Image: Snowbird 2 landing at the Columbia, MO airshow this past spring!

I was reminded of a very important thing this past weekend.  The money we receive is not truly ours.  It is God’s.  This past Sunday in church I was sitting a few rows behind our lead pastor.  He had just finished preaching, and was sitting down for communion and for the tithe.  I saw him reach an envelope from his back pocket, a giving envelope, and place it in the offering plate.  My first thought was, it’s interesting that part of his paycheck is going back into the church.  He gets paid by the church.  Then I was reminded that our money is truly not our own.  It’s God’s.  He only asks us to provide a 10% tithe to the local storehouse (church), and we have to be wise with the rest.

It was also reminded of me to ask, why we can’t do something.  Sure, we aren’t buying a house right now, nor are we going on a European vacation.  However, things like upgrading my computer and getting a new vacuum, are things that we could possibly do.  What I realized recently is that by next year we will be ready to start looking for a house.   We could also pay off the rest of the student loans in October.

The biggest obstacle is not being too stringent.  I am a person that when I want something, I go after it.  So, it’s easy for me to say, lets hold off on everything so we can pay off debt, save, and buy a house.  However, I am also a spender.  I get into the month and go, “I want that, but it’s not in the budget.”  So the balance of being content with what you have, and what you want to do is very difficult.

If I worked a normal 8-5 job, I would have certainly gotten a second job and paid off things a lot faster.  It would also be easier to be content as well, at least I would think.  Being busy is better than sitting all weekend with almost nothing to do.

I admit there are things that are free, or little cost that we can do.  We haven’t found a lot of that yet, but still searching.  However, what we realize is that if we give ourselves just a little to live life, we can accomplish the big goals without much if any dely.

Yes, we wanted to be out of debt by end of September.  It doesn’t appear that would happen.  We would have to drastically cut our budget, and use our emergency fund.  So, waiting 2 more weeks, or 4 depending on cash flow, isn’t a huge issue. 

If you plan, set goals, and dream a bit, you can achieve things you would not otherwise would.  Sometimes we have to make compromises, but we should always ask how we can do it without the compromise.  Sometimes we need to look to see if there is a third option that would let us do both.

It’s been an incredible journey.  There is so much more freedom not having any debt, which I already sense even though we aren’t fully yet.  It also gives me much more confidence than I’ve ever had before, both with the determination but also the lack of worry.  I no longer have to think that I must keep a job because of my debts, but rather I want to keep a job because I enjoy it.

If you are running a total to see how much debt we have left, $2350.

We are weird, and we won’t be pressured into buying something that people think we “need”.  Time will come to buy a house, another car, and to have fabulous vacations!

Blessings,

Andrew Krob