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| Wood for the stove, Vermont, 1940. LOC. |
I have been reading books about the good old days. This was when families were mostly home-based, living on farms. They prepared for winter by chopping wood for the fireplace. They harvested and canned garden produce. Just these two duties alone took months of heavy labor. Yet it provided them with heat and warmth as well as nourishing food throughout the long winter months.
Many of the homes of today are more modern. We have furnaces with oil or propane for heat. This requires hard-earned cash that takes time to earn. We also spend much of our money on food at the grocery store. All of these expenses require a great deal of planning with a carefully organized budget.
It is important to have strong homemaking skills, so money is conserved for basic living expenses. We do our best to avoid the waste of food so it will last longer. We try to regulate the thermostat, to keep our heating bills at a reasonable rate. There are also a great many other things we can do to make money last. These include some of the following:
1. Repair bedding (sheets and blankets), towels, socks, and clothing. Mend rips or tears in the lining of coats. Replace missing buttons on clothing.
2. Limit trips away from home to save on gas and transportation costs.
3. Avoid buying things on a whim. Always try to wait before you buy.
4. Choose healthy and economical food rather than luxury items with little nutritional value (such as chips and processed snacks). These expensive items will put an enormous strain on the monthly food budget.
5. Make things last. Repair household items as much as possible rather than buying new things.
If we could only have a goal of spending less money, we will have more available to save for emergencies and simple needs.
Basic living expenses, including home and auto insurance, as well as property taxes and other normal bills, are very high. We need to find as many ways as possible to keep costs down so we can manage the normal bills.
When we are doing our part, managing our resources and finances with careful attention, we should feel a sense of peace knowing we are doing the best we can. We make financial decisions based on prayer with great faith. We ask for the Lord's blessing as we seek to serve Him each day of our lives.
When an unexpected bill comes along, it should not cause us to panic. For example, I have been saving up for our kerosene delivery (for heat). I expected the bill to be several hundred dollars. But when the delivery arrived this afternoon, we were taken aback by the charge. It was about $250 more than I expected. It would be easy and normal to get upset. It might even be common to complain about the high cost of living. It is certainly a challenge, especially with such a prolonged season we have had of freezing temperatures. But there was a calmness in my heart. It was a blessed, peaceful sense of gratefulness. I somehow remembered that I do not have to face such trials alone. The Lord is my help and my fortress. I had to think of the long-term, of the winter season, rather than on this difficult expense that came along just in this month alone.
How can we handle such things? With prayer, seeking direction and guidance. We can pray for wisdom in how to manage things. Pray for ideas to cut other costs, so money is freed up to meet these unexpected bills. The Lord will get us through these difficult days.
In books about the good old days, we can read the testimonies of others as they share their stories of victory and survival through very trying circumstances. The amount of work they had to do with little pay and a grateful heart is inspiring. Their focus was on keeping the family warm and fed. We can follow their example even today. And while the high cost of living is often a trial, it is a wonderful use of money to provide a safe and comforting home for our precious family.
Blessings
Mrs. White
From the Archives -
Encouragement - Poor and Pretty Living.
A Little History - Just a Housewife.
Making things for Grandbaby - Tea Napkins.
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9 comments:
As long as we have our faith we are rich. Thanks for the post.
My husband and I make a point of practicing restraint when deciding on purchases and make every attempt to manage our income sensibly. Danny is an expert in keeping our household budget, and he's taught me how to use it in case he's not here to do so. By saving money, we know we can be prepared when the hard times come, and we can always trust that our loving Lord will see us through. Blessings, Mrs. White!
The first paragraph of your post pretty much describes our life here on our farm. We do most everything "like the old days". This is out of necessity. We just found out that our electric bill will go up by anywhere from 5 to 8 percent, to be determined yet. This is one of our biggest bills. The rural electric company here has very steep base rates. Somehow we will have to cut something somewhere to make up for the higher cost. And health insurance is going up also. With people like us who are on fixed income, increases are difficult to handle. Fortunately we are still able to cut wood to heat our home, and my husband is good at fixing things. We still feel very blessed, and we know that the Lord will take care of us. He always does!
I enjoy reading books about how others make do with their finances. Right now I am reading Peace and Plenty, by Sarah Ban Breathnach. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
Dear Mrs. White, thank you for your kind exhortation! I am grateful for the Lord's faithful provision in each season of my life. His supply is all-sufficient.
As we take in the WORD daily...trusting in Him, He sustains us with daily spiritual and physical bread.
Please share the titles of the books you are reading!
"Your loving devotion, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains;
Your judgments are like the deepest sea.
O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
How precious is Your loving devotion, O God,
that the children of men take refuge
in the shadow of Your wings!
They feast on the abundance of Your house,
and You give them drink from Your river of delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light we see light." (from Psalm 36)
A little Savings cushion takes some of the worry away.
I enjoy reading about past generations who lived mostly off the land also. We have lost so much in the way of common sense and wisdom today. As people began to depend on others outside the home for basic needs they began to live in fear. Fear comes from leaning too heavily on others to be our help. The Lord promises to always help and guide us. This is our only real comfort and peace in these days. If we learn to live within our harvest and be content we will find needs are met...maybe not wants very often...but true needs will be met by careful living and trust in the Lord.
God bless you and your family as you trust Him daily
This post is so well timed. I really needed to hear this now. Thank you.
I love how Jesus used real life" look around you" truths to teach. These cold days of winter we look outside the window, we witness the birds getting their daily provision ...we know we are more valuable that the birds because we are bought with His precious blood. God is spirit and He is truth. He understands our needs ad His promises never fail. We look up, we say aloud what is in His word, we trust and we do not fear. What you write here is so beautifully well written with godly practical wisdom.
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