August 2, 2012

It’s Not Your Money, Is It?

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Written by Stacy Myers, Contributing Writer A while back, there was this strangely annoying commercial on television for JG Wentworth. It’s a bunch of adults yelling out their windows about THEIR money. While the normal person would just find this commercial extremely dumb, I found it very bothersome. When I heard my pastor mention the commercial in one of his sermons about stewardship and giving, I really started thinking. The sad thing is this MY MONEY mindset is very prevalent today. Most of us consider [...]

Filed Under: Budgeting, Faith and encouragement, Good stewardship Tagged With: , , , , 53 Comments
January 19, 2012

Yes, You Can Stop Using Credit Cards!

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Written by Kate Tietje, Contributing Writer In the new year, one of the major resolutions a lot of people make (after losing weight) is getting out of debt.  A lot of families are reeling from their Christmas expenses -- I think I've read the average family spends over $2000 on Christmas each year! Much of that goes onto credit cards.  When you think about taking several months to pay that off at 18% (or more) interest, that's a lot of extra money that you're spending just [...]

Filed Under: Budgeting, Frugality, Good stewardship Tagged With: , , , 54 Comments
January 10, 2012

Book Review: The Money Saving Mom’s Budget (5 Copies to Win!)

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If you want to learn something, one of the best ways is to learn from someone who has actually done it. Do you want to learn to get your budget under control, cut your expenses drastically, simplify your life, and live both frugally and generously? My dear friend, Crystal Paine, is just the person to ask. Her story speaks for itself. She and her husband began their marriage on a penny-pinching, rice and beans budget of as little as $650-900 (total!) some months, while he went through law school, [...]

Filed Under: Books, Budgeting, Frugality, Giveaways, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 1,133 Comments
June 6, 2011

Is Compassion International a Good Investment? A Husband’s Perspective.

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**Many of you may have realized that I was blessed to have my husband, Ryan, come with me on my trip to the Philippines last week. Though we hadn't originally planned for him to join me in writing, he was so impressed by the answers to all of his questions (someone on our team referred to him as the Barbara Walters of Canada!), that he simply felt compelled to write and tell you what he found.** Growth in business does not happen by accident. Everything [...]

Filed Under: Compassion Trip, Good stewardship Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 21 Comments
May 30, 2011

What Does It Take to Change a Life?

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Though rather bleary-eyed from a day and a half of travel and far too few hours of shut eye (but thankfully enhanced by an amazing breakfast and stellar cup of coffee), our group headed off to the Compassion headquarters in the Philippines this first morning of our trip. The goal was to learn more about Compassion International as an organization. I was inspired by the passion of the people working in the office, their obvious love for the children and their joy at seeing lives [...]

Filed Under: Compassion Trip Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , 32 Comments
May 27, 2011

Lessons I’ve Learned In Frugality

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Written by Beth Corcoran, Contributing Writer I will be honest with you. When I found out that I needed to write about frugality for my blog post this month, my heart sunk.  You see, frugality is something that I have definitely not mastered, and I feel I have so little to offer in this area.  But, at Stephanie’s encouragement, I am sharing my heart with you today. The more I have grown as a Christian, the more I have seen the importance of the wise [...]

Filed Under: Frugality, Good stewardship, Mothering Tagged With: , , , , , , , , 13 Comments
May 13, 2011

Waste Not, Want Not: Lessons in Frugality for Children

Written by Meg Dickey, Contributing Writer As we seek to train our children well, one of our family's major learning points is to teach our children the art of frugality.  Frugality is making good choices with the resources God has given you - this includes your brain, as I am apt to remind my children. :-) I have heard many times from other parents, "I just want my kids to have the best I can give them."  OF COURSE! We all desire our children to [...]

Filed Under: Family life, Frugality, Good stewardship, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments
May 3, 2011

Saving Big Money On Your Little Ones

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By Emily McClements, Contributing Writer Most people believe that welcoming a little bundle of joy into their life means parting with a big bundle of cash to get everything that little baby will need.  From diapers and wipes, to clothes, car seats, bedding and feeding supplies, it is true that there's a lot of stuff that babies need. But, we really don't have to bust our budgets just because we have little ones at home. There are many ways to practice frugality and reduce expenses [...]

Filed Under: Babies, Children, Frugality, Living Simply Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 42 Comments