To buy or not to buy?

I took Beck and Ava to TSC with me last night. This pretty much tells the story for Beck...it was a little too late for a 4 year old.

For a weekly ministry report, click here. God is doing some cool things, especially in the Greek community.
We were in Omaha over Memorial Day.

I went to the Stuff Mart (Cue the Veggie Tale music from "Madame Blueberry"...the best Veggie Tale episode, which still haunts me with conviction.)

Stuff Mart=Costco

I walked in a content, happy human being and then I realized the void that was missing in my life as I stared at the array of HD TVs. Am I living in a cave to not have one? And for only $599! (plus a $50 rebate).
I almost took the bait. I still might.

But thanks to our purchasing policy: the bigger the purchase, the longer we wait to buy it. And that only after talking it through with Leatha.

I almost got spiritual and included "talking and praying it through..." but the truth is that I generally don't pray about these kind of decisions, because usually that leads to not purchasing anything. I try not to put off my conspicuous consumption on God. That would probably be a form of taking God's name in vain.

Moreover, after getting wrecked by the Sudan video last night (previous post) and currently reading Three Cups of Tea and recently giving more thought to the Leatha orphanage, the HD TV purchase is becoming less and less likely.

I'm so blue I don't know what to do. (for the few of you who've seen Madame Blueberry)

Here are the kids striking a pose at Costco.

Then we proceeded to eat at Costco.

"Bless this food to our bodies?"

Is this another form of taking the Lord's name in vain? Or is it truly an expression of great faith?

And should I buy the TV or not?

I'm sure I'd use it for ministry.

Welcome Yo

Scheibe, thanks for the vine (apparently via Dave Ramsey's Facebook page)

The easiest $50 you'll make

Today I went and drove a Dodge Ram truck and made $50. Well, the money is in the mail.

Click here to see how. There's nothing in this for me, I just thought I'd pass it along. The deal was originally posted on www.slickdeals.net That's a great website to frequent for deals. Slick deals, that is.

ps...the deal ends Feb. 2.

The Economy

This is a well written and accessible take on our economical "situation" (click here). Thanks, Chris, for posting the link to this.

SNL stumbles upon some money wisdom

Why do you need Larry Burkett, Randy Alcorn or Dave Ramsey when you've got Saturday Night Live? Click here.

Money Habits 2

I received an email that I got permission to use (I made it the first comment under this post). You'll need to read it to understand the context of my response...

When it comes to money and possessions, we need to think more eternally.

I agree with the writer's take that there is a big difference between Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" and Randy Alcorn's "Treasure Principle." In my assessment, Alcorn's book is a better application of Jesus' teaching.

Jesus makes it abundantly clear in the Sermon (Matt. 5-7) that we should not store up treasures here on earth. We ought to be so careful when it comes to storing up gold, IRAs, stocks, real estate... we are stewards of what God has given us.

It's sad to me how many Christians forfeit the joy of sacrificial giving in the name of conspicuous consumption. As you may have heard it said... "Have you ever noticed how big a 20 dollar bill looks when you're giving it as an offering and yet how small it looks when you're shopping for yourself at the mall?"

Dallas Willard goes yard (once again) in chapter 10 of his book "The Spirit of the Disciplines." The title of the chapter: "Is Poverty Spiritual?" He lays out the bottom line on this issue, which is stewardship.

So to answer the original question from this reader- Leatha and I try to ask ourselves...

Is our use of money going to yield an eternal reward?
Is our 'storing up' causing us to trust God or our storehouse of money?
Why are we amassing more money?
Are we making this decision so it will help us give more later?
Can we consider our present giving to be "sacrificial"?
Do we trust the leadership and vision of the church we are giving to?

Let me issue a warning related to this...

A famous Christian leader (now with the Lord) said "it's wrong to own a vehicle over $40,000." I think it's ludicrous to start making those kind of judgments. We are stewards who will all give an account before God, not each other. You won't have to give an account to me (so I feel no need to judge you), but to God (who will judge us all). "Who are you to judge the servant of another?" (Romans 14:4)

Do you drive a convertible BMW?
Do you own a 5 million dollar house on the beach?
Do you have 12 million in your retirement fund?

My response to you is twofold-

1. I won't hesitate to challenge you not to wrap your affections around those things, but God...and to be generous (1 Timothy 6).
2. Can I take my wife on a date in your car while vacationing at your beach house?

Money Habits

I have previously talked about what has driven us (mostly Leatha) to coupon madness. I will be doing a series of posts about our budget and general convictions related to money and possessions.

This will be pretty general, but it starts with some principles. I haven't read a lot of books on money (Leatha has), but I'm sure anything by Dave Ramsey, Randy Alcorn, Solomon, or Jesus would be a good place to start.

1. Give, Save, and Spend what's left

There's so much more to say on this. Later.

2. Drive old, used cars (that get good gas mileage).

We currently drive a '94 Honda Accord with 251,000 miles, and a '01 Honda Odyssey with 105,00 miles. To get the Odyssey, Leatha had no car for 7 months (with 3 children) because we couldn't afford to pay cash for the van we wanted. When we shut the door on the Honda Accord with three car seats in the back, you could see all the kids crunch together.

New cars are over rated. After all, old or new- they're just metal boxes.

3. Wait as long as possible to make a purchase...

...Because you generally realize you don't need it. Or, if you wait and still think it would be a good purchase, then it might just be a wise purchase. The bigger the item, the longer you should wait.

There's no use staring at a 10 cent sucker for an hour. Just wait 10 seconds and you'll realize it's a waste of your dime.

Don't walk into Best Buy to "just look around." That's like the teenager who decides his limits of physical intimacy with his girlfriend while laying on the couch watching a movie at 1 a.m. You just might come out with a child... or HD TV. Usually married couples give much thought and prayer to something as big as conceiving or adopting or giving foster care to a child. In time you may decide an HD TV would be a good use of your money. Just don't decide it on a whim in the store.

4. Use cash

When you use cash, you think more about your purchase than if you use plastic. I've noticed that when I use a credit card, it doesn't feel like I'm actually spending money. I don't think about the money, I just get what I want. The 1% reward points are not worth it for me. Just try it- pay cash at the gas station next time instead of swiping your card. It will make you feel even worse for unnecessary driving.

Leatha has been waiting to buy a vacuum for months. When she wants to use one, she has to use her mom's, which is a big hassle. We're waiting until we have the cash to buy one.

5. Don't overspend on gifts, vacations, and eating out.

Most people feel a sense of entitlement when it comes to these things.
Exhibit A: Christmas.
Exhibit B: Summer Vacations
Exhibit C: Birthdays for 1 year olds, who get $15 toys and play with the boxes.
Exhibit D: Mark, "Let's just go out tonight." Leatha: "Let's just find something at home."

"Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich." Proverbs 21:17

6. Our only debt has ever been our home mortgage

College students, beware of student loans. You will have to pay that money back.

7. Buy stuff that's on sale, and with coupons if possible

If you're going to Coldstone, print off a BOGO (buy one, get one) online.
Go straight to the sale rack at the store. Sometimes Goodwill is more expensive than Old Navy.

More to come...

I'm an idiot.

Men, your wives need to read this post. It will either make them grateful you're not as much of an idiot as I am, or it will help them see you're just like many other men (or at least there's one other man in the world like you...)

Leatha gave me simple instructions before I left to run errands yesterday, "Stop by Aldi and get the following...Here's a note with everything I want you to get there." Easy enough.

I ran some of my errands then went to the grocery store and got EVERYTHING on the list (no more, no less). It was a success. A huge success. She even gave me $22 cash (we use an envelope system), and the bill came to $20.96. I thought, "Wow, she's good at estimating, but good thing I went for the no-name stuff (and sale items). I called her, proud of my accomplishment.

I said, "Babe, I'm just 10 minutes away- I'm just leaving Fareway."

"FAREWAY!!!!!????," she exclaimed.

"Yeah...uh..." (I look at the top of the note and realize my mistake)

"Mark, you spent at least $8 more than you would've at Aldi"

Even as I post this, she's saying, "That makes me sick to my stomach [with a smile of course]"

Well, when things are tight financially, it's never fun to work so hard at saving money here and there, then to watch your husband flush cash down the toilet.

It might have been worth the laugh this time, but seriously- think about it. The difference between a cheap grocery store (Fareway) and an even cheaper one (Aldi), was $8 on 10 items! If I made the same mistake every week, or if we just didn't go to Aldi for certain items (we don't get certain items there...) that's about $380 over the course of the year. That's a mini family vacation. Or a weekend long date with Leatha. Or eating out for date night a couple times every month.

I know we shouldn't obsess over pinching pennies, but there is something to be said about shopping smart. By shopping with shrewdness, it's like Leatha is making money for us.

The only problem is me.

Maybe next time I'll remember to go to the right grocery store.

Now I just need to turn my attention to not getting anymore parking tickets. Shhh....