What I Learned in April and May

Photo: Deer passing through water in Baltimore's Mt. Washington neighborhood

1) It's important to save for a rainy day. One day out of the blue the hubs learned the company he worked for was going out of business. One of the firms executives had been mismanaging company funds and poof just like that 100 people were out of a job. People with new babies, pregnant wives, new mortgages, and other financial commitments were left to fend for themselves, us included. It was a sad event as of course no one wants to lose their job, or watch their colleagues/friends go into a financial crisis. We were fortunate in that we have been vigilant in maintaining a healthy rainy day fund. Not everyone makes enough money to cover reasonable living expenses and save a significant portion of their income. Getting laid off provided an important reminder about the importance of saving when you have the ability to do so.

2) Our household wastes a lot of food. With the hubs getting laid off we are careful about every penny we spend, which means finding areas where we are currently wasting money. The biggest area for us thus far is overspending on food. This is largely due to food waste. Americans on average WASTE AROUND A THIRD of their food supply, and we are no different. I had no idea how much food we were throwing away every week. Once I started paying attention it was truly astounding, and we will be working hard to reduce our waste dramatically.

3) How to get rid of mold. We had a mishap with our shower that resulted in some flooding in our bathroom, which lead to a small problem with mold. Luckily a quick Google search was able to turn up was to get up the mold naturally and cheap. You can learn how using baking soda or vinegar HERE.

What did you learn this month? You can learn more about what others learned at CHATTING AT THE SKY.

"The beautiful thing about learning is no one can take it away from you." ~B.B. King