Resisting the Temptation to Spend Money

Guest post by Donna Martin

We're all victims of the temptation to spend-spend-spend when we really want to save-save-save. Here are some ways you can trick yourself into socking more money away.

1. Stay off of shopping websites and stay out of malls, because you'll be less tempted to spend. Essentially, don't put yourself in a situation where you are likely to spend a lot of money.

2. Always give yourself time to comparison shop. Never jump into a deal until you know for certain that it is a deal.

3. Take the money you want to save and change it into quarters, in order to make it inconvenient to spend. Take those rolls of quarters home and store them in a jar or box. Then, when you're ready to spend that money, take the rolls of quarters back to the bank and get your cash.

4. Have a certain amount of money direct-deposited from your husband's paycheck into a savings account every pay period. This is easy to set up with your employer's business office.

5. Keep only the money you need for bills and other essential expenses, such as food and gas, in your checking account. Keep what is left in a savings account--one that's difficult to access, which will not transfer the money to your checking instantly.

6. Before you go to the register to make your purchases, go through all of your items. Ask yourself, "Should I really buy this? Do I really need this?" When buying for someone else, ask yourself, "Does this person really need or want this item? Could I find something that this person would like better?"

7. Look for free shipping deals, or shop at local stores to save gas money. Just be aware of free shipping deals when they involve spending a certain amount of money.

~Ideas were adapted from eHow

"Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,

but a prudent wife is from the LORD." - Proverbs 19:14

Definition of Prudence -
1. The ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason.

2. Shrewdness in the management of affairs.

3. Skill and good judgment in the use of resources.

4. Caution or circumspection as to danger or risk.

As homemakers, we often come in contact with the ways of the world, but they are not of God. In the world, you learn to be worldly and selfish, but being prudent is gained through time by godly wisdom.

Learning to handle money prudently can be a lifelong concerted effort for some people. Living off of one lean income is not for the faint at heart. But God has given the Christian homemaker the ability to exercise caution and have the discipline and good judgment to manage a small income.

I am convinced that the only way to do this is by daily prayer. If time is spent in prayer on managing your resources, we can make it through the leanest of times. I hope that you will find this to be true.