We Paid Cash

A testimony from Kristin

My husband, Chris, is a farmer. He has a job he loves as an agronomist for a large farm in Eastern Oregon, but he’s had a lifelong dream of being responsible for his own ground, of planning a crop from beginning to end, of making his own decisions and then seeing the results of those decisions.

Where we live, farm ground is rarely up for sale and, when it is, it is usually very expensive. So, honestly, my husband’s dream of farming his own ground seemed just like that, a dream.

Last fall, however, we learned that an acquaintance of ours had ground available for lease. Now, before any Dave Ramsey fans get concerned, let me explain that a farm lease is significantly different than a car “fleece.” A farm lease happens when a land owner doesn’t have the ability or desire to farm their own ground. So they contract with someone who does have that ability/desire.

The person who leases the ground is responsible for the cropping decisions, labor and other inputs. Then at the end of the season, the land owner receives some percentage of the harvest proceeds as a lease payment. There’s more to it, but you get the idea.

The first thing we did after we signed the lease was head over to the local Farm Service Agency office to talk about an operating loan. You see, we’d been told about the great programs the federal government has to help out new farmers.

My husband belongs to a demographic (people under 35) that doesn’t seem to be interested in farming anymore and so the government has assorted programs to encourage and help these new farmers out. And besides, you can’t farm without an operating loan, can you? There are a lot of expenses in farming before there is any income. These expenses are why so many people use operating loans.

But as much as we wanted to realize this dream, we didn’t want to go into debt to do it… and our previous experience with government loan programs (Sallie Mae) hadn’t been that positive anyway.  So we decided to just be weird and finance our own farm dream.

And that’s what we did!

Something lovely has happened as a result: we are learning to trust God even more deeply than before. Every time we write a check for seed or chemical or equipment we pause and ask God to bless this crop. Every time we take the kids out to “our” field we pray and ask for God’s protection and provision for the barley that is growing there.

Right now, as I am writing this, rain is pounding on the window and my kids are antsy at another day inside but I’m thanking God for watering our field. And later this summer when we harvest that barley and there is some income from this venture, we will stop and praise God for His abundant favor.

Kristin loves Jesus. She is wife to Chris and mom to 6-year-old Helen and 4-year-old Patrick. She looks forward to a summer of peas fresh out of the field, combine rides, and watermelon seed-spitting contests.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

A testimony from Leah of Simple. Home. Blessings.

It is kind of strange to have a serious attachment to a home appliance, but my husband and I did. We just didn’t know what we had until it was gone.

We had a beautiful stainless steel side by side refrigerator at our first home. It was lovely and worked wonderfully well. Apparently it was rather attractive for a refrigerator because when we sold our home the buyers specifically requested it. We didn’t want to lose the sale of the house over a beloved refrigerator; so, we took a deep breath, decided to part with it and promised ourselves we would find another one just like it.

But the one we had must have been one of a kind, because the one we got just didn’t fit our needs and work as well as our old one. Something would have to be done. So, we started dreaming big and dreaming long.

The dream: a French door refrigerator that would meet all of our needs.

But after a little while of dreaming, we decided that dreaming just wouldn’t make it appear. So we made a plan and figured out how long we would need to save up and came up with ideas to get extra money.

We came up with these ideas:

1. We set aside a specific amount of money from our budget each month. The money would have likely been spent on stuff we couldn’t remember after the month was over. So we gave our money a direction and put it aside in view of our goal.

2. We saved all our five dollar bills. We made a commitment (sometimes hard to keep) to put aside EVERY $5 bill that passed through our hands. When we got ready to buy the refrigerator we had a LOT of $5 bills (instead of frustrating the sales clerk, we cashed them in for larger bills).

3. We had a garage sale and put aside most of the proceeds from the sale for our goal. We turned what we no longer wanted or used into something we had been dreaming of.

4. We sold our most recent fridge to a friend who had just purchased her first home. We didn’t get a large amount of money for it, but every little bit helps.

After a little over a year of saving, we finally had almost all the money to purchase our new French door fridge. So we started shopping around and were blessed and pleasantly surprised to find one in our price range with extra options and FREE delivery!

We did it! We paid cash for something we really wanted and were rewarded with a great deal AND the satisfaction of a paid-for appliance. Somehow I think it keeps the ice just a tad bit colder and the veggies just a tad bit fresher than if we had put it on credit!

Leah is a wife to her wonderful husband and mother to 2 girls under 2. She loves homemaking and believes God has called her to be an at-home wife and mother. She tries to find the joy in the everyday and writes about it over at Simple. Home. Blessings.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

Testimony from Brooke

About two years ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted a treadmill but couldn’t afford one. With winter coming, we knew that our outdoor running was coming to an end and with two young children at the time, we knew that a treadmill would make life much easier.

We searched the newspaper and Craigslist for a while and finally found one for only $75 in a neighboring town. It was definitely not the treadmill we had envisioned but it would work. We took it home and it has worked for us… but it is definitely work to use it.

Since then, we’ve been on the lookout for something a little better — but still in our budget. We have a small savings account with about $200 set aside for big purchase items such as this.

As October approached, we started thinking of our winter exercise needs again. My mother’s co-worker expressed an interest to sell her treadmill a while back, but she wanted $450 for it which was out of our range.

When hers didn’t sell after a few months, she said she would take $250 for it. This was really tempting.

We went to look at it and it was like a dream compared to ours! It was only 3-4 years old and barely used with lots of bells and whistles. We decided that if we could sell ours then we could do this.

We put our used treadmill on Craigslist for $75, hoping to get at least $50 for it. Two days later, someone offered us the entire $75 for it and came to pick it up the next night. We bought that new-to-us treadmill for $250 and used our $75 to offset the price and make it $175!

We found out later that this was a $1200 machine, and after investigation of information on the machine’s console, we discovered it had only been used for a total of six hours! It was basically a brand-new $1200 machine that we got for $250!

We feel like we are running on a cloud now — especially compared to what it was like to run on the $75 machine. We enjoy it even more knowing we paid cash and saved so much money by having patience and waiting until we could find something we could afford. It was worth the wait.

Brooke is a wife and mother of three beautiful children; ages 5 years, 3 years, and 6 months. She works full-time as a third grade teacher. She loves spending time with her family, saving money for her family, reading, and scrapbooking.

photo credit

A testimony from Lydia who blogs at Five4Five Meals

There is this book we read to our son called Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You. The first line reads, “I wanted you more than you’ll ever know, so I sent love to follow wherever you go.”

If I wrote this book for my son, the first line would read, “I wanted you more than you’ll ever know, so I did some serious saving to pay for the hospital bills.”

You see, when I was ready to have my baby I was a newspaper journalist working for cheap at a company that offered bargain basement benefits, so long before I got pregnant, we started saving.

Months later, I found myself pregnant, thrilled, and sitting in the insurance coordinator’s cubicle at my obstetrician’s office. She was telling me that my insurance was covering little and my deductible was among the highest she had ever seen. I was fully aware that my benefits amounted to a latex bandage and two chewable vitamins, not the $5,000+ it would take to have this little guy.

When I told her we had been saving for a baby her eyes grew misty. “That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said.

We started saving six months before I was pregnant, cutting out everything from sodas from the drink machine at work, to coffee to lunch outings. Because of this, we were both able to sock away $50 a week from each paycheck.

We also saved any money we got for Christmas, birthdays, tax refunds, and the cash we were graciously given as shower gifts.

At the time, my husband worked out of town a lot, so per diem checks also went in savings along with spare change, gas reimbursement checks, funds from freelance writing gigs, and a few things sold on Amazon and eBay.

When my baby boy was born the night before our sixth wedding anniversary, I was not worried where the cash would come from to pay for his delivery.

I have to be honest, there was still a fair amount of sticker shock that came when the hospital bill finally arrived and I was grateful my husband and I had padded our savings. I was even able to get a 20 percent discount from the hospital when I paid our bill in full instead of in installments. That equaled a savings of over $2,000!

Life has changed so much since our son was born, and not just because we are new parents. My husband was offered a job — out of the blue — that pays excellent benefits and afforded us the opportunity to move closer to my parents and, due to our new-found savings habit, allows me to stay home.

This has been everything I prayed for.

While the saving was tough and the bills were expensive, my son is worth every penny. Some things you just can’t put a price on.

Lydia Senn is former stressed out journalist turned freelance writer and stay at home mom, who blogs about cooking on a budget and cleaning green. You can check out her blog at Five4FiveMeals.com.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

A testimony from Kayse from Finding Hope

My husband and I had a stressful year. He was in grad school and worked three jobs, and I worked full time from home and took care of our daughter.

That didn’t leave much time for each other, and we needed to get away together for a few days! However, we already had a tight budget and didn’t know how we could possible afford a three-day trip.

Here’s what we did:

• We put a cookie jar on the dresser in our bedroom, and collected all of our change for about six months.
• My husband put aside all of the tip money he received from one of his jobs, adding it to the cookie jar, all year long.
• He also picked up a few extra gigs throughout the year (he is a professional musician) that we hadn’t expected or added into our budget, so all of that money went in the cookie jar!
• I cut the grocery budget and didn’t by any extras in any category during the last three weeks before the trip.

Although I knew about and helped contribute to the money saving, my husband did all the planning, keeping the trip a complete surprise for me! He scoured the internet and found all the best deals! He also planned the trip mid-week for the best hotel prices!

Here’s what we got to enjoy:

• Three glorious days in Big Bear Lake, only an hour and a half away from our home. (We didn’t have to spend much on gas.)
• A toddler-free trip! He asked his parents to come stay with our girl… for free!
• A car rental — just for fun, he rented a convertible for the trip! He knew the manager, as she came into his store every day, so he got the car for less than $50 a day.
• Two nights in an inn with an in-room spa tub — for $150 total!
• Freedom! Because we had more than enough cash on hand for the three days, we were able to do whatever we wanted. We went out to nice dinners, took a boat ride, and got a couples’ massage at a local spa!

It was so much fun to be able to go on a trip and not worry about how we were going to pay for everything when we got home!

The freedom of paying for everything in cash really added to the relaxation of our trip! It allowed us to spend time together and take advantage of enjoyable opportunities, without having to worry about the cost. We were able to invest in the weekend and each other! You can read more about our trip here.

We’ll never do it another way again!

Kayse is a wife, mommy, and teacher. She writes over at Finding Hope about finding hope among the day-to-day realities of dinners, dishes, and diapers.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.

A testimony from Marianne

Last summer, my husband and I were able to purchase our first home after renting for eight years. Southern California is a pricey area and we were very blessed to find a 4-bedroom fixer-upper in a great area within our budget.

We reserved some funds for renovations and completed many projects before we moved in the end of October. We had not gotten around to replacing the garage door or front door, but had the money to do it as time allowed. However, the day we moved in, we discovered a serious plumbing problem in the very old and dilapidated main bathroom.

Since we had planned to remodel that bathroom within a few months anyway, we opted to use our remaining funds plus our emergency fund money to get started on a full bathroom remodel, as opposed to paying a plumber to fix the blockage and temporarily patch things up.

Here’s how we made the most of our money to tackle this project:

We Hired “Friendly” Labor

We hired a friend from our church who is a contractor to do the demolition, plumbing, and tub and tile installation. We knew he was reliable, honest, and thorough, and charged less than any other contractor.

We Used Coupons

We collected Lowe’s 10% off coupons (these are also accepted at Home Depot). Our local post office has “new move-in” packets with these coupons and they were kind to give me quite a few. Also, I purchased a pack of seven coupons on eBay for $3.50.

We Purchased Discounted Gift Cards

We purchased Lowe’s and Home Depot gift cards from sites like Gift Card Rescue and Plastic Jungle. The gift cards come in many different denominations, which you buy at a 7% discount. Combined with our 10% off coupons, that saved us 17% on all our major purchases (tile, bathtub, plumbing fixtures, lights, etc.)

We Made Some Exceptions

My husband and I were not in total agreement when it came to selecting the tile for the floor and tub surround. Then we realized that we were both trying to choose from the absolute cheapest options available.

When we agreed to increase what we were willing to spend on tile, we found a nice quality tile that we were both happy with. Sometimes it’s worth a little extra money for the sake of the marriage!

We Shopped Around

We had a hard time finding a vanity that was reasonably priced, and figured we would have to pay full price for one at Home Depot that we liked, but wasn’t as high quality as we were hoping for. We happened upon a clearance sale at a cabinet warehouse and found an unfinished beech wood vanity (without a top) for $25! Then we found a granite warehouse and purchased a granite top and sink, which totaled less than half of what we would have paid for the non-granite unit we had seen at the store.

We love our new bathroom and are thankful the Lord kept us from spending our money on those other projects. And soon after the bathroom was completed, we received an unexpected gift that quickly replenished our emergency fund.

When I’m tempted to be discouraged about the many projects still on our to-do list, I remember how much has been accomplished and how thankful I am that we have our own home in beautiful southern California.

Marianne is a stay-at-home mom and private piano teacher. She has been married to her husband, Mark, for 9 years and they have two cute kids: Alexis is 5 and Grant is 2. They are loving the life God has given us in San Diego.

Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.