I was in a store ready to check out; there they were candy bars just waiting for me to take them home. Why do they even put them at the checkout! Well, the store knows that almost everyone has a tendency to "impulse" buy. In fact, some stores set a place aside for the things they think you will pick while you are looking for other things. The problem with this type of buying is that we forget that little things add up. We may pop it in the cart and think, "it's just $5"; what we forget is that if we add even a couple of things, we could easily spend $25 quickly. Then we look back and think, "where did that money go." Who among us has not walked into a store with the idea that we were only going to buy a couple of items only to find that we have actually bought way more than the "couple of things". In my case, they are often things that I want, more than things I need. I get deceived because they don't cost much, so it's okay. Right? Sometimes it's not always inexpensive things either. Occasionally, I have bought a phone or a similar item only to discover that I was not happy with it. It was not what I wanted. I bought it without doing the "homework". If I had waited a little longer and asked others; if I had asked God and listened to him, I would have known that I did not want that phone. If I had asked my husband he would have said, "you don't want that". God does not want us to squander what he has provided. He wants us to be worthy servants and use what he gives us wisely. I wonder how many times God has provided the finances that we need, but we fail to spend wisely, so we don't have enough. There are times I have to admit my financial problems are my own doing and not God's fault at all. I have the choice to spend or not to spend. If I spend foolishly, it is indeed my own fault and not God's or the stores. While I do not do it perfectly, every time I can honestly say that when I have waited, asked, and listened to God and others; I have found my finances in better shape. I am still learning to say no; unless it's chocolate at the check out isle. Then it gets me every time; it's not my fault I love chocolate.
I was in a store ready to check out; there they were candy bars just waiting for me to take them home. Why do they even put them at the checkout! Well, the store knows that almost everyone has a tendency to "impulse" buy. In fact, some stores set a place aside for the things they think you will pick while you are looking for other things. The problem with this type of buying is that we forget that little things add up. We may pop it in the cart and think, "it's just $5"; what we forget is that if we add even a couple of things, we could easily spend $25 quickly. Then we look back and think, "where did that money go." Who among us has not walked into a store with the idea that we were only going to buy a couple of items only to find that we have actually bought way more than the "couple of things". In my case, they are often things that I want, more than things I need. I get deceived because they don't cost much, so it's okay. Right? Sometimes it's not always inexpensive things either. Occasionally, I have bought a phone or a similar item only to discover that I was not happy with it. It was not what I wanted. I bought it without doing the "homework". If I had waited a little longer and asked others; if I had asked God and listened to him, I would have known that I did not want that phone. If I had asked my husband he would have said, "you don't want that". God does not want us to squander what he has provided. He wants us to be worthy servants and use what he gives us wisely. I wonder how many times God has provided the finances that we need, but we fail to spend wisely, so we don't have enough. There are times I have to admit my financial problems are my own doing and not God's fault at all. I have the choice to spend or not to spend. If I spend foolishly, it is indeed my own fault and not God's or the stores. While I do not do it perfectly, every time I can honestly say that when I have waited, asked, and listened to God and others; I have found my finances in better shape. I am still learning to say no; unless it's chocolate at the check out isle. Then it gets me every time; it's not my fault I love chocolate.
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