How We Save Money - and have lived to tell about it {Part 4}

Whew! Barely made it in before midnight! We had a long day today. Anyway, here's the 4th installment of my 7-part series.

This post is going to be somewhat brief, because I decided to split its latter half into a different post entirely. Thus, the following is the one and only tip of the post:

Tip #13: We live beneath our means. What an adjustment this was for us! Seriously. I always worked hard to, but when we had two disposable incomes, we could spare that $50 for me to go to the mall. Or that $25 for bowling with friends. We completely and radically changed that thinking in October. That includes no Mariners games this year (it's just a luxury that's not in our budget), and no sooner had I talked to Robert about this, than he won tickets to a Mariners game at his work. Yes, we still had to pay for parking, and yes, we still had to pay for gas to drive there. BUT - we packed our own food in a re-usable cold food bag, did not spend anything on food or drinks at the ballpark, and had a fantastic time - on 60% less than what we usually spend going there! We also do not go to concerts, or spend money on traveling much. Camping trips were pretty much non-existent last summer, and we are only going to Oahu this spring because our family has graciously paid for our trip. We only have to use our own spending money - the airfare and lodging are handled. Believe me - we'd never be going if we had to pay for everything. And we are SO thankful for our family doing this for us!

We don't go out and buy stuff just to buy it or just to have it. Michelle Duggar said that, "Probably the reason most young people go into debt is because they see what their parents have, or their peers have, and they want it now." Instant-gratification driven purchases are virtually non-existent in our home. It's the reason our master bedroom isn't really even decorated. We have furniture and linens, a few pictures sitting on the dresser, but otherwise, it's bare bones. I don't even go to Starbucks anymore without gift cards. Period. I make coffee at home. $9.99/ bag of Starbucks coffee lasts me a lot longer than a $4.50 mocha. Must-read books are put on hold at the library instead of being purchased, unless we have an unbeatable deal. I only got Kate Gosselin's, "I Just Want You To Know" because we paid $3.99 for the hardback copy at a discount outlet Christian bookstore. I'd asked for it for Christmas, but my parents said it was too expensive, and Robert had already bought me another book. I waited until February, and there it was. :)

The bottom line is, we know that God is providing for us - completely - and if we are faithful to and believe in  Him, He will be faithful to provide for us. For any need we may have. Also, Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." We fully believe in and adhere to this! It's sometimes hard to say, "no," but more on that in tomorrow's post. :)