I tried to fall off the financial freedom wagon this week. Thankfully, God intervened. I am not sure if this is a confession or a testimony. It's probably both. I am still sort of stunned.
One thing after another has hit our emergency fund. It seems that as soon as we get the fund back where it belongs, something else unexpectedly breaks down. The same week that our daughter needed a major medical procedure, the pipe under the kitchen sink sprung a leak, and my husband's car broke down. Then, I took my vehicle in for routine care, and that bill was higher than anticipated. I went grocery shopping without a well-calculated list, and that bill was higher than anticipated. I took the kids to the dentist and learned that 2 children needed advanced care. One could be treated that day, so that bill was higher than anticipated. The 2nd child could be treated as early as next week...and there was no budget plan for that expense.
I knew our account had a little buffer to cover some of these unplanned amounts, but probably not all of them. I sat down to calculate the facts.
Sure enough, when all expenses cleared the account, we would be overdrawn. Ugh. Oh the regret of buying more at the grocery store, and rushing into those car expenses. I should have known better! We were so proud of ourselves for not agreeing to every suggested car repair....only the essential ones, and my husband did some himself that weekend to save labor costs. We should have used that same wisdom to wait another weekend for the oil changes on my vehicle. I wish I had been better about saving for medical expenses when we were healthy and not using those line items on other things....we could certainly have used those funds now!
I don't live in regret long, and much prefer to take action. I am a do-er! Something had to be done about this situation. I brainstormed all my options and came up short. We had shredded all of our credit cards, so I couldn't even put the upcoming dental expenses on credit. I really didn't want to add debt anyway.....that would be going backwards after we have been working so hard to stay within our means. Alas, it looked like the only logical option. Shame on me, I would have to learn from this lesson and not do this again. I looked for the easiest option....the line-of-credit loan we have with one of the credit card companies. They are always suggesting we borrow more. I called up and requested some funds be deposited to our account from that loan. I rationalized in my head that it would cover the overdrawn expenses, cover the upcoming dental and medical bills, and we could save some for the future medical and travel expenses that are looming around us. I didn't like it, but I rationalized it until I felt better about the decision. I even rationalized it to God, as to why I needed to disobey his commands about money, explaining to Him that I didn't see any other option!
God declined my rationale.
Even though I know His ways are higher than my ways, I often try to do things my way instead. This time, I was actually relieved that He intervened to stop my plans. (I am a bit excited to be growing in this manner, as altering my plans has been a big hurdle of mine....so much so, that my husband has repeatedly suggested I learn the word "tentatively," because I react so poorly to altered plans). This time was different. From the moment I heard NO, I sat still in peace. I knew God was in control, and he would supply all our needs.
The customer service rep sounded puzzled as he explained that even though we had been a customer for the past 8 years, and even though we have a perfect payment history, and even though our credit report shows a perfect payment history on all of our accounts, the creditor has denied our request to use additional funds due to the amount of overall debt we carry. I actually found that answer to be a little humorous, considering we had just decreased that debt significantly these last couple months.....imagine what they would have seen a few months ago! He then nervously began to explain that they have a new policy that says if we are denied additional funds like this, then they must close our account. I was almost surprised, except for the knowledge that credit card companies are doing all sorts of weird things lately. I thought, wow, they just made this really easy on me and closed the account that I really didn't want anyway. And, they made it really easy on me to know that borrowing more debt is not a course of action I want to take anymore! Well, Ok then. The rep asked if I had any further questions. Nope. We are no longer in business together! Have a good day.
Ok, God, I have no idea what to do now.
Just then, the phone rang. It was my husband telling me he was stuck in traffic and would be arriving home later than usual. I poured out all of the details of all of this financial mess that we were in, and apologized and whined, and panicked all together. It was a tough confession, because we had just had an argument the night before, and I accused him of dumping the responsibility of managing the finances on me while he only complained there was never enough money. I had to admit he had a valid complaint this time, as there was not enough money! My husband listened, asked a few questions to clarify, took a deep breath, and said we would figure it out when he got home. He is a thinker, not a do-er. He likes to think about things awhile before he responds. Being stuck in traffic should give him lots of time to think!
I sat down at the computer and started gathering all the exact numbers, and running the calculations, so that I could show him exactly where things stood when he got home. Something was not adding up. Or, it wasn't subtracting. I don't know which. The math was not working out, because my calculations were showing that we were not going to be overdrawn. How do you go from being $300 overdrawn to $70 extra? It didn't make sense. We don't even have a budget expense to equal those numbers, to be a quick error source. I ran the numbers twice and called my husband. I told him what I was trying to do and suggested he double check my numbers when he gets home. I don't usually have a problem with math, so what happened here?
I still do not know what happened with the numbers. I know God intervened. I got my wish and my husband tuned in to our finances. We became a financial team. We crunched the numbers together and sure enough our account was in balance. We discussed ways we could have been wiser in the past, and ways to be wiser immediately in the present. We both tracked the bank account every day this week, watching the funds go where they were designated....and watching the balance remain positive. We did not overlook something.
We are not overdrawn. We did not add any new debt. We've got one more debt account closed, actually (but of course we still have to pay it off). We've learned some great lessons. Most important of all, I learned a lesson about being still and waiting for God's timing, for he shall supply all our needs...
One thing after another has hit our emergency fund. It seems that as soon as we get the fund back where it belongs, something else unexpectedly breaks down. The same week that our daughter needed a major medical procedure, the pipe under the kitchen sink sprung a leak, and my husband's car broke down. Then, I took my vehicle in for routine care, and that bill was higher than anticipated. I went grocery shopping without a well-calculated list, and that bill was higher than anticipated. I took the kids to the dentist and learned that 2 children needed advanced care. One could be treated that day, so that bill was higher than anticipated. The 2nd child could be treated as early as next week...and there was no budget plan for that expense.
I knew our account had a little buffer to cover some of these unplanned amounts, but probably not all of them. I sat down to calculate the facts.
Sure enough, when all expenses cleared the account, we would be overdrawn. Ugh. Oh the regret of buying more at the grocery store, and rushing into those car expenses. I should have known better! We were so proud of ourselves for not agreeing to every suggested car repair....only the essential ones, and my husband did some himself that weekend to save labor costs. We should have used that same wisdom to wait another weekend for the oil changes on my vehicle. I wish I had been better about saving for medical expenses when we were healthy and not using those line items on other things....we could certainly have used those funds now!
I don't live in regret long, and much prefer to take action. I am a do-er! Something had to be done about this situation. I brainstormed all my options and came up short. We had shredded all of our credit cards, so I couldn't even put the upcoming dental expenses on credit. I really didn't want to add debt anyway.....that would be going backwards after we have been working so hard to stay within our means. Alas, it looked like the only logical option. Shame on me, I would have to learn from this lesson and not do this again. I looked for the easiest option....the line-of-credit loan we have with one of the credit card companies. They are always suggesting we borrow more. I called up and requested some funds be deposited to our account from that loan. I rationalized in my head that it would cover the overdrawn expenses, cover the upcoming dental and medical bills, and we could save some for the future medical and travel expenses that are looming around us. I didn't like it, but I rationalized it until I felt better about the decision. I even rationalized it to God, as to why I needed to disobey his commands about money, explaining to Him that I didn't see any other option!
God declined my rationale.
Even though I know His ways are higher than my ways, I often try to do things my way instead. This time, I was actually relieved that He intervened to stop my plans. (I am a bit excited to be growing in this manner, as altering my plans has been a big hurdle of mine....so much so, that my husband has repeatedly suggested I learn the word "tentatively," because I react so poorly to altered plans). This time was different. From the moment I heard NO, I sat still in peace. I knew God was in control, and he would supply all our needs.
The customer service rep sounded puzzled as he explained that even though we had been a customer for the past 8 years, and even though we have a perfect payment history, and even though our credit report shows a perfect payment history on all of our accounts, the creditor has denied our request to use additional funds due to the amount of overall debt we carry. I actually found that answer to be a little humorous, considering we had just decreased that debt significantly these last couple months.....imagine what they would have seen a few months ago! He then nervously began to explain that they have a new policy that says if we are denied additional funds like this, then they must close our account. I was almost surprised, except for the knowledge that credit card companies are doing all sorts of weird things lately. I thought, wow, they just made this really easy on me and closed the account that I really didn't want anyway. And, they made it really easy on me to know that borrowing more debt is not a course of action I want to take anymore! Well, Ok then. The rep asked if I had any further questions. Nope. We are no longer in business together! Have a good day.
Ok, God, I have no idea what to do now.
Just then, the phone rang. It was my husband telling me he was stuck in traffic and would be arriving home later than usual. I poured out all of the details of all of this financial mess that we were in, and apologized and whined, and panicked all together. It was a tough confession, because we had just had an argument the night before, and I accused him of dumping the responsibility of managing the finances on me while he only complained there was never enough money. I had to admit he had a valid complaint this time, as there was not enough money! My husband listened, asked a few questions to clarify, took a deep breath, and said we would figure it out when he got home. He is a thinker, not a do-er. He likes to think about things awhile before he responds. Being stuck in traffic should give him lots of time to think!
I sat down at the computer and started gathering all the exact numbers, and running the calculations, so that I could show him exactly where things stood when he got home. Something was not adding up. Or, it wasn't subtracting. I don't know which. The math was not working out, because my calculations were showing that we were not going to be overdrawn. How do you go from being $300 overdrawn to $70 extra? It didn't make sense. We don't even have a budget expense to equal those numbers, to be a quick error source. I ran the numbers twice and called my husband. I told him what I was trying to do and suggested he double check my numbers when he gets home. I don't usually have a problem with math, so what happened here?
I still do not know what happened with the numbers. I know God intervened. I got my wish and my husband tuned in to our finances. We became a financial team. We crunched the numbers together and sure enough our account was in balance. We discussed ways we could have been wiser in the past, and ways to be wiser immediately in the present. We both tracked the bank account every day this week, watching the funds go where they were designated....and watching the balance remain positive. We did not overlook something.
We are not overdrawn. We did not add any new debt. We've got one more debt account closed, actually (but of course we still have to pay it off). We've learned some great lessons. Most important of all, I learned a lesson about being still and waiting for God's timing, for he shall supply all our needs...
That was a great testimony!!! God is so good and His plans are always better than ours. :) Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are learning to trust God. And those lines of credit - very bad ideas because of the very high interest rates!
ReplyDelete