Financing a Life Through God: Part 2

If you missed part 1 you can read it here, Financing a Life Through God: Part 1

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:8 KJV

I have been wanting to share all the ways God has helped me through the years, one of the repeated prayers he continues to answer is blessing us with groceries.

Proverbs 10:3 says, “Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.” (NIV). I believe it is important to plan and makes lists not just for grocery shopping but for everything we do in life. By putting in a little extra time each week to plan my shopping trips God is always teaching me something new. This week the Holy Spirit told me, “You don’t have to pay the full price for anything because Jesus paid everything in full.”

It got me thinking about how to apply that to grocery shopping. You really don’t have to pay the full price for anything these days if you do your homework on saving money and if you have the fruits the Spirit. If you seek to save money God will make the options available to you if you’re willing to put in a little time.

"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"
Galatians 5:22 NLT

How do you apply the fruits of the Spirit to grocery shopping you might ask?

1. Love, to buy what the people in your home need.
2. Joy, to express gratitude to God for giving you the means to buy food.
3. Peace, knowing God will supply all your needs.
4. Patience, to wait for that item to go on sale so you’re not wasteful.
5. Kindness, to not be greedy and take more than you need or is available.
6. Goodness, to be honest and not steal anything.
7. Faithfulness, to know if you can’t afford something one week then you can get it another week.
8. Gentleness, to all the employees working in the stores.
9. Self-Control, to not buy what you don’t need.

Every Friday I go grocery shopping to find the things we need and use. I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of finding a deal and saving a dollar with a coupon. I remember going every Sunday to the small town grocery store to get my Sunday paper.

The first few years after David and I got married were hard. Starting out we had very little income but with God’s help we always made it work. Our budget was tight and we didn’t go on fancy vacations or expensive outing on the weekends, but we had our own home and each other which is all we wanted.

I remember our first meal together in our renovated single wide trailer was cheeseburger macaroni hamburgerhelper. It wasn’t a five star steak dinner but it felt like it to two young newlyweds.

I learned early in life that the value of anything you buy is bought with time not money. I grew up on a farm working with hay, worked for my dad installing floors, and had several mowing jobs from the time I was 12 up until I was 18. After feeling the aches and pains from hours of hard work I was more reluctant to waste my money on things I didn’t need.

Those hard lessons I learned at an early age made transitioning from a teenager to an adult much easier. I learned to only buy what I needed, look for the best sales, and that coupons are just free money and are nothing to be ashamed of.

I hardly ever use paper coupons anymore but I use my coupon and receipt reward apps almost daily. I want to share some of my favorite apps and money saving shopping tips I use to save hundreds of dollars a month. This year alone I have acquired almost $500 in gift cards from the apps I use.

I am a Kroger shopper and I have saved $2,926.98 this year (in 9 months) just from shopping the weekly sales, using the Kroger app and adding their coupons to my rewards card. I love Kroger because I get gas points for every dollar I spend. I shop on Fridays because Kroger has a weekly coupon that lets you earn four times the gas points (5x if you’re a boost member). My husbands work truck is a 1993 Ford F150 with two gas tanks and we save between 50$ to 75$ a month just from using the gas points at Kroger.

Most of Kroger’s regular prices cost more than other places but 95% of what I buy is either on sale, with a coupon, or both. If I need something before its on sale or I don’t have a coupon, I just go to Wal-Mart.

When I order from Wal-Mart I look to see if Wal-Mart cash is available for the items I need. You can get free shipping if you spend 35$ or more and that’s not hard to do at Wal-Mart. They have a membership program called Wal-Mart Plus that’s 98$ a year and seems like it has some good benefits. Wal-Mart Plus has free shipping on any amount, free same day delivery, fuel savings, streaming services, more. It just doesn’t support my current needs so as of now I am not a member.

I would recommend that anyone who wants to save money and take advantage of membership reward programs to make sure they read and research the pros and cons before signing up. Usually, places have a free trial to test out and see if it works for you.

Chewy is my favorite place to shop for my dogs and I have been very impressed with their rewards program. I signed up for Chewy Plus this year and at 49$ a year it has already paid for itself in 5 months. I have our dog food set on auto ship every two weeks, I get 5% off with auto ship and 5% back with chewy plus. Chewy also has promotions where if you spend 100$ or more you get a 30$ gift card. When this option is available for the dog food we use I order the auto ship order early. This year I’ve saved around 400$ with Chewy and I would recommend it for anyone with animals.

I love Amazon and they will always be one of my go to places for on-line shopping. I have Amazon Prime and I love Prime Video and other benefits it has to offer. I’m always looking for Prime deals and love the free shipping with no minimal amount.

I use Amazons subscribe and save option to save money on my regular items. I set this up to get additional discounts, its free and you can cancel anytime. You start out getting 5% off an item and it increases to 10% or 15% with 5 or more items scheduled to be delivered on the same day. Sometimes they have a 15% off or more one time coupon for the first time you order an item. I remember the first time I ordered a bag of dog food from there they had 40% off the first bag with “subscribe and save”. It just comes down to looking for deals and trying to find the best price. I have saved a lot of money with Amazon through the years!

I am not currently a member of any big box stores like Sam’s Club, Bj’s, or Costco. But if you want to buy in bulk and have a large family it would be worth checking out and exploring the benefits.

I have never had a credit card but most places nowadays have a credit card option with other perks in addition to their other store offers. It would also be worth checking out to save money.

My Grocery List Process:

• Take inventory of what I have and what I need.
• Set a budget.
• Make two lists: one of needs and one of wants.
• Check sales at different stores to get the best deal.
• Check reward benefits and coupons for stores selected.
• If needs list is under budget, start adding items from want list.
• Always budget with regular price, just incase sale price or coupon doesn’t work.
• After shopping scan receipts to reward apps and reap the benefits of my labor!

I am still looking for ways to save and expand my knowledge. I will be expanding in the next post on what apps I use and how I’ve used them to make money. I am still learning new things about how they work and look forward to sharing.

Look hard for the deal to save money but look harder for Jesus to save your soul.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 
Matthew 6:24, NIV.

Please leave a comment below and share some of your favorite money saving tips. I would love to hear!