The Economy

For a busy mom like myself, who doesn't get too much time to associate with the working class and talk about "grown up" things like weather, economy, technological advancements and real estate...it's still hard not to notice that things are changing when it comes to our economy.
We were all well warned that the real estate market just simply could not keep rising at the rate it was. Fortunately we sold our Calgary house when we did, and we made quite a profit on it. In fact, it nearly doubled. However, we needed a van and spent quite a bit on buying our house here that needs many huge upgrades like a new deck, new windows and a new roof (to name a few!) We are forking out a hefty mortgage payment and still are tackling our student loans (DeVry is NOT cheap!). We need to make a fair bit of money, since we only have one income, to just cover the bills. This doesn't include any extra money for fun. I feel blessed that I'm able to stay home with the boys, and frankly, unless I had a well paying profession, it would cost more for me to go to work and have my 3 kids in childcare. We would end up spending more for me to be driving to work and have work clothes, food, etc.
Salmon Arm does not have many opportunities for employment. It never has. There was a bit of a boom in the construction industry as people from the coast were moving here to retire and building houses. I think that trend is starting to slow down. We have only made it here because Greg has kept his job in Calgary and can work online from home. So far his job is going along fine. Though we sometimes bring up the idea..."what would happen if Greg were to lose his job?" We pretty much know that we couldn't make it here. The job that Greg has as a web developer is found more in the city. He would have a much better chance finding a new job in a bigger place. I'm kind of a small-town girl myself, not a huge fan of traffic, but yet do love the shopping and places of entertainment and even the large crowds at times. At this point, we kind of have the option of where we want to be...but maybe one day we won't and will just have to go where the work is.
Are you doing anything different lately to spend less? I think we can all learn to live with less for sure. I think it's crazy how we've come to think that we should have all the things that everyone else has but no one can afford. Our kids have TOO much stuff, they don't even realize it. They think that the money magically appears in the bank account. If something breaks or gets lost, we can just get a new one! We are working on that. We did our Samaritan's Purse Christmas boxes for the kids who don't have presents and tried to emphasize it may be all these children get!! We aren't getting our kids as many toys this year and are trying to pick out things that are more educational or even are more of a need than a want (shoes, toothbrushes). We don't eat out very often, and since we're in a small town, we don't have many things to go and spend money on.
Would love to hear your ideas, and what, if anything, you are changing.