Thursday, June 30, 2005

Living on less and loving it more

My financial picture has been tested as of late and as such my wife and I have looked very closely at it. Over the past year and a half we have been filtering out the things in our lives that we didn't need.
The past few months have been really tight. Don't get me wrong we are doing well but there is nothing left at the end of the week so to speak. More and more I am getting an increasing desire to not spend money on things that are not valuable. My wife and I started changing things about a month ago.
We started with our groceries. I really struggle with groceries and food quality but I will save that for another day. We have been praying and discerning what Gods design is for buying and eating groceries. You see I have high cholesterol and if I don't get it down within three months I will need to go onto some medication to get it down. So we have been looking very seriously on what a healthy diet is. We have pondered our past and our grandparents who lived a good ripe age. They ate well. They didn't worry about too much carbohydrates or protien or calorie counts. They ate in moderation. So we have decided to start doing that. We also really felt that pageged food is a killer. You pay a whack of cash for some thing that would cost you a fraction of that if you only made it yourself. Instead of buying a package of noodles and sauce for $1.50 we buy a 1 Kg bag of pasta, and add ingredients we can make from scratch. Our grocery list consists of potatoes, pasta, and rice. Misc meats, loads of produce and dairy. That's it. If we want desserts we are trying to make them. Next fall we hope to be baking all of our kids snacks for thier lunch while at school. I am experimenting with homemade breakfast cereals. I made granola a few weeks ago and it turned out very tasty. Any way that only one example of what we are doing in this process.


I am starting to realize that as a Christian I can live on way less than I think if I truly buy what I NEED. Do I need Gap jeans, or is a good quality pair from winners or Walmart just as good? I am at the point right now where I am really weighing where my money is spent. I'm not sure where God will lead this but I do know that he will honor it. The bible talks about God giving you all that you need and out of that God will give you more to give away. It's fun actually. I may not be the best clothed person and our meals may be basic, but with raising a family of 7 on one income, I am learning the secret of being content. I think that learning to live on less is a great discipline for us. It will turn off the desire or need for instant gratification which causes debt. Oh man do I ever wish and pray that I will be able to teach this some day and bring other people out of their financial pit...But God knows.

3 comments:

Trail Rider said...

http://www.freedomyou.com/

I thought I would just give you this site. It's super informative and he's a christian. It has taught me allot. I think it will help you on your journey. There are audio teachings, recipes, and info on perservatives and stuff like that. Hope it helps! :)

Anonymous said...

have you ever thought of the foods listed in the Bible? Do you have a "lipo" clinic in your area? a friend is going to one because she could not get her cholesterol down.sounds like you are on a sound track.
TGE

CWG said...

I'm not sure what a lipo clinic is? The only one I know of, takes away unwanted fat surgically...hehe and I'm not sure that's the one you mean. But yes my wife and I have looked at the biblical model and have realized that natural is best. It's just figuring out what REALLY IS NATURAL.