Claire L. Eva, Assistant Director General Conference Stewardship Ministries
Summary: How we spend or save our money each day does make a difference in our future savings and that difference can be astonishing!
When I was small, lack taught me to be resourceful. I would gather soda bottles to take to Mr. Green’s store. Two cents deposit per bottle. Several bottles in arm would be like having the purchase power of a queen! I could buy candy—three pieces per penny. There were always ways to find a few cents to buy a treat or a gift. I could run to the store for Mrs. Duffy or sell candy apples for the nearby ?apple ladies?—sell nine, get one free!
That was then. Today, a penny has little value. I seldom stop to pick up the stray one mindlessly dropped on the sidewalk. Nuisances in the desk drawer or in your pocket!
Inventor, philosopher, ambassador, Benjamin Franklin, once said, ?A penny saved is a penny earned.? Let’s modify what Mr. Franklin said and update to a dollar. Does even a dollar saved make a difference?
According to Ron Blue, author of The New Master Your Money (See review on page 14), ?A dollar spent today does not take a dollar out of the future; it takes multiple dollars. Only $2.74 per day spent on nonproductive purchases results in an overspending of $1,000 per year. If that $1,000 ? were invested to earn 12.5 percent compounded annually (such as an IRA), then the $2.74 per day cost me the $1,000,000 that I could have had. The next time you make a spontaneous purchase, ask yourself, what does this really cost me?? (p. 47)
The key in this quote is ?nonproductive.? We need little rewards from time to time, but how often do we spend without really counting the cost? That one million dollars or whatever amount we wisely put aside could one day give us financial freedom and enable us to share God’s blessings with a world truly in need.
It’s something to think about, especially since we are predominantly God’s stewards and heaven investors.
