Give all you can

I love this quote from John Wesley.  It captures the way I think about money, especially in this season of being a single-income family.


In fact, it was after a household budget meeting that I became really passionate about raising money for victims of the famine in Africa.  You see, I'm not doing so well on the two budget areas I feel most responsible for - Groceries and Gifts.  Let's just say that if I stuck to the budgeted amount, we wouldn't be eating for the last 6 weeks of 2011!  But, I've also realised that this year I'm feeding a family of four (and babies eat a lot!), and that I'm trying to be as wise as I can about the way I shop and prepare meals for our family.  


As I thought about my weekly grocery budget and looked at some figures from ALWS, I started to realise that what I was spending could be multiplied many times over:

• $2 will feed a family of six for one day
• $156 will provide 100kg of food - enough for 1428 meals!

Have a look at this short video to see some more information about the huge impact of the African famine:

And so, while we're still planning to eat, I'm not so eager to go out for takeaway, and do I really need those donuts?  Am I trying to save all I can so that I can give all I can?  It's a good challenge to all of us as we go into the 'silly season'.  May God give each of us the wisdom we need when it comes to how we make, save, give and spend our money.