Ontology and Frugality

Since even before Chris and I were married, we began discussing money and putting together our personal family philosophy regarding that necessary yet sometimes frustrating thing. I will always be so grateful for going to pre-marital counseling and really having some of the money issues brought up before us before we ever even said our vows.

The end result has been that with some stupid mistakes along the way (we started out our marriage with some credit card debt and accumulated a little bit more initially as we went alone), we have found our balance and in six years of marriage have worked very hard to pay off as much debt as possible - including our latest car. At this point we are left with three areas of debt: our house and both of us have student loans. I wish I could say those are going away quickly, but they're not. But at least we've made a start.

I got to a place, in the last few years, where I've been feeling pretty good about finances. Even taking into account the downsize in salaries from my teaching position to what we're currently living on, we're comfortable. Perhaps even getting a little lackadaisical at times.

The last few months, I've felt quite a bit of a nudging in my spirit and I have begun to question if we really are as careful and prudent as I sometimes think we are. And frankly, in doing research and through prayer and some rather random coincidences (although frankly I don't believe in coincidences. The God I serve is certainly bigger than that), I've begun to see a lot more of what we could be doing. And, indeed, I believe these are things we should be doing. These aren't necessarily drastic things; although, they will require some habit changes for us. But it's just one more step towards improving our stewardship of God's money. A responsibility I feel very strongly about.

So, I invite you to step into this new type of ontological journey with me as I begin to explore a lot of different areas of growth regarding our finances. Learning ontology as it relates to our finances as well as other areas of our lives. I'm probably going to have screw-ups along the way, and I'll confess to them. But I'm excited nonetheless.

Besides, my ever existent love of organization is having a field day with some of the ideas I've found!

Does that just confirm my nerdiness?