Coach's Corner

Money Makeover (Saving)

Saving money is difficult!

There always seems to be something “good” to spend our money on. Whether its fast food, new clothes, a warm vacation, advanced gadgets, or even a 52’ LCD television, it always seems like we have an outlet to spend our money. It doesn’t help that we live in a culture that is encouraging us to spend all of our money and even splurge rather than save and conserve. But I don’t think the word “saving” is in most Canadians repertoire of things to do with their money.

I think when most people think of the word “save” they think of the words “going without.” And when the words “going without” circulate through our heads, all of sudden a slight panic hits us, a nervous laugh happens, a deep breathe occurs, and we quickly revert back to thinking about the comfort and the security of having everything we want and need.

But is that healthy?
Should going without scare us?
Should saving be a huge endeavour?

Alii and I were recently saving for a down payment on a house. We would put money aside each month and excitedly watched our savings increase. I’ll be honest; we didn’t have all the regular luxuries of the common Canadian. We had a TV but it was powered by Bunny Ears which gave us 2 fuzzy channels! We decided to limit the amount of times we visited restaurants per month. And we lowered our cell phone monthly plans to a basic package. Minimizing those expenses helped us save money.

Did we go without? Certainly… But we found our lives just as fulfilling then as it is now; even while we were “going without.”

Proverbs 21:5 [MSG] says, “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind.”

Saving money should be a discipline that all Christ followers seek to develop. A mark of a maturing Christ follower is one who consciously prepares and plans ahead by conserving and saving. When we save our money, we position ourselves to be used by God. And when we are used by God, we have the opportunity to experience greater fulfillment.

May we be people who learn the discipline of saving and make ourselves available to be used by God when he calls.

Saving money is difficult! But its worth our effort!

Posted May 04, 2009