2 years I kept a secret from my husband. He must have known but it was never said. WE WERE BROKE.

I stayed home to raise the kids, with his income being the only income at time in household, I didn’t want him to feel the feelings I felt. I had trouble getting to sleep, staying a sleep, relaxing I was always worrying how the bills were going to be paid.  I did lots of things he didn’t know about…

I would wake up before him and open all the window blinds to allow the sun in so no one would turn on a unnecessary light.

Summer time he left for work I would hang out the laundry to dry on a line in the back yard. This also saved on the a/c bill in the summer due to the washer and dryer being in the kitchen.  Winter needed the heat so I would run the dryer at night.

I learned to cook! I was 33 years old before I learned to cook. Sure I could follow directions on hamburger helper, most the time. But you have to remember my mother thought homemade dinner came from heating a can of green beans on the stove. No blame her mom only new how to make 5 things too.

I hid the generic brand can goods behind their name brand counterparts in the pantry. My husband mom taught him how to cook but he had distaste for generic stuff. That was then.

I made homemade gifts; some were brilliant some were just weird. We didn’t have Pinterest then.

I became really handy around the house. If something broke I would improvise. Once the car lost its bolt holding on the front bumper and I used trash bag ties to hold it one. You get creative when you’re broke.

It finally ended with a huge uproar. While I was watching every penny, he came home one day and had spent $20 on something he only kind of wanted to have…. Yes, he never saw it coming.

Lesson learned: You save 2x the amount faster working as a team. He is just at good at saving as I am.