Financial Peace: Small Decisions, Lasting Freedom
During my years serving as a Chaplain at Simmons, there are certain struggles that come up again and again. One of the most common is financial stress.
Money has a way of touching almost every area of our lives. When finances are tight, the stress rarely remains just a "bank account issue." We carry it home. It can create tension in a marriage, affect our attitude at work, keep us awake at night, and leave us wondering how we are ever going to get ahead.
I certainly don't claim to be a financial adviser. I'm just a Chaplain who happens to be married to a beautiful and brilliant accountant! I know just enough about finances to be dangerous, haha.
Here's something I do know...what financial stress feels like.
My wife, Miss Val, and I entered marriage with a significant amount of debt, mostly student loans (and mostly mine). When we graduated, we owed $67,000 to Sallie Mae. Like a lot of people, we simply assumed this debt was going to be part of our lives for the next 20+ years. The payments would come in. We'd pay them. And one day, a very long time from now, we would finally be finished.
Miss Val was working in Accounting at the Simmons Home Office when we had our first child, Caleb. She loved the work and we really didn't have any other plans except for us both to be working. We started having discussions about Miss Val staying home once she was pregnant with our third child, and honestly, the math didn't math. We couldn't cover the payments on one income because of this extra "mortgage" payment that was our student loans.
Someone had given us Dave Ramsey's book, "Total Money Makeover" for a wedding gift and up to that point, it had served as nothing more than a coffee coaster. We began reading about budgeting, eliminating debt, saving, giving and telling every dollar where it was going instead of wondering where it went.
And then came the painful part. We actually looked at the numbers. That's never quite as much fun as it sounds!
The big expenses weren't surprising. What surprised us were all the little things. Lunch out every day. Something(s) we didn't really need. Another small purchase here and there. Did we really need more cows? (easy there...) None of them seemed significant individually. Together, they told a different story. We discovered two things: 1) We had no idea where our money was going, and 2) We could see that there was potential for more margin in our lives than we realized.
The problem wasn't simply how much money was coming in. We needed to become more intentional with the money already in our hands.
So we made a budget.
I'll be honest. There's a pretty long list of things I enjoy more than sitting down and working on a budget. But that simple discipline began changing our relationship with money.
We cut some things. We sacrificed some things. We started asking ourselves whether today's purchase was more important than tomorrow's freedom. At the same time, we didn't stop living. We budgeted money for date nights. We saved loose change for day trips. We found ways to enjoy life while still moving toward our goal of being out of debt in two years. That was the vision that was so compelling and made the sacrifice real – can you imagine what financial peace will look like in two years? We can enjoy, save and give like no one else. That was the motivation.
This was hanging on our closet door. It was the first thing i saw every morning and it was motivating! Clearly we saved money on printer ink!
And slowly, something began to change. The debt started going down. What once seemed impossible became possible. We started to attack the debt with intensity. This picture to the right was our constant reminder: a hand-drawn pyramid on a piece of paper with a picture of William Wallace from Braveheart on it and the words "Operation Financial FREEDOM" across the top. Every $2500 we paid off, we filled in and it was onto the next. In 22 months, we paid off the student loans that we once believed would follow us for decades. To use Dave Ramsey's words, "We gave Sallie Mae an eviction notice."
Looking back, I don't regret the things we didn't buy. I don't regret the meals we ate at home. (We ate ALOT of Simmons chicken...and still do). I don't regret saying "not right now" to things I wanted. The freedom was worth the sacrifice.
Not only did we grow financially, but our marriage got so much stronger through this experience. Money is one of the Top 2 reasons married couple fight. I'll let you guess what the other reason is! When we started working together and pulling in the same direction with our money, it gave us the ability to deal with just about anything - together.
Maybe Your Story Is Different
Your financial situation may look completely different from mine. Everyone has a unique story when it comes to money. Maybe you're facing medical bills you never expected. Maybe inflation has stretched your household budget. Maybe you're trying to recover from decisions you wish you could change. Maybe you're doing fine financially, but you know you could be more intentional about saving, giving or preparing for the future.
Wherever you are, here's the encouragement I want to give you:
Don't be discouraged by where you're starting. Just start.
Write down what is coming in.
Write down what is going out.
Decide where your money needs to go, instead of wondering where it went.
Build some emergency savings.
Start attacking your debt.
“Anything above zero compounds.”
If you're married, sit down together and talk honestly about your goals. You don't have to solve everything this month. Financial freedom usually isn't one big decision. It's hundreds of smaller decisions made consistently over time.
That's what happened for us.
But There Is Something Bigger Than Money
As important as financial health is, I don't want us to confuse financial peace with real peace. You could have no debt, plenty of savings, a tremendous retirement account and still not have peace.
Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters... You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24
Money makes a terrible master. Jesus makes a wonderful Savior.
The goal isn't simply to accumulate more or even to become debt free. The deeper question is whether we are faithfully managing what God has entrusted to us.
Money is a tool. We can use it to care for our families. We can use it to prepare for the future. We can use it to help someone who is struggling. We can use it to give generously. And yes, we can use some of it to enjoy the blessings God has given us.
But money was never designed to own us.
Take One Step
If finances are creating stress in your life right now, don't try to fix everything today.
Take one step. Small decisions have a way of becoming significant changes when they're repeated long enough.
You can make a different decision with the next dollar.
And if you're feeling overwhelmed by financial pressure, please remember something else: you don't have to carry that stress alone. Reach out. Talk with someone you trust. And know that your Simmons Chaplain is always available to listen, encourage, pray with you and walk alongside you.
Financial peace doesn't happen overnight. But freedom often begins with one simple decision:
I'm going to stop letting my money control me and start being intentional with what God has placed in my hands.
Final thought
You may not be able to change yesterday's financial decisions. But you can make a wise decision today. And then another tomorrow.
Keep going.
Helpful Resources:
BUDGETING TOOL: Every Dollar
This is the budget app that helped us structure and manage our money so much better. There is a free version that is more manual and a paid version that connects directly to your bank account.
ARTICLE: Getting Out of Debt With The Snowball Plan
ARTICLE: The Truth About Debt Reduction