Happy New Year and welcome to 2015! I have a real thing for years ending in a 5 or a 0. It seems that good things happen for me in those years :) So I just KNOW this year is going to be a wonderful one. Last year was one of embracing my role as guardian of our home and budget, and really finding a new joy and satisfaction from performing that role to the best of my ability. I came to appreciate that if I treated my role in the home like any other career and my tasks as my 'job' then it made everything more enriching. I've shared much of my experience in that area on the Controlling our Budget threads. I plan to continue sharing ideas there :) Along similar lines, my number one plan for 2015 is to 'outsource' as little as possible. Why would I, for example, pay an enormous amount of money to send my daughter to a Deportment Class (sort of grooming and manners), as a good friend of mine has done these holidays, when I can spend treasured time with her doing that myself. Why would I pay $1000 to join a gym and then find I have to pay a cleaner to free up my time to attend the gym? Why wouldn't I use keeping my home and garden pristine, as my opportunity to exercise? Why would I pay someone else to host my daughters birthday party when I can do it more beautifully and meaningfully at home, cake included? Outsourcing costs time, effort and money and is counterproductive in so many ways. From shopping to dog washing to child care to cooking and cleaning to personal life coaches and gyms, to creating gifts and memories, we're being led to believe that someone else knows what we need better than ourselves! No more outsourcing for me. This is my year of INsourcing. Who's joining me?

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