How Costly is Your Sweet Tooth?

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;
    he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,
    but a foolish man devours it.

(Proverbs 21: 17, 20)

My wife and I are living on a budget, so frivolous spending is completely off the table. That said, we have both agreed to a certain amount of “blow” money each month. This is money that we each get to do with what we want.

Wanna know where mine goes?  Into my belly, in the form of baked goods and sweet, sweet Dr. Pepper on Fridays. Not surprisingly, I run out of cash in less than a week.

Know where my wife’s money goes? Nowhere. It stays in her purse. It accumulates. Then she can buy things that cost more than a few dollars and have something to show for it. Why? Because she doesn’t eat her “blow” money like I do.

I read these verse in Proverbs last week, and it struck me how incredibly practical the word of God is. See here how clearly it explains (my) human nature: if you can’t say no to yourself (and especially your belly) when it comes to money, you won’t have any. The wise man has resources saved for the future, while the fool consumes everything he has and is left with nothing in the day of trouble.

I have had a really good job for the last decade, so there’s no reason why I should still be in debt or why I don’t have a bunch of investments and whatnot stored up for the future.

The problem was, I didn’t learn how to tell myself “no” enough. So I went into marriage with a very small bank account and a very large belly.

The way I’m learning how to reverse those two? The Teacher lays it out: Say “no” to myself more.

Your Turn: Do you have any simple pleasures that you’re spending too much money on? Have you learned to say “no” to some things in order to say “yes” to others? Please leave your confessions and/or encouragements in the comments below!