Handling Your Bills: Simple Ways to Spend Less

Some days I'm filled with guilt over the way I fail to love God by being stingy with our finances.
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Other days I am overwhelmed with gratefulness that God loves me knowing my every sin.
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Every day God sees me as righteous because Christ was perfectly generous and selfless.


Last week I shared some strategies of how to save money when grocery shopping. Today, I'm going to share a few more ideas that go beyond the grocery budget. As you will see noted below, I don't do everything listed, so I don't expect you to either. I'm sharing this list because either I, or others I know, have found these ideas helpful when budgeting. 

A quick note: it's completely possible to do (or not do) any of these suggestions in a manner that dishonors God. The most important thing is to have your spending be informed by Scripture. Please take the time to study God's Word on your own. Let your own practices flow out of the convictions you develop from meditating on God's Word, not from something you read on a blog.

And now, onto some final ideas of how to save money.

A Few Simple Ways to Spend Less

1. If you're feeling overwhelmed with budgeting. Start small!
Create a grocery and/or clothing budget for you to keep track of first. As you practice being disciplined, it does get easier. Once you feel comfortable budgeting for one area of life, simply bring another area into the budgeting practice.


2. If you have trouble spending less than you earn and use a credit card, switch to using only cash.
Dave Ramsey and Crown Financial Ministries both endorse the envelope system to keep track of your spending. The gist is that you label envelopes with two things: each budget category and its corresponding amount of money. At the beginning of each month you place the appropriate amount of cash in it. 

These envelopes are now part of your wallet. Once you've spent that money for the month, you are done buying things for that category. Having to hand over physical cash and see your funds be depleted helps you focus on the necessities.

This system also makes it easy to see how much you are spending on outstanding debt. The following calculators can help you see how much you'll pay in interest and how to pay off debt quicker:
I track our finances using a combination of Microsoft Excel and an outdated version of Quicken. My process is exceedingly detailed, and I love it. Most of my friends would go crazy doing what I do. If an overly-meticulous-budget excites you, feel free to contact me to chat more about our shared passion :)

For the rest of you, the following three options are the best I've found in being simple to use. While I have watched videos and read reviews on these, I have not used any of them. Consider this your starting point to find a budgeting solution that works for you. Also, please note, that some of these options cost money and also have apps you can use on the go. 

4. Use the internet to your advantage. 
  • Want to see if a price on Amazon is a good deal? Geoffrey introduced me to CamelCamelCamel awhile ago and I've been hooked ever since. Not only will it show you the price history for an item, but you can also enter a desired price and get emailed if it's hit. 
  • About to place an order online? JoinHoney is a free site that will let you know if there are any promotions or coupons you can take advantage of. You can also spend two minutes doing a google search for "coupon" or "promo code" followed by the website or store name. Every once in awhile you'll score really big, and often you can save a couple dollars. 
  • Planning a trip? Often travel sites hike prices based on your searches. To help get the best deal, clear your browsing history before booking any transportation or accommodations. This resets the sites ability to see what you want to buy. 
  • Want to find a gently used item, but hate checking sale pages every day? Facebook and Craigslist now allow you to be notified when keyword searches come up on their sale pages/groups. I especially love using Craigslist because it isn't being checked every few minutes by other stay-at-home moms during the day haha. 
  • Tend to buy more than you need when you go grocery shopping? We’ve had a couple stores nearby recently start doing grocery pickup and it-is-the-best. If you have this option near you, I highly recommend it for the following reasons: 
    • First, you get to stay in your vehicle with your children while your groceries are brought to you. Anybody else out there find loading and unloading your children to be the hardest part of going places? 
    • Second, you will likely spend less because you can price compare while placing your order. You also see your total cost as you add items to your cart, instead of discovering the total at the checkout line.
    • Finally, it keeps you from buying several other things you "must" have, since you aren't walking down all the store aisles. 

Keeping It In Perspective
While this post and the previous one are intensely practical, I want to conclude with a quote I have saved in my budgeting spreadsheet. It's easy for me to get caught up in the details of budgeting. This quote reminds me of what principles and practices should inform my daily living. I hope it blesses you as well.
Money should matter to you, and using it for God’s purposes requires:
Praying — because managing God’s money is about obedience.
Giving — because God asks you to.
Saving — because it will benefit your family.
Budgeting — because a budget maps out the path for your lifestyle.
Doing without — because spiritual discipline is important.
Bewaring — of greed, lust, bitterness, and envy.
Growing — in contentment.
~ Elizabeth George, A Wife After God's Own Heart
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* Pictures by Fancycrave.com on Pexels.
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