Pennies From Heaven

 

Hello dear Ones! 

Have you ever felt that you are all on your own in making ends meet? If so, let me assure you that you are not! God cares about your needs and that includes both Spiritual and Physical needs. A verse that comes immediately to mind is Matthew 6:26, which reads “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reel nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

I am also reminded of the Children of Israel when they were traveling in the wilderness. There was no Walmart or Amazon (or income, for that matter!) for them to order whatever they needed from! And yet Deuteronomy 29:5 tells us “Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.” Sometimes God brings us the things we need, or the income to purchase the things that we need. But there are other times when He simply makes what we already have last longer! We may not even recognize the times He is blessing us this way! 

In the “Pennies From Heaven” series, as I have time I will share ways I have been able to save and stretch what has been granted to us. This is not to bring glory to myself, but rather instead to open my eyes and make me more aware of what God has done for me. When I keep a list in order to share, I find I am more aware of the day to day blessings God showers me with. And I would love to hear how you have been showered as well! 

Inexpensive, penny-stretching things that I did this week include:

 1) Starting this blog. 😁 I think of this as under “free entertainment!”

2) I have also been actively working on passing on some items we no longer need or use in our home. The family has grown up, and many items no longer needed but still in good shape have either been donated or sold. When I donate, I remember what a blessing through the years finding needed things at thrift stores has been for me. Am I not helping out other families in my community when I donate my unneeded items, just as others who did not know me personally blessed me by donating their things which I ended up purchasing? 

3) I cooked all meals at home. Eating out is expensive! And eating at home (or bringing your lunch from home) allows you to also keep an eye on food items that are needing to be used up before they go to waste, further stretching pennies and allowing you to have a lower food budget.

4) I balanced our bank accounts and paid any bills that had come in over the last several days. Keeping on top of finances is a HUGE penny-stretching habit!!! Sometimes I find errors or even scam charges on our credit card. It is more common than you might think! Finding these problems in a timely fashion allows you to contact your bank or credit card company about the charge before it is a long time past. The sooner you contact them, the more likely they will be able to refund the error or reverse the charges. And of course, paying your bills on time also prevents you from owing late charges, which are quite expensive and needless expense in your budget. Don’t you have someplace better for your pennies to go? What about a savings account, and earning interest? 

Well, that’s my list for this week—even though I am sure there were many more things that could have been written down. Let’s keep our eyes open to His blessings, and encourage one another in our journey! 

Until next time,

Friend