Economic Uncertainty – 2 of 2

My thoughts hear are very scattered … I am all over the place here … but once you read it all you’ll get the gist!

I continue to be brokenhearted when I hear of yet another company needing to layoff employees because of a decline in company sales.

There are no easy answers here … I wish there was. BUT I do think that if WE would take control of our personal spending and live according to a budget with MARGIN we would be better off.

Many of us “Americans” live above our means, spending MORE than we make. Now, that is not everyone, but many … far more than should. I don’t see the problem being the government - which means I do not see that this is something the government is going to be able to fix for us. We must take action ourselves – personal responsibility.

Just a thought … if you and I had NO DEBT or at least limited debt (no car payment, no credit card debt, etc) and had 6 months of living expenses in the bank this current economic crunch might not hurt as bad.

Now, before you get mad at me – I am preaching to myself as well, but I think you and I need to hear the truth!

Many people have HUGE car payments, HUGE house payments, and spend a good chunk of money eating out, drinking Carmel-macchiatos, going to or renting movies, buying the latest gadgets, toys and other excesses that are not absolutely necessary for life.

I recently watched a heart wrenching video about people in another part of the world who live in little 500 sq ft huts with dirt floors that they call it “house”, eat steamed rice for nearly every meal, they have no running water, no electricity, etc. Then I think of the excesses in my life and in the lives of many Americans … truthfully it breaks my heart. I am honestly sad and distressed and wondering how I can alter my life so that I can help the less fortunate.

All this to say … we all need to make changes in our spending habits so that there are margins. And what I mean by “margins” is that we trim our spending so that we don’t spend everything we make each month buying things we do not need, getting control of our money … making the necessary adjustments in our budget that frees us up to give to God’s work here on earth.

Challenge: Sit down with your spouse (if married) and look at your budget … what’s coming in, and what’s going out and what changes can be made to match your ultimate desires for life. And make the hard decisions if necessary to put you in a better spot financially.

I wish you well!