I am including this lovely picture of the beach to sweeten up the fact that this post may be hugely unpopular. So look at the photo when you start feeling lots of ire.
Okay, so I have mentioned in a few previous posts that J and I don’t really save money. Many of you have inquired about this, especially after I stated that this “unsaving” mentality was deliberate.
We deliberately DO NOT save money.
Before I get too far into this, I probably should state again that I am not a financial expert and I don’t read non-fiction, which would include any financial book. That is to say that I have no idea what financial people say about this topic and I probably won’t, unless it is a story. (Note my post about McTeague) I say that because I want to point out that I am not trying to argue or discredit others since I really have no idea what their ideas are. I only know from my own experience, my friends, and from a little Googling, that most experts advocate having savings, so it is a bit unconventional not to do it–on purpose.
Initially, I’m sure that our un-saving began as a rationalization of the fact that we have not really ever had a lot of money to save or set aside. From our perspective, we have usually “needed” all the money that we’ve had.
But there have been a few times where we have had savings. On one occasion in particular, we had a bit of savings that we were living off of while J was looking for a job. Initially, we felt very comfortable because of the nestegg. As months went on and the money dwindled, we started getting all panicky and nervous, worrying about whether or not he would get a job in time. Or would we run out of money? We got to the very end of the money and he still did not have a job.
Now you are probably thinking that this example proves EXACTLY why people need savings. But this story has more lessons than just the financial ones, but for the purpose of this post, I will focus on the financial, which in this case are inextricably linked to the spiritual.
I should also point out that the basis for our lives is spiritual, not financial, so if you don’t share that perspective, I’m sure you won’t agree with this philosophy. If you fundamentally think that your money is yours to do with what you like, then this post is not for you.
(Look at the beach photo if feeling cranky.)
The only non-fiction that I do read is the Bible. So, during this scary time of uncertainty and change, I began to look in the Bible for passages where it talked about money, provision, and need. And I found a lot. I’ve heard it mentioned in sermons that Jesus talks more about money than any other subject, which is probably because He knows that we are obsessed with it. Here is the gist of what I found; I’ll provide one illustrative verse for each statement and you can look for more at biblegateway.com if you are curious, want to check the context, or want to prove me wrong.
1. The Bible only talks about SAVING money a handful of times, but it talks A LOT about spending. James 4:2-3 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
2. The Bible speaks favorably of preparing for a KNOWN time of need, like animals storing for winter. Proverbs 30:25 Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
3. The Bible speaks unfavorably of saving or storing up provisions for an UNKNOWN reason. Matthew 6:19-20 19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
4.The Bible STRONGLY and REPEATEDLY advocates giving money to those in need. 1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
5. The Bible warns strongly against putting personal security in money. Ecclesiastes 5:10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
6. The Bible warns against worry and anxious preparation for the future. Matthew 6:25-27 25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
7. The Bible teaches us to ask for our DAILY BREAD, which means the immediate, not the future need. It also keeps us in a constant daily routine of supplication. Luke 11:2-4 He said to them, “When you pray, say: ” ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.’ “
So to that end, we realized that as long as we HAD savings, we were putting our security in that money rather than trusting God to provide for us. We mistakenly felt that we did not “need” to trust Him when we could trust ourselves. And no amount of money or lack of money would have mattered because we were focused on the money! At that time, I realized that I had been feeling very discontented and worried, focused on the day when our savings would run out rather than being thankful that our needs were met.
We switched our focus away from the future and began living off the “daily” bread. Our savings diminished to nothing, but wouldn’t you know, the minute there was nothing left, God provided J with a job. Maybe it was coincidence, but I don’t think so. Ever since then I have realized that if I want a close relationship with God, I have to need Him. If I don’t sense my need for Him, I don’t go to Him. Perhaps that reveals me for the selfish, bratty, childish person that I am, but it is true.
(Are you thinking, “Finally she’s talking some sense!”?)
Also, we realized that saving for the unknown, the emergency, or the “just in case,” is a slippery slope. When is it enough? If we don’t know what the saving is for, how do we know how much we “need”? When will I have enough in my emergency fund to feel safe? And if I have that amount, will I really feel safe? Is it two months income? Three? Maybe it is the average time required to find a new job?
We have retirement savings because that is a KNOWN time of need for which we are preparing. We try to save for the summer months when J doesn’t get paid because that is a KNOWN time of need, like winter for the animals. But to be honest, every year we have ended up not having much for summer and, like a knight in shining armor, our tax return comes through and saves the day. Between our low income and charitable giving, we always have enough daily bread. But we don’t save for a rainy day. We don’t set money aside for emergency, or our kids, or college, or any kind of future expense that we don’t know about.
(Oh Hello Soapbox. Do you mind if I climb up? Okay, then. Here I go.)
Additionally, how can I justify stocking up my rainy- day- fund when there are endless people who are in need RIGHT NOW that I’m supposed to be helping? God is VERY clear about helping those in need. (Matthew 25:44-46 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”) God is clear about not storing up money arbitrarily too. And yet it is totally our human tendency to think our money is for us, for our needs, our emergencies, our problems. If we don’t have any current problems, we save our money for later, anticipating potential problems, all the while rationalizing our failure to help people who DESPERATELY need the money NOW. Lots of people call preparing for the unknown “financial wisdom”. I call this Bull crap. Sorry.
Also, I think that if more people adopted this mindset then we would actually be helping people who are in need rather than giving them condescending looks and preaching to them about financial wisdom. If having a savings creates a feeling of superiority over those who don’t, then it is even more detrimental. I hope I am not the first one to call this to your attention, but we are actually SUPPOSED to need and help each other. It defies our American sense of independence, but it’s true. Giving and receiving connects people together, creates community, family, and investment in each others lives. Savings and “God helps those who help themselves” mentalities seems to create the idea that we all stand alone with our money and take care of ourselves.
So that is why we don’t save. Call it rationalization if you like. But honestly, I feel much freer of financial worry with not a dime of savings than we did when we had a lot socked away.
(Okay before posting angry comment, look at soothing beach photo. Now, let me know all the places where you think I’m wrong. I’m not above being corrected, but please don’t recommend non-fiction financial books to me because I won’t read them. 🙂)
Update: I wrote a teensy-weensy hint of a retraction HERE. What do you think?
I think you make some very valid points. 🙂 Package headed your way tomorrow!
Katrina “Ballsy Blogger” Ryder.
Well written my friend…very well written. I love your view and Chad and I read it together. We both completely agreed with many of your ideas, especially about how it would be impossible to set an amount on how much would be enough savings. We save enough from our tax return to pay our deductible for our health insurance, which we did need this year for Lizzie’s tonsillectomy, but beyond that we don’t save much. We figure in the event of an emergency we have completely empty credit cards that could be used, as we only use them for gas and pay them off each month.
you rock girl!!! i think you are going to bring insight to many people. 🙂 and i agree with Laura… you are a “ballsy Blogger” 🙂 he he… i just said Balls on your blog. ohh pigs are flying somewhere. he he
So,saving for a house downpayment is ok because it is a concrete known expense? But, saving for the ‘future’ nebulous ‘need’ is not? ok… i get that. but how is saying- like a commenter said ‘We figure in the event of an emergency we have completely empty credit cards that could be used…’ how is that trusting in God’s provision? I mean, thats not what your intending to communicate is it? Can you write perhaps on what do DO when you are in need? As in, if you really didn’t have enough- what you would do then… ( I mean, i know what we do…. a lot of fretting, then repenting and praying and eventually provision, but I would like to know how you roll :).
My only argument against your line of thinking would be this. My husband has challenged me to buy everything with cash – including cars. The only way to do that is with savings and a willingness to buy used (or at least used at this point in our lives). When we were buying our mini-van in 2008, my husband did a ton of research and found that if we buy used and pay cash, in a year or two, resell the vehicle and during that time save up as if we were making payments, we could progressively move up to a better vehicle with each sell.
I agree with you. I don’t think of what you are doing as saving for a rainy day. I think of that as saving for a known time of need. If you read a subsequent post called https://katrinaryder.com/savings-crow-a-foot-and-hopefully-chocolate-chip-cookies/ you will see that my line of thinking is that we need to be saving with a willingness to give–rather than to worry or fear. Also, if you (or I) have a bunch of savings for the unknown, we are missing out on lots of cool opportunities for the Lord to provide for us. Mostly, this is a personal conviction. 🙂
Just found your blog in a comment on 100 Days of Real Food and stumbled across this post from your Poorganics? page. I love to see your heart for being a ‘foolish’ giver! God challenged my husband and I to be extravagantly generous a couple years ago, even when we couldn’t really ‘afford’ to be. First of all, it’s actually FUN to give crazy amounts of money to people who need it. But it also created a space for God to come in and bless our socks off. Whatever you reap, you sow. It’s a principle of the Kingdom, like gravity is a natural principle in the earth.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for such a cool post! It’s great to connect!
Wow! Thanks for reading. I love to meet other “poorganics” and encourage “foolish” giving. 🙂 I totally agree about “blessing our socks off.” I’m sure if you read some of the Provision Stories, you will see more examples of that in action. I’d love to hear your story in more detail if you care to share it.
I was very encouraged by your story, as this is where my husband and I have found the Lord taking us over the past several years. We have also always lived with one income so that I could stay home with our 8 children and God has ALWAYS provided for our needs! We don’t even have savings for retirement, but we know that God will take care of us as we trust Him to provide. We have always given to the work of God, even when there wasn’t much to give, and our children have learned to be content with little! There truly is freedom and joy in knowing that God will supply ALL our needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus!
It’s great to see a young family starting off on the right track!!! Keep up the good work!
Wow! I’d love to hear more of your stories. I’m always looking to add to my “Provision Stories” series and I bet you have a bunch! Thanks for visiting and encouraging us. 🙂
I found you from 100 Days of Real Food, too! Love this stuff! As a stay-at-home mom of four married to a high school music teacher, and also newly embracing an organic real food diet, I find much that I can really relate to. 🙂 I love your story here, and it brings with it both inspiration and challenge to trust in God’s daily provision. Thanks so much!
Hi Sarah! I’m thrilled to have other teacher’s wives here. Music teachers rule! I find that being surrounded by people who share the NOT-social climbing mentality really helps me stay content. I’d love to hear more about your story and how God has provided for your “poorganic” life. 🙂
I know that you don’t talk politics here, so I hope that no one takes this as a political agenda in my saying this. I have become OBSESSED with the idea lately that if we, as a people, lived this way, there would be no need for the government to provide for anyone. We, the church, should be trusting in His provision so that He can use us to build others trust in His provision. My friends think I’m crazy…I’m sending them to your eloquent blog from now on. : )
In an equally non-political way, I totally agree. Actually, you have inspired me to bite the bullet and finally write a post on this that I’ve been thinking about . . 😉 Have you read the Provision Stories? Do you have a Provision Story? I’d love collect these so people would be more constantly aware of how God is binding us together to care for His Body through . . . .His Body.
Just jumped over from Amy’s (Make Me a Mary)
I am quite intrigued by you thoughts and will definitely have to do some praying and studying on this.
I love your authenticity and your candidness!
I will be popping by again!
Blessings,
Kerri (a simple princess) recently posted…empty
A friend of mine suggested I check out your Facebook page, and from there I found your blog, and from there I found this post, which was obviously all God’s doing and timing…it’s just crazy. 🙂
My husband and I have been married for 10 years, and in those 10 years we’ve rarely had more than what we’ve needed for that month, and when i say NEEDED I mean NEEDED. My husband is a real estate broker. Although there have been small periods of time where we’ve had ‘extra’ and been able to do some fun stuff with it, and help others, for the most part of the last 10 years we have lived in full reliance on God’s provision for us. Real Estate does not come with a regular paycheck. If my husband doesn’t sell a house he doesn’t get paid. For 5 years I worked at the children’s ministry at our church and that pretty much covered the groceries….but there have been months where we have had no clue how we were going to pay rent (like this month as a matter of fact!)…Real Estate has not been kind the last 5 years…and specifically the last 2 have been extremely hard.
Anyway, we recently felt God calling us to move from Albuquerque, NM to Charlotte, NC. We prayed over the timing and finances (it costs ALOT to move, holy cow!)….And God provided. We have been here in Charlotte now for almost 3 months, and all we saved for the move and to get settled is nearly gone (and I mean literally) and we have NOTHING more put away….ANYWHERE. My husband has had his license here for just a month (It took WAY longer to get licensed in Real Estate here than we expected)…and I am not working (i decided to homeschool my 2nd grader this year, my job in Albuquerque was super lenient and she could come with me and i worked my own hours…not easy to find something similar here).
Oddly enough, I find myself with a sense of peace that God will provide our rent and groceries. I look back at 10 years of provision and realize that we’ve only come this far because of God’s grace and provision. There have been times (most every time) He’s provided in ways we could’ve never foreseen and I find that I live in expectation and excitement to see what He will do this time.
I admit, where we are at right now may be the tightest we’ve gotten, but God keeps reaffirming to me that we listened to Him, we followed His leading and that He’s got this. My husband already has several buyers looking for homes. I’m working on his website, Facebook and twitter trying to ‘market’ him. 🙂 When I find myself worried about not having insurance for our girls (2 daughters, including a very curious accident prone child) right now and not having cash (we have no credit cards) it brings me to my knees in prayer and God repositions my focus on HIM not our circumstances.
I do feel as though I’m crazy sometimes. And I certainly know that to the ‘world’ I must be certifiable, even to a lot of Believers actually! But God is constantly clearly present in my every day errands and projects, and EVERYTHING….reminding me that He is always there and He keeps His promises.
So i just wanted to share with you (in what’s turned out to be a very VERY very long ‘comment’) that even though, for us, it hasn’t been intentional…the results have been the same. We DAILY rely on God’s provision for us because He’s brought us to this place. And frankly, I find it more frightening to think of actually having an abundance of money, because i fear it would separate me from my total and utter reliance on Him. Through that total reliance on Him, I’ve grown closer to Him than I’ve ever been and my marriage is so strong. We have 2 incredibly amazing kids who love Jesus with all their hearts. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. (And don’t even get me started on the way God has brought our family together in the first place and my (step)daughter’s (she’s 18 now) amazing life and testimony.)
Finding your blog post about this was so perfectly timed for where I’ve been the last few days. I’ve been battling the enemy’s whispers of doubt as we get closer to the first of the month (rent is due AGAIN…go figure) and we have no money in the bank. God is good, and God is GOD. Nothing is big for Him, and certainly what seems a huge road block to us, is nothing but a pebble to Him. And for those who seek Him and His will, we can rest in the promise that He will provide. I love Matthew 6:25-34.
So thank you for this post that you wrote forever ago…I feel like it was written for me, for this very day. Haha…yet another way God has reaffirmed what He continues to reaffirm for me.
🙂
Stephanie
PS.The website I’ve entered above is my blog from FOREVER ago. (last time I wrote on it was 3 years ago) …I’m thinking of fixing the template and starting to write again. So if you go there, it’s a mess right now, and if you don’t put “www” it sends you to some webring…it’s weird. but anyway, that’s just fyi…
Just stumbled upon your blog from 100 Days of Real Food today. I really appreciate your wisdom in this area of money and savings. I totally agree that if we had more income, we’d depend on that for security rather than trusting the Lord to provide for our needs. We have lived paycheck to paycheck for 20+ years but after reading this post, I am starting to feel grateful that the Lord never gave us neither poverty nor riches…lest we be full and deny Him and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest we be poor and steal and profane the name of the Lord. {Proverbs 30:8,9}
I’m SO glad you found this post and found my blog! I totally agree that I’m glad we have neither poverty nor riches. I actually wrote about being tempted to steal lately and realizing that it was because I was experiencing “poverty”. May I always remember that what I have is NOT MINE; it is from the Lord. 🙂
I see this is an old post but I would like to tell you thank you. So much of what you said fits in with the way our family runs. I have been reading financial books for several years. DH and I even went through a financial course at church (after our first child was born, now on number 6) but never felt “right” about the rainy day savings. Let me rephrase that DH did not feel right and now I am on his page. Thank you for a well written and thought out article of how things work in your household.
I LOVE this one, Katrina. Of course, being a missionary means that a lot of times I don’t have a choice about saving. :o) (And so I complain about having to raise support!) But I have seen God provide in amazing ways over and over. The other day, someone was trying to get me into a profit-sharing scheme and was SHOCKED that I did not have any savings, CDs, etc. etc. I told her that a number of times God had given me extra – but it always seemed to be FOR something. How true that our trust can easily be in our savings. How much better for our trust to be in HIM and the fact that He wants to provide daily for us.
I was just reading a book of testimonies (you need to read more nonfiction!) :o) and after years of pastoring and irregular income, a man and his wife finally had a paying job. She said to him, “Don’t you miss those days when we saw the Lord provide for us in miraculous ways? Let’s pray and ASK Him to put us in a situation like that!” The husband admitted it was scary, but they did pray that way. Then their car broke down and couldn’t be fixed. They went to a lot where they knew the salesman and saw a used car that would be perfect for their family. When they went over their finances, they were $135 short to buy the car. They prayed. He went to his office to get something he forgot (he was the dean at a Bible college) and passed his mailbox. In it was an envelope with a thank-you from a church where he had spoken some time before, AND – you guessed it – a check for $135!
Once I was on a plane flying back from one of those LONG trips home from PNG. I was tired, and not too happy when a chatty man sat down beside me. But he was fascinated by what I did and asked me all sorts of questions. One of them was, “So, you get a salary?” I explained that I lived on what people gave me. As he got a strange look on his face, I said, “Well, it gives me an opportunity to see God do some pretty amazing things.” His response? “Yeah, who wants an old boring paycheck??” :o)
Have you read any of the “provision stories”? Those are just a few stories of many about how the Lord has provided. I would love to make this tab much longer because I think people need to hear and be encouraged at how God provides for His children. 🙂
Okay, happened upon this post while browsing your blog. I hear you and understand where you’re coming from. The point my hubby and I have been at for a while is, “God, what do you want us to do with your money?” and trying to wrestle that out. At the same time, we do set aside some money into savings for an “emergency fund.” I also like to keep the pantry well stocked as a secondary “emergency fund.” My view is that moderately saving to a certain extent is wise if you are taking your budget/paycheck to God asking Him how to use and give it. I think of the overused oxygen mask analogy. Personally, I don’t think that the extent of our saving keeps us from giving when he says give, or opening our checkbook or pantry to provide for others. I guess what I’m saying is that I think the issue is more than whether or not you save, but what is your perspective toward the money you bring in. Like I said above though, it’s something that we have been wrestling out, so maybe I’m wrong. 🙂
Alison recently posted…It’s really his anyway
So…my only question is, saving for your kids for college is not a known expense? Why, because you don’t know how much college will cost? Or if they’ll want to go? Isn’t that a gift you would be giving to them? Or will you guide them to get tuition costs covered by other means? Not that I have anything saved for my kids yet, that just seems like a wise and purposeful concrete place to put savings.
Anyways, I love this: “feeling very discontented and worried, focused on the day when our savings would run out rather than being thankful that our needs were met” — made me put my head in my hands. That is exactly how I have been living every day lately, watching my savings dwindle, slipping through my fingers like I don’t know what. But it’s very hard for me to believe that God doesn’t want me to have savings. So………..I always feel like I’m fighting against what he wants for me. The rebel in me. Tell me not to do it and I’ll DO IT.
Sigh.
MyPeaceOfFood recently posted…Things I’ve Learned Along The Way
With regard to college, I just don’t know if my kids will go to college or not. Some kids don’t. My husband is a teacher and I was too. BOth my in-laws are teachers. We definitely value education, but I don’t want to teach my kids that they are entitled to a college education paid for by me. My parents never promised to pay for my college, and while they helped me as they could, I always knew I would have to get scholarships, work, and pick a college or community college that I could afford. I got a scholarship for half tuition at a private university, worked hard all through college, and with my parents help, I graduated debt free. I will do as much as I can for my kids when the time comes, but I won’t promise them a college education.
I guess each person has to do what God and the Holy Spirit convicts her to do. For my part, I could never reconcile the few times God mentions savings with the LIMITLESS times He mentions giving. It isn’t even close biblically. Because of that, it isn’t even a question for me. If I have money that I don’t need now, I give it to my brother who is in need now. I trust that when I am in need, the Body of Christ will provide for me. On one hand it is crazy, but on the other hand, it is an awesomely freeing way to live.