Budget Wisdom from the Money Saving Mom, with Crystal Paine

Could three percent of your budget make an impact for the kingdom? Is it possible for your grocery bill to go down even as prices go way up? You’re going to love this super practical edition of Grounded with our savvy guest Crystal Paine. You may know her as the Money Saving Mom. Find practical budget tips and inspiration to use what you already have to give hope to others.

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Episode Notes:

21 Days to a More Disciplined Life by Crystal Paine

“Thriving in Love and Money” episode

“Managing Finances in Difficult Times Part 1”

“Managing Finances in Difficult Times Part 2”

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Introduction: Finances

Erin Davis: Welcome to The Price Is Right. I'm your host, Erin Davis, my other cohosts Portia and Dannah couldn't be with us this morning. Happy Labor Day. 

Now, I know that this is not The Price Is Right, but I've always wanted to be on The Price Is Right. So, we're gonna have our very own Grounded edition this morning because this is a really practical episode of Grounded.

Crystal Paine is with us. You might know her as the Money Saving Mom. She is here with some wisdom for how we can better steward the financial resources that God has given us. But before we talk to Crystal, I have the very best surprise. I hope you're ready for it . . . ta da! Our very favorite Dominican sister living in Canada, our only Dominican sister living in Canada, that I know, she's back in the hot seat. Welcome back Alejandra.

Alejandra Slemin: I am so happy to be here. I do. I'm getting teary eyed, Erin. I never thought I’d be back.

Erin: Oh, we have missed you. It felt like you were gone for 100 months. I know you were just taking a break for the summer. But just last week, we had some comments saying, “Where is Alejandra? And how is she?” So, know that your Grounded sisters have been thinking of you and praying for you and missing you. And we'd love a quick update on how your family's doing, and how's David's health? What do we need to know to catch up on your life?

Alejandra: You know, that's how it felt. It felt like 100 years that I was gone. But while I was gone, certainly I was watching Grounded. I could feel the love, receive the messages from the Grounded friends, and it feels so so good. And it's so good to be back. We are doing much better. It was certainly a mountain climb. But hey, we weren't alone. We have the community around us. We’ve got God's people around us, and we have felt your prayers. So, this is a dream come true. I’m so thankful to be here today. 

Erin: You know what? There’s somebody watching or listening that is at the base of their own mountain and just seeing your face and your joy this morning is going to be all the hope and perspective they need. So, I know that you have been watching, Alejandra, so you know that recently we've had several heart heavy shows in a row here on Grounded. And that's because this is a heavy time in the world for so many of us. 

But we wanted to do a bit of a shift this morning. This episode is going to be like I said earlier, really, really practical. And we need those two because we don't just need perspective on world events like what's happening in Afghanistan. And let me just not miss the opportunity to remind you that our brothers and sisters in Christ still desperately need our prayers. The news is gonna move on from what's happening in Afghanistan and in some ways has, but we have a responsibility to our brothers and sisters. We've been talking about that. But we don't just need hope and perspective for those kinds of things. We need biblical perspective for every area of our lives, including how we manage our money.

Alejandra: How we manage our money is certainly very important. If you haven't listened to those episodes, I really encourage you to do so because they're very powerful. And I think even the one today, because consumer prices have increased the most in 13 years just this summer. I don't know about you, Erin, or the people that are there listening or watching us, but prices have gone so high. In our church we just have this little group of hand me downs. Because with four children of different ages, we can use some clothes from other friends that are in good use. And I'm sure the same is happening in your homes, in your communities, like with food. Oh, my goodness, it's quite gone. It's gone high.

Erin: Yeah, food prices are where I'm feeling it the most in my grocery budget. I already was trying to maximize our finances. We don't eat out a lot. I was already trying to do a lot on that front to manage food costs because feeding four boys is expensive without inflation. But lately . . .

Alejandra: Mission impossible.

Erin: Yeah, lately our grocery bills have been truly shocking. And so, I've been looking for creative ways to make that money stretch even further because let me tell you, they are hungry. So, the answer is not to feed them less. I've got to figure out how to buy the groceries. 

Alejandra: Canned food. 

Erin: That’s right. So before we talk about all of that with Crystal Paine, who again, you might know her as the Money Saving Mom, I promised you that we were going to do The Price is Right here. And so I want to do the Grounded version of The Price is Right, Alejandra. I'm gonna throw some items in I think every household has to buy. And I just want you to tell me what you think they cost. Now, let me tell you how I came up with my answers. I used the Walmart grocery app for Michigan, where I am.

Alejandra: Okay. I like that. 

Erin: So, I know that you're in Canada. It's not going to be exactly the same. 

Alejandra: We have a Walmart too. We're in Canada. I'll do my prices in Canadian, or what do you prefer?

Erin: Do Canadian, they won't match mine. But that's okay. And then, you know, we've got women watching in Africa. We've got women watching all over the United States. We've got women watching in South America. So, this might be interesting for us to compare notes because we're all buying gallons of milk, and let's see what their cost is. So that's my first item, Alejandra, is: how much do you think a gallon of 2% is? Which is what I buy at my house strictly because it's cheaper than whole milk. What do you think 2% percent milk costs? 

Alejandra: I will say $7 for us.

Erin: $7? Oh my gosh. Well, here it’s $3.02. That’s amazing. 

Alejandra: Okay, I'm moving to the states. I’m moving.

Erin: Okay, let's see about this one. I want to know what you think a loaf of bread costs. And listen, I'm talking about the cheap stuff. The stuff that makes the best peanut and jelly—just white, regular old bread, a loaf of bread. What is your guess?

Alejandra: What, the stuff you shouldn't eat? Right? But we do. 

Erin: Right. Totally, refined that stuff. 

Alejandra: I will say white $2.50? 

Erin: Wow. Okay. 88 cents here. So, you're, you're at least double.

Alejandra: How have we survived?

Erin: I don’t know. Okay, a pound of hamburger. Which you know what? There are many nights that I think if I just have a pound of hamburger, I can make 11,000 things, but I don't have a pound of hamburger. I'm sunk. So, one pound of hamburger. How much per pound do you think? 

Alejandra: Oh, is it $5? 

Erin: Hey, you did good there. There's a range like you know if it's 80% fat? I don't know. If it's ground beef, ground chuck. So the range I found was $3.79 to $5.44. So, you were in the range for that way. 

Alejandra: Okay. Great. 

Erin: Okay, last one. This was really important. Toilet paper. 

Alejandra: Oh, yeah.

Erin: And none of us are ever going to want to live without toilet paper again, and let me tell you, I don't like the cheap stuff. I like Charmin. And this is a nine pack of Charmin that I looked up. What do you think a nine pack of Charmin costs? 

Alejandra: That's an investment, you need to make good quality? That's right. I don't know. $15. 

Erin: Okay, what I found was $9.97, which actually amazed me because that's $1 a roll. And then where you are, it's more than $1. So, we’re spending our hard-earned money on toilet paper. Okay, I think you did great. I don't think you're gonna move on to the big money round for The Price is Right Grounded edition, but you did well.

Alejandra: Mail me the gift, whatever I want. 

Erin: Okay. Yeah. Your parting gift will be in the mail.

Alejandra: Friends, as you've noticed, every woman is wondering how she can use the resources that God has given her the best way. And we are going to get a lot of wisdom on this episode on how to do that—how to use those resources the best way we can. So, we want you to share this episode and spread the word. Right now, as you know, we need our Bibles handy. So just grab your Bibles because it's time to get grounded in God's Word. So, Erin, what do you think the Bible says about money? 

Get Grounded in God’s Word: Haggai 2:8, Phil. 4:19–20

Erin: That's an interesting question. We don't like to talk about money, but the Bible sure doesn't shy away from it. So, I was thinking about how I wanted us to get grounded in God's Word this morning. There were plenty of passages that we could choose from. But I'm going to focus on two passages today. And each one is attached to a question. So, two questions, two passages—one is in the Old Testament and one is in the New Testament. I did that by design for a couple of reasons. If you know me, you know I love to see how the Old Testament and the New Testament connect. 

But the other reason is that I think a lot of us who are followers of Jesus think that some of the things the Bible says about money are confined to the Old Testament or changed in the New Testament. We're going to look at a couple of principles. So first a question. And you can go ahead and answer in the chat if you're watching us live. 

Maybe you're still comparing prices for a gallon of milk in there, but we're gonna shift gears a little bit. And the question is this, what percentage of your resources belong to the Lord? Alejandra, you grew up in the church, was there a number you heard growing up about what percentage of our resources belong to the Lord?

Alejandra: Well, definitely 10% at least. So that's what you start with you, you start with your tithe.

Erin: Right. Yeah, that's what I always heard, although I will say that, even growing up going to the church since I was a teenager, I didn't hear money preached on or talked about very often. It’s something that we feel a little funny about, but 10% was always what I heard as a starting point. 

And so maybe as I asked that question, what percentage of your research belong to Lord maybe you thought 10%. And that is the tithe and man, do I hope your tithing that is foundational, for wise, money management is giving that percentage back to the Lord. 

But that gives that leaves us 90% to wisely use to meet our needs, right? Well, maybe. I want to read you Haggai 2:8, that's your Old Testament passage, I already have mine marked, because hey, this guy can be a little bit hard to find. But Haggai 2:8 says, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts.”

The backdrop here is that God's people were bringing all of these riches into the temple, and God was reminding them, “Hey, it's all Mine anyway.” So, it's not 10% that belongs to the Lord. What I want you to hear me say this morning is that the reality is 100% of your resources. 100% of my resources belong to God, which means that every penny we will ever earn belongs to God. It means that every hour we will ever have to spend belongs to God. And it means every grocery that's currently in your pantry and your fridge, it's all His. It all belongs to God. 

And as we're thinking about budgeting this morning, we're not really thinking about how to manage our money. We're thinking about how to manage God's money. And that changes everything in the way that we approach our resources. 

So, what if as we get practical here in a moment, what if the purpose of reducing your grocery bill each month is not so that you can take a great vacation—though, I'm a fan of great vacations, my family and I just got back from the beach. What if it's not just so that you can splurge on something? Which is also okay, too. But what is the purpose of reducing your grocery bill every month was to fund a missionary in the Middle East? What is the purpose of you reducing your grocery bill every month is for you to give 15%, 20%, 25% to your local church? I think that heart shift is going to make a difference. As we talk about budgeting, for me, that moves all that we're talking about off of the spreadsheet, which I am never going to be thrilled about operating off of a spreadsheet. It makes me find resources in my existing finances so that I can give more. 

Giving generously requires planning. Alejandra, does your family plan to give generously, I know you are free to give a spur of the moment. But do you have a plan to make that happen?

Alejandra: Yes, we do. I think sometimes we focus on much or needing more, instead of using what we already have in a better way, and in a way that honors the Lord more. So, I think of that. There's this tension of I need more so I can give not necessarily. Maybe you have one thing that you can share, and somebody else has 10 things that they could share, but it's the thought of thinking how we could use what God has already given us, to give, to share.

Erin: I love that example you gave earlier of in your church clothes, sharing children's clothes. We just had a family come to our church, a woman in really desperate need for everything for her four kids. And these were bins of clothes that I already had that my kids had already outgrown, or weren't wearing anymore. I didn't need to go out and buy new clothes. But you're right. It's about being ready to share what we already have. 

So, giving generously hear me say it again, it requires a plan. And like Alejandra said, if your approach is I'm going to give what's left. Well, you're not going to give because no one has money left over without a plan. 

Which leads me to my second question. These are heart questions. I'm not showing you how to operate from a budget. I'm not an expert there, and I'm not an expert here. But the second question is a heart question. It's this, who is really responsible to meet your needs?

I know as women we think, Well, I do the budget. I do the grocery shopping. I do the back-to-school shopping. I need to make sure that it all fits. Well, that’s true. We do have responsibilities there, but the ultimate who is responsible to meet your needs is found in our second verse in the New Testament in Philippians 4:19.

And it says this, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Verse 20, says, “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” 

So, a quick reminder this Monday morning. It's God who meets our financial needs. It's God who meets our needs to make our responsibilities and the number of hours we have each day match. And it's God who feeds every bird, every creature, and it's God who feeds us. So, two foundational truths to build your budget on first. It's all God's—the gold is His, the silver is His, the 401K is His, the monthly check, paycheck is His. It's all His. You are a manager, what a privilege. You are a manager of God's money. God's resources. 

I recently interviewed a doctor. He chose to become a doctor so that he could make enough money to give generously. And he now supports hundreds of missionaries—hundreds of missionaries. His goal is to add a percentage to his giving every year so started at 10% 11%. He's now way past 30%. He was at 30%, several years ago. And he's done that because he's been budgeting since college. He had a plan, and he made it happen. And so, he said this to me, “I want to be sure and give Him the credit.” He said, “Maybe God wants me to spend 90% and give 10%. But maybe God wants me to spend 10% and give 90%.”

And so that's something he's constantly praying about and surrendering to the Lord. When I grew up in Christ, I want to be like him. So maybe like Alejandra said, you don't need to find more. But you do need to look at what you have and say, “God, this is all yours. How do you want to use me to meet the needs of somebody else?” 

Grounded in Finances, with Crystal Paine

Alright, with all of that in mind, we're going to think of some creative ways to pinch pennies, remembering whose pennies those are. Crystal Paine is with us. She is the Money Saving Mom. She's a mom, she's a foster mom, and she's going to help us get grounded in our finances. Welcome to Grounded Crystal.

Crystal Paine: I am so excited to be here. I have to tell you what you're sharing, this is my passion. This is why I do what I do. I feel like if the people of God can get their finances in order, what amazing things we can do for the kingdom of God.

Erin: Amen to that. I can't wait to hear more of your wisdom. I would love to know a little bit of the story of how you came to be known as the “Money Saving Mom.”

Crystal: That definitely was not something that I set out to do. But about 18 years ago my husband I got married. We had set this audacious goal that he was going to go through law school, and we were going to stay out of debt. So, we started in on that journey. We didn't really know how it was all going to work out. But we quickly learned what it means to say I trust God. 

You know how it's so easy to say that we trust God to provide, but when you actually have to see Him provide and to pay the rent check and to put food on the table, it takes it to a whole other level. But it really challenged us to get creative and to maximize the mileage of our money. 

And so, I started researching everything that I could online about saving money, about saving in the grocery store. I had the foundation of growing up in a family of nine. There are seven kids in my family, and I was homeschooled. And part of my Home Ec was to do the grocery shopping and the cooking and the menu planning for our family for a few years. And so, my mom had given me that great foundation. 

I was able to take that into marriage and just kind of take it a little bit further. We just started learning all these things. We were living on a $30 a week grocery budget. People started to say, “How are you doing that? How are you eating for $30 a week with all your meals at home?” And so, I started blogging a little bit about that. People are just hungry, no pun intended or pun fully intended, for this information. Ever so slowly, I just started writing more and more about this and sharing and that was how MoneySavingMom.com was born.

Erin: I love that story. I’ve got to know, did he make it through law school without debt?

Crystal: He did. And then that just really inspired us to take it to the next step. We saved up and paid cash for our house.

Erin: That is amazing and super encouraging to me. I just started seminary a week ago and the same thing. My husband and I decided this was something we wanted to do. It was important to us but we are unwilling to go into debt for me to get this further education. So, I'm super inspired that you were able to do it. 

Well, it blew up. I mean Money Saving Mom is a thing. People know about it and people build their own home budgets around it. Why do you think it is that people, women especially, resonate with that message so strongly?

Crystal: I think everyone wants to save money. Not everyone wants to put in the effort that is required. But I think most people would like to be able to cut your budget in some way. And so, my heart is just to really give very practical ways that you can actually do it without it taking tons of time, and tons of effort.

Erin: I love that. We could get any number of financial experts on Grounded or budgeting experts, but we want you because you love Jesus, and you love His Word. You shared a little bit about your faith already, but how does your faith in Christ influence your approach to how you manage your family budget now?

Crystal: You know, it was very much like you were talking about earlier, recognizing that everything that we have is God's. And growing up in my family, I talked about my family of nine, my parents were just really wise with their finances. I got to watch them make really good choices. In fact, when I was about seven years old, they paid off our family's house. We moved out to the country, but we built a home debt free. I got to see how, because of those financial decisions, my parents were able to give so much more generously. It just really inspired me to see what you could do, if you were wise with your finances. 

And so, coming at it from recognizing that if we are careful, and intentional, it allows us to make such a difference in other people's lives. And so that's really our heartbeat, to be givers. Our family got to travel to South Africa, we're really involved in a ministry there. We've been there multiple times, and just to see how our money if we are able to even cut $10 or $30 or $40 off our grocery budget a week, how far that money can go in other places. And it just really inspires us to want to continue to be intentional with our finances.

Erin: That's what I want. We were praying before this episode, and I always try to think about who's on the other side of the screen, who's on the other side of the microphone, what do I want them to do? What do I want the Lord to do in their hearts in this episode? And that's what I want the Lord to do, to show them that they can use what He's given them to do good to move the kingdom forward. So, I share your heart. 

But I also want to tap into your wisdom. So, while we have you, while we're listening, I want you to be our Grounded money coach. Can you give us some simple ways that we can start living more frugally, without money management becoming our full-time job? I'm a word girl, I'm not a number girl. I can easily get overwhelmed by programs or apps where it's like, oh, this is a lot. What are some simple steps we could take to start finding some margin?

Crystal: Well, first off, you should know that I am not an app girl. And I am not techie at all, even though I am a blogger, I don't know how that works out. 

Erin: That’s encouraging.

Crystal: But I just like to keep it simple. And so, I really encourage people to start from the perspective of what can you do. It's so easy for us to look and be like, well, I can't save much money because I have a really small income, or I live in an area where there's a high cost of living, or I have five boys that I have to feed. And if we start from that can't do attitude, we're probably not going to go very far. Instead say, “What can I do? What do I have in my hand? What do I have at my disposal?”

I really encourage people to start with your grocery budget, because everybody has to eat, everyone has to buy groceries. It's a really, really simple way to cut your budget. You can start there. Don't even worry about all the other parts of budgeting, just start with your grocery budget and say, “Okay, what is a realistic amount that we could spend at the store? And how much could we save?” Like I talked about, even $10 a week can go really far if we are giving that somewhere. 

And so, I encourage people to start with, you know, maybe $30 to $40 per person per week, set that as your budget, if that feels super small, go to $50 or $60 per person, but start somewhere, have a budget. Then have the goal that you're going to whittle that down by 1–3% every single month. And so, then you're going to start getting creative, you're going to start trying new things and experimenting and figuring out just little ways that you can slowly shave it down. 

Over time it's gonna add up to make savings.

Erin: So practical. It actually encouraged me because that's about where my family is per person. Those numbers you mentioned, we just have a lot of people in my house. But that goal of shaving off 1%– 3%, I can do that. Actually, I had to do a pretty elaborate budgeting exercise for seminary recently. I had to look at where all the money was going, which is so wise. What I discovered is a lot of our money is going out to eat. That seemed like a no brainer of a way to shave. I mean, we could eat the same hamburger at home for a fraction. Are there moves we could make in our out-to-eat budget that you would recommend?

Crystal: Yes. Just paying attention to where your money is going. And so, if you're spending a lot of money eating out, is there a way that you could really simply eat at home? Maybe you're eating out three times a week. Could you cut it down to two times a week? Maybe you buy frozen pizza. I love the Aldi take and bake pizza.

Erin: Me too.

Crystal: It's five or six bucks. And it's like, okay, you buy two pizzas, and you add some fruit or something for the side, and you're good. That could save you $20 or $30 every single week by just that simple switch. And it's not going to take you a lot more time. I'm always trying to think of ways that you can get a great return on your investment. But you're also saving. If you look at the savings, it's like for this five minutes of effort, I can save $20.

Erin: Yeah. For me, and I imagine for everybody, it's going to keep coming back to the heart. Because on Friday night, when I want to spend $45 on ordering pizza, it's because I'm tired. I just want a break from the cooking and cleaning. But if I think, man, if I saved $30 of that $40 every Friday and gave it to a ministry that I absolutely believe in, it's been worth popping the pizza in the oven, which doesn't take me any longer than ordering it, because it's going to something of value. So, I think we have to keep coming back to those heart issues again, and again. And again. You've inspired me to change Friday night pizza night up. We order pizza every Friday night, but I love those Aldi pizzas too.

You also wrote a book called 21 Days to a More Disciplined Life. And I think, like you said, everybody wants to make adjustments on their budget. I actually believe we all want to be more disciplined, but we struggle with it. So, I think there's somebody who's watching, and family budgeting is where they need discipline. But it might be something else. It might be they need discipline, to have time with the Lord in His Word every day, or they need discipline to stop being sharp with their tongue every day. When you look at your Bible, what are some of the things you see there about this idea of growing in discipline?

Crystal: You know, I think that God is a God of order. We see that in how He created the world. I think that inspires me to also want to live a life that is orderly. The other thing is, I want to use my time well. I've been thinking about this a lot, about how we only have one life to live and time is short. And so, if we are just constantly chasing our tail and everything is just chaos in our life because we're not just taking small steps to be more disciplined, that is holding us back from being able to be more effective in the kingdom of God. 

So again, having that kingdom-minded focus, that is really why I want to be more disciplined, so that I can use more of my time wisely. So I have the breathing room in my life to have that phone call when that person knocks on my door, that I'm not just crazy busy, that I can stop and listen, look into their eyes and take that extra time to pour into someone. 

Erin: And that's the heart again. I mean, the world is saying find balance so that you have more time for you. And that's not what you're saying. You're saying is that we find balance to mirror who God is so that we have the space to be attended to the things He would have us to do, which I adore. 

Okay, last question. One of the things I love about you, you put this right on your website. I couldn't applaud for you louder. You give a percentage of all of your revenue from Money Saving Mom to “life impacting ministries,” that was your phrasing, “life impacting ministry.” So, let's talk to the woman who's listening to this and she is ready. She is going to trim from her budget and all of a sudden, she has some extra resources at her disposal. How do you make those decisions about which life giving ministries that you choose to give that money to?

Crystal: Well, there's so many needs and so many opportunities. I think for us we start with what has God called us to? What are we passionate about? And one of our big heartbeats is vulnerable children. Not only in our own community through foster care, but also around the world, like I talked about. We're really involved in a ministry for vulnerable children in South Africa. And so, what has God put on our hearts? 

And then, we also really get to know the people who are running these ministries. There are many places you can give. We want to give where we feel like that it's somebody that we have a relationship with, and we know exactly where our money's going. If you're married, I encourage you to get on the same page with your spouse. What is God calling you to? Do your research, and then know that you can't help everybody. But you can do for one what you wish you could do for all.

Erin: It is such a joy. I mean, when my husband and I find a little bit extra, and we are able to give that, the Lord blesses us 1000-fold—not necessarily financially, but the joy of knowing that we're giving to the kingdom far outweighs being able to go buy something extra just for us. So, you've given us so much. I know you're going to practical, biblical. I'm so grateful for the work you're doing. Thanks for being with us on Grounded. 

Crystal: Thank you so much for the opportunity. 

Erin: I know you're gonna want to connect with her. If you don't already know about Crystal and MoneySavingMom.com, we're gonna drop the link, make it easy. Go check it out.

Alejandra: Well, Erin, my Grounded journal is full for today because we have gotten so many tips. It's amazing. And even what you said, God is the one that meets your needs. I'm sure many of the ladies out there are writing some of those steps because we need them for sure. 

Erin: I’m just going to borrow your notes, because I didn’t take notes. But I want to know what you wrote down because I felt the same way.

Alejandra: I'll send you a picture out of them so you can keep your phone.

Erin: Good. 

The Good Stuff: Financial Tools

Alejandra: This episode has been loaded, for sure. So, it's been very impactful. And we never want to send you home without the good stuff. All the good stuff you get through the episode and all that good stuff. You're gonna get tools to help you stay grounded.

Erin: Alejandra, I gotta say, you're not rusty at all. You got this host thing down. You're right. It's time for us to give you the good stuff. And what we want to do is point you to some past Grounded episodes. I hope like me, all of a sudden your brain is racing with all of the ways that you could use your finances to be a hope bearer, which is what we want to encourage you to do. 

We've had more conversations on this topic here on Grounded, and we want to point you back to an episode we called “Thriving in Love and Money.” And who does not want to thrive in love and money. I know I do. Shaunti Feldhahn was our guest in that episode, and we're gonna drop a link to make it easy for you to find.

Alejandra: There's another resource too, a two-part series. It's so good. We asked Jan Thompson back for two episodes,“Managing Finances in Difficult Times.”

Erin: I still remember those episodes. Jan Thompson is a financial planner. She really had a lot of practical wisdom. So, if you haven't been to the Grounded vault in a while, head on over there and tell somebody you know, because there really is gold in them there hills. I don't know what episode number we're on. We've done many of these, well over 100. And there really is a lot of wisdom in each of those. 

So, you can find that vault at ReviveOurHearts.com/Grounded. 

You know, as Crystal was talking as we were opening our Bibles together, Alejandra you were sharing. I just kept thinking about how this is one way that we can be different. Our money is a way we can stand out as unique. It is one way we can offer hope and perspective, when your neighbor who doesn't know the Lord sees you handling your finances differently. You're giving them perspective, something that is different. So right now, as this episode comes to an end, it might be time for you to head to the grocery store. Maybe you need to pick up the brats and the burgers and the ketchup and the mustard for a Labor Day cookout. And as you do, I hope that you will do that with Crystal’s wise words in mind.

Alejandra: There's lots of resources, we all have resources. And definitely, we need to manage them well. We want you guys to join us back here next Monday because we're going to talk about other resources that we have right in front of us. Rosaria Butterfield will be with us and she's going to be talking about the power of guess what? It's something we use all the time, but we don't understand the power of it. The power of our kitchen table.

Erin: The power of our kitchen table. Listen, if you don't know Rosaria Butterfield, you need to. She is an absolute treasure in the family of Christ. She's gonna have all kinds of wisdom. So, let's wake up with hope together next Monday on Grounded.

Grounded is a production of Revive Our Hearts, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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