Am I talking financially, personally, professionally, education, relationships? Yes, all of it! It’s all hard, every last bit of it is so flipping hard at times. But, if it were easy, would it be worth it?

Let’s start with finances. We don’t learn this stuff in school. Well, I had a teacher in 6th grade who made us paper checks, and we ran a business in our classroom. We got paid once a month or something, and had to budget our money to last until we got paid again. We all had different jobs, different families, etc. I do not remember my career and family situation, but I remember that dang check book and having to write checks out for stuff! It was not fun! But the whole experience was. I remember that same teacher had taken some of us to a poetry contest and we stopped for lunch on the way. She told us how her dad made all the kids calculate the change that the fast food worker was supposed to give back from the money he gave them. And they had to figure it out before they change was given. From that day on, I did the same and it really helped my math skills!

Back to my point, finances. If you read my Welcome post, you saw I am 37 and just now really trying to stick to a budget, cut out excess spending, try to actually save money and put some up for next Christmas! Wish me luck! I found an expense sheet that I posted to my Etsy site (AShermanWrites) if you want to grab it for yourself. And a monthly budget sheet, too! So far, I went over on our groceries for this week, but I’m hoping I don’t have to get anything next week, and that will save me money! Fingers crossed!

Personally, I am a mess! Aren’t we all though? I mean really! My husband and I have been married for a little over 11 years, been together for almost 13. It’s safe to say we have gotten on each other’s nerves a time or two! But, we work through it. And we work at working through it the right way. We have two kids, a 10 year old son and an almost 4 year old daughter. Our son is on the Autism spectrum, which presents it’s own set of obstacles. But, again, we work through it. We are in our first year of homeschooling him, and he is loving it. We have a membership to the zoo and both kids love to go see the animals. We learn everywhere, intentionally. He is helping me learn to be a better person and a better mom, God willing! Our daughter is a fire cracker to say the least! Total opposite personality of our son. She loves and adores her brother, princesses, horses, and mermaids. But she will get down in the floor and play with our two German Shepherds at any time! Both kids are amazing and teach us new things each day. I work for a dental practice, from home, handling all insurance related tasks. Dental has been my job for over 5 years of my professional career, and medical has taken up much of the remaining time. Recently I have dipped into the world of freelance writing, website building, and hope to work on Facebook group management type projects.

How did I get here, writing this blog, creating content, sharing deals? I started a small business early 2022, an online store of sorts, that initially was home décor, and turned into women’s accessories, purses, cups, jewelry, etc. It was fun, but ultimately was not for me. I realized I needed to stay completely digital in whatever I do. I dabbled in learning copy writing, and then found a couple courses on affiliate marketing. I am still working through those courses, and am always learning. One can never stop learning because then they stop living is my thought. I hate those cheesy sounding sales pitches and really try not to be that way!

So, that’s how I got to where I am now. Sitting at my computer, hacking away at the keyboard and eating mini marshmallows!