Financial Resolutions

The Christmas rush and bustle are safely behind us and 2019 has begun to settle in. You may be finding yourself in over your head from holiday spending though as reality settles in and the bills arrive.

The American dream is to have everything we desire. That dream turns into a nightmare though when we realize there are more bills than money. There is way too much debt, very little savings, and virtually nothing left to live on until the next pay check.  If this sounds like your family, you may need to make some New Year’s resolutions to get control of your finances.  

The first step is to recognize there is a problem, become determined to resolve your financial dilemma and then put together a budget and live by it.  Many think the solution is making more money, but most often the answer is to simply spend less.  

Here are some tips and tricks you can use to help spend less:

• Make a list before you go shopping and buy ONLY what is on your list. Nowadays, most supermarkets offer pick up and even delivery services for free or reasonable fees. This can eliminate those “extra” items that end up in your cart as you wander the store.
• Make menus for the week ahead of time and cook from scratch as much as possible, it is usually cheaper. 
• Use your leftovers! Take them as lunch the next day or get creative to make other meals from them. 
• Buy meat in larger packages then divide them in smaller portions and freeze.
• If you do go out to eat, search for local restaurants with a “kids eat free” night. Or consider splitting your entrée with your spouse.
• Ask yourself “do I really need this” before you buy. Most of what we buy we want, but we don’t really need.
• Never buy clothing at retail price. Always wait for a bargain.
• Have “plastic surgery” on your credit cards. Cut them up. If you must, save one for emergencies only. Hide it away and forget you have it.
• Shop for better rates for your car and house insurance when they come up for renewal. No one likes switching companies every six months, but you can most likely save money by looking around.
• Save on utilities with proper insulation on doors and windows, by turning off lights when not in use, reducing your water heater temperature and installing water saving shower heads.
• Get happy and fall in love again with the car or house you have until they are paid for or then save enough to pay cash the next time. 
• Start a Christmas savings plan NOW and only spend what you have cash for during the holiday season.

Getting caught up in materialism is not new to humanity. Most of us want to satisfy the desires of our flesh, sometimes even to the detriment of ourselves, our families and our church. Sadly, many times debt prevents us from giving to the work of God above our tithes simply because we have satisfied our flesh instead of satisfying the need of reaching the unsaved.  

The prophet Haggai came to the Jews who had gotten caught up with materialism and took sixteen years off from finishing their work on the house of God. Selfish and personal ambitions had corrupted the hearts of the Jews.  They were spending to fix up their own houses to satisfy their desires but not taking care of God’s work. So Haggai told them  “… Consider your ways! You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes. Thus says the LORD of hosts, Consider your ways!”  (Haggai 1:5-7 KJV) They must have listened because within twenty-four days the work continued again on the temple.  

Why don’t you “consider your ways” this year when it comes to your finances? Most of us have gotten into a habit of thinking we “have to have” the latest and greatest. Many of us are guilty of buying things we cannot afford, so we go deeper and deeper in debt. Or even letting the pressures of the holiday season convince us to overspend. Make some resolutions to strengthen your financial position in 2019, so when 2020 dawns next year, your vision won’t be clouded by debt hanging over your head.