Every Cent Counts
Greetings to my Titus 2 Sisters!
What a joy it is to be a godly woman with the awesome blessing of running a home. Our homes and how we take care of them may be different but we all have the command to do it, so let us all do it with diligence and joy!
I want to share a little story to encourage you in the area of money and how every cent counts. Brother Jim and I were taking our morning walk through the deserted parking lot (the store was closed for the world's pagan Christ-mass day) and while we were walking we kept finding pennies. We were enjoying looking for them when we found quarters and dimes as well. By the time we were done, this is what we had....
We were laughing because that's enough to buy a loaf of bread with left over to buy a couple bananas. People don't realize that the small change ($$) matters and adds up substantially over time and we are very conscious about this because we live on the road and in order to do that (self funded), we have to be diligent in our ways of spending money. If a person is frugal, for less than $5 they could buy a loaf of bread, a container of peanut butter, a jar of jam and eat for many meals off it.
(Note: We are not poor by any means. People may look at how we live and think we are but because we have been frugal, we have been blessed with plenty of resources to cover our needs and to be able to help others.)
We constantly hear of 'believers' who are in debt that would love to be set free but they lack the diligence in the small expenses which in time add up to being big. For example, brother Jim counselled someone to stop buying coffee on the road and instead learn to make it himself. We shared how we buy tea bags and fill them with coffee, put it in a thermos overnight covered with water and the next day you have a cold brew pitcher of coffee. This costs us an average of .15-.30 cents per day for coffee vs $1.50-$2.00 per cup. (We found a great deal on marked down coffee so our cost is on the low end.) Do the math, if you buy 3 cups of coffee each day, that's at least $135 per month.
On the subject of coffee, I want to interject something here. We talk about how we go out to the marketplace (public) to go 'fishing' (we put a bible on the table while we're working on ministry and those who are interested in the things of God stop by to talk) and we buy a cup of coffee there. Where we go the coffee has free refills and we can sit there as long as we need, working on ministry. There are many benefits to doing this:
1. We get opportunities to witness.
2. We have a place to sit down and spread out on a table while working online ministry.
3. We can use the free wifi for uploading video and audio teachings to our ministry site.
4. We get coffee and ice water for a very low cost.
5. I save the cups to use for when we have soup and it saves me money in not having to use paper bowels or water / paper towels to clean our soup mugs.
6. Every 5th cup of coffee is free on my app.
We consider it like our rent because we don't have a house payment, or car payment and our 'utility bill' (our generator) is only 60 cents per evening to run a heater and lights. I use the coffee example because many people drink it.
We are very careful with every purchase we make and over the years, diligently seeking the Lord to help strip us down, we have refined areas down to even the pennies. I'm conscious of how much each paper towel, paper plate, serving of water, portion of food etc costs. I'm not a fanatic but I make myself aware of it so that I am thankful and respectful in using them because they all add up.
I've had much experience for many years because before we moved to full time van life on the road for ministry. We used to hand pump our water and heat with wood. I hand washed clothes and raised all our food. I made all our own natural hygiene products as well as natural healing salves and tinctures. I've done all that and know what it all entails and costs. There is much to be done sufficiently in the home and I've carried a lot of that consciousness with me in this life which has helped enable us to live a frugal life, set free for the Lord.
I just wanted to share a reminder to you sisters to examine areas in your household and see where you can make changes that will help save you money because every penny counts and adds up. (I did a series a while back on how we have saved a lot of money, you can find them on this blog.) Whether you are married or not, you should take this seriously because the money that we are blessed with is not ours, it's of the Lord and we should spend every penny carefully and thankfully. If you wouldn't toss a handful of change ($$) on the ground, why would you waste it in your home? A good Titus 2 woman will rule her house economically, amen?!
Have a joyous evening!
Love to you all, in the name of Christ Jesus.
Sister Deb
What a joy it is to be a godly woman with the awesome blessing of running a home. Our homes and how we take care of them may be different but we all have the command to do it, so let us all do it with diligence and joy!
I want to share a little story to encourage you in the area of money and how every cent counts. Brother Jim and I were taking our morning walk through the deserted parking lot (the store was closed for the world's pagan Christ-mass day) and while we were walking we kept finding pennies. We were enjoying looking for them when we found quarters and dimes as well. By the time we were done, this is what we had....
We were laughing because that's enough to buy a loaf of bread with left over to buy a couple bananas. People don't realize that the small change ($$) matters and adds up substantially over time and we are very conscious about this because we live on the road and in order to do that (self funded), we have to be diligent in our ways of spending money. If a person is frugal, for less than $5 they could buy a loaf of bread, a container of peanut butter, a jar of jam and eat for many meals off it.
(Note: We are not poor by any means. People may look at how we live and think we are but because we have been frugal, we have been blessed with plenty of resources to cover our needs and to be able to help others.)
We constantly hear of 'believers' who are in debt that would love to be set free but they lack the diligence in the small expenses which in time add up to being big. For example, brother Jim counselled someone to stop buying coffee on the road and instead learn to make it himself. We shared how we buy tea bags and fill them with coffee, put it in a thermos overnight covered with water and the next day you have a cold brew pitcher of coffee. This costs us an average of .15-.30 cents per day for coffee vs $1.50-$2.00 per cup. (We found a great deal on marked down coffee so our cost is on the low end.) Do the math, if you buy 3 cups of coffee each day, that's at least $135 per month.
On the subject of coffee, I want to interject something here. We talk about how we go out to the marketplace (public) to go 'fishing' (we put a bible on the table while we're working on ministry and those who are interested in the things of God stop by to talk) and we buy a cup of coffee there. Where we go the coffee has free refills and we can sit there as long as we need, working on ministry. There are many benefits to doing this:
1. We get opportunities to witness.
2. We have a place to sit down and spread out on a table while working online ministry.
3. We can use the free wifi for uploading video and audio teachings to our ministry site.
4. We get coffee and ice water for a very low cost.
5. I save the cups to use for when we have soup and it saves me money in not having to use paper bowels or water / paper towels to clean our soup mugs.
6. Every 5th cup of coffee is free on my app.
We consider it like our rent because we don't have a house payment, or car payment and our 'utility bill' (our generator) is only 60 cents per evening to run a heater and lights. I use the coffee example because many people drink it.
We are very careful with every purchase we make and over the years, diligently seeking the Lord to help strip us down, we have refined areas down to even the pennies. I'm conscious of how much each paper towel, paper plate, serving of water, portion of food etc costs. I'm not a fanatic but I make myself aware of it so that I am thankful and respectful in using them because they all add up.
I've had much experience for many years because before we moved to full time van life on the road for ministry. We used to hand pump our water and heat with wood. I hand washed clothes and raised all our food. I made all our own natural hygiene products as well as natural healing salves and tinctures. I've done all that and know what it all entails and costs. There is much to be done sufficiently in the home and I've carried a lot of that consciousness with me in this life which has helped enable us to live a frugal life, set free for the Lord.
I just wanted to share a reminder to you sisters to examine areas in your household and see where you can make changes that will help save you money because every penny counts and adds up. (I did a series a while back on how we have saved a lot of money, you can find them on this blog.) Whether you are married or not, you should take this seriously because the money that we are blessed with is not ours, it's of the Lord and we should spend every penny carefully and thankfully. If you wouldn't toss a handful of change ($$) on the ground, why would you waste it in your home? A good Titus 2 woman will rule her house economically, amen?!
Have a joyous evening!
Love to you all, in the name of Christ Jesus.
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...