www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
There’s;nothing;magical;about;a;new
year.;When;the;sun;rises;on;January;1st,
the;earth;is;still;spinning;on;its;axis;;bills
continue;to;arrive;in;the;mail;;and;meals
and;laundry;still;require;our;attention.
The;only;thing;different;about;the;new
year;for;me;will;be;that;I’ll;be;writing
down;the;wrong;date;for;the;next;three
months;until;I;remember;that;it’s;2014.
The;truth;is;that;every;day;is;the;be-ginning;of;something;new—whether;it’s
the;day,;week,;month,;or;year;to;follow.
But;a;calendar;does;help;us;stay;orga-nized.;And;the;beginning;of;a;new;year
makes;us;more;aware;of;the;passing;of
time,;prompting;us;to;evaluate;our;goals
and the effectiveness of our plans for
reaching them—including our goal to
live;frugally.
Last;fall,;I;wrote;about;the;importance
of;remembering;that;no;two;homeschool-
ing;families;are;exactly;alike.;Each;of;our
families has been created with unique
characteristics;and;personalities;that;af-
fect;our;priorities;and;goals,;and;we’ve
been;given;different;resources;and;talents
to meet them. Veteran homeschoolers
will;tell;you;that;lifestyle;changes;don’t
happen;overnight—whether;it’s;practic-
ing;frugality;or;establishing;homeschool-
ing.;If;we;begin;this;new;year;with;the
goal;of;adopting;the;frugal;practices;of
the;veteran;homeschooler;whose;family
adopted;a;frugal;lifestyle;years;ago,;we’re
setting;ourselves;up;for;frustration;and
possibly;failure.
During;my;first;years;of;motherhood
and;early;homeschooling,;when;the;de-mands on my time and energy were
particularly;stressful,;I;learned;to;live;by
Elisabeth;Elliot’s;mantra;to just do the
next thing. But;over;time;I;tweaked;that
a;bit,;because;to;just do ONE thing was
The
Frugal
Homeschooler
Molly Green
Just
One
Thing
To;just;do;one;thing;is;a;concept;that
has;served;me;well;as;we;adopted
frugal;practices;in;our;home.
