Hard times= Time to change

Since the crash of the economy October 6th I have had to look at and seriously evaluate our situation.  Since food and gas prices went up we were barely and sometimes not living within our means.  I tried cutting everything I could think of to make a difference with no dice.  Our ever growing boys made our ever growing budget daunting.  So we have decided to take some drastic measures to get our family back in balance.  Dextrose is no longer with us.  Sad as it may be we found him an outstanding family of 2 people and 2 other dogs.  They live on over an acre of land with squirrels and lizards galore.  Personally I think he traded up, but that didn't make it any easier to drive him to a dog park and put him in the back of someone else's car when we were ready to leave.  Jesse and I cried repeatedly that day and it broke our hearts when Frankie began looking for him the next morning.  Jesse got a second job with REI for the Christmas season and I have decided to start my photography business.  The photography biz is to explore my passion and hopefully make money while doing it.  We have also decided to move.  All of our sweat, blood and curses over our lawn and garden will be there for someone else to enjoy.  Just when I figured out what grows where too.  We are moving to Lakeside to a small town home.  The only consolation will be the $500 a month savings in rent and utilities.  In doing this we hope to eliminate our debt and save up for a house.  I know everyone is struggling in one way or another and I'm not writing this because I want pity from anyone.  I want everyone to know that it's ok to "back track" to get on track.  We don't have to continually expand.  Sometimes a stunt in growth or trimming the fat is an appropriate tactic for the health of your family.  Everybody has a story but I think what I'm trying to say is if you ever feel tied down something is not right and needs to change.  Figure out what it is and be brave enough to change it.