6 PRACTICAL WAYS TO QUIET YOUR MONEY WORRIES
Money worries can be loud. They shout, scream, throw their arms in the air to get our attention. They act like they’re the most urgent things on the planet.
But being led by worry and urgency doesn’t get us very far. Instead, we need to figure out how to think and live according to who we are as the friends of God:
No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15 NASB)
An orphan mindset thinks like a slave and doesn’t know how to approach life any differently. But we are not slaves—we are friends, and we get to think about our financial situations accordingly.
One way we can live like friends of God in financial matters is by taking small steps in the right direction. Small steps become major headway over time—if we keep going and don’t get distracted.
Here are six “small steps” you can take to quiet your worries and start heading toward your financial goals.
1. Start putting a little money away every week. It doesn’t matter how much. If all you can scrape up is $5, then $5 is good. Put it in your savings account as a seed. Your savings will grow if you do this faithfully.
2. Start making purchases with cash. Where do you like to shop? Where do you spend the brunt of your grocery or “for fun” money? Statistics say that if you use cash instead of your card, you will likely purchase less. On average, a person will pay 40 percent more for their purchases if they use a card.
3. Start clipping coupons or searching for coupon codes online. When you’re standing in line at the checkout, grab your phone and do a quick search. You could easily find a coupon that lowers your total.
4. Empty your clothing basket, clean out your closet, or sort through the boxes in your garage. Sometimes we repurchase an item we already own simply because we can’t find it or don’t want to look for it. These purchases tend to be pretty small—more socks, another tire gage, etc.—but we’re still spending money on something we already have. One simple way to reduce our spending is by going through our possessions, especially the things we don’t touch very often, and taking inventory. A little organization can go a long way.
5. Ask God to help you put together some kind of passive revenue stream. The internet is changing the way people make money—anything is possible these days. Create a YouTube channel and talk about something you love doing that other people might want to know about. Start a blog. Take that weird thing you found while you were inventorying your garage and sell it online. Write a book and self-publish it. You are surrounded by opportunities. Don’t let this blossoming online economy pass you by. (If you want to do this but aren’t sure what to focus on, ask God for wisdom.)
6. Work one extra hour a week, or take on one small extra project a week/month. Do one small thing, just one, to increase your income. Change doesn’t always happen in big chunks. Sometimes it grows in small ways over a period of time. The key is to be faithful with the small things, because this will lead you to bigger things.
The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and the one who is unrighteous in a very little thing is also unrighteous in much. (Luke 16:10)
Your financial worries might seem loud today, but keep going. Be faithful with the small things. God is watching over you, and you can always ask Him for help—because you are a friend, not a slave.