Why Give Money to Churches?

Keep in mind this was originally posted 7/20/09 ... a long time ago and I had a lot more energy to be feisty. Oh, and I was pregnant.

I always hear people complaining about churches being money-hungry. But do they consider what it takes to actually run a church? They need money to pay their staff, pay for the air conditioning, someone to mow the grass, fix the parking lot, trim the bushes, mow, clean it, you name it.

Here in Overland Park, Kansas we have churches that are always struggling, like mine, for things like paying the bills, etc. BUT then they do a capital campaign to raise like 3 million dollars for crap they don't even need, like new carpet. The carpet is FINE! Fix the freaking front walk that I see kids falling down on and getting bloody on every week! Fix the air conditioning at the school first, people, and do it preferably BEFORE school starts in August!

Churches, like schools (don't get me started on that one), need to run themselves like we have to run our homes … in a thrifty manner, wasting as little as possible and recycling as much as possible for money.

Then there are churches just a few miles away that are RICH RICH RICH ... rolling in it. Why can't they all spread it out? Take what they NEED and put the rest in a kitty to share ... and to help parishioners out when they need it (job loss, health issues, fire).

What do you think about a big Catholic pot o’ money that can be put to good use? But then you have the problem of finding someone trustworthy to run the account. Those people are among us, but there are too many who would have trouble actually doing the TRUSTING.

Updated 11/5/18: We've moved since I posted this and we go to a church in Missouri that seems to know how to run itself very well. They take donations of items and sell them throughout the year at a Christmas shop and a garage sale. My family teaches Confirmation because we can't tithe right now. People at church help clean bathrooms, the Confirmation kids will rake leaves to help pay for their Confirmation workbooks, others chip in to clean up, paint, etc. It's a real community that runs in a frugal and impressive way.

Recipe Round-up at Kerrie the Kitchen Queen

It's no secret that I have other blogs. Our lives got too big to be contained here at The Kerrie Show, and I had to branch out with food at Kerrie the Kitchen Queen, education at Homeschooling Mommybot (working on a rename), and writing, proofreading and self-publishing at The Published Parent.

Now, those who know me know that I am not really a kitchen queen, but I am striving to do better. I have to cook and bake so I may as well try to enjoy it. It saves money, and my family enjoys it. It's nice to sit down to the dining room table for our dinnertime, pray, talk and eat.

Today I want to share with you some recipes I have parked over there. Enjoy!

How Big Families Can Save Big Money

With a big family comes a ballooning set of expenses. From soccer cleats to piano lessons to putting enough food on the table, you have to make the most of the money you have and stretch it as far as it can go. Luckily, there are a number of financial steps you can take to save money and make each dollar go farther. No matter how many people are in your household, these steps will help you better reach your financial goals.

Get Your Budget on Track

Most people have a budget, but not everyone accurately updates or follows it and instead lets it languish in a dusty Excel file somewhere. Dave Ramsey, the well-known family financial guru, has a quick start paper budget and an online budget tool called EveryDollar.

Use whichever one works for you to set up your budget, know how much you are spending and follow through on saving money.

Start Shaving Expenses

Once you lay out your budget, you might be shocked at what you actually spend. A 2012 Accounting Principle's Workonomix study revealed the average American worker spent a whopping average of nearly $1,100 a year on coffee alone. In addition, the average magazine and newspaper subscription costs between $5 and $35, according to Magazine Cost. If you have several subscriptions, consider letting a few lapse. Some phone apps also require a weekly or monthly renewal subscription, as do credit monitoring services and data protection services. The NPD Group predicted that by 2015, the average family was also spending $123 a year on TV service subscriptions, such as Netflix and Vudu.

Look at your bank or credit card statement for these small fees that might be adding up. If you follow the average, you’ll save a giant $1,250 a year, or $100 a month, just by cutting these three categories.

Attack the Large Budget Categories

For many families, the monthly food bill is the most expensive line item. There are many tips for saving money at the grocery store. If you spend $1,500 a month on groceries, challenge your family to eat well on less, such as $1,200. Withdraw the budget amount in cash and divide it into two envelopes. Each time you go shopping, only take cash. You’d be surprised the choices you make when you know you have a limited amount you can spend.

Then there are restaurants. According to the National Restaurant Association, the average household spends $2,678 a year on dining out. Whatever your average is, consider whether you can cut it in half by preparing healthy meals at home.

Pay yourself for your hard work by putting your extra money back into your savings account. Use the money to take a family vacation or to buy necessities such as school clothes or lessons for the kids.

Treat Money Like a Business Arrangement

You can’t cut everything, so you need to analyze your cost versus value. For example, it may make sense to get a newer, but not the newest, model of a cellphone, like the iPhone 5c, for your teenager that can be passed down to his or her siblings in the future. You also should scrutinize the hidden plan fees and look carefully at different types of plans, such as family plans and pay-as-you-go plans, to make sure you are paying the lowest possible costs.

Get creative. Can you offer something as a swap for goods or services, such as watching your hairdresser’s kids in exchange for haircuts? Can your kids chip in and care for pets in exchange for homegrown eggs? Talk to other parents about what skills or services they have that can be offered in exchange for talents in your family.

Finally, look at unconventional places for conventional items, such as school supplies. Your local office supply store or drug store might be the cheapest, but online stores, such as Discount School Supply, will price match and beat any other online retailer by 10 percent. Look for similar price match guarantees online for clothing, books and toiletries.

Fulfilling Orders Efficiently

After all those years of planning, you’ve finally developed your own unique product line of fine jewelry and art pieces. These lovingly crafted pieces have taken many years to design and develop, and now you’re ready for the big product launch. All the designs were created with a lot of love, but now you’re moving past design and development and into actual production and shipping to customers. It’s all a lot to do, and you have to wonder at times if you’ve taken on just way too much.

Getting Products Fulfilled

One of the toughest aspects of putting out your own product line is in getting the orders fulfilled and sent out to customers. It’s a lot of work, and the fact is you’re already busy creating all your own products. What to do? The good news is that now there are efficient ways of getting products fulfilled without having to store every piece in your own garage or living room, and running to the post office every other day.

Running Things Efficiently

Many people use mailbox centers to copy documents and have an Apostille in NYC. The fact is, though, that many of these centers do offer fulfillment services, with warehouse space for storing products before they are shipped. For an affordable fee, these centers can take email orders, wrap up the products and then ship them out from the mailbox warehouse. Delegating this work out saves major time and money, and allows the company owner to focus on their own product development and business management.

So, if you have a product line you’re dying to put out there to eager customers, remember that there are ways to get products sold and out to market, for a price that’s truly affordable.

             

Get 300 Bonus SB When You Sign up for Swagbucks in November!

All throughout November you can earn large bonuses when sign up as my referral on Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a rewards site where you earn points (called SB) for things you're probably doing online already, like searching the web, watching videos, shopping, discovering deals, and taking surveys. Then you take those points and exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Target, or PayPal cash. 

When you sign up through me this month, you can earn a 300 SB bonus! Here's how: 

1. Sign up using this link.

2. Earn 300 SB total before December 1st, 2018. You'll get a 300 SB bonus for it! 

3. That's it. It's super easy, and Swagbucks is for real. I use it myself, and I've earned 135,141 since signing up ($1,351.41). I watch videos, take surveys that make a difference, do the daily poll, buy things I would normally buy, try out new things, etc. Recently I bought some Glade candles I already love and some Pumpkin Spice CoffeeMate and got points for doing those things, so the items I bought were basically free :-)