Hi there! Welcome to “Living Frugally, Beautifully,” thank
you so much for visiting! I hope you enjoy your stay.
This is my very first blog, and my very first blog post
ever. It’s a very exciting moment for me. If you haven’t yet read my “About Me”
let me introduce myself, and give you a sneak peak at who I am. My name is
Krystal and I live in Northern California, along the beautiful coastline, next
to the majestic Redwood Forest. I LOVE being a mom, family time, crafting, being
frugal, DIY, organization, re-purposing items, writing lists (I am a Virgo after
all), learning new things, eating delicious food (especially if Chocolate is
involved), watching movies, and much more. I also have a small craft business,
called Inspired Kreations, where I make headbands and other household
decorations. It’s a work in progress.
I am the girlfriend
of my high school sweet heart Justin (yes still just a girlfriend ….. more on
that another time). A mom to our 11 year
old son, who is absolutely awesome I must say. I am very lucky, he is my pride
and joy. We also have 2 furbabies, our dogs Kona and Moose, who both have more
personality than any other dogs I have ever met.
We have had a lot of setbacks in our life in the last couple
of years. A lot of hard hitting blows. It seems like we just haven’t been able
to catch a break. Every time we think things are starting to turn around,
something happens that knocks us back to the ground. Right now we are at rock
bottom. I know we are not alone feeling like this. I decided to start this blog
to create a journal of our struggles and triumphs, as we strive to get back on
our feet. To help other people in similar situations, by giving tips on what I
am doing to move forward and up, every single day. To share what is working,
and not working for us, as we work our way out of debt. I want to be a part of the online community
that is here to help each other find ways to better our lives, for our families.
Several years ago, when things were just starting to get
good for us, I got some pretty big news. Since the birth of our son, I had been
struggling with my weight. I was finally winning the battle and was royally
kicking its butt. However, my new healthy lifestyle triggered an injury I didn't
know I had. I suddenly lost the ability to walk. I was too scared to go to the
doctor for a long time, but once my family convinced me to go, I found out that
my hip bone was collapsed, and I needed a hip replacement. I was in my mid 20’s,
20 year olds don’t need hip replacements!! They just don’t! I was terrified and
depressed. Not being able to walk, meant I wasn't able to work. This is when
things starting going downhill for us. I did eventually have my surgery, and a
much longer than expected recovery.
Then there was a light at the end of our tunnel. My honey
was offered an opportunity we could not refuse. His grandfather owned and
operated a very successful business in the California Bay Area, and was ready
to retire and wanted to pass the business off to Justin. It was a big move for
us. Going from a small town to a big city, but we just knew it would be for the
best. We were given big promises of what our life we would be like, what our
income would be, that there were places for both of us in the business (him
running the warehouse and me taking care of the books), etc. This is just what our family needed, a fresh
start and a new life with a promising future. Things could not get any better,
or so we thought…
Once we got there, things were not as we were told. Justin was
only making $12 an hour, and the only place for me was working alongside him in
the warehouse, making even less an hour then he was. We were there just to be
grunt workers. At first, we thought it was just because it was important that
we knew how to work and run each part of the business. But, as time went on,
and all of our questions, trying to learn his wisdom and the ways of the
business, went ignored, we started to catch on, that we were never going to be
taught how to run the business, as we had been promised. When business went up 60% and we needed to expand, we thought, “Ok,
we are doing great, he will finally start teaching us the inner workings, info
about the accounts, etc.” but we were still wrong. Instead of expanding, half
of the business was sold to someone else, without a word being said. Half of
the business we were told we were going to inherit.
After 2 years of struggling in a dirty, crime filled city,
more in debt then when we moved there, I had enough, and was very lucky to have
been offered a job back in our home town. I took the job, which is where I am
now, and our son and I moved back, while Justin stayed back to tie things up at
the business. Even though, we had been lied to, we didn’t think it was right to
leave his grandpa high and dry, and leave a 70 + year old man to do all the
work himself. Justin was going to stay until his grandpa retired. That was
until he was told he was going to be laid off. We moved out of our house, and
are now all back in our home town, together again.
We are in debt, have bad credit, and no money. Our son, the
2 dogs and I are living in a room that we rent, but its very small and can only
fit a twin bunk bed in, so Justin sleeps in our SUV. Which just so happened to
be involved in an accident, on the freeway on our move back here. The person
who hit clipped our bumper and put us into the center divider, took off with
their car undamaged, and ours totaled. Getting it towed here was $800 that I
had to borrow from a family member, putting us more in debt, and now one more
thing we have to pay off before we can start saving and moving forward. We don’t
even have a kitchen. We have access to a freezer and a microwave. We have been
eating out a lot which has been very expensive and has been eating up my
paychecks. Things are not fun for us right now. But I am determined and hopeful
that things are going to get better.
I have a very good job working for great people. A lot of
the jobs here are seasonal, so Justin has not found a job yet, but will
hopefully find one soon. Our son is happy to be back where his friends are, and
our dogs don’t care where we are, as long as they are with us.
Through all of this, I strive for a better future, and to Live
Frugally, Beautifully.
What are our goals and what’s our ideal lifestyle you ask?
For starters, when it comes to this blog, my goal is to help
as many people as I can get out of debt and work towards the futures they want.
To also eventually own www.livingfrugallybeautifully.com.
Our families’ goals are to get out of debt, start saving
money, get out of this room and to rent a house. Then someday, own a large
piece of property, where we can have a large garden, a small farm, live off the
land as much as possible, make many of our items from scratch. Live as frugal and
beautiful of a life as we can. We want to find a happy medium, between a homesteading
lifestyle and modern lifestyle.
What is your families’ current situation like, that you are
trying to get out of? And what are your families’ goals for the future?
