Thoughts on Money It is very interesting that you asked me to comment on the subject of money, since I have always felt that this is a weakness of mine. Although, I was working at a well paying job, in the years before I was married, I found it impossible to afford living in an apartment on my own. My lack of financial sense caused me to make one of the few wise decisions in my marriage. I asked my wife to handle saving money and paying the bills. Therefore, my advice for you is Men do not be a wimp. Do not let your friends tell you “You should be wearing the pants in the family, and control the purse strings” I control the purse strings in my family and I put them firmly in my wife’s hands. I use a variation on the old envelopes method. My method says, “If it is in my billfold, it is mine to spend”. Therefore, my wife tries very hard to keep the money out of my wallet. One way she does this is to have my pension directly deposited. This is actually a very good idea for saving money since if money is out of sight it is out of mind. There are methods that my wife and I have found to control money. It helps a couple to sit down and record where their money is coming from and where it is going. Gather your paystubs, checkbook, monthly bills, annual bills and any other bills that you might have. The next step may hurt but you need to spend less than you have coming in. This involves not only looking at current bills, but at new expenses that may be coming in the future. For example, I needed to take several trips recently. I needed to use a credit card for gas and motel rooms. Before leaving on the trips, I had to plan to have enough money in my savings to cover the credit card bill. A friend commented to me, sometimes I just need to get away, and spurge, for my mental health. I thought about this for a second and realized that it is possible to have entertainment and satisfaction for little or no money i.e.: it is just as cheap to eat a meal in a park, as it is to eat at home. I can swim at a public beach instead of my own swimming pool. I watch the plain basic “over the air” television instead of cable or satellite dish. I have a basic cell phone (no text, no pictures, and no internet) which I needed for work, the contract runs out next month and I will not be renewing it. I have almost never spent money to see sporting events, like football or hockey. When I receive bills, I pay them, regardless of the due date. This means I never pay late fees. I very purposely live in a house less than what I can afford. I buy used vehicles for cash rather than buying a new car on a loan. I use the lowest price basic utilities and use a dial-up internet connection. My wife and I put aside more money each month than we spend. We have money we use for extra expenses that we plan to spend in the future, and we have money to meet unexpected expenses. We are using a three month certificate of deposit (which we have rolled over three times) and the income tax refund which we have coming to put in new countertops and cabinets in our kitchen, to get the house ready to sell. Our tax refund from this year will be put into a certificate of deposit for six months. The money will be difficult to get to but not impossible. The bottom line is that my wife and I do not love money. We use it when we have to; but it is a tool not an idol. We are content and feel blessed with what God has allowed us to use. If we were to lose everything that we have, we would survive. We use what God has provided to serve others. We begin by paying a tenth of everything to God; but then we give as large of an offering as we can to support God’s ministries. When it is all God’s; He can give it, or take it away, and we are still content.
