Last week I mentioned the phishing scam we were victims of. Blogreader Jennifer wrote this comment:
"My blessed sister in Christ, I have one question. Are you a tither? If you are then you have NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT."
Malachi 3 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3: 11
I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts.
Thank you for reminding me of these verses Jennifer!
This comment reminded me that I never got around to finishing my last post in my Living Debt Free blog series I did this summer. Tithing is really the most important part of our budget and yet I never got around to compiling my post on the issue due to my pregnancy fatigue.
So, though my time is limited, I want to share with my blog readers that I was trained to tithe as a child, have always tithed, and sincerely believe that tithing is absolutely important in the life of a follower of Jesus. I don't believe that it is a ticket to Heaven or that you should give just to see what you can "get" out of it. I don't believe churches should guilt people into or force tithes and that we should give as the Lord leads us. I do believe, as commenter Jennifer does, that God will prove Himself faithful if we are faithful to tithe. I do agree with the words of Billy Graham on tithing, "Most Christians find that 90% goes a lot further than 100%."
I am saddened to see how few American Christians give and how very few give sacrificially. Some people declare that they would tithe if they had more money. Because how we handle our money is an overflow from the heart, how much money you have isn't the issue. Priorities are. People tend to spend what they make (or more). Why do Americans seem to think they can't give when we are the richest folks in the world? Remember the widow's mite? Or the widow who gave her last flour and oil to Elisha? Why do Christians want to rob themselves of blessings by not giving to the Lord?
If you believe that all you have is God's anyway, then that 10% (or whatever you believe is God's will for you to tithe) isn't yours to begin with and isn't yours to spend. The government takes 10-15% of our income and we manage to survive. Shouldn't we revere God more than the IRS? There are many Christians out there buying a daily mocha or spending $50 a month on a gym they never visit who won't give to their church but once or twice a year. I have been in missions and we have two siblings in missions right now and we have come to find that sometimes it is the poorest of people who give the most.
Is it always easy to give? Not always. Often you feel wonderful about giving and excited to help with a ministry you really believe in. But there are also times, like when I was in college and only making $100 a month, where I could have used that $10 for Ramen instead of tithing. But God ALWAYS provided my needs and gave me above and beyond what I needed. He continues to do so and we continue to tithe and to give above our normal tithe as He blesses us with unexpected income from overtime hours or unexpected refunds. Because both my husband and I were taught as children to tithe, it is generally easy for us as there is no doubt in either of our minds that tithing is the best thing we can do for our budget! Of course the world doesn't understand this AT ALL! How can you build wealth/security by giving money away? How foolish to give money to "an idea of a deity" who may or may not exist, they say. All I can say is, "If you are not a believer, than you won't be able to understand the spiritual wisdom of tithing. If you are a believer and you don't tithe, you are robbing yourself of incredible blessing." I found this article interesting.
If I felt that I couldn't possibly tithe because my budget was so tight I would find a way to live on less or make more money. How I spend my money is a reflection of my heart. If my heart is passionate about the things of God, then I will use my resources to fund the spread of the Gospel, support my church body and help the needy.
2 Cor. 9:6-8
"The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."
You've heard on my blog how God provided our mini-van though it looked like an impossibly big amount just a half a year ago. I could share countless stories of how God has provided exactly what we need at just the right time. But I'd rather hear YOUR stories. How has God proven Himself faithful to you in conjunction with your obedience to tithe?
Showing posts with label Financial Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Financial Goals. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Project Minivan Complete!
The kids love riding in the new van! 
We've never owned a vehicle made in this century until now! It's a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country. It has automatic sliding doors and all kinds of fancy gadgets and functions.
Grandpa Joel and King Jo wash and dry the van while Alathia watches.We are so thankful to be driving the minivan that God provided! King Jo's folks brought it out from MN on their trailer and it was immaculate! Not only did they put a full new set of snow tires on it for us as a gift, but they bought a bunch of van-washing supplies so we can keep it looking sparkly. My father-in-law is a perfectionist with the vehicles in his care so they always look beautiful!
Boy, I sure feel like I'm a high-schooler "playing house" when I drive a van full of my own kids around town! Where did the time go? How can I possibly have THREE kids already?
Our van is a testimony to the fact that God always takes care of us, even when circumstances look hopeless or we have financial burdens. I need to remember this especially now, as we need a bigger place to live but can't find anything affordable to rent in our town, and our landlords are raising our current rent in a month.
God is good and we thank Him for the new wheels!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Project Minivan
Drumroll please........
Project Minivan is coming to a close! After configuring the budget here recently, King Jo has discovered that if we just save $20 in the whole month of July, our van is paid for! Yeah Hurray! God is good!
The great news is that we haven't included the money that will come from the sale of one of our other vehicles. So, whether we get a thousand or two from the sale of an older car, that will go into our Emergency fund to help beef it up. And...God still provided all the money needed for the van in spite of our Economic Stimulus check being $600 less than we had hoped it would be!!! I'm so excited! The van has made it safely to MN (King Jo's sister recently moved back for a few months and brought it up from Texas) and my father-in-law, who is a car nut is busy cleaning and waxing it and sprucing it up even more than it already is. It will definitely be the nicest thing we have ever owned!
It's so neat to see how God provides even when it seems that there isn't a way and you are a young, one-income family. Even though people may think it's laughable that my next goal is to have a 3 month's expenses fully-funded Emergency Fund and then eventually a decent downpayment on a home, I think that through God's provision, careful budgeting and money management, and perseverance, it can be done!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Living Debt Free--Part 5
Taming the Person in the Mirror
Sometimes I'm confused by the people around me. I know people who are always complaining about lack of money or who are feeling desperate and panicky because of their current financial situation. Yet, I will often see these same people ordering pizza once a week or more, buying new large toys, and "splurging" in a number of different areas. While I'm not the judge of how they spend their money, it doesn't make sense to me. If your husband is laid off or you are having to live on credit cards just to pay the bills, shouldn't you be eating "rice and beans"? Some people I know would rather work 4 jobs between the 2 spouses (and they have kids) rather than learn to control their spending!
Another friend of mine goes on shopping sprees 3-4 times a year to outfit her kids in the latest clothes. She was extremely bummed when her husband only allowed her $250 for herself to blow and $300 for her kids for new toys and clothes out of the Economic Stimulus Check because he wanted to put half of it down on credit card debt. They make nearly twice what our family makes and yet they are still paying on their honeymoon, their wedding, and the food they ate on credit cards while her husband was going to college for 8 years! These same people have $10,000 worth of DVDs (many of which were gifts, but still....).
I saw this same thing going on in college. Almost every student at my college was taking student loans for school. However, they could somehow afford to go on midnight runs to Perkins several times a week, buy expensive make-up, go shopping at the mall, etc. While I think it's okay to have some fun money in your budget, provided you are working while going to school, I look back and think, "If you can't afford school, and thus need some loans, then how can you afford this or that luxury?" The answer is, you can't! You are spending money you don't have! If you do have the cash in your pocket from your part-time job, shouldn't it be going to pay your outstanding debts, even if they are currently interest-free? Just because your loan is currently interest-free doesn't mean it's not still there! You are still in the negatives! Most college students have no idea how hard it is to pay interest later on greasy restaurant food they ate 10 years ago, but they are about to find out!
I'm not against fun. I love eating out. I look back and realize that even if I was pretty frugal in college I splurged too sometimes and could have lived off of even less. But I didn't because I got caught up in doing what a lot of other people are doing. I am against living a life of luxury and spending on things that you can't afford. If you have consumer debt (credit cards, etc.) you have a negative amount of money. Until you get busy paying them off and being debt free, you don't have any money to spend! You're behind and paying for things in the past so quit buying in the present! It's that simple! Yet, most Americans can't get control of the person in the mirror and they continue spending and continue spending because it's so easy to throw down the plastic and so hard to say no to themselves.
On the contrary, some people get really intense about taking control of their finances and it's admirable. There were a couple of guys at my college who demonstrated this. I'm not sure if they both went to school entirely debt-free but they were sure trying! One guy realized there was no rule in the student handbook saying that you couldn't live in an ice house. So, he camped out in a friend's shed in the fall and then lived in a little ice house on the lake next to the college during the winter. He showered in the guys' dorm and hung out there often with friends, but he "technically" lived in the ice house and saved himself a bundle on dorm fees! In Northern MN temps, this guy was tougher than tough! Needless to say they made a rule the next year about students not being able to live in ice houses! Another guy declined being on the meal plan and cooked all his meals in the dorm lounge. His meals mostly consisted of frozen pizza and Ramen. While I don't endorse that diet (ick!) he did save himself a lot of money! I like that these guys were creative in their approach to get an education without throwing money to the wind. That resourcefulness and ability to sacrifice will come in handy for the guy who ate in the dorm since within 2.5 years of marrying a gal from college they had 4 children!
While I will probably always have friends who won't tame the person in the mirror, I also have some friends who are doing an amazing job at living frugally and shopping deals and bargains. They inspire me to go even lower in my budget and be even more careful in order to save for emergencies and buying a home. Keep up the good work! You are an inspiration to me in living financially free!
*In talking about debt in this post I'm not referring to a loan on an asset, like a home, which appreciates in value, or on loans that come because of unavoidable circumstances, like medical bills or catastrophe. Due to the reality of unexpected expenses, I think it is vital to have some sort of insurance and a large emergency fund, as I've discussed in a previous post. My husband and I have been there, done that when it came to some unexpected hospital bills on Jeremiah's birth. Thankfully we tightened our belts and were able to pay them off by his first birthday, by God's grace! No matter what kind of debt you have, whether it came from foolish purchases or unavoidable circumstances, I think it's important to live frugally and carefully until it's paid off. What I'm mainly harping on in this post is consumer debt or living luxuriously when you absolutely cannot afford to do so!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Living Debt Free--Part 4
Housing and the Debt-Free Life
This area I have absolutely NO experience in but I wanted to bring it up so that blog readers could share their ideas with me on this issue. Housing nowadays is so expensive that there are no easy pat answers. I know some people who rent for years and years, preferring to pour money into stock investments and others who buy right away and are swallowed up in big mortgage payments. I know people who are determined to pay cash only to build a house, but the saving up is slow, as building materials continue to sky rocket, and very few can actually do it completely loan-free. Who would deny that paying all cash for a house is the best way to go and yet who can actually do it? If living expenses take up most or all of your income, it's next to impossible.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that Dave Ramsey recommends putting 20% down on a home when purchasing. I think Crown Financial Concepts (Money Matters) recommends about the same, especially putting down at least 10%. Thinking of the cost of fixer-uppers in our little town that would mean King Jo and I would need to save up about $30,000 (20%) or $15,000 (10%) to put down on a house. At our current rate of ability to save ( a few thousand a year max) that would take us a lot of time and in that time home prices will have gone up even more. The only way I see this happening soon is if we were to receive a large inheritance or if King Jo suddenly got an amazing job that paid double the money he makes now.
Some people live with family members for a while, some people build, some start off in trailer homes, and some buy with nothing down, preferring to start building equity right away. Whatever you have chosen to do, you know that housing is expensive and buying a home is a huge committment. In our dual-income world it is especially difficult for families with a stay-at-home mom to purchase a home.
So, what's a young couple to do?
While I'm not sure exactly how or when God will lead us into buying our first home, I do know this:
1. We will buy only what we feel we can reasonably afford even if it will take lots of work. Even if the bank said we could have a loan for twice the amount of the cost of a fixer-upper in town, we would still take the fixer-upper provided it was a good buy and live-able.
2. We will make it our goal to pay off our mortgage as soon as possible. I like how Dave Ramsey says on his radio show, ".....Where the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice." Rather than take pricey family vacations or blow unexpected bonus or tax refunds on shopping sprees or personal wants, we will try to put any extra money towards our mortgage. It will take a lot of time and a lot of dedication, but being completely debt-free (including the mortgage) is the goal.
If you have advice on buying a home or a neat testimony of how God has taken care of you in this area, please share!
This area I have absolutely NO experience in but I wanted to bring it up so that blog readers could share their ideas with me on this issue. Housing nowadays is so expensive that there are no easy pat answers. I know some people who rent for years and years, preferring to pour money into stock investments and others who buy right away and are swallowed up in big mortgage payments. I know people who are determined to pay cash only to build a house, but the saving up is slow, as building materials continue to sky rocket, and very few can actually do it completely loan-free. Who would deny that paying all cash for a house is the best way to go and yet who can actually do it? If living expenses take up most or all of your income, it's next to impossible.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that Dave Ramsey recommends putting 20% down on a home when purchasing. I think Crown Financial Concepts (Money Matters) recommends about the same, especially putting down at least 10%. Thinking of the cost of fixer-uppers in our little town that would mean King Jo and I would need to save up about $30,000 (20%) or $15,000 (10%) to put down on a house. At our current rate of ability to save ( a few thousand a year max) that would take us a lot of time and in that time home prices will have gone up even more. The only way I see this happening soon is if we were to receive a large inheritance or if King Jo suddenly got an amazing job that paid double the money he makes now.
Some people live with family members for a while, some people build, some start off in trailer homes, and some buy with nothing down, preferring to start building equity right away. Whatever you have chosen to do, you know that housing is expensive and buying a home is a huge committment. In our dual-income world it is especially difficult for families with a stay-at-home mom to purchase a home.
So, what's a young couple to do?
While I'm not sure exactly how or when God will lead us into buying our first home, I do know this:
1. We will buy only what we feel we can reasonably afford even if it will take lots of work. Even if the bank said we could have a loan for twice the amount of the cost of a fixer-upper in town, we would still take the fixer-upper provided it was a good buy and live-able.
2. We will make it our goal to pay off our mortgage as soon as possible. I like how Dave Ramsey says on his radio show, ".....Where the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice." Rather than take pricey family vacations or blow unexpected bonus or tax refunds on shopping sprees or personal wants, we will try to put any extra money towards our mortgage. It will take a lot of time and a lot of dedication, but being completely debt-free (including the mortgage) is the goal.
If you have advice on buying a home or a neat testimony of how God has taken care of you in this area, please share!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Living Debt Free--Part 3
Are School Loans Wise?
Advice for Young People
(Some of you may disagree with my perspective presented here. That's okay! I'm not claiming to have all knowledge and wisdom on the subject of living debt free. I just want to share, as a testimony, what we have learned from our own experiences on this subject.)
I recognize that sometimes school loans do pay off. We know a gal who borrowed $17,000 and got a 4-year nursing degree and immediately made $40,000 a year fresh out of school. Because she didn't marry until 5 years out of school and lived with her parents a lot of that time, she easily paid it off. However, there are no guarantees. If you somehow change your mind on a Major mid-schooling, get sick, or get swept off your feet by an unexpected romance that leads to marriage and you are unable to finish school for some reason, that's still a huge chunk to pay off! This gal could have chosen a local college instead of one of the priciest Christian schools in the nation and could have probably gotten her degree for half of that. But the benefits of going to the school she wanted to go to were worth that much to her and it worked out in the end because she chose a profession where there is constant demand and endless job opportunities. On the other hand, I have another friend who is very frugal and got a degree in a field she enjoys and tried not to take too many loans but ended up owing at least $15,000 after 6 years of college. She CAN'T find a job in her field, didn't marry, doesn't have parents around to live with, and is stuck trying to survive on a minimum-wage income and just meet her basic needs as well as the basic loan payments. It's going to take her around 20 years to pay school off at the current rate!
I think it is up to an individual to weigh their options and decide if they will take the risk of school loans or not based on the education they will receive and the payback in the end. I personally will advise my own kids to try to save up, work during the summers, and take a year or two off as needed to get through with the least debt possible. There are no guarantees when it comes to the job market or whether or not you will be able to finish so I would rather play it safer. My brother told me about a gal who attended med school and took about $200,000 in loans only to discover when she dropped out near the end, without a degree, that bankruptcy does NOT apply to school loans, so by claiming bankruptcy, it didn't clear them as she had hoped it would.
I don't regret going to the college I attended and I am glad my parents did advise me not to take out more loans than I could pay back in one year of working a minimum-wage job. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably have tried to take a semester off here and there or might have worked an extra job in the summer just to avoid any and all loans. If I had been going for a 2 year degree that demanded so much of me (like nursing) that I couldn't work much on the side, I may have still taken a few thousand in loans, with the knowledge that I would have a good job after school to pay it back quickly. I would have paid it off before going on for more schooling.
My personal views are that young people with a heart for ministry or for being a stay-at-home mom someday should look for as many alternatives as possible instead of getting school loans. Don't underestimate the power of God to fund your education! I really believe that God cares about this detail of our lives and wants to build our faith and overwhelm us as we seek His provision for this area of our lives. While I don't think it's necessarily sinful to sign on the line, I do think we are more quick to trust in financial institutions than in God for provision for college. I have been the recipient of an anonymous gift of $2,000 for my education as an answer to prayer! It's amazing how different scholarships and grants came through for me and how God helped me stretch my miniscule budget through the college years. It was great to work in the college kitchen too and get free meals and free leftovers! When we married, we had a combined total of $77,000 worth of Biblical/missions education and owed only $3,000 (my school loans).
One older gentleman pastor I met said he had been paying on his school loans for 30 years and still owed a ton on them. He exhorted me and another college student to do whatever possible to avoid that hardship. I know from personal experience when we were missionaries for a summer, and from my many friends who are in ministry now, that ministry salaries are hard enough to live on without having loan payments!
Though we attended a very small Christian college that cost about half of the price of the bigger colleges, the average student graduates with $22,000 in loans. Most fulfill the joking prophecy that it's a "Bridal" college and obtain a spouse while there, doubling their debt to $44,000. What a way to start a marriage! It would be wise for a young person to choose debt-free living as a way to honor and bless their future spouse. If you have already found the one you want for life, you need to consider how debt will affect your marriage and seek to pay off as much as you can before marriage. It may not seem like a big deal when you're in the fog of falling in love, but it will be difficult if money is tight and hard times hit, putting a strain on you as a couple. Even couples who try to avoid having kids right away, giving them time to get on their feet financially, are not guaranteed that kids won't come anyway. (I have lots of friends that are proof of this!) If you go into marriage WITHOUT school loans, you will have a headstart on life.
I'm very proud of my friends who are struggling with paying school loans back and are chugging away at it right now as they raise young kids, inspiring me with their amazing frugalness and dedication. Their milestones in the debt-free journey excite me and fill me with great joy! Some of them were pushed into signing forms by the financial advisors at school or by a parent or they married someone who had a lot of debt for the same reasons and now they are becoming incredibly resourceful and creative in working towards the goal of being debt-free! Keep up the great work! Share with me your progress, however small it may be!
Did you use school loans to fund your education? If you had to do it over again, would you change how you did things?
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Living Debt Free--Part 2
One important step in Living Debt-Free is living within your means.
Though this seems like a no-brainer, it isn't always easy, especially when you are just starting out.
In our third year of marriage, we were desperate to find a rental in a town where there are none, and we took the first thing that came along without realizing that it would end up costing more than our budget could handle since it was out of town (lots of gas), it was an old, windy shack (we burned tons of wood and used lots of propane just to try to keep us a little warmer than shivering), and the utilities were higher than we had expected. Nearly half of our income was going to pay for housing! Yikes! It's no wonder we could never get ahead and never saved and were just surviving paycheck to paycheck.
Moving into town was the smartest thing we could have done. We got a place with low utilities and free water that is very energy efficient and warm in the winter. It's about 2 blocks from almost everything we need in town, allowing for walking and biking. With King Jo's salary gradually going up, as we live in a place that only takes about 1/4 of our income now, we are able to save more and stay ahead when we know a big bill is coming. Though it's a tiny apartment that we will soon outgrow, with less privacy than I'd like, it has been a great option for our family in these years of just starting out.
Though it seems obvious not to spend more than you make, it's getting harder and harder with prices going up, but wages not necessarily going up. It takes LOTS OF WORK sometimes to stick with a budget, plan creatively, and cut corners so that it is possible. One of the biggest hindrances to living within your means is allowing yourself to believe that "you deserve more" or you "NEED" more. Many Americans today, especially those around my age, have a sense of entitlement, or a desire to start off with the wealth their parents have. It's important that people with this tendency sit down and think about what their true needs are and be willing to give up the things that are NOT necessary for survival in order to live on less than what they make. If you want to have fancy things and big toys, then you must be willing to put in lots and lots of work to get them (sometimes 20 years of work)!
It's always good to put things in perspective. When my folks came back from visiting my missionary brother, they told me that 45 Guatemalans could live in our apartment kitchen! Though they were exaggerating a bit, it was a good reminder for me that our idea of cramped might be a mansion for the majority of people in the world! When my sis-in-law was in Asia as a missionary, she said most families had 6 people in an average-size bed!
If you truly make so little that you can't keep from going over-budget, I would start praying that God would open doors for a new job, or some schooling or training so that you can work your way up to a higher-paying job. I have a friend in this situation and she manages by renting her home to other single women so the housing costs are shared, as well as by suplementing her income with odd jobs like pet-sitting and babysitting. She is also considering getting futher training to become a CNA so she can get paid more.
If you are tempted to be jealous of others who have more than you or you struggle with spending with an attitude of entitlement, here are some ideas for combatting that:
1. Train yourself to be thankful. Thank God for each little thing you have. Post notes around the house reminding you to praise God for His provisions instead of wishing you had more.
2. Serve others. Take the time to give, practice hospitality, and volunteer in places where there is true need and suffering. Serving those who are discouraged or less fortunate reminds us of how very, very blessed we are.
3. Stop watching TV (commercials) or reading secular magazines. I have a friend who made a choice not to read women's mags because of the discontent they bred in her for wanting to go on fancy vacations or have nicer home furnishings.
4. Cut up credit cards, stop using your debit card (if you spend more than you should) and go with cash only for a while. When you're out, you're out!
5. Learn skills that will help you live on less. Learn to garden, learn to coupon, learn to cook from scratch, learn to sew, or learn to do a home business skill that brings in extra money. Reading http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ every day is a great place to start!
6. Watch your friendships carefully and don't allow your friends to influence you to be more materialistic. Over the years, certain friends I have had have influenced me to be more materialistic or to eat out more than I should have. I was wanting to "keep up" with their standard of living instead of influencing them to be more frugal. Once I got my priorities straight and back to living for God and not for man, I no longer cared what they had that I didn't have, but instead I wanted to be a light pointing them to the Lord and helping them to learn to save money and be content with less. Ironically, if you are honest with a friend and say you can't afford to go out every week or you can't afford what they can afford for their kids, the odds are that they will open up and share their financial struggles too and often they have admitted that they can't afford much either!
What is your biggest obstacle to living within your means?
Thanks to those of you who shared your stories in the Living Debt Free--Part 1 post. I was blessed by them!
Though this seems like a no-brainer, it isn't always easy, especially when you are just starting out.
In our third year of marriage, we were desperate to find a rental in a town where there are none, and we took the first thing that came along without realizing that it would end up costing more than our budget could handle since it was out of town (lots of gas), it was an old, windy shack (we burned tons of wood and used lots of propane just to try to keep us a little warmer than shivering), and the utilities were higher than we had expected. Nearly half of our income was going to pay for housing! Yikes! It's no wonder we could never get ahead and never saved and were just surviving paycheck to paycheck.
Moving into town was the smartest thing we could have done. We got a place with low utilities and free water that is very energy efficient and warm in the winter. It's about 2 blocks from almost everything we need in town, allowing for walking and biking. With King Jo's salary gradually going up, as we live in a place that only takes about 1/4 of our income now, we are able to save more and stay ahead when we know a big bill is coming. Though it's a tiny apartment that we will soon outgrow, with less privacy than I'd like, it has been a great option for our family in these years of just starting out.
Though it seems obvious not to spend more than you make, it's getting harder and harder with prices going up, but wages not necessarily going up. It takes LOTS OF WORK sometimes to stick with a budget, plan creatively, and cut corners so that it is possible. One of the biggest hindrances to living within your means is allowing yourself to believe that "you deserve more" or you "NEED" more. Many Americans today, especially those around my age, have a sense of entitlement, or a desire to start off with the wealth their parents have. It's important that people with this tendency sit down and think about what their true needs are and be willing to give up the things that are NOT necessary for survival in order to live on less than what they make. If you want to have fancy things and big toys, then you must be willing to put in lots and lots of work to get them (sometimes 20 years of work)!
It's always good to put things in perspective. When my folks came back from visiting my missionary brother, they told me that 45 Guatemalans could live in our apartment kitchen! Though they were exaggerating a bit, it was a good reminder for me that our idea of cramped might be a mansion for the majority of people in the world! When my sis-in-law was in Asia as a missionary, she said most families had 6 people in an average-size bed!
If you truly make so little that you can't keep from going over-budget, I would start praying that God would open doors for a new job, or some schooling or training so that you can work your way up to a higher-paying job. I have a friend in this situation and she manages by renting her home to other single women so the housing costs are shared, as well as by suplementing her income with odd jobs like pet-sitting and babysitting. She is also considering getting futher training to become a CNA so she can get paid more.
If you are tempted to be jealous of others who have more than you or you struggle with spending with an attitude of entitlement, here are some ideas for combatting that:
1. Train yourself to be thankful. Thank God for each little thing you have. Post notes around the house reminding you to praise God for His provisions instead of wishing you had more.
2. Serve others. Take the time to give, practice hospitality, and volunteer in places where there is true need and suffering. Serving those who are discouraged or less fortunate reminds us of how very, very blessed we are.
3. Stop watching TV (commercials) or reading secular magazines. I have a friend who made a choice not to read women's mags because of the discontent they bred in her for wanting to go on fancy vacations or have nicer home furnishings.
4. Cut up credit cards, stop using your debit card (if you spend more than you should) and go with cash only for a while. When you're out, you're out!
5. Learn skills that will help you live on less. Learn to garden, learn to coupon, learn to cook from scratch, learn to sew, or learn to do a home business skill that brings in extra money. Reading http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ every day is a great place to start!
6. Watch your friendships carefully and don't allow your friends to influence you to be more materialistic. Over the years, certain friends I have had have influenced me to be more materialistic or to eat out more than I should have. I was wanting to "keep up" with their standard of living instead of influencing them to be more frugal. Once I got my priorities straight and back to living for God and not for man, I no longer cared what they had that I didn't have, but instead I wanted to be a light pointing them to the Lord and helping them to learn to save money and be content with less. Ironically, if you are honest with a friend and say you can't afford to go out every week or you can't afford what they can afford for their kids, the odds are that they will open up and share their financial struggles too and often they have admitted that they can't afford much either!
What is your biggest obstacle to living within your means?
Thanks to those of you who shared your stories in the Living Debt Free--Part 1 post. I was blessed by them!
Living Debt Free--Part 1
I've had some thoughts on finances swirling through my head that I wanted to share. However, I quickly realized that writing about them all at once would make for a very longwinded and boring post. So, I'm starting a series, called "Living Debt Free" which I will be continuing throughout the next week or two.
Living debt-free is definitely something my husband and I strive for. I was raised by parents who were very careful about the loans they took out, and King Jo was raised with the mindset that loans are as bad as the Anti-Christ (and I'm only half-joking). This definitely gave us an advantage as we were able to marry only owing a few thousand on my school loans and were able to quickly pay that off even with very low-paying jobs before getting pregnant a year later.
Though we recognize the great freedom in being debt-free we have also encountered the reality in life that sometimes unexpected expenses come up and staying out of debt when you're young can be difficult. This is why I think it is SO IMPORTANT to have at least a modest emergency fund in place. We were so busy trying to get loans taken care of our first year of marriage that we neglected saving for an emergency fund and so every car repair and unexpected bill that came along would hit us hard and set us back. God was amazingly faithful to provide, but it would have saved us a lot of heartache if we had been more diligent to set aside at least $1,000 for those burdens that come along. It's sad to say but when our bank made some mistakes involving about 40 dollars, we were overdrafted because our checking account was that tight! Now, we try to keep a couple of hundred dollars of float money in our checking account, which we don't spend, but we have it there in case of problems like that!
Though we didn't have an emergency fund for the first few years of our marriage, I am so glad we have at least $1,000 set aside for that now. I would like to be able to set aside even more in the future. But for now, I really want to encourage my blog readers to start small and build a emergency fund of $1,000 if you haven't already.
Who should have an emergency fund?
1. High school students (now is the time to be saving since you have few, if any, bills)
2. College students (Too many college students are tempted into easy credit card fixes when the car breaks down and they are living off of Ramen noodles without a dime to spare.)
3. Newlyweds (If I had to go back and do things over I would do everything I could to have an E. Fund in place before getting married. It would be a great thing to suggest when folks ask what you want for your shower or wedding.)
4. Singles, couples, families, retirees, the elderly, etc. Basically EVERYONE! We all get hit with unexpected things, whether medical or home or car or travel related and one of the keys to staying debt-free is to be prepared when things come up so that you are not forced into debt!
Where do I start?
1. If you are prone to spending everything you have, have your bank set up an automatic feature where they take x amount of dollars out of your checking each month and put it into a savings account.
2. If you make plenty of money to live off and then some, then there is no excuse for you to NOT have an E. fund. Budget your needs and get busy with saving and stop spending on stuff you don't need.
3. If you are barely scraping by, then you will need to assess if there is something you can cut back for awhile so you can pad your E. fund. No eating out until it's done? Challenge yourself to bike to work in the summer? Give up lattes? Do you have lots of junk sitting around that you could sell?
4. If you truly don't have an extra dollar to save, then it's time to figure out how to get more cash flow into your life. Do some evening babysitting, delivering papers, mow lawns, or bake and sell bread, but do find a way to make some money that you can SAVE, not spend.
5. Pray a lot. Most of us can save more than we do, but we aren't in the habit or we haven't learned personal discipline and hate denying ourselves the little luxuries we so enjoy. Praying about our financial needs and decisions helps keep us accountable before God and helps remind us to stay on track. When we acknowledge our need before Him, He is faithful to meet our needs and help us.
I really believe the first $1,000 is the hardest! It can be really hard to start saving if you aren't in the habit, but once you get the ball rolling, it becomes easier and easier! Of course the E. Fund needs to be continually maintained because as you dip into it for big needs, that money will need to be replaced. There is always the chance that an expense will come up that will totally level your E. fund and cause you to have to go in debt and for those instances, I haven't the answers, except to say that God is faithful and will provide for our needs when we look to Him. We do the best we can do to be wise and prepared but we ultimately have to trust Him for every area of our lives.
I have been blessed by the wisdom of Crown Ministries and Dave Ramsey regarding finances and setting up emergency funds. Check out their sites for more on this subject.
Do you have an emergency fund? If so, how has it helped you with pursuing a debt-free life?
Living debt-free is definitely something my husband and I strive for. I was raised by parents who were very careful about the loans they took out, and King Jo was raised with the mindset that loans are as bad as the Anti-Christ (and I'm only half-joking). This definitely gave us an advantage as we were able to marry only owing a few thousand on my school loans and were able to quickly pay that off even with very low-paying jobs before getting pregnant a year later.
Though we recognize the great freedom in being debt-free we have also encountered the reality in life that sometimes unexpected expenses come up and staying out of debt when you're young can be difficult. This is why I think it is SO IMPORTANT to have at least a modest emergency fund in place. We were so busy trying to get loans taken care of our first year of marriage that we neglected saving for an emergency fund and so every car repair and unexpected bill that came along would hit us hard and set us back. God was amazingly faithful to provide, but it would have saved us a lot of heartache if we had been more diligent to set aside at least $1,000 for those burdens that come along. It's sad to say but when our bank made some mistakes involving about 40 dollars, we were overdrafted because our checking account was that tight! Now, we try to keep a couple of hundred dollars of float money in our checking account, which we don't spend, but we have it there in case of problems like that!
Though we didn't have an emergency fund for the first few years of our marriage, I am so glad we have at least $1,000 set aside for that now. I would like to be able to set aside even more in the future. But for now, I really want to encourage my blog readers to start small and build a emergency fund of $1,000 if you haven't already.
Who should have an emergency fund?
1. High school students (now is the time to be saving since you have few, if any, bills)
2. College students (Too many college students are tempted into easy credit card fixes when the car breaks down and they are living off of Ramen noodles without a dime to spare.)
3. Newlyweds (If I had to go back and do things over I would do everything I could to have an E. Fund in place before getting married. It would be a great thing to suggest when folks ask what you want for your shower or wedding.)
4. Singles, couples, families, retirees, the elderly, etc. Basically EVERYONE! We all get hit with unexpected things, whether medical or home or car or travel related and one of the keys to staying debt-free is to be prepared when things come up so that you are not forced into debt!
Where do I start?
1. If you are prone to spending everything you have, have your bank set up an automatic feature where they take x amount of dollars out of your checking each month and put it into a savings account.
2. If you make plenty of money to live off and then some, then there is no excuse for you to NOT have an E. fund. Budget your needs and get busy with saving and stop spending on stuff you don't need.
3. If you are barely scraping by, then you will need to assess if there is something you can cut back for awhile so you can pad your E. fund. No eating out until it's done? Challenge yourself to bike to work in the summer? Give up lattes? Do you have lots of junk sitting around that you could sell?
4. If you truly don't have an extra dollar to save, then it's time to figure out how to get more cash flow into your life. Do some evening babysitting, delivering papers, mow lawns, or bake and sell bread, but do find a way to make some money that you can SAVE, not spend.
5. Pray a lot. Most of us can save more than we do, but we aren't in the habit or we haven't learned personal discipline and hate denying ourselves the little luxuries we so enjoy. Praying about our financial needs and decisions helps keep us accountable before God and helps remind us to stay on track. When we acknowledge our need before Him, He is faithful to meet our needs and help us.
I really believe the first $1,000 is the hardest! It can be really hard to start saving if you aren't in the habit, but once you get the ball rolling, it becomes easier and easier! Of course the E. Fund needs to be continually maintained because as you dip into it for big needs, that money will need to be replaced. There is always the chance that an expense will come up that will totally level your E. fund and cause you to have to go in debt and for those instances, I haven't the answers, except to say that God is faithful and will provide for our needs when we look to Him. We do the best we can do to be wise and prepared but we ultimately have to trust Him for every area of our lives.
I have been blessed by the wisdom of Crown Ministries and Dave Ramsey regarding finances and setting up emergency funds. Check out their sites for more on this subject.
Do you have an emergency fund? If so, how has it helped you with pursuing a debt-free life?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Project Minivan Update!
For those of you who are wondering how we're doing with Project Minivan: Here's the scoop!
We now have $1,600 in savings for the van.
We have not yet received our Stimulus check. Some of our friends have gotten less than they expected, so we don't know how much it will be FOR SURE, but when that comes we should be at least $500 within our goal. Which means if we can save $500 over the next three months (June, July, August) we will have our van paid for! The cool part is that we will be selling one of our current vehicles when the van comes so we will have an ADDITIONAL $1,000-$2,000 from that sale for our fund so we can likely pay my in-laws a bonus for the gas money they will spend driving it out and maybe pad our emergency fund further.
God is so good to us! He gets all the credit for meeting this need in our lives!
Next project with the van: We need to get it added onto our car insurance THIS WEEK!
We now have $1,600 in savings for the van.
We have not yet received our Stimulus check. Some of our friends have gotten less than they expected, so we don't know how much it will be FOR SURE, but when that comes we should be at least $500 within our goal. Which means if we can save $500 over the next three months (June, July, August) we will have our van paid for! The cool part is that we will be selling one of our current vehicles when the van comes so we will have an ADDITIONAL $1,000-$2,000 from that sale for our fund so we can likely pay my in-laws a bonus for the gas money they will spend driving it out and maybe pad our emergency fund further.
God is so good to us! He gets all the credit for meeting this need in our lives!
Next project with the van: We need to get it added onto our car insurance THIS WEEK!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Project Minivan Update
For those of you wondering how our Project Minivan is going......
Well, we "officially" own a vehicle we haven't even paid for! My sister-in-law sent us the title and then later a form filled out by a sheriff verifying the VIN number and I was able to take it down to the County Clerk's yesterday and pay $400 for taxes and plates. So, the title of the 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan is in my name, even though I've never actually seen it and we haven't paid a dime for it!
April had some unexpected car repair bills so we were only able to save a couple of hundred toward PM, bringing our total up to around $1,000. However, with the extra paycheck we will get in May (since May has 5 Fridays and we get paid every Friday), my husband is optimistic that we will be able to about double that amount by the end of May. Yeah! Our economic stimulus tax is coming too this summer which will boost our total to about exactly what we need. Of course there will be insurance costs too and we'd like to pay my in-laws' gas to drive it out here, but if we sell one of our other vehicles, that will give us even more toward this project. God is so good and He gets ALL the credit for providing for this need of ours!
Well, we "officially" own a vehicle we haven't even paid for! My sister-in-law sent us the title and then later a form filled out by a sheriff verifying the VIN number and I was able to take it down to the County Clerk's yesterday and pay $400 for taxes and plates. So, the title of the 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan is in my name, even though I've never actually seen it and we haven't paid a dime for it!
April had some unexpected car repair bills so we were only able to save a couple of hundred toward PM, bringing our total up to around $1,000. However, with the extra paycheck we will get in May (since May has 5 Fridays and we get paid every Friday), my husband is optimistic that we will be able to about double that amount by the end of May. Yeah! Our economic stimulus tax is coming too this summer which will boost our total to about exactly what we need. Of course there will be insurance costs too and we'd like to pay my in-laws' gas to drive it out here, but if we sell one of our other vehicles, that will give us even more toward this project. God is so good and He gets ALL the credit for providing for this need of ours!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Project Minivan
I have many financial goals in mind that I'd like to work towards. I think it would be nice to make a really big effort towards saving for a home and saving up 6 months of living expenses. I think it would be wise for us to have a will and get some life insurance (things we've been meaning to do but haven't gotten around to). However, the main goal I'd like to work towards this year is Project Minivan. This is what I've decided to call our efforts to get a bigger vehicle to hold all 3 carseats. It's debatable whether or not we could smoosh an infant carseat into our Honda, but even if we could, trips to MN would be about impossible and it would be difficult to be this smooshed even for trips around town; especially with the kids poking the newborn who was between them.
So, right now, it seems to me that a bigger vehicle is a need and we've been praying about it. We don't want to take a loan to buy a van or bigger vehicle so we figure we will need about $3,000 for a decent used minivan.
Here are the goals I have towards getting one in 6 months or less:
1. Pray daily about this need and ask for God's provision. Pray about ways of earning extra money for this project and pray that a really good deal would come to us at the right time.
2. Be entrepreneurial and look for ways to earn extra money. I'm tossing around some ideas right now but I also realize that the two kids and one in utero that I already have keep me so busy that it's not wise that I start anything big or get over-committed in this area. I want to be very careful about not taking on too much when it comes to money-making ideas. Ideas I'm tossing around: Blogging ads, writing projects, selling leather shoes, etc.
3. Cut corners and save as much as we can. If my husband can work it in, I'd like to commit to saving $100 monthly to Project Minivan; more if possible. In addition to this I will be continually trying to trim the grocery budget and my goal is to cut us down $20 per week to $85 a week so that we can put an addition $80-$100 a month into Project Minivan. (Though our weekly budget may look like a lot to some, I buy diapers, stamps for my newsletter (costs anywhere from $30-$50 per month), household products, gifts, medicines, and clothing out of this grocery budget. I also have two kids who are voracious eaters!)
4. Put our tax bonus that is supposedly coming towards Project Minivan.
5. Sell our Toyota Camry, which we could probably get $500 for.
6. Put any extra gift bonuses towards P.M. If hubby gets a raise or a bonus for some overtime hours or if someone just happens to randomly give us money (when does that ever happen?) we will put it into P.M.
I'll keep you posted on Project Minivan as the weeks and months go on. Having this posted on my blog will help keep me accountable to this endeavor.
So, right now, it seems to me that a bigger vehicle is a need and we've been praying about it. We don't want to take a loan to buy a van or bigger vehicle so we figure we will need about $3,000 for a decent used minivan.
Here are the goals I have towards getting one in 6 months or less:
1. Pray daily about this need and ask for God's provision. Pray about ways of earning extra money for this project and pray that a really good deal would come to us at the right time.
2. Be entrepreneurial and look for ways to earn extra money. I'm tossing around some ideas right now but I also realize that the two kids and one in utero that I already have keep me so busy that it's not wise that I start anything big or get over-committed in this area. I want to be very careful about not taking on too much when it comes to money-making ideas. Ideas I'm tossing around: Blogging ads, writing projects, selling leather shoes, etc.
3. Cut corners and save as much as we can. If my husband can work it in, I'd like to commit to saving $100 monthly to Project Minivan; more if possible. In addition to this I will be continually trying to trim the grocery budget and my goal is to cut us down $20 per week to $85 a week so that we can put an addition $80-$100 a month into Project Minivan. (Though our weekly budget may look like a lot to some, I buy diapers, stamps for my newsletter (costs anywhere from $30-$50 per month), household products, gifts, medicines, and clothing out of this grocery budget. I also have two kids who are voracious eaters!)
4. Put our tax bonus that is supposedly coming towards Project Minivan.
5. Sell our Toyota Camry, which we could probably get $500 for.
6. Put any extra gift bonuses towards P.M. If hubby gets a raise or a bonus for some overtime hours or if someone just happens to randomly give us money (when does that ever happen?) we will put it into P.M.
I'll keep you posted on Project Minivan as the weeks and months go on. Having this posted on my blog will help keep me accountable to this endeavor.
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