If you missed Tuesday’s post, click here and read it first.
One thing my grandma said I should do was save money. When I was a teenager that concept never appealed to me. There was always so much stuff I wanted.
But my grandma constantly hounded me, “Save ten percent of everything you make.” If you give God ten percent, why not give yourself ten percent as well? You might be thinking if I give God ten percent, I give myself ninety percent.
But people who spend all of their money have no money, and therefore are never rich. Proverbs 21:20 tells us, “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.” Get rid of the mentality that every dime you make is a dime to spend and you will potentially have more money than any of your peers.
Most wealth comes from saving. Let’s say you make fifty dollars babysitting in one weekend. You would give God five dollars (ten percent) and have forty five remaining. If you take ten percent of forty-five and set it aside some place special (maybe a parent can keep it somewhere safe for you) then you have forty dollars and fifty cents that you can spend.
That’s still a lot of money to use however you want, but you are also putting money away for something else—maybe it will be used to pay for part of your college education, or for something like a new i-Pod. If you babysat for fifty dollars three more times, your savings would increase to eighteen dollars fairly quickly. With diligence you could have a large sum of money.
These days, I save ninety percent of my income. My husband, Michael, and I live off of his income and the only money that comes out of my paychecks is the money we give to God. Right now we’re saving for a house. Sometimes we save for vacations or fun purchases. But no matter what we’re saving for, saving has become a habit for us.
The last thing my grandma taught me about money is to spend it wisely. Often, we want to rush out and spend it right away without paying any attention to sales or coupons. We want new makeup, so we buy the first makeup we see without looking for different colors elsewhere or comparing prices with other brands. Doing this causes us to get less for our money.
Yesterday I went shopping for some new clothes with a coupon in hand. Knowing I only had a certain amount to spend I made my choices carefully. When the salesgirl rung my items up the total came to the exact amount I had to spend—until she applied my coupon. Then I had enough money left over to buy a pair of shoes. Had I not used my coupon I would have only been able to get the clothes.
What if your favorite store doesn’t have coupons? Shop around. Compare prices. The same pair of shoes may be cheaper at one store than they are at another. Wait until the jeans you want go on sale. Every store has a sale sometime. You just may have to be patient. Never part with your money without asking, “Can I do this for less somewhere else?”
I realize that the money you make is limited and infrequent. But implementing the steps you’ve read about will help you develop good money management skills for when you get your first job, and throughout the rest of your life.
You can never be too grateful for what God has given you, you can never save too much and you can never be too careful when you shop. Even if it will take you a long time to become a millionaire it’s not too early to start living like one. So give, save and spend well!
(This article first appeared in BRIO magazine.)
