After the Band

In 1998, my husband Matt was touring as a professional musician with a band. He spent most of his time out on the road, and as part of that lifestyle he put everything on his credit card. He never really thought about his credit card because he was being paid well, and every month he would just pay it off. However, he had nothing in savings and every month he would spend everything that he made. Then in the Fall of that year, the artist that Matt had been touring with suddenly decided to stop touring. It came as quite …

The Cookie Jar

Can I just tell you how good it feels to have all of your credit card balances be at zero? If you have no idea what that feels like, may I suggest you join me on my credit card “diet”. Having credit cards at your convenient disposal is a lot like living with jars of cookies and chocolate all over your home. It is one thing to want to eat healthy or lose weight, but if your weakness is cookies and you are constantly surrounded by them, then you will have a very hard time reaching your goal. You will …

A Cure for Deprivation

When my husband and I returned from our European adventure after having the most amazing month, we never really left the “vacation” mentality. We had pushed ourselves for so long to save what we needed for Europe, and when it was all over and we were back, we found ourselves without a purpose for our money and needing a financial rest from the pressure. But we didn’t just “rest” from extreme saving, we spent. We had been in deprivation mode for so long that, even though it had been our choice so that we could go to Europe, we felt …

The Way of Life

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 says this, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” So much of the reality that we currently live in has been determined by our choices. In fact, every …

In Too Deep

Have you ever watched a child playing in a pool whose abilities didn’t quite match their confidence level. My darling Noah, when he was first learning to swim, he would always want to be in the pool without his floaties. He felt so confident swimming with them on that he was sure he could do it without them. Even now, he thinks he can do anything and so he will confidently march into a situation that I know he will quickly get in over his head in. I love his courage and his spirit and yet, as a Mom it …

Kill Your Giant

I have a 5 year old, a 3 year old, and a 1 year old in my home. They are constantly in motion, dropping things as they go… particularly food. Consequently, vacuuming is a dire need in my house. However, since every second step you have to stop to pick up a toy, vacuuming is a monumental task. I’ve tried getting the whole house tidy and then vacuuming, but without Matt’s help, that rarely works. Now when Daddy is home, he occupies the culprits, and tidies and I vacuum and so we get it done. However, it always feels like …

Managing Your Credit Card Debt

There are many different strategies for climbing the mountain of debt. Honestly, I think it is a little like dieting… I’m not sure there is an easy answer or a “right” answer, I think it’s just picking the method that works for you and then sticking with it. The important thing is to get a plan in place that works the best for you and your family and then go for it. God is with you. His heart is for you to be free, and I believe as you step out and begin, you will find His grace and strength …

Managing Your Credit Cards

So how do you manage your credit cards? We live in a world where it is difficult to travel, impossible to rent a car, and just extremely challenging to do a lot of things without a credit card. However, how do you protect yourself from debt, when financial hardship is never more than a few swipes of the credit card away? The problem with credit cards is you don’t have any tangible sense of what you are spending. With cash in your wallet, you know when you are reaching the end of your budget in an area. With credit cards, …

Doing Something Different

Have you ever seen a movie or TV show (usually a comedy) where the main character is trying to bail out a boat that is filling with water, but he never stops to plug the holes? My little Noah loves “Tom and Jerry” and they seem to have this scenario regularly. It is terribly funny to my kids, because no matter how hard Tom bails, the boat always sinks, and there is usually a very funny shark waiting. Many of you are in a boat just like Tom’s when it comes to debt. You are bailing like crazy and seem …

Baby Steps…

When Matt and I were first praying about having a baby, we felt very much that it was the right time to start our family, but we didn’t know what to do about insurance. Neither of us were on insurance, and for me to get on insurance meant that we would need to wait a year to get pregnant before insurance would cover any of the costs. We prayed about it a great deal and both felt complete peace that the Lord was going to provide for us and that we could go ahead and get pregnant. So, from that …