Excerpts from Freedom of Simplicity: "Planned Spending"

As I have been taking an inventory of how I spend my finances, this portion of the book has been very enlightening. Foster gives five steps to planned spending:

1. Know where your money goes. Can you recall how much you spend in a certain category such as entertainment or food?
2. Develop a budget. This will help with number 1. A budget helps you make the decision about where your money goes.
3. Build accountability into your budget. Treat each of your spending categories as if they were a bank account where you have a monthly deposit and withdraw without going over.
4. If you exceed your budget, don't be discouraged. You will get better as you continue.
5. Put your giving to Christ and His Kingdom in a different frame of mind from other categories. Let the desire to give increase as much as possible.

Other helpful tips:

• Don't let your wants determine your buying patterns.
• Decrease your operating budget and increase your giving budget.
• Look for ways to cut back expenses instead of increasing income.
• When you decide you need to buy an item, seek God in prayer about the need before rushing out to the store and buying it.
• No impulsive buying!
• Buy things for the usefulness rather than their status.

I'm using these budgeting worksheets here to help me.

All of these things taken into consideration can help simplify our lives and lead us to financial freedom!