I turned to the Old Testament in the King James version of the bible for some answers to this question. “Have I been you prideful in my poverty?” The answer is YES, I have.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
I didn’t realize that I was prideful in my poverty. Then it hit me. I looked down on others or shamed them in my mind, or hinted to them, on how they spent money , or how I believed, they had wasted their money.
Vacations and trips, was one of my ideas of wastefulness, but probably the biggest one for me was wasting money on worthless food. I prided myself that my family would eat fresh ground pancakes almost every day and for the fraction of the cost of cold cereal. I figured out that I could make homemade bread for $.15 a loaf. I canned, cooked from scratch and fed my family of 7 on a very tight budget. Now you are saying what is wrong with that? As the saying goes “rice and beans, beans and rice” that is the way to get out of debt.
Nothing is wrong with cutting the cost of food. It is when I took pride in myself and mostly looked down on others. Then it was prideful. How was I ever going to feed the poor if I stayed poor? If I stayed in my little broken down house and never made progress, how could I serve the world? How could I ever go on a service mission, if I was continually just surviving from paycheck to paycheck?
I realized that I needed to open my eyes and make progress. Do hard things, harder things than I ever imagined. If I could handle $500 a month and handle it well, then I could handle $5000 a month. If I had $5000 a month and was able to serve more, help others handle their own $500 a month and leverage their hard times. Then I could teach them to handle $5000 a month… If I could do it.
Family is most important. What if you send your children into the world of adulthood and they can’t handle their own $500 a month? It is gone in a matter of days and they don’t have the means to get to work, buy their own groceries, and struggle. Yes, struggle just as I have and they have no answers other than to go find and job, and beat themselves up every day because they don’t and will not ever, yes I mean ever, make enough.
The best way I know how to teach others to live more than paycheck to paycheck is teach myself to handle my own money. Yes, by example, and when I have peace of mind , I can have peace in my heart. I have found I need to be productive, work hard and open my eyes to an opportunity when you see it. If my mind is all closed up and I poo poo others if it is unfamiliar, or just can’t be, then there is no progress. Then make the plunge of trying even when you don’t believe in yourself. Do what it takes to get out of your own way, open your mind.
Yes living on $500 a month is a skill. Now go earn $5000 a month and live on $500 a month and that takes integrity.
If you feel shame that you have money, then that is pride. We all need money. Learn to treat your money with kindness. Take care of your money, like it is your friend. Even a penny has value. Do not shame a penny, nickel or dime. Treat your $1 bill like you would a $100 bill. Your money should be your friend. It will work for you in this current of life. Stay in the current full fledge current of life with your penny, your $100 bill and everything in between.
I have had to think of money differently, Not shaming money has helped me personally with the pride issues that are deeply embedded in my soul.
Now, I must remember and heed my own advice.