Shortly after making this blog site public, I was chatting with an old acquaintance. The topic of "what I've been focusing on over the past few years" came up. This blog. Our Bodacious Biscuit Love blog. Our mission. And, everything between. After a few cordial epithets and shallow congratulatory exchanges, I was caught off guard. This almost never happens.
"Your TV is (f-bomb) ancient. From the dark ages. You have 2 laptops, a Chromebook, a tablet and 2 smartphones. You're connected to the virtual world in every way possible and you write articles on the latest trends in the marketing world, but...your TV. What's up with that?"
I'm very seldom caught off guard, but this time, I was. The snarky chuckles amid what was said didn't help.
Was I being made fun of?
After talking about spreading biscuit love, fundraising efforts, running out of pocket, our kids, their history, our decision for me to work part-time so we can have 3 kids, and all the money we've dished out to do what we can for our local animal shelters, the response was about our TV?
I didn't exactly know how to process that, but hours after the brief conversation, I was still thinking about it.
Our TV.
Oh, it's a clunker. It's old. This is the TV Lisa and I had back in the mid 90's when we met. It worked fine then. It still works today.
Over a year ago, we We Finally Cut The Cord with cable. We were paying over $100 a month for a service we very seldom used. We were too busy with spreading biscuit love, participating in events, baking biscuits and work. Why pay over $100 for a service we used maybe an hour or two per week?
In the past 3 years, since Bodacious Biscuit Love came to life, our TV isn't something we've thought about much.
What we have thought about, and have planned around and for, is far more important than updating our TV.
Our number one priority is all 3 of our rescue kids.
Coco has a heart murmur, stomach issues, severe allergies and, just recently diagnosed, a floating kneecap.
Sophie is relatively healthy although she's very close to being a senior.
Lobo has one hind leg. His single hind leg doesn't have full mobility. He also has Lyme. In the next year or so, he'll need dental work.
Lisa and I put money aside every week for medical and emergency funds for our kids. This includes their monthly flea & tick preventative (we use Revolution), annual checkups, pricey shampoos, medications, etc.
We also fund Bodacious Biscuit Love. We're going on 3 years now and we're still running out of pocket. We probably always will be and we're fine with that. We love what we do and we have no plans on stopping.
Most of the fundraisers we launch, or participate in, to assist our local animal shelters, are funded by us.
Last fall we purchased a new vehicle to accommodate our growing family, provide more room for transporting food for animal shelters, biscuit love and to assist with emergency transports of rescue animals when needed.
In March we purchased a new sofa to replace the one we had that was almost 25 years old. Our new sofa was a practical purchase and accommodated us and our 3 kids.
Lisa and I give our kids a spa day every month to month and a half. This includes grooming, bathing and nail trims. This saves us about $100 a month.
We do bring Coco to the veterinarian hospital for nail trims because his nails are black. They are more experienced in that area than Lisa and I.
A good portion of funds goes towards the meals we make our kids every day. We do not purchase store bought dog food or treats. Buying good quality, lean meats can get expensive. In addition, their meals also include brown rice, fresh produce, and, on occasion, fish.
Lisa and I do not go on vacations or weekend getaways.
I wear skirts that I purchased well over 5 years ago.
I do not splurge on manicures, pedicures or regular hair cuts.
I can't remember the last time Lisa and I ate at a restaurant.
I need to order a new pair of Crocs Flip Flops. Mine are at the point of threadbare.
The list goes on, but you get the point.
Our TV is the last thing on my mind.
On occasion, I do look at it and think, "A new TV would be nice. Instead of Redbox, we could do Netflix."
However, spending that kind of money on a new TV right now isn't something that's at the top of our list.
Saving money is.
Making sure we have medical and emergency funds for our kids is.
Making sure we have plenty of fresh, high quality food for our kids is.
Continuing to spread the biscuit love is.
Focusing on our mission is.
Buying a new sewing machine, so I can make Bodacious Blanket Love, is the next in line for a big ticket item purchase.
The last 3 sewing machine donations have failed miserably. We are grateful for the donations, but none of the sewing machines worked.
At any time, amid all of that, you want to laugh at our TV or make snarky comments about it lingering from the dark ages...go ahead.
Laugh.
Crack a joke or two.
Clearly, that speaks more about your character than ours.
We have thick skin.
Laugh.
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