It\u2019s that time of the year when you can\u2019t put off thinking about your budget choices any longer. \u00a0The W-2 forms have arrived. \u00a0We all look at Box 1 and then, if you are like me, immediately wonder where it all went. \u00a0I just checked my wallet to find only $42 dollars inside. \u00a0Well, if you want to count all the nickels and dimes (which I did, of course)\u2026I have $42.65 to be exact. \u00a0Some of the other boxes on that W-2 tell me where a huge portion of Box 1 went. \u00a0But, where did the rest go? \u00a0The other day our file folders were scattered on the floor as I began preparations for filing our taxes. \u00a0The folders are all labeled\u2026there\u2019s tithing & charity, mortgage, college education savings, retirement planning\u2026 I don\u2019t fret over the choices documented in each of those folders\u2026it\u2019s the very fat file folder labeled \u201cFranch\u201d stuffed with receipts that causes panic every year. \u00a0This year was no different. \u00a0I interrupted my husband working from home and started questioning our choices in spending so much to live the franch life. \u00a0My husband grabbed my hand and, without saying a word, led me out to the barn, past the garden, and into the pastures. \u00a0It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon and the air was fresh and crisp. \u00a0We opened the gate to the sheep pen and our trusting flock followed us into a greener pasture. \u00a0We called over our border collie puppy and watched in wonder at her sheep herding instincts. \u00a0We walked toward the horse under the live oak trees dotting our pasture and past the tree our kids like to climb. \u00a0I circled my arms around our horse\u2019s neck and breathed in the smell of horse that I love so much. \u00a0In the distance, I noticed the cows sprawled out in the sun soaking in the rays on this rare spring-like day in winter. \u00a0I bent down to pet our barn cat who often follows us when we take a walk out into the pasture. \u00a0It was in that pasture where my husband and I chatted for a bit about all the memories we\u2019ve made as a family on the franch over the past year. \u00a0I felt content. \u00a0I think of the successful \u201cPriceless\u201d ad campaign of MasterCard. \u00a0Everything I see around me on our franch has a monetary value. \u00a0But, learning all these life lessons on the franch\u00a0side-by-side with my family every day\u2026that\u2019s priceless. \u00a0I know where it all goes and it’s worth it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s that time of the year when you can\u2019t put off thinking about your budget choices any longer. \u00a0The W-2 forms have arrived. \u00a0We all look at Box 1 and then, if you are like me, immediately wonder where it all went. \u00a0I just checked my wallet to find only $42 dollars inside. \u00a0Well, if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=814"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":823,"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814\/revisions\/823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/franchlife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}