REV90 Challenge Update

The REV90 Challenge is going really well so far!  My husband and I are both up to date on the daily Bible reading through the New Testament.  We just started John this morning.  I joined a Bible study on Thursday mornings to discuss what we are reading dailyand it is a great group of women.

We’ve also been working on what we eat and drink.  I’m trying not to eat many empty carbs during the week, but I can splurge on the weekends.  I started this last week and it worked out pretty good, I’m going to keep going as long as I can.  I am also thinking about joining a running group to train for a 5K which will be March 27th.  I have not committed to that yet, but I’m seriously thinking about it.  I went to an informational meeting last week.

We have gotten our finances very organized and we have a plan for paying off debt and saving this year.  We’ve really cut down on ALL of our expenses and we are also planning to continue to tithe 10% even though we have debt. 

We’ve invited a few people to church (we are to invite at least 2 people each month), but will continue to invite more.  I began serving in our church bookstore yesterday and really enjoyed it.  I’ve also been serving more at Rainey’s school. 

I think we are on the right track and if nothing else, this challenge is going to make us more aware of our good and bad habits!

Starting Fresh

It is always a great feeling to start over, or start fresh, or even begin something new.  That is where my husband and I feel we are right now.  He starts a new job tomorrow, a great job, and we are SO thankful to God!  We trusted that He would work things out for our good, and He did.   We worked very hard to not worry and to put all of our trust in Him, and He took care of us.  God is so good! 

We have grown so much this past year and God has taught both of us some very valuable lessons.  We would not change a thing.  I’m so thankful for every lesson learned and for every single blessing granted.  We begin this year with grateful hearts and open minds.  

My faith has strengthened tremendously and I will never again doubt trusting in God and what He can do.  

My husband and I are beginning a new chapter in our lives and I could not be more excited and ready to follow God’s lead and trust Him every step along the way.  It’s a really good feeling and a relief to know you are not in control.  

This week we are creating an entirely new budget and spending plan.  We will also be beginning our debt repayment plan.  Our goal is to pay off all of our debt by next year, and start saving as much as we can.

To start our plan I am using the Monthly Income and Expenses sheet from Crown.  Our church gave us this link in one of our REV90 daily emails.   It’s a great place to start.

I’ll be sharing some other debt reduction tips and saving ideas I find along the way, but this year is all about being grateful for what God has blessed us with and taking care of those blessings.  We will be good stewards of our time and money.   My husband and I begin 2010 with a new mindset and a strengthened trust in God!

Frugal TV Watching

Recently I read this post on the website Bible Money Matters called “Ways to Watch TV Without Paying an Arm and a Leg for Cable or Satellite“.  I sent it to my husband and he took care of the rest.  He is my IT Director.  He handles all of our electronic, computer and media issues. 

First we cancelled cable and our 50,000 channels (not really but it seemed that way sometimes) and we bought a digital antennae.  We can watch certain cable shows via our son’s XBOX, which is pretty cool.  We haven’t really used that too much, but we know it’s there if we want to.  Basically we get 4 stations now.  So, we can watch big games when they are on one of the major stations and we can watch the news if needed, and of course American Idol, our favorite.   We can no longer record shows or watch any more cable shows.

I have not missed it one bit.  We do rent more movies, but in general we just watch less TV, which is a good thing!  We spend more time playing games, talking, getting outside and reading.  We know we can watch the important things on TV that we need to see, but we can’t watch the 10 shows we were recording to watch later.  Now we have to watch it when it’s on or we miss it.  We do love Top Chef  which is on a cable station, but I think we can watch it on-line, which works just fine for us.

We are saving $100 a month by doing this.  We needed the savings and we needed the break.   I think it’s a nice change that we now have to come up with other ways to entertain ourselves.  We’ve done good so far.  Read the article and see if there are some changes you could make with your TV watching and or bill.  It’s worth a try.

Getting Ready for the New Year’s Revolution!

If you’ve been reading my blog recently you’ve seen the New Years Revolution challenge that my church is doing for the first 90 days of 2010.   There is a spiritual challenge, a physical challenge and a financial challenge.  They are calling it REV90 (Revolution in 90 days).  I’m excited and ready to get started.  They will be sending us emails each day with our daily goals.  If you would like me to forward you these emails please email me at michelle@creatingpeace.com.  I will forward the email to you each day and you can “join the revolution”!

Here is a quick re-cap of the goals:

Spiritual Challenge –

1. Pray daily and journal.
2. Read the Bible daily.
3. Attend your worship service 10 out of the 13 weeks.
4. Share the good news and invite someone to church at least twice a month.
5. Each week serve within your church and outside the church.

Physical Challenge  -  PURE

1. Purify your life and keep your body pure for your husband or wife.
2. Use High Octane Fuel.  Eat healthy, drink lots of water and limit alcohol.
3. Rest.  Get good sleep each night, honor Sunday as your Sabbath day and take a vacation (Sabbatical) each year.
4. Exercise.  Get moving.  Have a goal of moving each and every day, even if it is just for 10 minutes.

Financial Challenge  –

1. Plan for peace.  Plan out your goals for the year.
2. Tithe to test.  Test God by tithing 10% off the top for 90 days straight (and beyond hopefully)
3. Pay to Play.  Do not use any credit for the first 90 days of 2010.  Only buy what you can afford.

New Year’s Revolution #3 – Financial Peace

We had the third and last installment of the New Year’s Revolution challenge yesterday at church.  This one covered our finances, but more importantly having peace about them.  It was a good message that we needed to hear.  The financial peace challenge that our pastor gave us for the first 90 days of 2010 is:

1.  Plan for peace.  Make a financial plan for 2010.  Sit down and look at where you are and where you want to be by the end of the year and make a plan to get there, which will ultimately create more peace in your life.  Live as God explains in the Bible and let him guide the way you handle your finances.  Allow him to give you the peace He promises.

“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.” Acts 10:36

” Be sure you know the condition of your flocks (accounts), give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.”  Proverbs 27:23

2.  Tithe to test.  Tithe 10% for 90 days and see what God does.  Test Him. 

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this.” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates and heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”  Malachi 3:10

3.  Pay to play.  Do not use any credit for the first 90 days of 2010.  Work towards using NO credit at all.  Pay to play, in other words – only purchase something if you have the cash to pay for it.  If not, then you don’t need it or you’ll have to wait and save for it.  If it’s an emergency then you can use your emergency fund.  Do not have one?  Get started on an emergency fund as well, trying to save 6 months of living expenses as your goal.  That way as you need money for car trouble, unexpected medical bills, etc. you will have money saved for those occurrences and will not have to use credit.  Stay away from credit cards!!

“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender”  Proverbs 22:7

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:21

“No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24

The goal is to treat money with respect, be thankful for it, know that it all comes from God, and take care of it.  Tithe, save and do not go into debt.  Work on the three challenges above and decide to make 2010 the year you get your finances in order and create financial peace in your life!