Stretching the Dollar in 2010
2010, a new year, a new decade, and a new chance to affect lives for Christ! As we zoom into this new, newness, that seems so exciting, I know there are a lot of church planting wives and families out there really struggling financially. I have heard so many stories of planters working full time jobs while working to plant the church, or both spouses are working to make it. Many of you that I have talked to have lost benefits (health and otherwise) during this big transition in your life. I know some of you are on food stamps and thank the Lord for free lunches at school for the kids. I want to take a moment to encourage you and thank you for giving up your life and comfort to make a difference in the lives of those who don’t know Christ.
As we enter this new year, please take a moment and share below any tips you have learned for stretching the church planting family’s dollar. What do you do that helps to make a difference in your family finances? I know for us, we still have one child at home, the other three are in school. It has been a long-time goal for me to be home with our children, especially while they are young. However, financially, that has been difficult at times. Currently, I babysit in my home for one little girl during the week. This allows me to still be home for my kids when they get off the bus and all day with the 2 year old, but also earn a little extra cash to help out the family. There have been times when I have babysat for up to 4 other kids, (not recommending it) just to make ends meet.
What tips and tricks do you use that help you save money or earn a little extra to help the family out? How has God protected you and prospered your family during these tough economic times? Please share your insights and stories below and know you are not alone in this.
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This is a very relevant subject! We have looked over our budget time and time again to see how we can make it. One of the things we are about to do is to cut our telephone & internet - this will save us £60 per month and we will use the local library as the internet is free & for £10 per month we can keep a mobile phone active to stay in touch. Another thing we have done is got rid of our TV so we don’t have to pay TV licence & we have set up a strict food budget & weekly “menu”. Lastly we try to walk as much as possible rather than use our car - it is great for our health & saves money! I would love to hear other suggestions as I have run out of ideas how to cut costs, we have done as much as I think is possible. My husband & I both teach music to try and generate some income as we aren’t paid for pastoring yet, we also build websites & I do bookkeeping. In the past I also looked after babies during the day but I decided to stop that when my 4th child was born and I am so glad I did