You’d Better Spend Your Money and Enjoy Your Life!

My Story

In August 2020, The US Department of Treasury deferred employee Social Security taxes for September through December 2020 until April 2021. In September 2020, people were caught off guard by the bump in their checks- either because they didn’t know about the increase or because they didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

I counselled those who didn’t need that extra money, to set it to the side, knowing that in January 2021, repayment would begin. That’s what I was going to do. For some reason, it was being promoted as extra holiday money- which is awful. Every year, tens of thousands of people enter the new year deeper in debt due to holiday overspend, so how was this helping? Taxes were deferred, not waived.

In May 2021, someone asked what he should do with the deferred tax money he set aside at the end of 2020. I recommended he hold on to it since we were (and are) still amid a pandemic- especially if he didn’t need it to make ends meet. Someone else completed discounted what I said, and told him to spend his money and enjoy his life. My mouth almost fell open.

Spend Your Money

That’s why so many people (not all) are broke- spending their money and living their life—buying cars, clothes, food, and entertainment and putting very little (if any) in the bank.  Did you know 29.2% of adults in the U.S. say they are not saving any of their income? That’s almost a third of our population. Due to the pandemic savings increased in 2020 but savings is expected to decline as society normalizes and spending resumes (CNBC) in 2021.

Small Savings, Remarkable Results

You probably work hard, and you should. Do all you can do while you can do it. But the fundamentals a healthy financial situation is to consistent earnings and saving. Scripture says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow” (Proverbs 13:11 NIV). You can’t win trying to get over. Even if it looks like it, God won’t have it so. 

And what a tragedy to live your life obsessing about the riches of the world and not obsessing about the riches in Christ; to gain the whole world and lose your soul (Matthew 16:26). Scripture nor I am advocating that; nor any get rich quick schemes, but sound financial principles. 

One thing that Proverbs 13 points to is the importance of consistency- in working and in earning. It’s important to do both. That’s how compound interest grows after all- little by little, year after year. There are no guarantees, but the discipline to ride out highs and lows, and remain consistent, is how investments double, triple, and quadruple over time. And although it is not the popular method of saving, today, even tucking away a little here and there, adds up. There are dozens of examples of janitors, teachers, secretaries, and people of modest occupations amassing estates worth millions of dollars. John Maxwell says, “Small disciplines repeated with consistency everyday lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”

Save Your Money and Enjoy Your Life

Here are a few things to help you create a life you can really enjoy. Number one, be content (soul satisfied) in Jesus Christ- our provider.  No amount of money can do that. 

Two, save. Don’t spend up every penny you gather. Make it easy to save and difficult to spend. Setup direct deposit into an account that is exclusively reserved for saving is a proven way to increase your chances of success. Once everything is setup, it’s automated and hands off; there’s a good chance you won’t mess with it.

Make it difficult to spend your savings, by not linking it to your checking account and the destroy the ATM/debit card associated with it. Most saving accounts don’t have ATM/debit cards associated with them, to promote saving, but some do. If your savings account has a card and you think you can exercise self-control, instead of destroying your card, put it away with your important papers. If you don’t you may be tempted to overspend because you checking account will auto roll into your saving account to cover any shortage on purchases (like an overdraft does), or you may end up doing a quick mobile transfer from savings to checking (t’s so easy these days- but easy is not what you want, here); or you can just whip out your ATM/debit card in a pinch (reinforcing the same habit of overspending, that you’re trying to break). So, make it easy to do the one (save) and difficult to do the other (spend).

Conclusion

You don’t have to live on beans; but you do have to exercise the discipline of consistency during the times of abundance to weather lean times (Genesis 41). So, save while you can. Take advantage of the many reasonably priced things you can do to enjoy your life, now without compromising the enjoyment of life later. Trust that God will honor your consistent efforts.