The Wallet Dance

"Well, here we go again!" exclaimed Anna into the telephone receiver.

"How's that?" Midge asked.

"The Wallet Dance!"  Anna said.  "Every month Don's wallet has to do didoes and gyrations, twists and turns, to cover all our expenses.  It gets depressing.  We are not wild spenders and Don works so hard!  How can we be better stewards of the money God provides for us through Don's job?"

Many of us ask this question.  No matter how much we make, there always seems to be more outlay than income at the end of our month.  We know God wants us to act responsibly with the funds He gives us.  What can we do to utilize our money and spend more wisely?

~  Fill up your car mid-week instead of on the weekend.  Usually prices go up on the weekend when people are more free to stop at the pump.  If you save 3 cents a gallon on 10 gallons of gas every week, you will save $15.60 a year.  The same savings on 20 gallons a week nets you $31.20 a year -- enough to pay for your Christmas turkey.

~Buy medium-priced products and buy classic styles in clothing.  Cheap products and "faddy" clothes don't last long.  Switches break, wires burn out quickly and seams come apart.  Fashion fads are here today and gone tomorrow; then a new wardrobe will be required.

Not long ago, going down the highway, I saw a pillow-top mattress with a very expensive roses-on-black ticking lashed to the top of a rickety mini-van.  I thought, There goes someone who has not spent very wisely.  They could have bought a just-as-comfortable mattress in last year's miss-matched fabric and saved a lot!  Who's going to see the roses once the sheets are on?

~  Launder with care.  Hand-washing is possible for some clothes labeled Dry Clean only.  Also, there are dry-cleaning packets that work in your dryer.  Ironing dress shirts is not as difficult as it used to be, with all the new fabrics as well as spray starches.  Renting a steam-cleaner and doing our own carpets is less expensive than either buying a machine or having a company come and do them for us.  It only takes a little more of our time and some planning.

~  Learn straight-seam sewing.  Hemming up the children's dragging pant legs, the straggling hems on curtains, towels and blankets, will save the cost of buying new ones.  We've come to think of mending as being for dowdy stay-at-home mothers.  Not so!  And each mend takes only a few minutes.

~Cook from scratch.  Preparing a delicious pizza with mom-mixed dough, home-made sauce and freshly chopped vegetables will not only impress your family, it will also save you money.  Children, with your supervision, can help, and it could become a family-togetherness project.  With judicious planning and the use of today's wonderful crock-pots and microwaves, home-cooked meals can bless your family, give them better nutrition and save you from the Wallet Dance!