and encourage others around us….

KC (11): I plan to get a full ride scholarship when I'm ready for college, so I could just take the money.

Mom: Yeah, you could take the money and pay for a place to live instead of tuition.

Bren: Or, I could get a really cool car.

Mom: Good thinking, If you work hard, you could have your tuition paid for with a scholarship and use the money we saved as a family for a car or room and board. Then you could choose the job you want to work while you're in school. I like where these plans are headed.

Hannah (6): And, we could share what we have with other people.

Caleb: We could share with other people even before we pay off all our debts. We can share even if we don't have much of anything, right?

Mom: Yep. I think one of best insurance policies to having what we need is to share even when we don't have a lot. So, what kind of things can we share?

Caleb: We can share food, we have enough of that.

Hannah: And we can make stuff for people and help each other. Can I do my part now? (Hannah was excited to give a presentation about doing secret acts of service for each other)

Mom: In a minute, Hannah. So, what can we do now to be careful with what we have so that it will last a long time?

Bren: We could buy in bulk.

KC: We did buy in bulk, that's why we have food storage.

Mom: You guys are both right. Just the other day Dad and I got some things to round off our food storage and now we have almost everything we need for a year's worth of food. You know how last year we learned to go a long time without going to the grocery store, what would you think of doing that again this year?

Dad: We wouldn't go to the grocery store but we would go to the orchards, the farmer's market and the egg lady.

Mom: And I want to add the local dairy. They feed their cows hops and clover instead of other crazy stuff and they don't give them the barrage of hormones and antibiotics other cows get. So, I want to support their business. Plus, since all they sell is milk, cheese, ice cream and other dairy products, we don’t have the same temptation to buy a bunch of stuff we don’t need like when we walk into Costco.

Dad: And, we want to support local producers. The egg lady has always provided us with great eggs and great service. Even though it’s not cheaper per dozen to buy our eggs from her, we save anyway.

Mom: Dad and I also talked about going the rest of the year without buying anything new, except for maybe a few seasonal things.

Kids in chorus: Nothing new?

KC: What about for birthdays?

Hannah: What about Christmas?

Brennan: So, we’re just going to go to the thrift store for everything?

Caleb: I’m okay with that. Remember when we bought Christmas for each other at DI last year. That was awesome.

Hannah: But we can still buy toys and stuff, right?

Don: Yeah, and buying at Ross doesn’t really count as new does it? ‘Cause they just carry over-stock stuff at discounted rates, right?

Mom: I don’t know, I guess we can discuss details. I was sort of thinking ‘buy nothing new’ means if it still has tags on it we don’t go for it.

Bren: Yeah, but overstock.com carries stuff that was manufacture for like last season, and so that really doesn’t count as new.

KC: Didn’t you say something earlier about seasonal loopholes?

Mom: (I see I’m not getting far with the purist mentality) Well, we can talk about all of that later. Anyway, we are not going to officially start until Oct 4th, so if there are gifts and things we need to buy before then let’s make a plan.

Then Hannah shared her secret server idea, we played hide-n-seek in the field outside, ate some experimental homemade instant pudding made by Bren and that was that. I’ll write more as it develops.

Society Does Not Equal Government

The following quote was written by an awesome economist and give-back hero Arthur Brooks. Dr. Brooks spoke at a BYU Devotional earlier this year and I was inspired by what he had to say about individual impact and giving. You can watch his speech here. It will be 30 minutes well spent. You might even get a raise out of it. The following quote comes from a post he contributed to No Impact Man and you can read it in context here.

"I think that one fair way to describe the main worldview difference between conservatives and liberal is the 'unit of analysis' at which action is necessary to make progress in society. Generalizing greatly (and with appropriate apologies for doing so), conservatives often view society as a big bunch of individuals, and thus individual action as the right focus for our attention. In contrast, liberals are much more focused on the collective, often expressed through the actions of the state. For many on the left, implicitly if not explicitly, individual action is a futile focus for real social change."

Here's my take. Society is made up of a bunch of individuals and I put a lot of stock in individual accountability. But, to make high-impact, positive changes in the world, it takes lots of individuals participating toward a common goal as a society. Where I part most vehemently with liberals is in the notion that society equals government and the idea that positive societal change works best through enacting government policy.

I believe the more people are educated on the impact of their actions, and the less government gets involved in changing those actions the better. So, when I talk about societal changes I am not talking about government interventions. There is a proper role of government, but that role is not to force society (or individuals within it) to do the right thing as a matter of policy (except when protecting the life, liberty and property of individuals.)

I'm going to stop now, because Arthur Brooks is much more fascinating to listen to than I am. I just wanted to establish that I feel it takes individuals educating each other in society (not government) to create lasting positive change. Government policies and politicians come and go, but true principles remain. It is our job to learn what those true principles are. This is my quest.

Background

On Monday we are having a family meeting to discuss the details of our latest experiment. Here's some background on the ideas that are percolating.

1. Don, my husband of 17 years, has just left the corporate world to discover what he really wants to do with his livelihood. He has lots of great possibilities including: starting his own business, consulting with firms who need his expertise, working on-site and remotely for one company who wants him full time.
2. I re-enrolled in school the day before Don got laid off. I paid for tuition, bought my text books and made sure my transcripts were all set. The morning I learned of his job loss one of my first responses was, "I just paid a bunch of money for school." His answer, "Well, then that's what we need to do. Don't change those plans." So, I'm working again toward my BS in Business with a Social Entrepreneurship focus. That's a lot of words, but those of you who know me know how appropriate the BS part is.
3. I also started a business on September 12. It is called Simple Ventures, LLC. My mission is to use small money for big ideas. My focus is in the private sector seeking non-government solutions to fund education and entrepreneurship.
4. Our four kids get to help choose the change we want to make. We have two middle schoolers and two elementary age kids. For 3 1/2 years we homeschooled everyone, which gave us, as parents, the mind-opening traits we now find indispensable. But now they all go to school, on a modified schedule, and we only work on math and language arts at home. We learn more from them than we will ever teach them, so they are a good instruction crew who will keep us creative and honest.

So that's the background. Here are some of the ideas I have to allow us to live as long as possible on the funds we currently have while feeling a greater sense of peace and plenty:

• Make our existing funds stretch for one full year
• Buy nothing new for the rest of the year (certain foods, personal items and seasonal loop holes may apply, but will be limited) beginning October 4
• Include No More Grocery Shopping in the Buy Nothing New challenge. (Again, loop holes may be required but will be limited)
• Unplug 9-5 or 5-9. This is to conserve energy and get creative with the resources we have off the grid
• Research and report about the real impact of living a life in peace and plenty that can be sustained. My question isn't "Is there enough?" I know that there is "enough and to spare," for every single person on this planet. But, at the rate the typical American family uses the extras we would need 2.5 Earths to sustain those choices. My question for this experiment is "What level is enough (plenty) and what do we do with what we have to spare (peace)?"

Your thoughts and ideas, questions and concerns are appreciated. I need you to help me keep this real.