Use less!

Last night I had tea at a friend’s place and at one point the conversation turned to money. My friend made a statement that I thought was brilliant and wanted to share with you.

A few hours before our tea date I was at the grocery store where I was approached by a woman promoting the store’s credit card. By having one of these cards I would earn store points which can be used as cash when there are enough of them. I would get $0.35 off each liter of gas I bought at their gas station, with the card. I also would have gotten a free bag of cookies (which I didn’t even want)! All this at a low rate of 19.9%! What a deal!

I am in the place in my life where I am looking to eliminate debt not take on more. I declined the card, and the girl seemed confused as to why I didn’t want to apply for it. We are so numb to the effect of debt on our lives that some of us don’t want to eliminate what debts we have, because we are able to “maintain” it and we get what we want when we want it. Everyone else is doing it so it must be okay, right?

Wrong! Accumulating most debts is not good, as most debts are consumer purchases or items that depreciate in value once we buy them. The majority of the items bought are not “needs” in our lives but rather something that we “want”. I am guilty of this too. It takes conscious effort, with every purchase, to change our money spending habits. Debt is the rope around our “financial necks” just waiting to be pulled tight, let’s find ways to loosen that rope!

This being said, how do we save money, when there may be nothing we can cut out of our day to day spending (deep down we all know that we can probably cut back on something: making coffee vs buying it by the cup, drive a more fuel efficient vehicle, wait to buy things on sale vs buy it now at full price, etc…)? There is a simple answer… USE LESS of everything! If we use less water and electricity we save money on our utility bills as well as we help the planet out (this is a win-win situation!). If we use a little less hand soap each time we wash our hands the soap will last longer and we won’t have to buy as many of them through the year. If we ride our bike to work twice a week we use less gas in our car. If we respect our property, and are not as hard on it as we can be, it lasts longer and we save money by not replacing it as soon or as often as it may be being replaced now. The list of possible ways to use less is endless… You get the point.

Now, let’s put the last post and this one together and inspire a nation to be more mindful of how, and what, we spend our money on…
Step 1: ask ourself two questions every time we are  about to buy an item. First: “do I NEED this, or is it something I WANT?” Second: “do I need to buy this TODAY or can I WAIT to save-up for the item and pay in cash?” Most of the time I find I can “wait and save-up” for the item as it is something I “want and don’t need it now”…
Step 2: stop buying as much as we “can”(the quotations are to relate back to us buying items in a fashion that places us father in debt). The government wants our money! If we don’t buy things we pay less taxes, and everyone wants to do that, right? I believe we pay our fair-share of taxes, so when we can save on them we should take advantage of it! Shop wisely!
Step 3: use less of the items you do buy. This will save you money as you will not need to buy as many of that item, and in turn we will pay less taxes too! We save money two-fold with this strategy! Love it!

Learning to spend money wisely is a learned skill. It will take practice and time to perfect. You will make purchases that fall into the “want now” category. Don’t fret. Learn from it, how did  it make you feel, and how can you make a better decision the next time a similar situation comes your way? It will get easier, and become a natural part of your shopping experience, as you practice it. Promise.

Good luck! I know you can do it!

CHALLENGE: Use less of everything, and take notice of how it effects your spending, and your savings!

It’s almost gone…

I have spent the last month finding ways to get rid of the items I wanted to purge from my life and they are almost gone! I had been storing the items on a couch on my living room, and now we can use it as a couch, again! Even though the items were “hidden” in the house, by placing them where they could be seen daily helped with the process of getting rid of them. I was reminded, daily, to make an effort to get rid of those items, and now that the area is tidy again it truly feels like I have cleared my space of items that I didn’t need any more! I feel lighter now somehow.

There were a few ways in which I got rid of the items. I have sold some to friends. I have given others away as gifts for Christmas (the items were still new). I have given items to a community resource centre, and to a community fund raising thrift shop. The clothes I could not take to a consignment store were donated to a women’s shelter. Hopefully these clothes will help them get employment and feel better about themselves. And a few items I have placed on Craigslist. Like I mentioned in a previous post, it has taken me a bit of time for people to take these items off my hands. I still have a couple items to which I am not sure as to how I want to get rid of them yet. The point is my home has more space and I am less stressed and preoccupied with the clutter in that space. Now to make sure I do not fill the spaces with more stuff I am not going to use. This could be harder than doing the purge… Time will tell.

How is your purge going? Have you gotten rid of some things, or maybe everything you wanted to? If you are still in the process, like I am, don’t stop, keep focusing on making your home conducive of a successful life, free of clutter and clutter-driven distractions! It will be worth it!

In the end, it will help us grow into being a woman of Proverbs 31, which is what this blog is all about!

“10 Secrets Revenue Canada Doesn’t Want You To Know”

Hey Canadians! If you pay taxes, then this is a book you need to get your hands on! This is a great book! It shares 10 “secrets” that we should know about but don’t. Beware, you may get passionate about wanting to spread the information too!

It is not easy to get a copy, but you can buy it directly from the official web site, and it is now available in electronic form too. There looks to be a few copies available on Amazon.com too.

It is a small book, an easy read. I definitely recommend it.

The sub-secret that opened my eyes the most was one easy way to save money in taxes… are you ready for it?

Spend less! I know… simple, once you think about it. I had never thought about this till I read this book. We are taxed, in this country, on almost anything we buy, and that adds up, especially if any of the items we buy are larger purchases. Something to think about, and a preview of what the book

What should we do with our money?

Matthew 25: 14- 30

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

God has a plan for our lives, but He also has a plan for our money and what we do with it. In the above passage we read about three men who deal with the money they were intrusted with in their own way, but it was the last one, who did nothing to make it grow, that got chewed out for his actions, or lack of. He should have done something.

The Proverbs 31 Woman understands this. She is an investor. In Proverbs 31:16 she takes what she has and makes it grow, literally and financially. If Matthew 25 was talking about her she would make the master proud with how she cared for his money. She would have invested it, and watched it double.

I wrestled for a long time with the concept of God owning my money. Should I tithe, or is it as important as people make it sound? Then when I saw how tithing is so much more than just giving him 10% of what we earn I felt guilty for getting a tax return on what I tithed in the previous year.

Here is what I have come up with, after many years of trying to figure out the right answer for this question… Tithing needs to be done, even if we don’t like it. Let me explain why. Firstly God almost demands that we do, and out of obedience we should do what He asks of us [Leviticus 27:30]. Secondly, it helps the church reach out to people, which is not a bad thing. Thirdly, it shows God that we trust him with everything, as money is needed to survive. The third reason I find is the hardest one, to give up control to a power that I cannot touch, in physical form: hard. What I find though, is that God may play with your bank account, maybe even down to the last penny, but he always comes through. This is where I could fill in the random cheque coming in the mail at just the right time story, or someone bringing the exact item you need when you need it story, but I won’t. 😉

The point here is that we have been put in charge of, and are responsible for everything God blesses us with, from children to money to homes to food, and it is our job to take care of what we have, make it better than the way we found it, and dedicate it all to him (including giving some of it back to him).

So, what should we do with our money?… make it grow, give it back to Him, bless others, and thank Him for all we have because of it: trust God with it!

Time for a Change

It is November. October is over. It is time to take the items we have set aside and excommunicate them from our lives. We may sell some items and we may give others away. The key to completing a purge is to get rid of everything that is holding us back, in our way, not being used, just taking up space… Basically everything that does not have a place in our future.

We have spent the month of October going though our things, so it makes sense to focus on our financial growth in November. The Woman of Proverbs 31 is financially successful. She gets it. She sees how selling her item that are worth something is a financially smart idea.

Most people don’t get it. For most, this education is not passed down to them, as their parents didn’t have it either, and schools don’t teach it. It is time to for all of us to get financially educated and change our financial situations, to an ending of success, don’t you think?! I define financial success as the moment in time someone reaches their financial goals, and will be able to live the life they dream of till their last breath, and not have to worry about living pay cheque to pay cheque any more.

Let’s start today. Take the list of things you are getting rid of and organise the items into categories. For example, I will have an Ikea category, and a kitchen ware category, as many of my items fit into these headings. After each item is placed in a category then it is time to write a quick ad for the category to place on-line. The main site I will be using is Craigslist. Most cities have their own Craigslist site, where people are able to buy, trade, and sell items they are either looking for or getting rid of. I will have a future post about this site, but for now let’s focus on the selling portion of what can be done on Craigslist. The reason I suggest placing your items in to separate categorized ads is to make it simple for people to find what you are selling. If all your Ikea items are together your heading ould be “Ikea”. I find that when an ad has multiple items in it that don’t go together I am much less likely to look though the ad, as it takes more of my time to find what I am looking for. The key, for both you and the buyer… Keep it simple! If you have photo’s of the item(s) it is suggested to post those with the ad, as well.

Once you have created a short ad for each category, go onto Craigslist, Kijiji, or another local-to-you site where you can sell things almost like an online garage sale, and post all of your ads. Remember to connect an email address or phone number to each ad,  so people are able to contact you. If you can only respond to their inquiries at certain times of the day also mention that in the ad, it will be to your advantage. Then wait for people to contact you. It will happen. It may take some time, but it will happen. I once posted an ad on Craigslist. I didn’t get one call about it for three months, but on one weekend three people called about it. Some times people get ahold of you quickly and other times you will have to wait. Be patient with this process. If you don’t want the email messages to come to your regular email, set up one just for this stuff, and put that email address as your contact point.

Once someone has contacted you, make sure you set up a safe meeting place to give the item over to the buyer. This could be a busy coffee shop, or that you make sure there is more than one of you going. The internet is a great place to hide one’s true intentions, so be smart about how you meet up with a buyer. If it feels wrong, get out of the situation. Trust your gutt. Be safe. Someone else will buy it too. Also, request they pay in cash, through PayPal, or a certified cheque, this way you will not get ripped off; you will get your money.

The CHALLENGE: Organise your list of purging items, and get them up for sale or plan times to drop them off at the location you are giving them to. Goal: Achieve the advertising part of this process within one week.

Good luck!

Time to Step-up

Over the past few days I have been flooded with the same message. I believe it is something God is trying to tell me. In our church group we often discuss what it is to “hear God’s voice”. In the bible there are so many examples of God speaking to people audibly, through dreams, through donkeys (okay, there is only one example of this), yet today we don’t hear these stories that much. It is usually something more like, “I had a gut feeling to do that”, or “it was the right thing to do”. The question to follow those statements is, “how do you know it is God and not just your own thinking?”

I believe that we learn to understand what God is trying to get across to us over time, through practice. I do not think He communicates with everyone in the same way, or even the same way every time, which is what makes the process of learning to hear him more difficult. What I do know, because He has promised us, is that He will answer our prayers. If our desire is to learn to hear His voice in our lives He will provide it. He wants that for us too.

At church this weekend we heard about the story of Samuel and Saul (1 Samuel 1-15). This story is not one I have ever read before on my own, or even had much reference to before this weekend. The main point that I got out of the sermon is that Saul didn’t follow God 100%, and that was the main part of his downfall. How is that relevant to us? Gods blessing are shown more to those who follow what he asks of us, 100%. It is not that blessings are not given to those who don’t, it is that those who follow him can recognize them  better, as they know what comes from God and what doesn’t.

This week I am stepping out in faith. I am taking what signs I can to decipher what God wants me to do and putting them into play. The message from the sermon was to follow God 100%, because, for example, if we only follow 9/10 of the commandments it is like we are not making the grade. We are saying to God that nine of his commandments are important to follow, but the last one, not so much… this is why 100% is the goal. One of the ways I know I have not been listening to God’s commands for a while is in my tithing habits. I am not sure if it is because I just don’t want to write a cheque each pay day, if I am lazy, or if it is that my relationship with God has depleted so much that I am not trusting Him to provide and have taken my finances into my own hands. Honestly, if we think about it, whose math skills are more superior, ours or God’s? He made math…

Then yesterday I started a seven-day devotional. The scripture for day one is Proverbs 3. It talks about keeping the commandments, then giving back 10% to God first. I may not quick when it comes to some things, but I am starting to catch on to what God is putting down. In Proverbs 3:5 it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” It seems like I have been leaning on my own understandings when it comes to my money and my tithing habits; I have not been leaning on Him to provide, beyond my understanding, which I know He does. I have found in the past when I trust God things happen that I can’t explain. There is a peace that comes over me when I am in the place where I am trusting God that much.

Today’s devotional verse is Philippians 4. In Phil. 4:6-7 it says, “⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Again it talks about leaning on God’s understanding and not my own. It caused me to think about my tithing habits, again.

I get the point God. I need to start tithing again. I need to lean on You more. I need to do everything I can to get to the place where I am trusting You with everything, again. I need to be following you with 100% of what I know. I need to get back to the place where I am taking EVERYTHING to You in prayer, again.

The woman of Proverbs 31 has a strong relationship with God, and to have this there must be trust on her part. Trusting that what His word says is key to building a strong relationship with Him. She is recognized for her relationship with God. This is what I want too. I guess I know what I need to do…

I can see it is Time for me to Step-Up. Is it yours too? God will put it on your heart to do so… listen to your gut, then Step-Up.

Breaking through the Clutter…

It has begun! My world is being purged and in that process it is also simplifying! I am loving it!

As you know, I started with my car, the second place I spend a lot of my time. It has been a few days now and it is still a pleasure to be in! I do need to replace the garbage bag, but other than that It was a fabulous place to start this process!

I then went through the books at stuff on my bed side table. This took about 10 minutes, but made such a difference!

I talked to a friend on Tuesday night and she was asking how my purge process was going, and she asked if the plan was to start with my bedroom. It wasn’t necessarily, but it would make sense. My room is at the back of the house, so to start there and move to the front makes sense, doesn’t it? I have such smart friends! This is what I will aim to do, to stay organized through this purging process.

Last night I went through my closets (I have an Ikea free-standing closets for my coats and winter gear like mitts and toques/beanies as well as my main closet), and put my clean laundry away, which was on my bed. I kind of had a head start to this piece of the process, as at the beginning of the summer I tried to take the dress-clothes that I did not wear any more to a consignment store, but they did not accept them, so I had three bags of clothes already set aside to get rid of. I took all the bagged clothes and separated them into three piles: one to give to a charity (they will not sell on consignment), one to attempt to sell (either by consignment or personal sales), and one for winter or warm clothes that I can give out to people who are in need, on street (this bag I will store in my car trunk, as I am never sure when I will come across someone who needs socks, a wool hat, mittens, or a scarf. We have a lot of people who live on the streets in the Vancouver area through the winter and it can get quite cold at night, especially). I also went through the bag of shoes I store under my bed. I pulled out the shoes that I haven’t worn in many years and put the summer ones away. It has only been a few simple acts of purging, but my room feels so much better and inviting!

One event that may make sense to set up is a clothing swap with my friends, before I take these clothes to a consignment store. A clothing swap is like an at-home party, with a twist. This time, instead of the product host bringing the goods each person attending the party brings the products.The products are the clothes and shoes that the attendees do not want any more, and then they trade with each other. There is great food, great conversation, and “shopping” in your own home… so much fun! Not only is it a great time with great friends it achieves three things: one, you have upgraded up your wardrobe, two, so have your friends, and three, the first two are achieved without spending any money! How perfect is this concept for the money-savvy part of being a Woman of Proverbs 31, honestly?!

I have a date in mind for this clothing swap, so friends, I will be talking to you soon! The purpose of this blog is not just to write, but rather to take action with what we learn, as it is practice of new actions that create solid habits.

Now what?!

We have looked at the verses that describe a Woman of Nobel Character, found in Proverbs 31: 10-31, so now what? Now it is time to simplify what we have learned and put this information into practice. Let’s start with summarizing the character traits that this woman has. A blog entitled Unlocking Femininity summarizes them very well…

~ She Is Trustworthy All The Time (v.11-12).

~ She Takes Care of Her Home & Works Hard (v.13-15,18-19, 27).

~ She’s Resourceful & Financially Responsible (v.16-19, 24).

~ She Helps Those in Need (v. 20-21)

~ She Takes Care of Herself Too (v. 17, 22)

~ She Chooses A Quality Man (v. 22-23, 29)

~ She Lives with Joy and Confidence (v.24-26)

~ She Speaks with Wisdom & Kindness

~ She Loves Children  (v. 28-29)

~ She Looks to God, Not Her Looks or Personality, to Fulfill Her (v.30-31)

Now that we know what characteristics define a Proverbs 31 Woman it is time to get started on this journey of self-development and character growth. Step one: Simplify and Purge. The way I see it is that when there are many distractions around us we are much less likely to use our time wisely. This is one of the traits, which is not mentioned in the above summary statements, I noticed about this woman while going through the verses is that she is a master of using her time well; she doesn’t have time to waste, there is so much to do. If we can lessen the things that distract us from using our time well, our procrastination activities, if you will, then we will be able to get so much more accomplished in a day, and in-turn a month, and especially within a year.

I know when I started this project I was thinking about focusing on developing one of these traits each month, but over the last month, while taking the chapter apart, I have concluded that this may be counter productive to this journey we are on. Most of these traits need to be practiced as often as possible, not just concentrated on for only  one month. For example to work on bettering our financial practices for one month is good, but when that month is done we need to still be practicing our newly learned habits and knowledge, right? So what we are going to do is have a main focus each month, but take advantage of growing other traits as the opportunities to do so come our way. This being said, this month we will be focusing on going through all of our rooms and cleaning them and at the same time putting aside,1: every item that we have not used for two years or more, 2: anything we have wanted to get rid of or sell off at any time, or 3. any item where there is no need for the item any more. In November we will be focusing on the financial part of this woman’s character. We will be looking at ways to make and save money, through little tricks that most of are not taught, or at least information that we have not taken seriously as impactful to our finances. We are going to start taking them seriously, as money, for most people, is tight. What we will look at is how, on a daily basis, we can save our money, and spend it more wisely. We will also focusing on selling or giving away the big pile of items we will have set aside from our purge the month before.

I am so honoured that you coming on this journey with me. I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences as you too choose to go on this journey to become a Woman of Proverbs 31.

Proverbs 31:18

¹⁸ She knows when to buy or sell,
    and she stays busy
    until late at night. (Contemporary English Version)

She is a night owl. She stays up till everything is completed. Because she is wise, she knows how to balance her schedule. In Proverbs 31:15 we learn that she rises early, and now we learn that she is busy until late, so how does she not burn out? She is a busy woman, taking care of her home and family. It makes sense that there is much to be done each day, therefore she needs to be up early and stay up late. I believe that she is able to find the hours that work best for her family and the responsibilities she has. She will also not neglect her rest, as she knows how precious it is. Modern science tells us that we need about 8 hours of sleep a night to stay healthy and sane, so it would make sense that she would run this kind of sleep schedule, don’t you think? She has a lot on her plate and she needs to be at top form for all of it.

Let’s take this theory and see what that would look like against the clock. If she got to bed at 10:00pm then she would plan to be up by 6:00am. That’s not too bad, really. Or if she could end her day by 9:00pm she would plan to be up at 5:00am. Again that is not too bad. I know I would have a harder time getting up at five, but if I was going to bed at nine it may not be such a hard pattern to get into. This is probably the pattern I should strive to achieve nightly though this process, and beyond. I know I would definitely benefit from eight hours of sleep a night, versus the four to seven hours I usually get.  I will aim to achieve this amount of sleep, starting tonight. I will let you know how it goes… (wish me luck!) Will you join me in this challenge? Comment on this post if you decide to.

This verse also refers to her being financially savvy. Because it is the second time that this chapter has mentioned her financial skills it tells me that this is an important part to her nobel character. This was addressed fully in the Proverbs 31:16 post, so I will not address it here except to say that the focus for growth in November will be on finances and how success n this area of life will serve us as women of the new millennium.