More on The Money Game

"Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?" Proverbs 17:16

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Matthew 6:24

Sometimes I have a few days where I really dwell on thinking about one thing or another, and I just feel that God wants me to share more of what steps we've been taking regarding being wiser with our finances. I'm pretty sure that most of the things we've been doing are common knowledge- or they are things that we've heard or read time and again through financial gurus. No matter. Because the entire point is that these things are working, and God is working a great miracle when it comes to money matters for us, and I can't help but feel that there are people who need to hear this stuff- even if it's for the ten-thousandth time. I also have to say this, that there is no point in reading tips and suggestions and trying to be smart with your money without praying about it. Until you really and truly give your checkbook to God, until you choose that money is not what is important, you will have that chain around your neck, you will feel like you are under the control of the dollar. Break free! Turn to God and give Him your checkbook and your finances. Ask that His will be done, because let me assure you of one thing- poverty and being poor are not from God, and He wants all His children to be prosperous.

So I guess that would be the first thing that I did regarding our money. When Andy wasn't even bringing home enough money to make ends meet, I would spend entire days just dwelling on the empty checking account, I would look up our account online all day long, praying each time that this check or that check hadn't been processed yet- it was a horrible way to live. I guess I needed to get to the bottom of the barrel, and when our rent check bounced and we had to embarrassingly call our landlord, explain what happened, etc., that was mortification for us. I literally took my checkbook, laid it on the table, and said, "Here God, take it, please." And then I prayed for a good long time for better wisdom and help in spending what he gives us. I also have to admit that I really, really felt like I needed to take a scissors to all of our credit cards and charge cards. But I didn't. I rationalized that we needed the credit cards for emergencies. And I needed the store charge cards because I really do get the best sales and deals when I use my card at all these places. I liked having the credit cards in case we needed them.

Except that we wouldn't use them for emergencies. Of course. And you know, it really doesn't take long to max out a credit card on this and that, and before you know it, your payment gets bigger and bigger, and then, you just have to be late with a payment, because there's no other way to get everything paid that month. You all know what happens with a missed payment...the interest rate skyrockets, and all the sudden our monthly payment is triple what it was just a month ago, and at that rate, it would take about 10 years to pay off this one credit card. Now imagine having a walletful in this same situation. :-( I did what I could, paying this and that, but there was just never enough to go around, and then have to take care of the basic expenses like clothing and food- it just was becoming increasingly frustrating, and one day, I really, really strongly felt that the key to getting rid of this weight was with those cards. I had been praying so intently for healing for our finances, and this was definitely something that the Holy Spirit was telling me- "cut them all, rely on Your Heavenly Father."

So I did. I sat down at the table and snipped every single one. All of them. And then I went through our paperwork to make sure there weren't any just hiding in there, and I snipped those too. And then I called Andy, and told him that he had to cut up his too- and sure enough, he did. Almost immediately, I felt freed. Really. By cutting up those "in case of emergency cards" we were putting even more faith in our Lord and His provision for us. We were saying "Okay God, if we need it, you will make it possible." Now, just because they've all been snipped they don't just go away. First, I need to pay them all off so that I can cancel them. So I've been doing just that. This month two more cards will be paid off completely, and then they will be eliminated. God has made this incredibly possible. Where before I would look at a balance and only see despair, now I get a bill and I am able to make a sizable payment, and as I pay off these next two, I'll be able to make bigger payments on other cards. God IS taking care of us!

And this last weekend I was lamenting to Andy the demise of our JCPenney card. If there is one place where a charge card is beneficial- that would be one of those places. I literally can save hundreds of dollars on clothes for my family by using our card there. But then it takes several months to pay for them, plus interest, and yada, yada, yada. Now that we're entering summer, we needed to go and pick up shorts for the kids and Andy, and I really was trying to reconcile if there was a way to wisely keep the JCPenney card in my wallet. It would take two seconds to request a new card... and then God took over and showed us that with Him, all things are possible. We did our shopping. We picked out the clothes we needed and took it to the register. And there, the salesgirl not only gave us the sale prices, but then she gave us the extra sales prices usually reserved for cardholders. She rang up our purchases in three separate transactions to make the most of a coupon deal that was running and we actually ended up saving even more than if I had used our card. :-) As we walked out of the store I just had to laugh and shake my head. "Okay God, You win."

We truly and honestly believe that if we need something, God is going to follow through. There is no need to charge up hundreds of dollars on this and that- God will take care of us. Currently, we're in the market for some new furniture-both bedroom and living room furniture, and while we keep going through sticker shock every time we look at furniture, we also know that when the time does come to actually buy the furniture, the money will be there for it, and we'll be able to buy it joyfully, knowing that we won't have to spend months and months paying for it.

I'm also still following my "do I really need it?" program. When the kids and I head out to do some shopping- whether it be grocery or otherwise, I say a prayer. I pray to the Holy Spirit to help me spend each dollar wisely, and to keep me from being frivolous and stupid. And by golly it is working. We can spend hours walking through the mall, and still come out with the pair of shoes that Abigail needed and nothing else. I can walk into Target- a normal danger zone for me, and walk around and really and truly see all the things I don't need. It's all just stuff. It's such a different perspective. It used to be that I would walk around and look at all of it and think "someday, I'm going to have all this" and now, while I could afford to have a bit of it, I look at it and think about how it's all just stuff. By shopping carefully and being choosy about what I buy, we have more money for other things like giving. Clearance aisles used to be a magnet for me. I'd walk that clearance aisle or clearance rack looking for something, anything, just because the deals were so great. We'd go to rummage sales, looking for any piece of junk that was a good deal. Except all those good deals add up, and really, we don't need any of it! That's the thing that has been impressed upon me- and that is that we don't need it.

And the result of all of this is that the stress and uncertainty of money is gone. Literally gone. I no longer go to the store and swipe my debit card and pray that it isn't declined. I no longer write a check that I need to pray that it doesn't go to the bank until such and such a day. And even better, more than once, the opportunity to give money has come up, and we've been able to do so. And I'm not talking about tithing. I'm talking about the extra giving- giving money to other ministries or causes. It's wonderful to be able to give to those who need it, and I know that's what God wants us to be doing with our money instead of spending it on stuff- just because we could. And speaking of tithing, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that, because I think that is the key. Before I spend a dime of Andy's paycheck each week I look at how much he earned and figure out our tithe check for the week. We give that first, right off the top, and then we never even miss it. When Andy was making very little it was much harder to write that check because the smaller that income is, the bigger the tithe check seems. And I would be lying if I said that we tithed every single week when Andy was unemployed or working a job with little pay. But we did when we could. And right now, while Andy is doing well with work, it's become even more important to us to tithe. God is blessing us, we need to make sure we're doing the right thing with His money.

His money. That's the mindset we've undertaken. Every dime that comes into this house is not ours. It is God's, and as a result, we need to be wise with how we spend it. We need to honor God by being conscious of our choices, by being careful with what He's blessed us with. We have a great God who loves us and wants us to be happy, and I know that He is pleased with where we've been lately. And I'm pleased. I'm not stressed and constantly dwelling on our bank account. God will continue to take care of us, and I pray that as He does so, that we will continue using what He gives us wisely and in the way it's meant to be used.