A large family. A mobile home. A house under construction. No loans. Meet the do-it-yourself family, The Building Brows. Parenting six kids in 832 square feet?
It's nuts, it's cramped. It's taking forever to build our DIY home. But it's DEBT-FREE.
Today is Green Up Day in Vermont, the one day in spring reserved for road-side clean up by Vermont residents, all volunteer. The first Green Up Day, according to Green Up Vermont, was April 18, 1970 in response to reporter Robert S. Babcock, Jr.'s reaction to the mounds of litter from spring thaw he saw along the road during a commute to work at the Burlington Free Press. Green Up Day has been going ever since.
We did not participate this year because I was unavailable, but several area locals did. CJ and her Girl Scout troupe greened up Vermont last year. I recall doing it as a Girl Scout, too. I hadn't heard of Green Up Day prior to our troupe's participation, but it felt great knowing that picking up trash along the road made a difference. Besides, I felt important and privileged walking along the road with cars going by.
I understand New Hampshire has a Green Up Day, as well as Vermont. I wonder if any other states or towns have similar things. If you have participated in a Green Up Day or similar event, I'd love to hear your experience.
Secure your sensitive information against identity theft
You seen that commercial where the guy drives around in a cargo truck with his social security number printed on the side? It caught my attention, particularly because several years ago we found someone else's credit information on my husband's credit report. And he wasn't even born yet at the time those events happened. I've been on the alert ever since--way before identity theft became a public awareness.
I haven't been able to get that truck out of my mind, so I took a click over to Lifelock to find out more. Here's what I discovered:
For $10 per month, they offer protection of your personal information with a 1 million dollar guarantee per person if registered personal information is breeched due to Lifelock's failure, reduced junk mail and credit card offers, and engagement in regular proactive credit protection like placing fraud alerts on your accounts so you'll be notified in the event of a questionable incident. They also offer protection for your kids under the age of 16 for an additional $25 per year.
I'm intrigued, though I'm unsure about giving a company my private information to protect. Yeah, I know, I give it to the bank and such, but I can at least meet these people in person, and it's required. I refuse to give my social security number just about everywhere else, and you should, too.
But there's no doubt Lifelock helps avert disaster so I'm mulling over this service for our family. I doubt it could have prevented the botch on Jim's credit since that seemed to be a misreport of information, but after that, and the rise of identity theft often discussed, how could I not consider Lifelock further? All I have to do is remember that CSI episode where identity theft is a key factor in a case to realize how much damage identity theft can do.
For now, here are free ways we protect our sensitive information:
I don't post my kid's names on my blog and rarely post pictures of them.
We cross-cut shred anything with personally identifying information on it including envelopes labeled with our names and addresses.
We don't put social security numbers on forms at doctor offices and other places that do not need it. IT IS NOT REQUIRED.
NEVER put your full account numbers on your checks when paying bills even though the stubs tell you to. Accounts receivable will match your information just fine. If you're super concerned about payments getting mis-attributed, write the last few numbers of the account (acct# ending in xxx) on the check and on the pay stub you can write "paid w/check #xxx ").
Print only your first initial on your checks. Only your financial institution needs to know who is authorized to write checks on your account so this makes it harder for thieves.
I'm sure there are more things we can do that I missed, so drop me a comment with more anti-identity-theft tips. While I wait I'm going to try driving that social security number truck out of my head. Brilliant marketing tactic, that truck.
Update: I thought of another important security measure this morning, and that is to use a credit card, not debit card, for any transaction where your card leaves your hand or where you're making a reservation. Credit cards have anti-fraud protection where debit cards do not, as well as the obvious plus that a credit card is not directly connected to your bank account.
If someone fraudulently swipes your card while paying your dinner meal at a register away from you, you can contest it on a credit card and keep your bank account from being infiltrated. And when making reservations, you won't run the risk of overdrafting your bank account when a hotel places a hold on your account for the full amount of your room to keep it until you come and pay. Holds aren't charged, but will make your bank account bounce if using a debit card because the money in a hold becomes earmarked and therefore unusable, and if you don't have that full amount in your account, or you're close but then make regular payments, your account will bounce and you'll incur nasty overdraft fees. Since credit cards are purely credit, the hold only applies to your credit limit.
Just make sure when using a credit card that you treat it like a debit card and only charge what you have money to repay immediately. :-)
After some incredible high April temps and dry weather that made a dust bowl around here, we're finally getting much needed rain. Vegetation is the greenest I've seen it in months and I noticed yesterday grass is starting to grow. When we first moved in here, I wondered if we'd ever see grass, but I think God orchestrated his creation so there are seeds in just about any soil. (Well, maybe not the clay stuff...)
Speaking of seeds and soil, we haven't tried a garden here for two reasons:
I think I'm garden handicapped.
I doubt anything will grow in sandy soil.
The first I can take care of by educating myself. There are some great gardening websites and books. The second, I can now solve much easier than buying top soil thanks to my friend. Yesterday she asked me if I was interested in sharing a garden with her.
A garden co-op? Whodathunkit? We must be in tune with each other, perhaps by God's spirit since she loves Jesus too, because if you read yesterday's post, you know I mentioned growing food. I just didn't know how I was going to succeed at it with our sandy soil.
So now the two of us are going to grow a garden at her house where she already has a designated garden plot, and we'll get to share quality time, soak up lovely sunshine and it's precious vitamin D through our much-needed sunblock, give our kids regular play time together, and save money on vegetables! This is a perfect setup for someone like me who is garden green, as in don't-know-nothing-'bout-planting.
If you are planning a garden, why not ask a friend or two if they want to go in with you? Or if you want to save money but don't have the space, ask some of your land-wealthy friends if they might be interested in a garden co-op. Or maybe you have land, but don't know how to garden. Get some friends and learn gardening together. You don't even need that much space. The return might be worth turning a postage stamp parcel's tiny lawn into a garden for a season.
Garden co-ops--what a great way to grow friendships, food, and that green wallet stuff.
I've been reading a lot lately about how people nationwide are struggling financially as gas and food prices rise. The stimulus payments that will start to flow to Americans tomorrow will, by necessity, go to help fill the gap these higher prices are causing. I realize steep inflation is forewarned in the Bible, but living through it doesn't make it easier.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "Two pounds of wheat for a day's wages, and six pounds of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"Revelation 6:5-6 TNIV
Complaining (again) yesterday about our tiny home and how hard it is to keep clean when it seems gremlins follow me to mess up what I fix, my understanding opened. Many people right now carry vehicle loans and mortgages, and as prices skyrocket, it becomes harder to pay for them.
I may never like this sardine can of a house, but it's time for me to once again count my blessings that we fully own our vehicles, land, mobile home, and house under construction. And because we followed what God showed us and did not get a loan or charge credit for building supplies to get in our house sooner, we don't have debt making it even tougher to pay the essentials.
Living in 800 square feet with eight people and a Great Dane may challenge us and make me want to scream at times, but at least the added stress of losing the little we have does not exist like it has for us before and does now for others.
Thank You, God, for this. It is a blessing indeed.
But what if you have that mortgage, loans, or car payments choking you? Is there blessing you can find when you're feeling strangled by gas and food prices?
I believe there is, but like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so are blessings. These you must search out and find yourself. (Try asking God, first.) In the mean time, take heart. Spring is upon us and there's no finer time to learn to plant a garden or manage indoor vegetable-bearing plants to help ease the cost of food. And to look into hydrogen powered cars fueled by water... (Jim's new hobby)
Since yesterday was Earth Day, I thought I'd share a few green living tips--ways we help the earth, and you can too.
We open our doors to let air conditioning outside. We want to do our part to help stop global warming and figure that if everyone did this, maybe we could cool the earth back down and once again weather would resume to normal behavior. No more 80 degree April days in Vermont!
We throw our banana peels and apple cores outside to feed animals and fertilize the ground by what they leave behind. I hope this will make our sandy lot more garden friendly so we can start growing our own vegetables instead of buying pesticide laden ones from the grocery store.
We buy recycled napkins--lots of them. The more we buy, the better the recycling industry will do. And since they're biodegradable, we throw them on the ground too to keep them out of already full landfills.
We clean our bathroom once a month so we don't put more chemicals in the air or harm the environment. We like that all-natural bathroom aroma.
I make our kids wear holey clothes to keep them cool instead of maintaining a pool full of environmentally unfriendly chemicals. We get most of the holey used clothes from clothing giveaways so we can also preserve money to build our house.
We give all our junk to free places like Freecycle or hospice places. That way our broken monitor and printer stays out of electronic landfills in Asia.
Last but not least, I make our kids wait at least a week before showering so they don't waste water. And that's when they're allowed to brush their teeth. Waste not want not.
No, really folks, if you think we really do these things, you're nuts!
Earth Day is great time to evaluate our lifestyles.If we exchange one product for a recycled one, like napkins, or change out a chemical toilet cleaner to baking soda or vinegar, and everyone did this, the impact on our environment to preserve the earth would be great and our earth would bear us better.
Here are ways The Building Brows really help our earth:
We recycle and use recycled items.
We avoid foods made with artificial flavors, preservatives, and colors (all chemicals).
We purchase decent used clothes, visit clothing giveaways, swap clothes, and give away ones we no longer use or need.
We turn off water (or try to remember to) when brushing teeth and soaping dishes.
We exchanged a few chemical cleaners for natural ones made of plant bases, and they really work.
We shower instead of bathe to preserve water.
We carpool and/or consolidate trips in our fuel-efficient Kia Spectra.
We also have the option to purchase greener electric power that comes from wind sources instead of filthy coal-burning plants at a slight price increase. We may look at this in the future for a self-appointed portion of our bill. Perhaps your electric company also offers a greener power alternative.
Hope you enjoyed this Works for Me Wednesday post and will consider what one thing you can add or change to make an environmental difference on the earth for all who live on it.
WE ARE The Building Brows--that's Brow like snow, not like cow even though we live in Vermont's farmland. ><> JIM AND I have been married fourteen years. We have six children, (our four llamas are gone), a Great Dane puppy, numerous carpenter ants, and a house cat who entertains herself by watching mice run through the ductwork. ><> JIM CAN'T SPELL and I can't build. That's why he's the builder and I'm the writer. ><> AS A WRITER, I have the honor and privilege of being published with my mom. Our poem set on forgiveness appears on pages 107-110 of Divine Stories of the Yahweh Sisterhood (2006, Legacy Publishers International). Check it out, sometime. :)
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