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Tightwad Tuesday
Today's Tightwad Tuesday tip is a little unconventional, in that it is not a tip on a specific way to cut down expenses. It is just something that is on my heart, that the Lord is teaching me in regards to my finances. You see, because my husband has been out of work for 6 months, we have very very little to work with. Even some of the traditional "tightwad" things like shopping with CVS deals or buying in bulk are too expensive for us right now. We are at a point where pretty much if it is not something we absolutely NEED to live TODAY, we don't buy it. But that is not my tip. My tip is very simple, and obvious, but it is not something that comes easily or naturally to me.
It is simply this: Prayer really works.
Pray about your finances. Pray that if God has called you to be at home with your children, that He will make it possible for you to obey His call. Pray that He will help you if you are in need. Pray that He will help you to obey Him in the area of your finances, even when everything in the world system is against you.
I don't want to seem preachy here, I need desperately to follow my own advice. Perhaps this was written by me for me, just so I can see that I actually said it. Because, most days, and especially today, it really feels like it is just not working and there is no hope. But in the middle of feeling that way today, the Lord brought to my mind that even though I sometimes feel like He is not working, I have NO WAY to know what it would like if He actually ceased to work on my behalf. He reminded me that although I worry and fear daily about every single expense and every bill, He has not ONCE in six months allowed my cupboard to be bare. He has kept us healthy through the winter and protected us from time during a time that we have no health insurance. Somehow, every month, we have been able to scrape enough together to pay our house payment. There have been little things, like when I found $15 in a jacket pocket I hadn't worn in a while on a day when I desperately needed some groceries and gas to get to an appointment. There have been big things, like the fact that somehow I was off by $12000 in my estimation of what we would owe come tax time, and instead of owing thousands and thousands of dollars when we didn't have any money, we got a refund. There has been a part time pizza delivery job to at least provide a tiny amount of income. There has been an opportunity to serve in our church's Financial Peace University class, where we have weekly been encouraged and had a chance to serve others and get outside ourselves for a couple hours.
So even though it is easy for me to focus on the big looming elephant sized thing that has not yet materialized- a full-time job that will meet our needs, I know that if I stop to think about these smaller things, I can see a God who loves me, my Heavenly Daddy who is crazy about me, taking care of me.
I am convinced that prayer, even when we cannot see tangible results, really works, and that if we pray to our Heavenly Father about our finances, He will help us and provide what we need.
Like I said, that one was for me, because I need to remember that right now. But if anyone is still reading, I hope it has in some way encouraged or benefitted you.
I will leave you with the Old Irish Blessing, which we used to sing in my choir every year at graduation, and seems a perfect close to this tip (and because this is the last TT before St. Patrick's Day!). It is a blessing that you may prosper, and my prayer for all who read this today.
May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back,
The sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
SO VERY THANKFUL THAT.... 
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Kindred Spirits (8) Your Thoughts? Share This With a Friend!
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Tightwad Tuesday
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The price of gas has risen higher and higher, and often I think it is hard to think we have any conrtol over the amount we spend on gas. But, like most areas, we actually have a lot more influence than we think! So, without further ado...
10 tips to make the most of your gasoline budget (and save gas!)
1. Get a tire gauge and check it every time you get gas. Find out what your owner’s manual recommends for your tire pressure, and keep it there. Generally speaking, a slightly higher pressure will improve fuel mileage and handling, but too high will degrade traction and wear the tires rapidly.
2. Plan ahead so you can combine trips. Make a weekly menu plan and don’t go to the grocery more than once a week! Plan your route if you hit multiple stores for sales, so that you are using gas wisely.
3. If you can walk between several places for errands, do it. At the little strip mall, I can park at the grocery and walk to several stores down the lot. Exercise AND saving gas!
4. Drive carefully. A slower speed, more distance between cars, smooth starting and stopping and other precautions all use less gas.
5. Institute a day (or two, three, four, whatever…) of “No Driving Day” and just don’t go anywhere.
6. Check for deals. At the Speedway near our house, they run specials where if you buy a $25 prepaid fuel card, you save $1. So that is $25 of gas for $24! That can add up! Our Kroger offers a savings of $.10 per gallon on a single fillup for every $100 you spend at the grocery. So check out, you might get a deal!
7. DON’T fall for the “deals” offered by credit cards, like free gas or special pricing. If these were truly amazing deals, they would lose money and go bankrupt. But guess what? They don’t! They know what you don’t: that you WILL pay them enough to make it worth it for them, thus nullifying your gas “Savings”
8. Carpool!!! I found out there were 5 girls from my daughter’s dance class within a half a mile. I organized a carpool, and I only have to drive 1 out of every 5 months now! And I can bless others at the same time by helping them to not have to drive every time!
9. Clean & Clear. Clear out the heavy unnecessary stuff in the trunk or the car, a lighter load uses less fuel. (Also take the smallest car you have whenever you can.) Clean/ change you air filter often and you will realize higher fuel mileage.
10. Turn off the car if you are going to be sitting idle for more than 30 seconds. Idling give you a mileage of exactly 0 miles per hour. Turning on the car is equal to 30 seconds of idling. So while you are waiting for children, etc, turn off the car if you can.
OK, so this is more than 10 … but my last tip is... homeschool! Just think of all the driving to and from school you save!
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Tightwad Tuesday
This is my very first time doing Tightwad Tuesday. My tip for this week is a very obvious one to some of you, I am sure, but it is so important that it bears repeating here.
Spend cash. Spend ONLY cash. This is not for things like the mortgage or electric bill which come out of your checking account, but rather is for discretionary spending… ie, shopping.
Statistics show that you will spend AT LEAST 12-18% more on average if you use a debit or credit card than if you use cash. I am going to assume for the sake of this post, though I know it is probably not the case, that every person who reads this does not use credit cards. But, it is important to realize that debit cards are not the same as cash. Think about it. Banks and retailers are in it to make money. Your bank does not get interest from you if you are using a debit card, so why would they spend money to produce the card for you? No, it’s not for your convenience. (If they cared about that, they would pay your overdrafts with no fees.) It is because they get paid a fee by Mastercard or Visa, who in turn gets paid a fee for use by retailer who take your card. So why would retailers want to pay 2-4% to take your debit card? Again, if you think it is for your convenience, think again. (If they were out for that, they would put the milk in the front of the store.) It is because they know you WILL definitely spend that 12-18% more in their store with the plastic, thus justifying them paying the small fee for higher sales.
Yes, it involves a few extra steps like budgeting and then getting the cash out for the categories you spend at the store (Like groceries or gas.). And you may have to come up with creative solutions for some issues. For example, I hated spending cash at the gas station because I had to herd all 3 kids out of the van and go in to the store to pay rather thank paying at the pump. So now I take my cash, purchase prepaid gift cards for my regular gas stations, and then use those since they are finite like cash.
The payoffs are definitely worth it. Want to give yourself a substantial savings with very little effort before you even enter the store? Well, take my tip for this week and USE CASH!
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Go serve somebody...
Every week at church, our pastor dismisses our service by saying, "Go serve somebody."
Today, I was really struggling. Just struggling to live by faith, being tired and battle weary and sick of waiting for something to happen in the way of a job for DH (whom I have decided to give the blog name Gilbert in keeping with the Anne theme), finances, etc. Discouraged because, as Dave Ramsey says, "Murphy" seems to have moved in with us! (one example, our refrigerator/freezer broke, the repair is not covered under the warranty and will be $235 and we have to wait a week for the part!)
I dragged myself to Financial Peace University at church, where Gilbert and I are facilitating a table of people, just walking alongside them and encouraging them as they learn all the FPU info from Dave Ramsey and start to change their lives to work towards Financial Peace. It is a new ministry serving role for us, and it continues to amaze me that the Lord would allow us to serve in that role when we have "done stupid" so much in the area of finances. But, truly, the Lord has birthed in both of us a passion to see other people get free of the chains of debt and start to live in financial peace. So I went, really not wanting too because I was feeling so discouraged in this area tonight.
Well, the lesson was hugely inspiring to me, although I have heard it before. And the conversation around our table was wonderful. I realized somewhere along the way that these people I am "serving" are giving me far more than I am giving them, and it is a huge blessing to me.
I came home tonight renewed for the battle and encouraged in my faith!
So, I guess my lesson for today is that when you are down, go serve somebody.
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Fourth and Ten...
OK, so I know that we are all moms here, at least as far as I know about my usual visitors...but that is not going to prevent me from dipping into the football analogies today.
I have posted before that I have had a slow year in my Creative Memories business, and that the slowdown can be attributed to me. It is not a slow year compared to many other people, but I am trying very hard not to compare myself with others, and for me it is very slow, and I take the responsibility for that.
Well, to borrow from football, here I stand at fourth down and ten yards to go. What I really wanted from this year was to get back up and running at my previous level and to earn the company incentive trip to Los Cabos, Mexico for my husband and I. With our financial situation, we cannot take even an overnight away. But this is five whole days of pure luxury, all covered by my wonderful company! The last trip we earned was, no lie, seriously like being in lifestyles of the rich and famous for five days... which is not what I want to focus my life on, certainly, but was pure heaven for a few days!
Better than the trip is what it represents. The activity needed to earn the trip is such that I would be back up and growing my business forward again, and helping our family out financially in a significant way.
So, in the past couple weeks, I have been thinking about those goals I set at the beginning of the year. With just three and a half months left to go in the incentive period, it looks pretty hopeless.... until I realize that we have two other incentives going on concurrently, which, if I work my business with very focused intensity over the next 16 weeks, will earn me the following:
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$3241
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$810 in free product which I can sell at 100% profit
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$300 in free business supplies
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$180 in logo clothing (which is really nice)
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a very nice red business bag
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AND the trip to boot!
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and a partridge in a pear tree.... (had to see if you are still with me LOL
To earn all of that I just have to sell $1800 a month for the next three months, have some sales in December, and recruit 9 new consultants (3 a month for 3 months).... which for me is a stretch but doable, if I just do it and don't procrastinate. I feel that this is a very large reward compared to the amount of work involved... and I know that if I do not take the opportunities these trio of incentives offer me, I will regret it later.
I have not met my goals this year. Yet it is only the end of the third quarter. I am not out by a long shot, so I figure why not go for it? Many a football game has been won at the end... by forgetting the first three quarters and moving on.
Or as Paul put it, by "forgetting what is behind and straining for what is ahead, I press on toward the goal..." (Yes, I know he was talking about something MUCH more important than a trip, but I am just borrowing the concept...)
I see this as a matter before God of excellence and my commitment to doing my work with excellence. Running in such a way as to get the prize. My husband would be SO blessed by my efforts, both with the income and with a trip- he toils day in and day out at a job he really dislikes in order to provide for us, and he deserves a break... I would love to give it to him! He LOVED the trip we earned two years ago, and has asked when we are going again, so I want to give this to him.
It will take determination and motivation, which I have lots of. It will also take a great deal of follow through and organization, which are in shorter supply when it comes to me... so I am putting it up here so that you, my friends, might hold me accountable by asking me how it is going when you remember it. I also ask for your prayers. I realize this is not something life and death or even all that serious, but to us it would help a great deal, and so I ask that if the Spirit moves you to pray, that you would.
I will keep you posted on my progress!
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