Yard sales and coupons

I'm constantly reminded how good God has been to me and my family.

Not long after our daughter was born we really struggled financially. We always lived within our means and didn't go out and buy things we didn't really need. We didn't go on fancy vacations or drive expensive cars. We didn't live in a giant house.

My husband worked as a contractor at IBM and each year for three years they gave him a pay cut. We were told to just be grateful he still had a job and did what we could.

I was pretty financially savvy so I bought things from yard sales and thift stores. I used coupons and bought items on sale.

Sometimes I would gather up anything that we could sale at a yard sale just to have money for groceries that month. We never asked anyone for help because no one really had the means to help us and we made due.

When we didn't have any savings or any extra money in the budget, I was struck with the notion we needed to give money to the church. We truly served in our church and felt our tithing was that service. But God told us to give. Faithfully we gave and each time we received any increase in pay or bonus... We gave more. It was hard but it was good.

Things really have changed over the years and I'm always humbly reminded how God provided for us and blessed us. We're not living lavishly. I still shop at yard sales and thrift store but not scrimping by... living paycheck to paycheck and on credit cards.

We continue to look for ways to give it back to God since it's he who provided it in the first place and it's he who got us through... With coupons and yard sales.

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