I’m switching banks!

For years, the grocery budget has been a source of contention in our home. Each time my husband would get paid, I would pay careful attention to the money we had for groceries and plan my menu accordingly. I spent a great amount of time on that menu, especially when there wasn’t much money left over after our bills were paid. I would make out my grocery list, ensuring that only those ingredients that were absolutely necessary were on the list. And every time my husband went to the grocery, he would come home with stuff that was not on that list. Absolutely unnecessary (to my mind), frivolous expenditures that resulted in an argument the night he came home and a miserable amount of tension between us. Now, I’m sure that some of you are thinking “why didn’t she just go to the grocery herself?” And my answer is two-fold. First, my husband usually goes to the grocery because it’s simply easier that way. Our store is about 30 minutes from our house and he stops by while he’s in town, after work. But secondly, the “problem” wasn’t really about the groceries. It was, for me, about respect. In my eyes, my husband wasn’t considering my feelings when he bought more than what was on the list. He wasn’t considering the time and energy I spent preparing my menu, and the care I put into my list. In reality it was about control. I wanted to control our finances and I wanted my husband to submit to my plan. I had all sorts of plans for our extra money (look through my archives and you’ll see some of the wonderful planning I was doing!) I hated “wasting” money on food – especially unnecessary food (and by unnecessary I, of course, mean anything that wasn’t on my list!) So every week when my husband came home from the grocery, it was a problem. Even when I was able to hold my tongue, I would stew inside and spend a miserable few hours complaining about my husband in my heart.

But a few weeks ago, the proverbial light bulb went off in my head when I realized something. Never, NOT ONE TIME, during our life together have we ever been without food. That may not seem like an amazing thing in this world of loans and credit cards, but it really is amazing when you consider the fact that, until recently, my husband and I have never owned a credit card, we do not keep a savings account and we made up our minds long ago never to ask others for money*. We live paycheck to paycheck (personally, I like it that way) and what we get paid on Friday is what we have to live on until next payday. There have been times when we have had the barest amount of money to scrape by on and yet God has ALWAYS provided for all of our needs. There have even been times when, in a George Muller kind of experience, a friend has sent us home from her house with sacks full of canned goods – even though she had no idea we were in need.

Yesterday, as I was pondering some things I’m in need of right now, a verse of scripture came to my mind. “God will supply all of your needs according to His riches” (Phil 4:19). I’ve heard that verse a hundred times but it came alive to me in that moment. He will supply all of my needs according to HIS riches! Not according to my bank account, not according to my budget, not according to my grocery list… according to HIS riches. According to HIS bank account. According to HIS financial standing. It makes absolutely no difference what my budget says I can afford, I have an unlimited spending account with the Bank of God.

My husband is my authority. If he chooses to spend money in a way I (in all of my human wisdom) think is unwise, it honors God for me to honor my husband. It is far more effective for me to ask God to provide for us than it is for me to spend my time and energy in an attempt to control my bank account – and my husband. I have a promise from God that He will meet all of my needs… regardless of the amount in my checkbook.

“I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).

 

*I should clarify that there have been times in our recent lives when we have asked to borrow money or have used credit cards. During the ice storm, we asked my Mother in Law to let us borrow money until we could pay her back with our tax return and recently when we had a situation with our car, we used a credit card to cover that. These types of things have happened during the last few months and I consider them a tremendous lack of faith on our parts. Not long ago, we cut up all our credit cards and have vowed to live the way we were living until recently, relying on God alone to supply all of our needs.

“I purposed to move men, by God, through prayer alone.” – Hudson Taylor.

 

Related Posts:

Testimony of Providence

 

Read Full Post »

Frugal Friday – How to save money on flea/tick medication for your pets

My husband and I once ran a dog rescue, and out of necessity we tried to find ways to give our animals the best possible care, at the lowest possible cost. One of the most valuable, money saving things we learned was how to save money on flea/tick preventative.

Frontline Topspot for cats and and Frontline Topspot for dogs contain the same ingredients, at the same concentrations. This means that if you know the proper dosages to use, you can buy a vial of frontline for an extra large dog for roughly $15 and use it on your cat or small dog for six-eight months, as opposed to spending $60 for a six month supply of frontline for cats or small dogs. The key to this lies in using proper dosages. Below, I have listed the proper dosages of frontline depending on the weight of your pet. You’ll want to draw up these amounts in a syringe, and then administer them to your pet as you normally would (topically, with the needle removed from the syringe). Here are the dosages:

Cats: 0.5cc

Dogs 1-22lbs: 0.6cc

Dogs 23-44lbs: 1.3cc

Dogs 45-88lbs: 2.6cc

Dogs 89-132lbs: 4.0cc

You can see right away how this will effect your wallet! Rather than pay $65 for a six month supply of frontline for small dogs, you can pay $15 for a single vial of frontline for extra large dogs which will last you just as long. When we had numerous dogs, we would buy a 6-12 month supply of frontline (it’s cheaper to buy in bulk) and save hundreds of dollars this way.

Another way to save is to search the web for companies that sell Frontline at a discount. For instance, in a recent search I found This Company, where you can buy a twelve month supply of Frontline for extra large dogs for $80. If you’re treating a cat or a small dog, it probably won’t benefit you much to buy it this way, but if you’re treating a larger dog, or several animals, this might be something worth looking into. There are also alternative methods of flea/tick control and heartworm preventatives which I’ll be blogging about at a later date for those interested in natural methods.

For  more helpful, money saving tips, click Here.

 

Related Posts:

More Frugal Friday tips

 

Read Full Post »

Paying Off Our Mortgage In Half the Time

In last weeks Frugal Fridays post, I wrote about our commitment to get out of debt. When we discovered that we could pay off our thirty year mortgage in fifteen years by making approximately one extra house payment a year, we began searching for ways to increase our monthly house payment. Lately, we’ve been employing the use of a money journal to help us discover where we can make budget cuts with the purpose of putting the money we save toward our loan, and we’ve been taking a long, hard look at our spending habits.

It’s been humbling, to say the least. Last pay period alone we spent over $50 on impulse buys. If we did that every pay period, we’d be spending over $100 a month on things we don’t need!!! Needless to say, we’re determined to do better.

Today we looked over more of our spending habits and my husband and I decided to make some additional changes. Right now, we’re paying for two cell phones. That was necessary when we had dial-up, but it’s not needed any longer. Getting rid of one of our phones is going to cut our bill by $50 dollars each month. Our regular phone bill was also costing us quite a bit of money, not because of the unlimited long distance (which we actually do need as we do a lot of long distance calling), or because of our broadband Internet (not a chance I’m getting rid of that), but it was costing us tons of money in directory assistance. Did you know that every time you dial the operator, they’re charging you? If you call a lot (which we do) it really starts to add up! And since there are plenty FREE directories online, there is simply no reason for us to be paying someone to give us a telephone number.

The truth is that we’d never considered giving up these little conveniences before… we’d always considered them worth the money. But now that we have a clear goal in mind, we’re gaining a whole new perspective. $2 here and $4 there has cost us over $50 this pay period that could have gone toward our loan. The cell phone I rarely ever use is costing us another $50. That’s all money that can be thrown into our mortgage – which adds up to a total of almost THREE extra house payments a year!

I highly encourage everyone who is trying to pay off their debt to start keeping a money journal (instructions can be found here.) It’s amazing to see how much you can save, when you start paying attention to where your money is going!

What about you? Have you ever considered paying making extra payments toward your mortgage? What are some things you’ve discovered you can live without? I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions! And for more tips and frugal ideas written by other bloggers, click here.

Related Posts:

Getting Out of Debt, Finding Ways to Save

Read Full Post »

Getting Out of Debt/Finding Ways to Save

My husband and I have been thinking a lot about debt lately. Specifically, we’ve been thinking about ways we can speed up the process of getting out of debt. We’ve heard it said that if a person makes one extra house payment a year, they can pay off a thirty year loan in fifteen years. Our goal, therefore, is to make at least one extra house payment a year, if not more.

In light of this, my husband and I have committed to tracking our money for the next few months. We’re documenting everything we purchase, and how much we’re spending. We don’t want to embrace a poverty mentality, but we do want to make wise financial decisions and part of that is deciding whether what we’re spending our money on is really worth it. In the words of Oral Roberts, we’re asking ourselves: “would I rather have this, or would I rather have the money I’d be spending on this?” Sometimes we’d rather make the purchase. We needed a computer, and wanted a laptop. My camera is broken, and I have my heart set on a high-end SLR camera. These are choices that we’re making. They’re personal decisions and there is nothing right or wrong about them, so long as they’re prayerfully considered. In other areas, however, we would rather have the money to put toward our debt.

As we have been tracking our money, we have discovered several places in our budget where money is flexible. Do we need full coverage on our van? Do we need two cell phones? Can we cut back on the amount of electricity we use? One of the first places we have found that we can make cuts and save money is on our grocery budget. I’m embarrassed to say how much we spend on groceries each month. Suffice it to say that my cooking skills leave much to be desired, and I often opt out for what is easiest. We also spend quite a bit of money on impulse, buying things that aren’t on our list, and aren’t needed for our meal plans. So this year, I plan to make a concentrated effort to learn more ways to cook healthier, more inexpensive meals. I plan to start making my own bread. I plan to purchase cloth diapers. I plan to make things from scratch and buy in bulk. I’m seriously considering using washcloths instead of toilet paper (don’t worry, we’ll put out a role of “guest” toilet paper!), reusing my ziplock bags, and making my own soap. And I plan to think before I spend. As I discover new money-saving ways to do things, I’ll be posting them here on a special Frugal Friday’s thread.

If you’re also looking for ways to save money or get out of debt, you might want to consider keeping your own money journal to find out exactly where your money is going, and what kinds of changes you can make. And be sure to check out other frugal tips each week by joining me here each Friday, and checking out what others have to say here.

 

Related Posts:  

Paying Off Our Mortgage in Half the Time

Read Full Post »