Living like a pilgrim to become debt-free

Do you need to live like a pilgrim to become debt-free? According to the leaders and experts on this subject you really do if you're serious and the faster you achieve that goal of 0 debt the better.
I have just realized how right they are after reading day 3 in Susan Evans free e- book Becoming a Prayer Warrior I came to this conclusion that we are in the dessert until we pay off all our debt we our wondering around with no church home. We recently left our church home of 5 years due to many factors that I want go into on this post.

I know that God's giving us His 10% of our income each month to help us reach that goal of being debt-free. I remember praying for God to help us increase our income some how and now I know that this is the way he chose with that extra 10% and my husbands increased overtime checks that will get us there if we live contently and don't find more ways to spend that money like out of state trips, and vacationing. We will have more money for that after we finally pay off our student loans, credit card debt, and hospital bills.

Cash in hand in the amount we budget is the very best strategy that I know for not overspending n buying unplanned purchases.

It's one of those things that's easier to plan out on paper than in action and deeds. But, Godly character and fruits of the spirit take time and effort to grow and I'm no quitter but I am an over-comer.

It's time to be the Woman of God that takes charge of her families budget with the Lords help all things really are possible and nothing is too hard for Him, He gives us wisdom, joy, and love when we count on Him and ask Him. Praise the Lord!

Love Your Neighbor

Love Your Neighbor:

“If you can help someone today don’t say God be with you and shut your door turning away without helping them.” James 2:16 (paraphrased)

This means to reach out a helping hand when they are in need and to care about them and for them however you can and do not be too busy with your plans to give a helping hand. Let your plans be flexible and directed by the Lord, when He puts someone in need in your path you help and He blesses your path with His plans for you and them and might bless them by your faith in Him.

It’s always good to share the love of Christ with people and you should always make room for such an opportunity. By helping meet someone physical needs they will be more likely to open their hearts and minds to a spiritual meal of truth but if they are cold and hungry and you start sharing with them in words your faith they will not be happy and you will not be reaching them.

That doesn’t mean let them move in your house because as I learned that will completely interrupt your space and peace. Instead offer them a shower or a meal something simple for you but that they might need or simply offer to pray for them.

We are to meet people where they are as Jesus did. Don’t put yourself up as important but be ready to help people as a servant. Humble yourselves and He will give you honor. Be a friend to those in need and they will see Jesus through your love and care for them.

Bible passages to read and study: James 2, John 13

visit: http://www.homeschoolingdebtfreewithChrist.com

 

Devotion and Boundaries

Dear Woman of God,

I’ve been kept very busy by the things of my positions. First, being a wife, this keeps me thinking of what he needs, brunch and dinner daily, clean clothes, plenty of sleep, intimacy with me, second being a mom this is the most time consuming position as a Christian Home School Mom it’s a very important task to daily take care of my 2 sons physical needs, spiritual, discipline, teach them abc, 1,2,3 and building their character. What a job I have! I must put these first daily after seeking God which is all day long and especially during my morning walks and prayer time and evening prayer and repentance seeking His presence as I go along.

After these it’s important that I also take good care of myself by getting enough sleep, eating enough and healthy foods, taking my vitamin daily, bathing/showers, this determines my mood and my ability to serve as a wife and a mom. Next, it’s important that I reach out to encourage, help, teach, and disciple the younger woman and be a good neighbor. I have a neighbor, she’s a single-mom a few years older than me raising 3 teenage daughters, she’s not a Christian and I’m really not sure if she is really interested in being so. The first few months after she moved in I didn’t even see her nor did we greet each other and then one day here she comes to introduce herself, after that for the last 2 months it’s been nothing but needs, I gave her advice on how to budget, I shared with her my testimony and faith, I let her do her laundry at my house, I gave and I gave until she crossed my boundary too many times and I put a stop to it all. 

You see many people are not seeking salvation in the form of God, they want their immediate needs to be met by any person willing to help them and they are like a disease that will take over if given the chance. This is a vivid but true illustration of how people can take you for granted and it’s very important to stand firm on your boundaries and to say no. The boundaries that she crossed with me were first texting and calling me at 6:30 in the morning and then because I didn’t answer knocking on my door asking if I can give her 3 daughters a ride to school. I was not happy but I did it because her car was broken down; but I told her to ask me in advance next time and she  asked me to make her daughter 2 sandwiches because she was out of sandwich stuff. This interrupted my morning routine and made me grumpy later in the day because I was doing for her instead of taking care of me so I could take care of my children and husband. That’s not good! Then 2 days later she’s nocking on my door asking me to take her to the bank. It was 12 and I had plenty to do and so I not so kindly told her it’s family time, I’ve got family things to do right here. It really angered me and made me disturbed. After trying to talk to her several times I decided she just wasn’t getting it and I had to put a stop to it because she had already asked me to take her kids to school the next week which would mean I’d have to rearrange my whole schedule for the morning and really that’s not good, my children need me there and I almost let her get into my healthy boundaries but I retracted and that’s important. 

Don’t let the unbelievers use you and cross your boundaries they will do it again and again until you are walking very unhealthy. As an exdrinker, drug user and girl of the world I know these things from personal experience and a very long lifestyle of sinning what it takes to be godly and grow in His ways it takes a lot of personal space and devotion. We can’t please every person and it’s very okay to say no to people who you really can’t help the way they are needing or wanting you to. My husband likes to quote give as you have been freely given which is good but not when it will cause you unhealthy burdens or distract your job as a Mom and wife. Don’t let anyone tell you that being a homemaker isn’t a real job or important! I will strongly disagree as one for the last 4 years. I don’t get a day off I might get a rest when my husband gives me one but he’s not accustomed to the routine and so I’m usually helping him in some way, but my life is built around them and I’m not ashamed or regret that at all. I feel valuable, needed, and important to be who I am right here at my home. I hope that you do to. 

Regardless if you homeschool or work a job outside the home being a Wife and a Mom come first and before all is a devotion to God. If we do our works unto Him than we are living a gratifying life not expecting rewards or appreciation for Him we know that our reward is eternal life and the peace, joy, and love we get daily is well worth it in my book. My best schooling and lessons have come with Christ as my Lord and Saviour living my best to live for Him as He died for me. Bless you!

Please also visit: 100 Ways to Save $100 a Year

Need Some Encouragement

When you're feeling all alone, without hope, shelter or refuge do not despair turn to the Word of God the Lord is there waiting for you to acknowledge His love and believe in His hope and promises to those who trust in Him and make Him their Lord and Savior. Read Psalm 91 for more encouragement 

and visit my other blogs: for Home School Moms

http://www.kimfincher.blogspot.com for daily encouragement from the Word of God

Make sure to read the very first post: Introduction: How to live Debt Free with Christ

also visit: http://www.homeschoolingdebtfreewithChrist.com

 

Saving Money on Groceries

I love to shop at my favorite store for groceries: HEB if I could promote them professionally I would, I love that their stores are not too big, I love they have lots of discounts and sales, clearance bins, and their store brands are always the best prices and they have everything I need to buy from groceries, to shampoo, toothpaste, and dog food. So, I try to save money and time by doing 90% of my families grocery shopping at HEB.

1. Find a store that you love and go there most of the time to save money and time

I have a magnetic paper list that I write down each item that we need through the week and I complete the list for my shopping trip on thursday.

2. Plan ahead

I make a second list with all the published on sale items through my stores online circular and then

3. Be organized

I rewrite my shopping list with the sale items i plan on buying and I do it in order of my stores layout, i start with fruit and vegies so that's always at the top of my list and I end in the middle with sodas and frozen section and so that's at the end of my list. This will save you lots of time shopping.

4. Stick to your list and to your budget

My weekly food and household budget (not including diapers) is $60 every other week and $80 every other week the extra $20 is for meat and misc.(filters, bathroom items that are usually only purchase every month or less). So my monthly budget would be $280. Twice a year I stock up the freezers and will spend my whole budget for the month in one shopping trip. That was this week and I spent: $256 to stock up our freezers with meat and pantry and for the next 2 weeks I will only spend 1/2 of our normal budget or even less for weekly purchases such as milk and fruit that can't be freezed or properly stored. I did freeze milk once and it was all icey and i tried freezing fruit and i didn't like the outcome i prefer fresh fruit and milk not frozen. I do freeze bread and lots of meats though and pizza dough.

5. Know your prices and your stores sale rotation
for example I know that whole chicken fryers are on sale for .89c once a month so i wait for that sale to buy 2 whole chicken fryers and never spend more than $6 for a whole chicken. I also know that the lowest price for berries is .89c so I buy 2 or 3 at this price and freeze them for when the prices are higher. Keep a list of all the lowest prices so you know when to buy and when to stock-up and normal prices this will help you alot.

6. don't be loyal to a certain brand. I buy what's the best price and accept for my hair products and my husbands toothpaste we buy what's on sale and cheapest price not brand-name. sometimes we get brand-name but only when it's cheaper than the store-brands.

7. extreme couponing isn't what it seems. i've watched the show, i studied the programs, i tried and tested them out and if you try to save money this way you will need to be a total addict and spend all your time clipping coupons and trying to match them with sales to get stuff for cheaper/free it's not worth my time. I'd rather be spending minimal time in and out of the store and that time is more valuable spent with my family. this is my personal opinion and from my personal experience on trying this method.

8. I only use coupons that are available in the store, I don't clip coupons. I'd rather buy the off-brand for a consistent savings over the brands with coupons occasionally and usually you're getting more product for your money.

9. When comparing prices, also compare price per ounce- the size of the product with the price, take a calculator to do your own calculations. Sometimes the bigger items are not cheaper than the smaller ones they might be the same price per ounce and even sometimes the smaller product is cheaper per ounce than the bigger ones. One example is tuna fish: 2 smaller ones for .75c is cheaper than 1 bigger one for $1.99, so I buy 2 6 oz tunas for $1.50 for 12 oz, instead of 12 oz for $1.99.

10. Don't be overwhelmed it takes time to learn how to save the most money on grocery shopping. Take notes and keep track of everything and overtime you will memorize your stores prices.

11. To keep track of your total cost when shopping write the price of each item you put in the buggy, take your calculator and put stuff back if you go over your budget. Don't be ashamed to have to walk away from a buggy I've had to do it many times at wal-mart and i've had to put back alot of stuff at heb when my total was way more than what i had to spend.

12. If you need to for a time take in the total amount you have to spend in cash so you are forced not to spend more than that. it's a humbling experience worth it to save your family money and stay on budget.

visit my other blog for Home School Moms:Home Schooling 4Him

Make sure to read the very first post: How to Live Debt Free with Christ

How to Save $50 a month on Cable

We saved $50 a month by cancelling our cable and switching to a roku device. I also recommend A ROKU device allows you to stream Netflix from your wi-fi and save the $50 or more a month for cable, you can also listen to music and watch other channels through the ROKU for only $50 at wal-mart or other stores, or you can pay $5 or less a month for 2 years is what we pay and then you own it through northland cable. 

Chromecast is another one that’s $35 and allows you to stream youtube to your tv, great for kids educational videos  and music. Now they also have an Amazon device for streaming movies from amazon which is $99. 

I have a list of what my toddler boys are watching from Netflix you can check out to see if it's worth the $10 a month. What's on our Netflix List

How do you save money around your home? I'd love to hear from ya.

God Bless! Kim

Make sure to read the very first post: Intro to Saving Money

Visit: 100 Ways to Save $100 a Year

Save $100 a month on Family Fun

For fun with kids here’s a few things we do and they all cost $10 or less for a family of 4: 

1. go bowling on $1 day with coupons for a free game we pay $5 that includes the quarters we use, my husband and me owns our own bowling shoes we bought on ebay for less than $20 each pair.which also saves money, 

2.eat out at McDonalds from their $1 menu and let the kids play on the inside play area we can spend about $10 

3. Sonic has specials ½ days on shakes and drinks we go for the shakes when they are half off and go to the one where they have an outdoor play area it's about $5 for 4 x-small shakes, 

4. take the kids to a different park each week and explore together as a family and bring a picnic, some kites, and bubbles and it will cost less than $10 for a day of fun

5. take them to the movies and go to the game room and play a few games make sure you set a budget limit and stick to it our boys love the game room at our theater. You could also go to the matinee or if you have $1 theaters in your town as an alternative to saving money or make some popcorn and watch a movie on netflix. 

these are some cheap fun ways to entertain the family. 

 

visit my other blog: Home Schooling 4 Him

Make sure to read the very first post: Introduction to Debt Free Living With Christ

How to Live Debt Free

FREE Resource #2:

Read this post first if you haven't: Introduction to Saving Money


If you want to know how to live debt free you are first going to need to know how to manage your money in an organized way that allows you to keep track and plan ahead of what money you earn and what money you spend this is called a Budget. I want to first praise God and Honor Him for helping me create this budget and sticking to it for my family. I am a homeschool Mom. I've been using this budget for about 2 years now and it's helped me alot stay on track. I'm considering creating Youtube videos that will be a step by step tutorial soon. I'll keep you posted!

How to Create a Budget:

Step 1: Make a list of your monthly bills in order of date due, with the balance owed. That’s 3 columns, with the title: (current month) Monthly Bills and update each month.

Date Due:	Bill Due:	Amount Due & Bal.:
1st	Credit card	$40-bal. =$200
4th	City bill	$80
6th	Electric	$150

Step 2: Take a separate sheet of paper or spreadsheet page and title: Month of  Budget at the top. Create 4 equal Columns. These will be titled by the week of your paycheck if you get payed bi-weekly make 2 columns if you get payed monthly one. First you enter your income, next of most priority is giving God His tithe and offering 10%+ we always take this out of the check and then with the total figure our budget. Prioritize: gas for car, food, diapers & formula, add home items such as t.p. and dish soap to your food budget anything you’re getting at the store like cat food, laundry soap, etc. this should be about the same every week. Next you have priority bills: what can wait, and what will have a late fee if a day late? Pay those first: loans, credit cards first, next is utilities these can be paid about 2 weeks later than the due date for city and electric, the cable internet at least ours is 3 days past due date, each bill should tell you when’s the max date before a late fee or cut off date, sometimes a $5 late fee is necessary to make your check stretch. Rent is next and ours can be payed 3-4 days past the due date we’ve payed all we could say $400 of $550 on the due date and next paycheck payed the balance without having to pay a late fee, but we never pay later unless absolutely necessary. You want to keep a good reference with your renter, creditors, etc. If you have to choose between paying a credit card or rent obviously pay your rent until you can catch up but don’t take out another loan to pay off the one just take the $25 late fee and pay the extra the next month or when you can. Here’s an example: this is for someone with a weekly payday on Friday.

Weekly Budget

4th	11th	18th	25th
Check: $500	Check: $456	Check: $475	Check: $456
Tithe/offering: $60	t/o: $50	t/o: $55	t/o: $50
Balance: $440	Bal. $406	Bal. $420	Bal. $406
Gas: $40	Gas: $40	Gas: $40	Gas: $40
Food: $100	Food: $80	Food: $80	Food: $80
Rent: $150	Diaper: $20	Rent: $150	Rent: $100=$550
City: $80	Rent: $150	Car loan: $150	Water: $45
Cell: $80	Credit card: $25	Credit card: $40	Car insurance: $50
-$10        Total: $450*	Total: $315 +91	Total: $460 -40	Total: $315 +91

Okay, for our rent I always divide by 4 and save that amount to get the payment of $550 a month. Make sure to add up total in each column to make sure you don’t go over the amount of your income balance.* In the example we are (-$10) or $10 over so you will need to adjust or make sure it can be covered from your balance which you can add but I suggest not adding so you don’t spend that money so you never spend over what’s in your account and you always have a positive balance. You could also just tithe but we always give at least a small offering of a few dollars or $5 and missions of $10-$20 a month. Tithing is important as a Christian and is necessary but that’s between you and God. I can testify He’s always provided when we tithe and I don’t question when He wants us to give someone some money I do it eagerly and obediently and when we’ve been in need people have blessed us sometimes before we had the need. Praise God! He’s showed me how to handle my money. Now it’s important to get those credit cards and loans paid off and don’t live off of them or you always will. Learn to live within your means and be content. This is what I’m learning as we pay off all our debt. If your income is less than your monthly needs then it’s time to pray for a raise or a second job or a better paying job, pray for what you need and watch God provide. Also, you may need to change your spending habits, switch to the cheaper brands, make your food at home, go on less trips to save on gas, learn to save money at the store, use coupons, shop at H-E-B they make it easy to save money, buy used at yard sales. You also need to save for emergency use such as car repairs- put aside any extra money and designate what you are saving it for and keep it in a savings account or in an envelope in safe keeping, (to date we haven’t been able to do this) but every time we've had an unplanned expense we've always had the money for it with my husbands pay check. Plan ahead so that you are in control of your money, also put aside money for entertainment purposes and try to keep $20- $30 in the bank each month. Switch to a free checking account; don’t pay money you don’t have too. Pray for wisdom, knowledge, and discernment in all your choices and God will lead the way for you to have a joy-filled life all the days of your life. Read the word every single day and pray for God’s plans.