So I am almost ashamed to admit this, but I am going to (blame it on the amount of Benadryl that is currently in my system) I have successfully made it almost 23 years without using a budget.
Needless to say with the current 'Going to Africa' plan, this had to change. My trip after all is said and done could cost nearly $5000 (passport, airfare, immunizations, room and board for the time I am there) It all adds up. That number means that my lifestyle has to change dramatically in order to put away the kind of money it is going to take to do this.
The hardest thing for me to give up? Starbucks. (Please roll eyes here) I love my coffee, and my green tea, and my black tea lemonade, and please don't forget about my love for frappucinos. I love them so much that it consumes at least $5 a day (sometimes more when I stop for coffee on the way to work, and tea on the way home) That is a whole lot of money I'm pretty much wasting when there are starving kids in Africa. Sorry Starbucks you'll have to stay afloat without my dollar for at least the next 7-12 months.
But this call to give up my outrageous spending habits (and lack of saving habits) needs to be a long term thing, not just while I prepare for this mission trip. God calls us to be fiscally responsible, and whereas discussing money in the church is no one's favorite thing, it is important.
This budget will benefit me not only by allowing me to save, but it means I am slowly giving up luxuries I would have to give up when I'm in Africa anyway. I guess we are killing two birds with one stone, but this stone is rather painful. (I seriously love Starbucks, and I am convinced the world loves me more when I have Starbucks)
God is calling me to change so many things in my life right now, and I have a feeling this isn't the biggest change He is going to call me to over the next year or over my lifetime. Following God requires sacrifice, Jesus makes that clear throughout each of the Gospels.
RIP Starbucks habit, I will miss you.
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