Continuing along the same lines as the last few posts there is another angle of observation when it comes to saying “No” to ourselves and discerning how to manage disagreements that are inevitable when it comes to money. That observation is that it is easy to say “No” when “No-thing” is there.
When Shawna and I were broke, or “flat broke” as I like to say it, saying “no” was the only option for a long time. We had maxed out our credit, didn’t have any money in the bank, and were behind on most of our bills. It was like that for quite a while. So the choice of whether or not we took vacation was very simple – the answer was “no” because there was NO money in the bank.
That was a very stressful season in our life and we learned so much from our mistakes along the way. When we finally started digging out of the hole I started thinking how much easier it would be to make decisions with money in the bank. WRONG! It became more difficult. Since we had been through so much difficulty each new discretionary spending opportunity presented new questions or concerns in our minds:
- Is this wise use of what we’ve been blessed with?
- Should we wait?
- What if the car breaks down or we get sick and need this money in our emergency fund?
- What other plan or dream could we be funding with this money?
- What if we put this toward paying down the debt or the house
- the list goes on and on…
Throw in the different personalities and priorities between two married people and answering the questions becomes even more difficult. It takes open, honest, CONTROLLED expression of true feelings, working together, being considerate of one another, and prayer to come to a peaceful mutual decision.
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