Hi, I’m Laura and I used to care A LOT about saving every penny. I considered “saving money” to be a part of my job as a homemaker, so I clipped all the coupons, hit all the sales, and hoarded our stockpile. This was in part because we didn’t have much money and we needed to save all of our pennies just to make it. And it was in part because I didn’t understand my time and energy have value too.

I still love a good deal. I still love to save money when I can. I’ll even say yes to freebies, yes I will.

But after 26+ years of marriage, 23+ years of raising children, 15+ years of learning that the quality of our food matters,  7+ years of learning more about loving my neighbor, and 3+ years on a foster care and adoption journey:

I’m tired.

I’m also wiser, I hope. I’m learning more about what really matters, about generosity, and when it’s really worth taking the time to save a buck, you know?

I also have a really big family now. This means that in some ways, I need to be extra frugal to afford all of our family’s needs. But it also means that I have a lot more to do every day, and clipping coupons and looking through store ads doesn’t come close to making my to-do list.