Cutting Corners

Being good stewards of our money is very important to us.  We want to not only be godly examples to our children, but our ultimate goal is to please our Heavenly Father with the decisions we are making with the money he blesses our family with.  

This morning as I was reading the Proverbs of the day, 21, I came across verse 5:  

 "The plans of the diligent lead to profit
   as surely as haste leads to poverty."

Ain't that the truth!  

With Tim's new position as a partner at his firm, and now becoming self employed due to it, it means having to really budget and prepare for taxes next year.  This means putting a freeze on savings and any extra funds coming our way, to ensure we will have enough cash to pay those taxes.  I am excited to see what God does with our savings account due to this new step we are taking.  We love Dave Ramsey and he says that when there is a major job change, you shouldn't make any big moves with your money.  We really want to make wise choices with money.

First things first... Tithing!  Giving our firstfruits to the Lord has been such a blessing to us!

Secondly...We are striving to be a debt free family.  This means no credit cards (Thank you, Lord, we are free of those binds!), no car payments (Our cars are all paid off), and snowballing our debt (God has provided for us greatly and the only debt we still are paying off is Tim's student loans).

With all this being said, it is my pleasure to announce that the White House is cutting corners!  It may not be the White House that affects all Americans, but it is the White House that affects our family of 8.

Here are a few of the things we are doing to cut corners:

-Shut off cable.

What a great decision this was.  We were just letting TV steal way too much of our time.  This doesn't mean we won't watch a movie, or the occasional tv show on our basic local channels, but the distraction of hundreds of channels was just a temptation that needed to be deleted from our lives.  Savings per month: $55

-Shut off our home phone.

With 4 cell phones in the house, it was just the wise choice to make.  Savings per month: $22

-Modifying our menu.

Sure, I love a good steak.  And, don't get me wrong, eating out is not only fun but there is no cleaning.  But, lets face it...that can get really expensive.  I will say that we rarely eat out as a whole family.  If we do, there is usually a reason like a birthday or some other celebration behind it, but with a family as large as ours, that can really add up! So, we will be more careful about sticking to a list at the grocery store and having more veggie soups and leftovers.  Savings per month: $100-150

-Potty training.

At 18 months we started having Isabella sit on the potty in the mornings.  Sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn't.  It was more to get her used to it.  At 19 months, we were more persistent, asking her if she needed to go and she started to recognize more often when she needed to go.  Now that she just turned 20 months, and we want to save the money on diapers, we are going to go cold turkey.  That means panties at home (Thank you, God, for tile floors.) and in panties on short trips out.  Sure, it means more laundry, but only for a short time, because she is really getting the concept and at home, she does most of her #2's in the potty now.  This is the added bonus to potty training... not having to change anymore poopy diapers!  HALLELUJAH!  Savings per month: $40 

-No clothes until I drop a size.

This one is for me, not my children.  I want to be healthier.  I want to feel better.  I want to look better.  This one is a really easy corner to cut, because I really don't enjoy purchasing clothes at this point.  I haven't really bought myself any clothes since Isabella was born 20 months ago.  I truly do enjoy shopping for maternity clothes, but regular clothes, not so much.  So, as I get back into a fitness routine, I hope that I can purchase myself a nice dress for summer.  I am blessed that I have more than enough clothes to keep me covered until summer. Savings per month: $0-10 

(Tim agreed to buy me a nice pair of running shoes for Valentine's Day.  He did purchase me a BEAUTIFUL necklace, that I loved, but I really, really, really know that the shoes are what I need...the jewels can be my reward once I lose some weight...hint, hint, Honey.  Oh, and as I sit here and type, Bella is sitting on my lap in her Princess Belle panties and decided to peepee all over me.  The brightside, I didn't have to change her diaper and I was going to wash these pajama bottoms today anyway!  I think I just saved 20 cents already!)

-Cash only.

This one is tough.  We have tried it before, and have such a hard time sticking to it.   However, I find that what one of Dave Ramsey's listeners said about using cash only is very true, 

"I have noticed that since I've started using the envelope system, I'm spending about $60 less per two-week period than when I used a debit card. I think it's because when I lay three $20s down for groceries, it hurts! When I paid with debit, it didn't really register with me."

I agree with this statement, wholeheartedly.  There will be the exception, such as bills and gas, but I really want to get in the habit of leaving my debit card at home.  So, Father God, I ask that you help me as I take on this goal, one more time.  Please, help it to be the last, and that it sticks.  That you help me to make wise decisions with the money you bless us with.  That, you be the guide for each dollar!

-Freezing our savings account.

This means no 15 passenger van this year.  We have saved enough cash to purchase one...depleting a few thousand dollars recently for an unavoidable expense, but we have agreed that we are not going to touch this money until we know what to expect from our tax situation.  Thankfully, everything we need is really close, so even when we have to drive 2 vehicles, it isn't for a long drive, and we are just so thankful to have 2 cars to begin with.  Savings for the year: $18,000-20,000

I'm excited to see what God is going to do in our financial life.  I am excited to be an example to our children of good stewardship.  The Lord uses them often to be that example to me.

Now, to go wash those Belle panties and my pajama bottoms.