Happy Saturday! Hope you are all having a wonderful start to your weekend. This week, we continue our Money Diet series. I called this one counting the cost and I have been doing a lot of this recently.
There are a lot of things going on in our lives money-wise. Things are popping up with Mom's estate that we weren't expecting, Before Mom died, we had planned on doing some upgrades to our house, which has taken weird turns several times now and I am trying to save for a vacation next year that will be a stress free as the one this year was. So, onward...
We got home from Branson on a Saturday evening. We had already discussed that we wanted to do this again next summer so, I wanted to figure out a budget that would pay for another nice trip. We had an advantage because this time we have a year to save and last time, we only had about 6 months. Our vacation wasn't free, We saved for it, Robert contributed his share, just like we had planned months earlier. We did spend a little more than we expected but I still came hope without a single ounce of financial regret. Why? Because we had counted the cost before we ever packed the car. That reminded me of something Jesus said in Luke 14:28-30:
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
At first glance, Jesus wasn't talking about money. He was talking about the cost of discipleship. But in making His point, He used something everyone understood: wise people make a plan before they begin. This comes pretty easy to me because I am a planaholic. I like writing everything down and crossing stuff off. This week, I planned the rest of our trips for the year. I have a short weekend girls trip coming in just a couple weeks, another bigger girls trip planned for my birthday, two work trips, 1 to St. Louis and 1 to San Antonio (with a couple days vaca thrown in) and a trip to see our family in Texas. I have everything reserved for every one of them and the flights are booked and paid for out of savings, not credit. And though I need to pay it back, I have figured how much I need to pay back so by the time each trip hits, I have it 100% paid for. That being said, it really does put some other things on hold until I get that money back in the account and that is okay. I made decisions how to spend my money and I know what needs to wait a little longer. I dwell on this because I will tell you I can very easily (and have been most of my life) the queen of instant gratification and if I had money on a credit card and a bad day, I could run that bill up fast and then regret it for months.
So, the point I am trying to make from Luke is that God has never been against planning. I know some people look at verses like the parable of the rich fool, who planned so he could take life easy and eat, drink and be merry. Those verses are telling us not to put wealth in front of God, it is not saying God doesn't want us to be good stewards of what He has given us.
One thing I have found with age. I am so much happier saying, I am not buying any new clothes or even excess Starbucks this month because I want to get some extra money laid back so when we go lay on the beach, I can go get 3 Starbucks in one day if I want. The alternative was, "How can I get ahold of another credit card so I have plenty of money when we are on the beach." And I have FINALLY learned, THAT money isn't mine.
Let's think about Joseph in Egypt. God revealed that seven years of abundance would be followed by seven years of famine. Joseph didn't simply hope everything would work out. He created a plan. During the years of plenty, grain was stored so there would be enough during the years of need. Preparation was an act of obedience. I wonder how many financial headaches could be avoided if we asked ourselves one simple question before making a purchase: Have I planned for this?
Not, Can I make the monthly payment?
Not, Can I put it on my credit card?
But, did I prepare for this?
Our world encourages us to buy first and worry later. God's wisdom encourages us to prepare first and enjoy it later. It has taken me a lot of years not to be tempted to put everything "on time" as my mom used to call it. My mom and dad had two purchases in their life that was on time. Their home (which was paid off in a year) and the last car my dad bought before he died. That is a totally different story for a different day but it worked out and I belief it was God's will that it did. My mom never had a credit card, not even a debit card. I admire the fact that I didn't have to worry about owing anyone money when she died. She had money set aside for her "burying money" and she basically had it budgeted just about right. She had enough left over for me to keep the lights on for a while and do what we need to do to keep her house standing. She didn't live on much and there were times I was tempted, even tried to get her to just get a credit card like when her refrigerator went out and she needed a new one, but no, she borrowed our little $100 one until she had the cash put aside to buy herself a fridge. That was being a good steward of what she was given. I have studied that a lot, knowing that our monthly income was quite a bit more than hers, and knowing if she can do it, so can we. And so can you.
So, a challenge this week is to create a spending plan.
It doesn't have to be perfect, write down your income, write down your monthly expenses and choose one goal to begin saving towards. Then before making any unplanned purchases this week, ask yourself one question:
Does this purchase help me reach the goals God has placed before me?
Really listen to the answer.
Hope you have a great week.
~M
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