How Can I Find Any Extra Money When My Budget is So Tight?

Ralph00:00:00

Let's face it, you've cut back, you've trimmed everywhere. The budget is already tighter than your favorite pair of jeans after Thanksgiving. Now that's a mental picture, isn't it?And yet that nagging feeling is still there. You want to make more progress, but you honestly think, Ralph, there's no extra money left.Well, what if I told you that even the tightest budget, I'm talking about the squeakiest, tightest one, there's almost always a little more you can find.Well, stick with me today because we're going to go treasure hunting in your own budget and we're going to find that money to help you get towards that debt freedom plan. That's what I'm going to talk about on today's show.

Podcast Announcer00:00:35

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Ralph00:00:47

Hey, friend. Welcome back to your Daily Financially Confident Christian.I'm Ralph and I'm here to help you take control of your money and truly live in God's financial peace. Hey, you want financial peace? That's what this show is all about. And we're continuing in our series Breaking Financial Chains.Now yesterday we broke down that minimum payment trap and how to break free even with some small extra payments. I want to encourage you, yesterday's show builds on today's show. If you missed it, go check it out.You can do that@financially confidentchristian.com and today we're going to answer that question. Hey, I got a couple of emails after I recorded and sent out the show yesterday.They said, ralph, how do I find extra money when my budget already feels maxed out? And trust me, I get it. Reminded me of a single mom I once wore. She swore to me, she said, Ralph, there is no room in this budget.She had it all mapped out. Every dollar had a job. I mean, she was doing a great job of that.When we sat down, we looked a little closer and in one month we found 28 bucks she didn't even realize she was spending. Now, it wasn't $28 in one thing, it was $6 here, $4 there. Hey, she even found a subscription. She'd totally forgotten about it.And she had a little other sneaky thing news. A few of those I deserve it snacks from the gas station. Those things are real budget busters, let me just tell you right now.Not to mention they're probably the worst foods from a health perspective. This is an el show, so that's a topic for another show. But what we did was we directed that $28 towards her credit card.And she was absolutely shocked at how quickly the balance started moving. So maybe you've told yourself that same thing, Ralph. There's nothing left to cut. I've cut it all, man. This is as lean as it can get.But too many people don't get it often. It's not about big cuts. Those cuts are easy to see. It's about those tiny leaks.So if you've been feeling hopeless about this tight budget, I want you to hear this, and I want you to hear this loud and clear. You're not failing. So many people think my budget's tight, I can't get anywhere, Ralph. I'm failing. You're not failing.You're just missing some hidden opportunities. And the good news is this. You don't have to turn your whole life upside down to find them.Well, let's talk about what Jesus said in the Book of Mark, chapter 12, verses 41 to 44, when he talks about the widow who gave her two small coins. I'm not going to read the verse. You can go check it out. I'm going to encourage you to do that.But it's all about this widow who gave her two small coins. Now, all of us a two big deal, too. Small coins. But it wasn't about that being a lot of money. It was all about her faithfulness with what she had.And that's what Jesus talks about. She was so faithful, those two coins meant a world to her. Let's look at Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 23. It says this.All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Use that on the show a few times. My grandfather used to say this all the time. You know, talk to talk, but walk the walk.Ralph, you got to put some hard work in here if you want to get out of this debt cycle that you're in. Because here's the truth. I want you to hear this, and I want you to hear this loud and clear. God honors diligence even in the smallest things.And sometimes the smallest financial wins are the ones that build the most momentum. They really do. So here's the shift I want you to make. Stop looking for hundreds of dollars.So many people get mired down and stuck in this because they're looking for this big thing in the budget. Oh, Ralph, I'm gonna find a couple hundred dollars and I'm gonna knock that debt out.Stop looking for hundreds of dollars and start looking for tens of dollars. I'm talking $10, $15. If you do it consistently, it can speed up your goals faster than you think. So here's your one action step for today.Here's what I want you to try for the next three days. I want you to do a three day leak audit. What is Ralph talking about for the next three days?I encourage you to track your money all the time, but this is like a super focused thing. I want you to track every dollar you spend for the next three days. No exceptions.I'm talking about every dollar you put on your bank account, every dollar you put on your credit card. Hey, even the money you're spending with that pocket money of cash. Track every single thing you spend for the next three days.Once you do that, I want you to spot one or two temporary cuts for you. Maybe it's pausing a subscription. Like, yeah, I really like Hulu, I really like Netflix.But you know, truth is, Ralph, I really want to get out of debt. Maybe you pause that. Maybe you skip one takeout meal this week, or maybe you're like me, ate a lot of takeout meals.Or maybe cut that daily snack run, just whatever you can find one or two temporary cuts and know that number add up exactly how much you freed, even if it's just $20, because that's going to count. And as I mentioned a couple days ago, I want you to redirect that immediately.Send that amount straight to your debt payoff or your savings goal before it disappears into other spending. But here's the truth. If you don't do it right away, it's so easy for those things to lose their jobs because it flips the script.If you do this, it changes that I can't do. I just did. See, there's so much momentum building in that. When you can flip that script and say, I can't do it to I just did it. Roughly what I did.It's not about a massive sacrifice either. It's about making intentional choices that prove that you do have control.Because let me tell you something right now, if you hear nothing else I said today, you have control. How about we pray together? Father God, we just thank you for our resources you've given us.Even when they feel small, open our eyes to see hidden opportunities. Lord, give us the discipline to make small changes and the faith to believe that those changes, even if they're small door, they matter.And they help us get to our goals of being debt free. And we ask this in confidence in Jesus name, Amen. Friend. I just want you to think about this for a second.Don't underestimate this power of small amounts. Go find that extra $10, $20, whatever that looks like and put it to work and watch your hope grow. Watch that momentum grow.And I want to help you along that journey. I want to give you a copy of my new book. It's called how to Become a Financially Confident Christian. I want to give it to you for absolutely free.You can get it by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/becoming now tomorrow we're going to shift it a little bit. We're going to talk about why it can feel so hard to start saving at all and to how do you finally get some momentum in building that savings?Now, tomorrow we're going to tackle a big question. We're going to talk about why can it feel so hard to start savings at all? So many people say, Ralph, I just, I can't seem to get started.I can't find that momentum to get started on savings. We're going to talk about how to find that momentum on tomorrow's show. But right now I want to encourage you.Let's all go out there and be financially confident Christians. I believe in you. It's time that you believe in yourself. You can do this. I have faith in you. Have some faith in yourself. God bless you.And you have a great day today.