Battle Ready Finance- Week 1

• Focus on your finances! Work on living frugally. Continue to budget, controlling where your money goes and looking for new ways to make and save money. 

In my Home Management binder, this is the very first entry on my sheet of yearly goals/lifestyle changes that I want am going to make for myself and my family this year.

I have not always made the best choices, in life in general, but especially in finances. I was feeling very down and out a few days ago because ever since mid-December, when Bruce and I really decided to begin budgeting and take a hold of our financial situations, one thing after another has just been going WRONG to mess up my plans. If it's not one thing that pops up, it's another. Unexpected gifts to buy, a new battery for the car, work that had to be done on my house, that ticket for not having an up-to-date insurance card in my vehicle....

Then, this past Wednesday night, my future mother-in-law asked us to come to a finance class hosted by her church called Battle Ready Finance. The instructor is former military, so a lot of the jargon and examples are things Bruce relates to, and it's all Scripture-based. We decided to go and I can't tell you how excited I am that we did. 

Here's some of my main takeaways from this past week: 

•  Money is not good or evil, but there is a very real spiritual war going on out there for your finances! (This really got to me, because I've been experiencing this very thing these past couple of months!)
• Bruce and I are actually one of the youngest couples in the group, so it's a plus that we're starting this lifestyle as early as we are. Our situation is not so bad as I often make it out to be; that with God and sound money management principles and self-control, we can be in a great place financially.
• If the enemy (Satan), can keep you stressed, defeated, constantly focused on money and how you're going to pay your next month's bills, he can keep your focus away from where it should be- on God! Your financial situation affects every other aspect of your life. 
• We need to be in a place where our money isn't telling us what we CAN'T do.
• We must learn to LIVE ON LESS than we make, not try to make enough to cover what we spend. 

I look forward to delving into what the Scriptures say about finances even more and learning some more real-world strategies for changing our lives. I've read the Scriptures on finances before; I've read Dave Ramsey, but I think participating in a a class like this, in a small group, is going to help us really dig in, keep focused, and make great strides toward our goals. It's going to be an 8 week program, and I already can't wait for next Wednesday.