The Frugal Family is a series designed to help you learn some new tips and tricks for making the most of your income. If you’ve spent some time reading through previous posts on this blog, you are likely well aware that I am passionate about pinching pennies and doing whatever it takes to boost our budget. Since ultimately everything we own is the Lord’s, I want to do my best to ensure that we are faithful stewards of what He has entrusted to us. As you may know, my husband recently lost his job. Because God is faithful, unemployment has been one of the hardest trials we have endured but also a great blessing.
In this season, my husband and I were never fearful over our financial situation because 1) We trust God and know that He is sovereign and 2) we have been working with a budget since we were first married. As part of our premarital counseling, we were required to present our budget to our counselors and I’m so grateful we did because it has helped immensely.
While living on a budget consisting primarily of unemployment funds, we were able to pay off our lease early (we decided not to break it when we moved as it was pretty pricey) and we were also able to complete our contract with Sprint early (we decided not to renew – more on that later).
Budgeting can be frustrating at times but in this day and age, there are plenty of tools to help, a few of which I will be covering throughout this series.
My hope is that by sharing about some of the budget basics we have applied, you will be encouraged and equipped to implement these measures that will help you be a faithful steward of your resources.
To kick off this series in which I will be sharing a few of our family’s favorite apps, tricks and tips for making the most of what you’ve been entrusted, I want to share with y’all two of my favorite resources that help us understand God’s heart behind money.
- Whose Money Is It Anyway? – A sermon series by John MacArthur. I listened to this when I was first married and it really convicted my heart toward certain attitudes I had toward money and helped me desire to be a better steward.
- Managing God’s Money by Randy Alcorn- I actually bought this as an e-book with a settlement I received from Barnes and Noble which I am grateful for because at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it otherwise. I haven’t finished this book yet but based on what I have read, I highly recommend it. Unlike Dave Ramsey’s materials, Randy Alcorn gets to the heart behind stewardship, reminds readers that everything is the Lord’s, our hope isn’t in our possessions and that ultimately our trust should be in God. Trusting God to provide for us was a really big struggle in my life at times and this book provided the encouragement my heart desperately needed. I’ve heard high praise for his book The Treasure Principle and am looking forward to reading it in the future.
