My kids can tell you - one of my favorite sayings is "Always be prepared." Do they live by it? No. Not even close to a 1/4 of the time, but they remember it. I don't know about you, but when I am prepared, I can pretty much handle anything. How do you prepare for the unexpected, one might ask. I say by covering the basics.
- Budget
- Savings Account
- Basic household supplies (toilet paper, soap, laundry detergent, etc)
- Gas (for the vehicles)
- To-Do lists
- Extra school supplies
- Small pantry stock-pile
- An extra bag of dog food
- Clean under-roos
I could probably go on - but I think my list is a great example of things to always have on hand. To explain that backwards, if I don't have a written budget, I stress. If I don't have a little bit of money in a savings account, I stress. If we run out of toilet paper or clean under-roos, I stress. Let me share further by saying if I run out of paper towels, no biggie. If I run out of milk, eh. If I run out of clean sheets, I'd be bummed, but it wouldn't ruin my day. There are just some items that as long as we have them on hand, I am good. I can function. I feel prepared.
With back to school behind us now, I am catching myself using my mantra quite a bit... Sometimes I feel like I need to drive it into my oldest one's thick skull. But sometimes it's me... and I need to pull myself aside and refocus.
Life is so much easier when you are prepared for the expected and somewhat prepared for the unexpected.
Like Benjamin Franklin said, "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
I hate being in that boat.
