SimplyMySwank

Step #7 Where Are You Spending Your Money? AKA – Stop Spontaneous Spending.

Step #7 Where Are You Spending Your Money? AKA – Stop Spontaneous Spending.

Did you know that your bank will give you a spreadsheet on where and how you are spending your money?

I did, and I REFUSED to look at it. This knowledge would convict me and I did not want to be convicted – not about my spending habits. ugh.

Well, thanks to church, and how God is growing me – I looked. I looked, and I cried inside like a hurt little kid.

So much money, and where? to Amazon – of course!

Let me confess. It is so dumb…I know I don’t have to do this online shopping garbage. During the lockdown in 2020, I was so angry at Amazon and big business that I stopped shopping on their websites – completely for about 2 or 3 years. I know I can 100% stop doing this. What breaks my heart is the indulgence of spending that I was allowing myself to be involved in.

What do I have to show for it? Clutter? Stuff I have to clean and eventually throw away? Is that the life I want to be living? No. My answer is NO.

So, I deleted the debit card number on my Amazon Account. I can no longer can just blindly take my money and burn it at whim. This was my big step towards freedom from spontaneous spending, and a wonderful step towards sanctifying my financial future.

Click, spend, ship, buy, mindless addictive shopping is so ungodly and so hilarious. Ha! I’m done!

So, I’m on day 2 – of the rest of my life – no more online shopping. I am going to buy in stores, or not buy at all. This decision doesn’t affect me – my kids see this behavior every single day when another Amazon package arrives at the door and they go and pick it up and bring it in the house. This is almost a daily routine for them. The flow of packages and cardboard is endless at my house. What about you? Can you relate?

What we teach our kids is what they see, what we do, not what we say! Are we clanging like it says in 1 Corinthians 13:1? “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Am I loving my children by setting a good example for them – how they should be doing life in the future?

I want to be better, to do better, to teach better and to love best. The best way to do this is to put more effort into my life. To do the hard things instead of choosing the easy way – the easy way always ends up being the hardest way in the end, and most often leads to disaster.

The massive clear breath I can take when I face the convictions with the power of the Holy Spirit and go head-on into the battles is overwhelming. I know God is fighting these battles for me and it is such a wonderful life. He gets all the glory. Not me. He loved me first. Now, I just get to love Him back – and actions speak louder than words – In Jesus’ name, amen.