So the second thing that I have done on this journey of sanctification is acknowledge that wisdom comes from Christ alone. Anything good that happens in my life stems from the only thing that is good inside me. Jesus.
The first thing Jesus gave us in the garden of Eden was choice. We can choose for ourselves – but not others. Choice is an individual sport. You can’t play choice as a team, you must play this game by yourself. You have to choose to make good decisions, but you can play this game with the best coach, Jesus. I give you my full surrender, Lord. I give you the thoughts and intents of my heart. I want you to guide me and teach me the right way to do life. Help me be painfully aware of my sin, so that I can turn from it before it happens.
Help me be wise Jesus, with everything that you have given me with your generous love. Help me make wise choices with my money and help me use it to help others, to be generous and kind and to not be wasteful. Give me the opportunity to get out of debt, to save and to give my family a secure life that comes from being a good steward of the things you have blessed me with. You want this for me, you desire for me to be wise and to be a good example for my children. You do not desire for me to be a failure, but to win the race with humility and honor. Let all I do glorify you, Jesus, in your awesome name, Amen.
STEP #2 – LIVE BELOW MY MEANS
My husband and I used to eat out almost 5-6 (even more some weeks!) times a week. Food from restaurants tasted delicious, it was nice to sit around the table and chat and then it was super nice for me not to do the dishes or clean up the table. This is a very “American” routine. Convenience is the key. Quick, easy, and on to the next quick and easy thing.
After 2020 (I need to start calling it my drastic awakening – not the sickness name) things just started to taste super gross…and food from restaurants started to make me feel really sick. Over the last 4 years, we have dwindled down to only going to 2 restaurants now, if we need to eat out. Upper Crust Pizza in Oceanside, or In-n-Out Burger. That’s it – and we can feed our whole family for around $40.
Let’s pause and take a quick commercial break – let’s talk about 2020. God never makes mistakes. Isn’t the term 20/20 what we use for perfect vision? 2020 – I needed to wake up and see what was going on right in front of my very eyes. I needed wisdom. I needed to say NO to so many things. Wow. Nothing is ever by accident or coincidence. It’s all with purpose and is so loving and kind. Thank you Jesus.
Back to our regularly scheduled programing,
So if I calculate things correctly – we were spending on average $500-$600 a week on eating at different restaurants. This was essentially paying a bunch of money for some stomach cramps and rushes to the bathroom. That is a ton of money for a lot of gross pain! Could we afford it? Yes, but we were living paycheck to paycheck with pennies left over at the end of the week. Terrible! But I thought we were okay because we were not in debt or using credit cards…we just had no money to save at the end of the week.
We were consuming our savings. yuck.
This is a sanctification process from Jesus – I didn’t have to stop eating at restaurants and miss it. It was miserable eating at restaurants, so we stopped going. This is a very interesting concept. Was it Jesus that made our taste buds change and cause food start tasting terrible and give us upset stomachs, or was the food quality dropping to disturbing lows and actually tasting terrible? You can come up with your own conclusion.
I discovered the joy of Trader Joes – all the food we can make for pennies on the dollar! Organic, delicious food that takes minutes to prepare at home and doesn’t hurt my tummy. Tacos, spaghetti, homemade pizza, chicken curry, salads, fried chicken, amazing sandwiches, steak and broccoli, fried rice, breakfast for dinner, goo-lash, lasagna, ravioli, mashed potatoes and pork chops… oh man I can go on and on. We also decided as a team, that we would help with after-meal-clean-up. Everyone pitch in – teamwork makes the dream work! yay!
My tiny miracles help me empty the dishwasher – one does the top rack and the other does the bottom rack. Then I load it up and poof, dirty dishes are gone! The sanctification of meals is a real money saver for us, but it is also way more healthy, way more delicious, way more satisfying and gratifying. Making meals at home is a treat, a pleasure and our new sanctified routine.
Now there is actually $500-$600 left in our account each week too. Think about that! That’s a ton of new savings we have best case scenario is $31,200 at the end of the year. I’m not kidding. That is a lot of money to us.
How do you define wise financial wealth? I think that you are wealthy if you pay all your expenses and you still have money left over to save. That is wise financial wealth.
So friend, what is your extra spending habit that you can pray about? Simply ask God to help you weed out an extra each day/week. This might be having coffee at a local coffee shop? This habit can add up quickly too. Let’s say you get a coffee and a pastry everyday, this might be $10 a day, that is quick math guys – $3650 a year. That adds up, over 10 years you can save $36,500.
My husband would go to Starbucks each day on his way to work, this was costing us the average $10 charge I just spoke about. I realized it was the routine and the process of it all that was the treasure. So, I bought him a really nice coffee maker, a coffee grinder and I keep the pantry stocked with organic coffee beans. Think about it friends, what kind of water are the coffee shops using to make the coffee? Where are they storing the food? Are there rats in their coffee shop? So many gross things to think about. At home, we drink Carlsbad Alkaline Water and we filter all the tap water because it tastes so gross to even cook with. Then the coffee beans are fresh and organic and I also purchase “to go” cups for him that cost less than a dollar a day. So the whole experience mimics the Starbucks cozy feel, but we do the process at home in a healthy and controlled way, and it costs less than a dollar a day.
Let’s do that math really quick – buying a coffee at Starbucks = $3650, making coffee at home $365 – that saves you $3285 a year. Interesting, wise and so fun.
Living below your means does not have to make you miserable. You just have to assess what your life is like – take one day at a time and see what God can help you change when it comes to spending. Dear Lord, please make the thoughts and intents of my heart be wise and good, profitable for my life and for others.
Food is usually the culprit if we are being honest with ourselves. Think about this doozy of a thought. Food was the medium used by Satan to tempt Eve in the garden and allowed the first sin to occur. Food is indulgence and it is a good example of how sneaky sin is and how it can control our lives. It is a tangible reminder that we need to be fully submissive to Jesus when we ask to be sanctified. Only HE has the power to help us overcome and make good choices. We cannot do this on our own. We need a coach – the BEST coach. We need Jesus.
Step #2 is living below your means. We will ask God to help us do this with joy overflowing. Living below your means allows you to save money. You need to do this first before you start trying to attack your debt. By doing this step you are making extra money. Girl math.
If you are making extra money each week, each day, then you are able to put a couple extra dollars aside to save and you can put a couple extra dollars into your debt. Seeing savings add up is essential to your confidence. You must see this happen in order to feel fulfilled.
SIMPLY SWANK est. 2018 
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