Stay tuned for some helpful information (hopefully!) in a new series, titled Natural Living On A Budget. I will be posting on topics such as meal planning, housecleaning, decorating, eating healthy, etc. every Friday for awhile. I have been learning a ton in the process of preparing these posts. If you care to join me as I seek to become a better steward of our resources for the glory of God and supplying our bodies with the nutrients we need without excessive spending….Frugal Fridays here we come! Contributions are always welcome!
From the start let me state my position on frugality. Frugality is something that all woman, it seems, love! Almost to an extreme sometime. We must guard against raising the saving of every penny to a pedestal of idolatry in our lives. Personally, it became an idol in my life due to a lack of contentment in the resources I had to work with and an unthankful spirit for the hard work my husband was doing to provide for us. I realized other areas in my life and home were lacking proper attention because I was overly focused on saving my pennies. It caused stress, worry and anxiety which did not allow for peace and joy to enter in my home, for they were running out the window! We cannot serve God and money; therefore, saving money should always come after strengthening our relationship with the Lord, serving our husbands, and families. I began asking myself: Am I causing more stress in my family by my overly focused attention on frugality? Is my household lacking peace and attention because I am fretting about money or the lack of it? Am I too focused on saving money over serving the needs and desires of my husband?
On the other hand, we are called to be good stewards of the resources God has entrusted to us. There must be a proper balance. Fretting will get us nowhere…but purposeful planning will take us far, and keeping Christ the center will promise us success! My goal with this blog has been to keep a proper balance between seeking to edify and encourage my sisters in godliness as well as being wise frugal homemakers. But please don’t allow this topic to become a point of stress and frustration for you. Seek to do your best, do what you can, but don’t become consumed to the point that you have no peace or contentment because you are always worried about where the next dollar is going. We serve a mighty God who will provide all of our needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus! If he provides every need of the sparrow, how much more will He provide for your every need!
If you would like to suggest an additional topic to be covered in this series, please comment below. Look forward to growing in frugality with you all!
NEW NOTE: I thought I would add one last thing…I have learned that I need to allow my husband to take the leadership in our finances. I must set aside my worrying and allow him to make the final call. When I was managing the books up till a month or so ago, I knew where the money was going and he did not. It didn’t work! I fretted and would get frustrated when he wanted to buy this or that. Don’t you know we don’t have the money for that! I thought. This was a burden I should not be carrying. Let the men do it! They don’t worry like we do! 
Hallelujah !! Oh I just Love your website all of the recipes are great and for those containing an ingredient I am allergic to , I will just simply substitute it for something very similar and natural.
I love your website. I was led to your site through an article about being obsessed with clean food. My faith is very strong and the lord sent me to your site to learn to love others above ALL. I am trying to teach others about the importance of clean foods but I am suffering financially and I am sure it is because I am not focused on giving to others freely. Thank you so much for your help and I will but your link on my website as a reminder of my true purpose. I am also a mother of three small children. God bless you.
What a dream life for me… I am a frugal, full time mother with a full time job. I would love to leave it all up to my husband. Instead, I too storm full time to provide for my family.
Thank you so much for your posts! I am a biblical counselor at our church and am planning on using the godly resources you have provided to teach the women/wives I counsel on how to be more biblical in their approach to finances/homemaking/being wives and mothers. You have challenged me to think about my own life and areas where I have allowed idols to arise in my heart. I work outside the home, a fact which routinely breaks my heart. My greatest joys in life have come during those times when I have been home caring for my family. I know this is where God has placed me for a season. My husband is in the process of completing his MDiv to enter full time ministry. I must bloom where God has put me and seek to glorify Him in the midst. Your posts are of such great encouragement! Thank you!!!
I really enjoyed this post (I know it’s June but…… I was reading previous entries and am so so very much enjoying them!!) Just a question though, how did you convince your husband to keep the books? I have always kept ours (we’ve been married for 5 years now) except in the very beginning – we did not know how to work together then…. we do good now. He does ask me from time to time how things are going, when he needs to buy something…. but I think I would like a break. It’s a little stressful – we live on support from others donations as we are missionaries. God has never failed to provide and He will never fail. Sometimes when things are short and never knowing what’s going to come in the next month, well, it can be nerve racking. Does your husband just give you the grocery money and a little “spending” money? I’m curious to know how you guys work the finances. I am a Dave Ramsey fan and he says do it together but it seems like when it’s supposed to be together I end up just doing it and getting it done. Thanks for the blog it’s verrry good and encouraging. I love being a wife and strive to be a Godly Proverbs 31 wife.
Actually, I prayed about it and realized it was a burden I was not meant to bear and so I graciously appealed to my husband. I explained the overwhelming burden that it was to me and he understood and was willing to take over the finances. It took alot of prayer. It has been so freeing since. Now we are on somewhat of a cash system as we are fellow Dave Ramsey fans, but it gets challenging because my husband is self-employed and does not receive a consistent paycheck. We have a budget in place and he usually withdraws cash for groceries and misc. household expenses for the month so we can do an envelope system. IT is still in the works as we seek to get on a consistent salary, but we are making progress. Yes, God is a faithful provider!
At the end of the day my husband puts his withdraws for the day on our Excel spreadsheet. He knows exactly how much we have in our checking acct. With two incomes, it works best for us. My income alone goes towards retirement, savings, and our children’s college education. i strongly believe in this day and age EVERY child needs a college education, to get a good job.