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“The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin” ~Proverbs 10:16.
Confession time: I need help controlling my spending. It is not that we lack finances because my husband has an amazing job with spectacular benefits. I am extremely blessed that we have job security, health and dental benefits, life insurance, and savings so I should not take that for granted. No, I do not put us in a hole, bankruptcy, or have outrageous credit card debt, I just spend without consulting.
Let me clarify. I spend on things that are needed like socks, underwear, a new toaster because the old one broke, slacks for work since jeans are not allowed, etc. the list could go on and on. Occasionally, like once every two weeks, I will purchase take-out because I am too tired to cook or we got home too late to fix anything substantial. I rent Redbox movies a few times a month because I feel like zoning out to meaningless entertainment. When I go to the store for groceries I purchase a snack and drink for myself for the ride home. All these things add up.
In my defense I am not purchasing large items that are several hundreds of dollars that we really didn’t need like a new TV, furniture, or spa days but last month I did spend nearly a grand on thrift store school clothes for five kids, work slacks for me, school supplies for five kids, my yearly counseling insurance, and professional counseling association dues. That is a lot of money on significant things so you may be asking why I believe I have a problem? Because I don’t budget.

Years ago I took a Dave Ramsey class on budgeting and even a Financial Peace Ministries class for the same reason. I understand the principles behind the purpose for budgeting but my husband and I grew up in two different worlds.
He was raised in an ethnic culture that believes women are not the ones to make money, pay bills, or even know what finances are available. I grew up in a very poor home where every little thing was budgeted, vacations needed to be planned years in advance, and necessities such as socks and underwear were our presents at Christmas time. My parents combined income was about a third of what my husband makes now and I know that because unlike his upbringing, he is willing to share the details with me.
Although he doesn’t “budget” like how they teach in those classes, he does know how much comes in and how much goes out. If for some reason they do not match up then we have savings to pull from if needed. He has no desire to plan everything out with envelopes of cash for each category but would appreciate it if I was more conservative with my spending.
Now that I have ranted in an attempt to give you a back story to my confession here is the real heart of the issue, I need to be more diligent about doing as he asks. Although the things I buy are needed things when I use money at the drop of a hat for these things I am squandering it.
Now I am not saying if you do the same you are squandering your money but God has personally convicted me to see that I am going against my husband no matter how noble and good the reason is; going against him is squandering what we have on evil.
He has asked me to be more efficient with our money with the idea that we could live more comfortably. Growing up in a poor house, not knowing there was another way to live, gives me an awareness of unnecessary things and that I can live without it.
Regardless of whether I desire to live comfortably or not, he does and I made a vow to honor him. I have made a choice to work off of a rough budget to lighten his burden so that our earnings enhance our lives. This might not seem like a big thing to most but I still feel as though I could use your prayers.
Are you diligent and obedient to your husband in the way of finances? Leave a comment below or join the conversation on Facebook.
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Not Yet But Getting There! (notyetproverbs31.com)

I am a "saved by the blood of the Lamb," Christian. I have been a Christian for many years but have been convicted, by God, regarding my Proverbs 31 status. I am a wife of an incredibly sexy husband and a mother to four of the most beautiful girls you will ever see and a handsome son. I am not at all exaggerating! Well, maybe just a smidge. I have been married for nearly 12 years but was previously married, which is where my two eldest daughters came from. It was my behavior in my previous marriage that made me want to seek God's guidance with my marriage now. I do not have all the answers and am by no means an amazing wife or mother but one of my goals is to work towards becoming that for them. I want my husband to love, respect, and honor me and for my girls to know how to be a Proverbs 31 woman by the example I show them daily. I have been called by God to display His love through my writing and I take that very seriously, since I will be representing Him to a very unsure-of-themselves population. I have my work cut out for me. I love the Lord and yearn to grow deeper in my relationship with Him.
I think this article was interesting about squandering money but I guess what you are saying is you want to be more mindful of the way your husband wants you spend money. I think for me it is important to budget to see exactly where the money is going and set aside money for particular things but I have to start doing a better job of it.
Tona, thank you for the reply. Yes it is about being more mindful of my husband’s requests because the Lord will honor me in that behavior and it is a great way to show my husband how much I love him.
With HIS love,
Sarah Ho
I do agree when we submit to our in husbands it demonstrates that we love them but that we also respect them as leaders of our families. I also think both of these things are pleasing to our heavenly Father.
Hi Tona,
Thanks for visiting A Pinch of Faith! While I am not the author of this post, I personally believe that both of your statements are important. Whether it’s you or your husband making the budget, it’s important for a family to know where money is going, but it is also important for a wife to submit to her husband in large matters like finances.