Doing the Best You Can

     We just got the news from the shop, where our fifth-wheel home is STILL entrenched, after two weeks of various repairs and winterizing. Turns out that the motor they thought would fix the problem didn't -- now it looks like we may need new 'legs.'
     This has a lot to do with raising and lowering the trailer in order to hook it onto the truck. ("Landing gear") It can be done manually, but involves a heck of a lot of cranking. And the Brick's shoulder is none too stable nowadays.
     The price? Another $1000, the Brick figures. (I intend to argue it down a bit, but who knows.)

This is wayyyy more than we'd planned to spend for repairs. On the other hand, it IS what we're living in now (or will be, once it gets out of the yard), and it's needed for the Brick to take for hunting this weekend.
    My mom suggested I sneak into the trailer when no one was looking, and emerge in robe with toothbrush and toothpaste in hand. "That'll make them work faster," she chuckled.

     I, for one, am grateful we haven't sent the money from the house sale on its various ways yet -- so we (sort of) have enough to pay the repairs. And I'm starting to realize something:

You can only do the best you can. 

     Have we abused the truck or trailer, to merit all these repairs? No. They were all items that, thanks to a tight budget for months, we limped along with, until we could afford to repair them.

     We've been forced to give away heavy things, like 40 pounds of beans (bought cheap at the Friday/Saturday store) and multiple cans of tomatoes. Why? (I could certainly use them.) Because they're making the fifth-wheel overweight, and putting stress on the truck. The good thing: the beans went to our friend at the Seniors Luncheon, who will make good use of them over the years. (And dry beans last practically forever.) Other friends who helped us move, and refused to let us pay them for it, will get their autumn stockup of tomatoes early.
     Do I feel bad that I 'wasted' these food items? Not really. They weren't expensive. They're helping others -- and again,

I'm doing the best I can. 

     This encourages me to make supper and do household chores for our long-suffering friends, whose hospitality has kept us sheltered the past few weeks. It gives me the impetus to look for discounts on plane tickets, eyeglasses (yay -- I'm finally getting new glasses!) and those heavy socks I've been needing. It encourages me to continue buying baby powder, dog treats and some downright wonderful spring rolls at the dollar store -- and stash cleaning products in our friend's garage, so I won't have to re-buy them, instead of using them up.
     It lets me convert a meal's leftovers from Outback into a farmer's fry for breakfast: baked potato, steak and Bloomin' Onion, with scrambled eggs stirred in at the last minute. (It was delicious, by the way.) It also means that tomorrow we'll have French toast, made from the package of  bolilos (puffy rolls) I found at Safeway for a buck.

      I didn't waste a thing -- and

Well, you know.

     I have blogger friends who manage on tiny budgets -- like Brandy, whose post this week features 'chicken' noodle soup -- without the chicken. Or my dear friend at Thrifty Mom in Boise, who is thrilled when she's got a few bucks left in the savings account, plus gas in the tank, at month's end.  ( "Anytime you have a little jingle left in your pocket and fuel in your car, it's a win in my book," she says.)
     Another blogger friend supplements her income with regular forays through Goodwill -- where she picks up items to sell. (And she does well, too.)
     Yet another is beating cancer -- which makes every day a blessing to her, not a hardship. (She and husband just bought a new house...and I'll bet it wasn't for much.)
     I also read bloggers who advertise -- and purchase -- kids' and adults' goods 'on sale' that I could never have afforded during the most frugal years. (Frankly, they couldn't have either, back then. She agrees with me, anyways.) Another blogger regularly features clothing and furniture for hundreds of dollars as 'budget' pieces. Obviously, to her, they are.

Their incomes range widely -- but they're using what they can to do their best.




Every time you mend a pair of pants, or hang up sheets to dry...
Every time you pay your bills (early, if possible, to save on interest)...
Every time you do the right thing, even when it costs you, or is progressing more slowly than you wish it would --

You're still doing the best you can.

And that counts for a lot.