One last point about frugality and then I’ll move on with the blog. I just think it’s important to elaborate on the subject because there are moms who want to be at home with their children instead of in the workforce. I don’t think it’s enough to send messages without explaining the “how to.” They write, “Yes, I want to stay home with my children, but how can we afford it?” or “Yes, I want to have one more child, but how do I do it without going crazy? I’m already crazy.”

When I began this blog, it wasn’t intended to encourage and equip women to be the best mothers that they could be. I don’t think my time has come for that yet. Instead, I want to post pictures and brag about how cute my kids are. I want to give my father-in-law something to read. I want to tell you the stories that I know. And so, here is another quick story on the subject of frugality:

I held a lot of odd jobs while I was putting myself through college. One particularly memorable one was when I worked for a CPA. I did the billing for his practice, and so I trust you’ll believe me when I say that he was a very rich man. He was the richest guy I knew.

The funny thing about him, though, was that he drove a beat-up old VW. It wasn’t old in the classic sense; it was old in the embarrassing sense. Every one of his employees drove a nicer car than him. (I was the only other one who drove a car from former decades, but it wasn’t because of my good sense. It was because I was scraping by.) When he drove home and parked in the driveway of his mansion, you’d assume that the car belonged to the hired help.

Now, I’m not saying that voluntary poverty is next to godliness and everyone should buy junk. I just learned an important lesson during that time—that wealthy people invest in their savings into appreciating assets (real estate, mutual funds, starting new businesses) and minimize putting money into liabilities or depreciating assets (vehicles, clothes, furniture). One reason the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer” is because wealthy people can differentiate between appreciating and depreciating assets. If I am poor, I want it to be because of the Lord’s hand and doing and not because I buried my talent into the ground.

Now, obviously the Scotts aren’t exactly brilliant. After all, we own a seven-month-old Boxer who is not yet earning his keep. Talk about a depreciating, money-guzzling liability! I can’t say that you all didn’t warn us.