How a community can help your finances.
I have written before on my crazy ideas on how a community (a church specifically) can help one another financially, these are a little more down to earth. Being a good steward of your money goes against the flow of our materialistic consumption driven culture. It is hard to be the one who is looked at as cheap or broke, even if you aren’t. A solid group of like minded people can help support you in times of trouble.
- Like minded people are positive peer pressure. — I get asked at work at least once a week when I am buying a new PS4 or Xbox one. I hear the guys talking about the new games and I really want to regress to my bachelor days of spending the whole weekend in my room playing games. This isn’t the kind of peer pressure I need to be a good steward of my money, let alone my time.Just last week I wanted to go out to eat and asked one of the people that we were going to hang out with if they wanted to go. They said they had already spent their eating out budget, and so I felt influenced to save our money and eat at home before we all got back together to go hiking.A group of people that are all thinking the same way can help support you when you are feel like the only one not burying themselves in debt.
- You community can give you someone to do things with. — When everyone else wants to go out to eat and waste money on things you can gather your community to do a meal in together, or find an activity that doesn’t cost money.
Years ago our routine was to get together with two other couples and have a family style dinner and play board games. We saved money by eating together and had a blast creating memories and friendships.
- Your community can be your financial support.– As I have written before I think the church could do a better job of being the emergency fund for one another. Apart from that we can be a network for one another to help find jobs, get work or share the load when things happen.
It seems like every couple in our church is adopting right now and they are being supported, in part, by the community around them.
If you are going to be a good steward of your money, time and talent. It is very helpful to get a community around you to help. Let us know in the comments how you have been helped by you community.
Jason administrator
Jason is the founder of Considering Stewardship he has a passion for helping people to steward all of their resources as gifts from God. Time, money, and Talent.
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