Administrator: The WIFE's Role

Newly completed Long Accordian Purses (aka: Cash Budgeting Purse) made with our latest batch of fabrics.

Long Accordian Purse: Pretty Flowers in Lime

5 main sections to budget around various needs: eg. groceries, entertainment, transport, eating out etc. A zippered section is included for lose change, save-keeping of small trinkets etc.

How do you do your Cash Budgeting? If you have such a plan, that is... :)

In the Married For Life (MFL) course me & hubby just completed recently, we came across a chapter about the roles of the husband & the wife.

One of the role of the wife is, being the administrator (based on Proverbs 31 woman, vs: 13-27).

"Skillful & godly administration will enable a wife to increase & multiply that which her husband has provided... As you seek the Lord, He will instruct you regarding the prosperity of your home." ---> taken from MFL book.

In the past, I couldn't care less with money matters, letting my husband handle everything. Paying bills, checking account, how much to save etc...

I felt I'm not very good at money matters, thus justifying my lack of involvement in this.

When we learnt about this God given (annointed) role for the wives, we sat up & decided to sit down & discuss this matter further at home.

Little did I realize that my lack of interest or involvement in money matters actually "burdened" my husband to a certain extent, which are often picked up (by my "radar") as irritation or sensitivities over money matters, when I felt that I'm not a spendthrift wife.

But having learnt about this godly principle, gave me the courage to start fulfilling my role in this area. Buoyed by the confidence in knowing that it's a God-given role to me as a wife :) just as God annointed the men to lead the family.

Despite me having my own income thru ETSY, we decided to live within his single income alone. And, we made a plan on how to do it.

Starting from September 2010, we looked thru all the "non-negotiables" (insurance, transport, fees, parents support etc) & set those aside.

Then we looked at the "negotiables", such as entertainment/eating out/monthly groceries.

We made a plan to start buying all our consumables (tissue/toilet papers/rice/milk poweder/diapers/soaps/detergents etc) in bulk, monthly. That way, we can plan & budget how much to set aside each week for grocery shopping for home cooked meals.

It took some time to adjust to it. But, I'm so glad that we made this change. Cus, I dont waste time going to the supermarket every 2 or 3 days (sometimes 2 or 3 days in a row!) simply because some condiments/soap etc ran out, & I had to go back even though I've just been there yesterday! This often leads to me buying more stuff than what I really need.

2 months down the road, now: I plan the meals I intend to prepare for the family on a weekly basis. And, when I go to the supermarket, I buy all the meat/vegetables/cooking ingredients etc at the same time, & sticking to my weekly budget :)

It worked so well, that my husband started praising me (not verbally), in a HW assignment on MFL on what (good) qualities on the fruit of the spirit he saw in me. One of them is self-control :D = in money matters. I'm really encouraged by that ^^

Now, we know where every cents of his salary go to. It's all "track-able" without it being tedious or time-consuming as I used to think (by keeping receipts, & "categorizing" them etc).

It's all done thru the Cash Budgeting system :D

To top it up (as the cream), I get to see really how my ETSY shop is doing, & the profit I'm earning each month. This, after being truly disciplined to not "merge" Etsy money, with daily use/needs etc. Purely using Etsy money, for Etsy related stuff: buying supplies/postage/stationaries etc. And, I get to keep them all to save up for rainy day, or a planned holiday :)

God's biblical wisdom is always there for us to see, we just need to follow it, make some changes if need be, & we'll realize how much simpler our lives can be.

If you're a wife, do not "hide" under the pretext of "I'm not good at money matters" any longer :) Rise up, submit this matter to God, & allow him to lead you in the role that he has assigned to you.

You'll be blessed, like I am ^^