Friday, March 14, 2008

God and finances

I like to think I have given God my finances. I thank Him for all He gives me, I give back, I try to give even more. But I still make plans with the money He gives me, sometimes without asking Him what He wants me to do with the money. I made plans for my income tax and was taking solace in the fact that I was set until the end of August with working now-end of June, and taking July & August off from work (as of right now I have NO summer clients, and my goal is to start working outside of the home in Sept. for shorter hours, benefits, and retirement.)
But almost immediately I am seeing that this is not going to work. I have an unexpected bill of $548 that I must pay by April 13th (a doctor's bill.) Also my washer is now not working, at least I have to pay for a repair, at most a new stack able (oh I wish I had room for two appliances not just one.) Plus I need to have my car repaired this month. This already eliminates over $1000 of my savings. Completely unexpected. I need at least $2000 for basic July & Aug. bills. That is all my savings. That leaves me with no emergency fund at all. Not a good place to be. At least other than the doctor's bill, I have no debt. And yes, I can work in the summer, but it has to include my children, as childcare is hard to come by and expensive.
I also wanted to get season passes for great adventure and get a semi permanent pool for the yard (these were planned from my tax money) but now I am not able to do these, so I feel like what will my children do this summer. I know it's not that bad, we live near a free beach and have two friends within walking distance who have pools. These are certainly not needs, I just thought me moving here would ease our financial situation so we could have some spending money.
But realistically life is still great. We still have shelter, food, clothes, lots of stuff, our health, I work from home, so I don't have daycare costs and am available if my kids need a hug now and again. I still will be able to take July & Aug. off (I still will keep my part time job, that's our food money, and will probably take a second part time job for spending money.) But for the most part I will be home with my children in July & Aug. What a blessing! God is so awesome, He has always met all our needs. I guess to avoid disappointment I need to ask God what He wants me to do with the money He gives me. I think I need to remember to do this is all areas of my life as well.

God what do you want me to do with the money and time you give me?
in Jesus Name-Amen

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

We all need to be asking this everyday. Some people have so much that God is not a factor in their decisions. Sometimes I think it is better to live totally dependent on Him.