Preparing for Future Expenses

What a lovely weekend it was here in Oklahoma! It was just perfect fall weather: cool, with clear blue skies, and no wind. It was such a nice weekend for my family because we were able to play outside, and just relax and take the weekend off. Noah got sick again last week and we had to keep him out of school for most of the week. So this weekend I also sterilized everything in my home, and washed all of the linens, and just cleaned everything. Noah is finally better and will be returning to school on Monday and …

Paying for the Party

“Arrrgh,” shouted 14 young pirates as they chased me down the side of my home. We were on a treasure hunt. The cake had been eaten. The sword fights had been won. And now the real adventure had begun. Through Alligator Alley, past the Tunnel of Stinkiness and the Forgotten Grasslands, and through the Forbiden Gate… and over a dozen pirates were all of a sudden charging from my back yard and down to our mailbox (the Tiny Cave of Hope) in search of the prize. Then back through the house they stormed in a mad chaotic quest. There was …

Spreading Your Money Too Thin

There is a line from JRR Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” which I keep thinking of in reference to today’s blog. Little old Bilbo Baggins has just had his “eleventy-first” (111th)birthday and he turns to his friend Gandalf and says, “I’m old, Gandalf. I know I don’t look it, but I begin to feel it. I feel stretched and thin, like butter scraped over too much bread.” Tolkien was such a master with story and words, and I think we all relate to that “stretched and thin” feeling, especially when we relate it to our finances. As you know …

Debt vs. Savings: A Shopping Cart Dilemma

Imagine trying to grocery shop with ten children. They are all different ages with all different needs. Now these are not the nice orderly children that you sometimes see in large families, these kids are whiny, and wild. They are not there for you, they are there for themselves. And it is just you, trying to get something done… and trying to keep them happy. The little ones start to cry, the older ones are complaining, everyone wants something for themselves (that is not on your list!). At the end of the grocery shopping trip you are exhausted, frustrated, and …

A European Adventure

When my husband and I were newly married, we got a sort of crazy dream into our hearts. We dreamed of going to Europe. We knew that it would not be long before we would want to start a family and we knew that having a baby would push the dream back by a lot of years, so we decided that we would start saving and go. At the time, we were not making very much money. We were going to Bible school together and both only working part time… so not exactly wealthy… actually, far from it. But we …

Small Beginnings

When my Mom first began saving, it was in an envelope beside her bed. She and my Dad had gotten the revelation about God blessing their storehouse, and she just knew that she had to start a storehouse no matter what. At that time, there wasn’t a lot left over each month and it seemed impossible to save. So each time my Dad would give her grocery money, she would take a percentage of that money and put it in her “storehouse” envelope. It was such a small beginning, and many people would have thought, “How is this ever going …