Simplifying our lives

Trevor & I have been living on one income the past two months since we've been married and there is no reason why that shouldn't suffice and be enough. I know so many families who are single income and the wife stays home with the children...which is what Trevor and I would like to do once we start having kiddos! Unfortunately, I think when we were preparing for our marriage, we were preparing as if we would have two incomes because we assumed that I would have a job fairly quickly. Well here we are, two months into marriage and I am just now starting my job on Monday! Praise God, I am very excited about it, but this time of being single income when preparing our lives for double income has taught us a lot. 


We have been working on a family budget and talking about where we would give money to serve others and how much we would give. One of the things we have realized is that our two cars are a huge source of our bills and honestly are unnecessary in a lot of ways. When you have two cars that equals two car payments (in our case), two people on the insurance, and two cars to fill with gas on a regular basis. It is ridiculous. So after talking about this and praying about it we have decided to look into downsizing our Ford F150. We have realized that in all reality we probably do not NEED a truck and we definately don't need to be spending as much in gas. Being a military family, at first we tried to justify why we needed a truck, but we still continue to come back to the reality that it's just not necessary.


But here's the question....WHY are we downsizing? I think it's great for all of us to be wise with our money by budgeting and saving in order to provide for our families, which is why most people downsize, and probably why most think we are. Most of the time when I hear that someone is downsizing their vehicles it's in order to save money for something or just be able to put that money elsewhere in their budget. Trevor and I have talked about how downsizing just so we can benefit ourselves in another way (moving money from gas to date nights, shopping, trips, etc) is not something that God necessarily calls us to do. We have realized that if God puts it in our hearts to downsize our cars, it needs to be in order to benefit others....to serve more & give more to those who need it. That's what the body of Christ is about. 


"Live simply to others can simply live" - unknown author


A friend of mine painted this on a canvas for me in college and I didn't really understand what it fully meant at the time. I always understood why we should live a simply life, but I didn't necessarily understand how me living a simple life would benefit others... God has shown me a lot through his word since then. Trevor and I have talked and prayed through this recently and that is why we are downsizing. If we can save even just $100 per month by getting a different car, then that is $100 that we can put towards blessing someone else. That $100 could go towards blessing someone here at Fort Hood, sending that money to sponsor a child to go to school in the Dominican Republic, or even supporting a missionary and their family. 


So we are going to start looking at alternative vehicles and praying what God has for us in this. We are praying about not only what we should get but more importantly, where God will call us to put that money. It would be great if you guys could be praying with us and also just challenging us and holding us accountable by asking us where we are putting that money and how it's serving someone else and enhancing the gospel!




~Allison