Writing for the Weekly

About a month ago I wrote about a photographer coming to our home to take photos for the Women's Weekly. Well yesterday, the edition I am featured in, went on sale. I have to tell you I am very happy with the article and photos, and to all those Women's Weekly readers who come here this week for the first time, welcome!

I made my entrance into the Weekly in their budget edition, and have been dubbed "the queen of thrift". That's fine by me, we do focus on thriftiness here, as well as many other life enriching activities. I think that managing money wisely and paying off debt is the key that unlocks the door to independence. Once that door is open you realise that life is not about working to pay off debt. Sure, you need to work hard to set yourself up and build a home that you feel comfortable in, but mindless spending delays you reaching the point when your debts are paid back and you can concentrate on the things you love doing.

For those of you living in other countries, the Women's Weekly is the magazine that most Australians know about and almost all of us have read. So you can imagine how pleased I was to be featured in it. Well, that was not the only excitement. A phone call came through a couple of weeks ago from the managing editor, Michelle Endacott, asking if I'd be interested in writing a monthly column for them.

Is the Pope Catholic?

I sent that first column in yesterday, it will be in the next edition, in November. I was asked not to tell you about the column because the announcement was at the end of the article; I was happy to oblige. No public announcement, but I did tell my family and some close friends. Everyone was so happy for me. My sons Shane and Kerry were surprised and delighted, my daughters-in-law were as excited as I was, my friends were really pleased. Ali, at the Centre, said she went "all tingly" when I told her. Hanno was very proud.

So now I hope to live up to expectations and do my best. I will be striving to do that and to help show how wonderful life can be when you slow down, adopt a frugal mindset, pay off debt and make your home the one place you know you can relax, let go of stresses and be your true self. Living more simply has the potential to give you a life like no other and the rewards are not far off in the distant future. As soon as you commit to this and start taking your own small steps, the payoffs are dotted frequently along the way. There is no destination in a simple life, the journey itself is the reward.