Hubby and I started a financial fast on Sept 1. Michele Singletary, a writer for the
Washington Post wrote a book,
21 Days to Financial Freedom. For the 21 days, you only buy what you need (that means no eating out), and use cash to purchase whatever it is you're buying. It's been tempting to use the cash card at the gas station and other places, but it really does make a difference, for the way your brain processes and absorbs information, to use cash. The fast is not about saving money, per se, but instead is to focus on God and where all things come from. Each day, there is a theme, a Bible passage, and an activity [sometimes the activity is to write about your observations, others it's to actually do something, like create (or modify) your budget]. In the comparison game, I always congratulated myself for my sound fiscal decisions. Hubby and I have a budget (I am always amazed at how many people don't...no wonder they're in debt). So I tended to pat myself on my back, telling myself how good I was doing. But just 6 days into this endeavor and I am amazed at how 'loose' our budget really was. And even though I knew using cash would make a difference, I didn't realize the true impact of it. We pay so many of our set bills (mortgage, car payment, tuition, etc) electronically, I don't even have the activity of writing out a check. It really removes you from the process of watching your money go out. I highly recommend this for anyone.
So Hubby and I are cruising along, enjoying the process, even if we have had to say no to some things we'd normally splurge on. At church yesterday, we had a visiting priest from Haiti speak about supporting the missions. The man was an awesome speaker and how I'd love to have him run a retreat. He was funny, but he also told it like it is. He challenged parents to be willing to their children not like them, challenged retirees to give back to the community with their time, challenged college students to not be so self-centered (the world doesn't owe you anything), challenged our American consumerism. He also described his parish in the heart of Port-au-Prince. As he was describing the conditions, I assumed he was speaking post earthquake, but he wasn't. He's speaking of deplorable conditions and says "and then the earth began to shake for 38 long seconds..." Conditions are worse now. Hard to fathom amidst our prosperity. He (plus the mindset we're in with this fast) has us giving more to the missions than we have in the past. And funny, he never directly asked for money.
The hardest part of the fast are the 'gray' areas. What is a need? And how far are we willing to take this fast? The Singer's last pay check came in the mail, and she wanted a few other things from home sent to her. Well...is mailing the package to her a true need? We decided to send it. But what about our lawn mower's fuel line breaking? Is it a need to get it fixed immediately? Back in the days of 'no-money' as we like to describe our early married years when we were both college students, we would wait until we had the cash, now we tend to charge it without really thinking (we pay it off at the end of the month, as the rule). But it is spending without thinking. Online purchasing is also an area where it is easy to spend more than you realize. The business section yesterday had an article about that very thing. "It's only $.99 for a song on iTunes." But that's still $1 you don't have to spend on something else...including the missions in Haiti.
We're enjoying the long weekend. The Imp has a get together with friends from St. Leo's peer ministry group...it's WAYYYY up north (about 70 miles). So Hubby and I will drop her off, then head to Crystal River State Park to walk and talk. Not a bad way to spend Labor Day, just hope the rain holds off.
