Monday, November 16, 2009

Joy in Simplicity

Yesterday we talked about how God can bring joy in our finances by simplifying our often complicated life. Two areas I mentioned was looking for ways to simplify regular expenses and how to simplify our activities and entertainment.
Regular expenses are the places we spend money routinely. This could be monthly expenses or a hobby. In our house we have simplified by getting rid of our satellite dish and by not having the internet at home. Cutting out these two payments save us close to $100 a month. That is $1,200 a year extra for us to save, spend on something more important or give away.
I also encouraged people to focus on doing instead of spending when it comes to activities and entertainment. We could spend a lot of money going to the movies or going to an amusement park. We could have just as much fun and can build more memories by doing things for free. Have a family game night where you rotate having someone choose the board game to play. Go outside or to the park and play some outdoor games. Head to the library and let each person find a book to read. We need to show our children that we can have fun without spending money.
If you can, take some time, think about what is complicating your life. How can you simplify your life? Feel free to respond with ways you have simplified your life or heard of others simplify their lives so that we can learn from each other. Through simplicity God will bring more joy into our lives.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When we moved into our new house 3 years ago we did not bring our tv with us. It was AWESOME! We did EVERYTHING as a family, we played with the kid's toys, made meals together, my house was clean, life was good. We did that for 9 glorious months before Danny brought one back into the house. I would do it in a heartbeat again if I could get everyone (Danny) on board with it!

The other thing we started doing was having our traditional Landmark breakfast at home. Danny and I LOVE to cook together and it's the one meal that we don't fight with the kids over their food choices! It's been a money saver and we've really enjoyed the family time. :-)

I'd love to hear what other ideas you all have!

Jamie