Looking for budget-savvy individuals
I am hoping to start a new series on budgeting and frugality in the next week. If you live or have lived on a tight budget and would be willing to share about this with us, could you email me. I am specifically wanting to hear about the nuts and bolts of your budget and what areas you have done without in order to survive on a small income.
I am also going to share a few posts on coupon-shopping and would love to have the input from any of you who would like to share on this as well. I'd like to hear practical testimonies from those who save money by grocery shopping with coupons - specifically how you organize your coupons, how you find time to do it, and, if applicable, how you accomplish grocery shopping with coupons and little children.
So, all of you wonderful, experienced pros, email me with your stories, your testimonies, and your practical examples. Have any questions on these subjects that you would like to see covered in this series? Email me those, too. biblicalwomanhood{at}sbcglobal.net
Thanks for helping to make this blog an encouragement to many women. It certainly would be quite boring if I were the only person sharing here!
I am also going to share a few posts on coupon-shopping and would love to have the input from any of you who would like to share on this as well. I'd like to hear practical testimonies from those who save money by grocery shopping with coupons - specifically how you organize your coupons, how you find time to do it, and, if applicable, how you accomplish grocery shopping with coupons and little children.
So, all of you wonderful, experienced pros, email me with your stories, your testimonies, and your practical examples. Have any questions on these subjects that you would like to see covered in this series? Email me those, too. biblicalwomanhood{at}sbcglobal.net
Thanks for helping to make this blog an encouragement to many women. It certainly would be quite boring if I were the only person sharing here!
posted by Crystal Paine at 8:50 AM
7 Comments:
Well, of course, every working person wants a wife! So do I, for that matter. (I am actually only half kidding. Who wouldn't want someone to run all the errands and cook delicious meals to eat after a long day at work?)
The thing that strikes me about this post though is that it is very materialistic. The concerns seem to be about having good food and errands done and avoiding the expenses of paying for child care.
I simply don't think that one can characterize one type of division of labor in a marriage as more materialistic than the other. Two career families often have very significant non-materialistic reasons for not sacrificing the wife's future earning capacity and career development -- such reasons as the wife fulfilling her individualized calling outside the home pursuant to her particular talents and proclivities, and the family's vision for service beyond the needs of the immediate family circle. These important values can, for many families, outweigh the material advantages of having the errands completed at the end of the work day or the house completely free of all dust or the money saved by not paying for child care.
I think you meant to post this on the above post.
We'll never agree on this issue as long as we come from two different worldviews and definitions of fulfillment and significance.
I think that when a wife becomes a wife, she is giving up her life to now be her husband's wife. As such, she is his help meet. Her fulfillment comes from standing behind him, honoring him, respecting him, loving him, reverencing him, meeting his needs. That is her calling. There is nothing more important.
Of course, a husband is equally to lay down his life to love, care for, nurture, provide for, and protect his wife.
But, as wives, it is not our job to see that our husband performs his Biblical role. It is our jobs to perform our Biblical role. Seeking fulfillment for self is not part of that role.
Dear Ms. Happy Feminist,
I have responded to your post on the correct entry.
I'm a college student with few bills beyond my board, tuition, and cell phone (I do not have a car). Since I've been working since I was 15, I have enough money saved for my college bill (it's a very small, inexpensive Bible college), but this also means that in the confidence that I do have the finances for school, I tend to be quite careless with spending. I've actually never had a budget before and would be interested to hear what you have to say about it. Thanks.
We're on a budget... but to tell you the truth I have **NO** idea what the amounts are. My husband handles our finances. In respect to my husband, I utilize my finances frugally and therefore he trusts me to make decisions for our family when it comes to food, clothing, and other areas that are in my realm as wife and mom.
I have lived on VERY tight budgets before (30 dollars every two weeks budgeting for food). Having done that (as everyone should at some point just to keep one humble), I can shop frugally and still make healthful meals for my family. Since I have not shown myself lacking in judgement in this area, my DH never says anything about my spending.
That being said, we are NOT in dire straits at this point of our lives. I could probably by anything my heart desired (within reason: I'm talking Starbucks every day if I **wanted** to) but since my husband trusts me, I no longer have a bad case of the "I wants". My brain now says "How can I honor my hubby best with my money" or "Is this honoring to God". While I could do Starbucks every day, I choose not to and therefore my DH has given me free reign in other areas (clarinet accessories, books, bath/body stuff). Because I don't 'treat' myself all the time, HE gets to feel really special when HE gets to treat me on occasion!
It's all about perception...
Katie in Ohio
Who is now craving something with chocolate, coffee, and whipped cream... sigh...
Crystal,
Your post about frugal-living inspired me to post about that in my own blog:
http://dutchgirldiary.wordpress.com/2006/08/30/on-budgets-and-being-frugal/
God Bless,
Erin
Oh, Crystal, I'm looking forward to this one a lot! I've never had to be on a strict budget before, but once we get married in December... we do have a preliminary budget that seems to work, but I really don't have all that much experience at frugality. I am SO excited to hear all the wisdom everyone has to share with me. :)
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