a new pair of shoes

With money I'm Jeckle and Hyde or maybe Elinor and Marianne. On the one hand, spending money gives me anxiety. However, I love new things. But I've made a discovery. Using planning, patience and prayer to be thoughtful and practical, I can be very frugal and not feel anxiety, when I really need a new pair of shoes. 

Planning: In the beginning, our food budget was minuscule, making it necessary for me to plan wisely or be hungry. Additionally, we had no budget for household stuff, children's clothing, and so on. If we needed spiral notebooks or new socks they came from my food budget. It really never was just for food, but to this day we call it the food budget. I learned to buy produce in season, paper and pencils in July, swimsuits in August, coats in May, and keep my eyes open all year for Christmas and birthday gifts. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" Matthew 6:19-21

Patience: Impulse buying got me into trouble more than once. Now I save up and try to find the best deal. Sometimes I just do without and find that I didn't need the coveted widget after all. "...we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:" Romans 5:3-4

Prayer: Feelings of anxiety and fear are not of God. I learned to let go and  trust that God will provide. When we were first married, we rented a house with no washer or drier. We had very little money to spend on a set and the only one at the thrift store had a gas drier; we needed electric. Quite soon, we were out taking a drive and saw a garage sale with a nearly new set from Kennmore. We bought it with money to spare and used it for over ten years. "And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven,  shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith" Matthew 6:28-30

I've needed a new pair of Birkenstocks for over a year. They are the only shoes that don't hurt my feet. All last winter I wore an old pair of Birkie Sandals through rain and snow. Buuurrrr! I just could not find the right pair at a price I was willing to pay. Last month on our Staycation, we drove through a little town near Zion Nation Park. I yelled at my husband, "Stop the car!" In all of Utah, I think this is the only Hippie store, and it's pretty close to my home. They had what I was looking for at a good price. However, I still didn't have enough money. I went home and combed the internet one more time. No--this was the best price. Still I've waited 6 more weeks before making a decision. I'll bought them last Friday. They'll last for years. I'll love em.

Money does not have to be my master nor I its slave. I can use it as the tool it is with prudence and peace.