Christian Homekeeping

You may have heard of the financial method called 50-30-20.  It involves living within the realms of these percentages in this way: 50% on needs (housing, transportation, food and utilities) and 30% on wants (shopping, eating out, entertainment, etc.) and the last 20% for the future in savings.  I don't like this method because it assumes everyone can spend 30% on wants.  As most of my readers are one-income families, or aiming to be, we have different priorities than most of the world.  Our priorities revolve around God and family and the order God established in His Word of marriage with the wife as the keeper of the home and bearing children.

I have created my own slant on this financial pie and it is still 50-30-20 but my categories are different and I believe more livable for most people, especially one-income families:

★ If you do not have an emergency fund, you would take a good chunk of the 20% savings to fund your emergency fund and once that is complete, you can then save for travel and retirement.  Most financial experts recommend at least 3-6 months of basic expenses for your emergency fund.

Here is how I divide the categories:

Fixed Expenses:

⭐Mortgage/Rent - mortgage or rent, property taxes and homeowner's insurance

⭐Transportation - auto loan or lease payment

⭐Utilities - electric/gas, water, sewer, trash

⭐Phone & Internet - cell phones and internet service

⭐Insurance - auto insurance, life insurance and any other insurance outside of paycheck deductions

★ Transportation - I used to be of the mindset of no debt outside of a mortgage but I have changed my mind after analyzing our transportation expenses over the years.  I have decided I would rather drive a newer vehicle with less needed repairs than have an older vehicle that breaks down and causes stress.  I now budget for a low-interest auto loan that fits within our budget and replace our vehicle for a brand new one every 6-8 years while it still has a good trade-in value.  If you don't choose to do this, you can then use this sub-category to save for your next vehicle purchase.

Variable Expenses:

⭐Groceries - food and beverages

⭐Gasoline - gasoline for autos

⭐Household Items - toiletries, cleaning supplies, supplements, etc.

⭐Haircuts - haircuts for the males

⭐Miscellaneous - anything that may come up

Savings:

⭐Core Savings - clothing/shoes, furniture, electronics, homeschool curriculum, home and auto maintenance, medical/dental/vision costs outside of premiums, gifts and yearly costs

⭐Travel - day trips, vacations and other travel

⭐Retirement - 401K, IRA and other investments for retirement

★ Yearly costs - these are things that are due once or twice a year like HOA dues, Amazon Prime, ID protection, auto registration renewal, passes to entertainment places, etc.  At the start of every January, I will take the entire year of yearly costs from core savings and move it to a separate savings bucket and pull from that when these expenses come up throughout the year.

➤ Core Savings - We don't spend a lot on clothing, we just take from savings as needed, so it doesn't need to be a budgeted item.  We also keep our furniture until it is falling apart and that is a rare expense for us now as we are established and have what we need and take care of what we have.  If we need a new cell phone, tablet or computer, it comes out of this fund.  I try and only buy these things when security updates end for the device and I keep a log of when what expires, so I know when one is needing to replaced.  We can usually buy all of our homeschool curriculum with the small tax return we get each year, so only extra things needed for homeschool come out of this bucket.  Any home or auto maintenance items also come out of this savings - paint, air filters, weed & feed, oil changes, tires, and brake pads.  If an unexpected repair comes up, we use insurance and/or we take from the emergency fund to cover the deductible/repair.  All medical, dental and vision costs like copays, glasses and small expenses come from this bucket.  Any gifts we may buy for Christmas or birthdays come from here as well.  Finally, our yearly costs explained above in italics come from this core savings bucket.

If you can't save 20% of your income then you need to cut back somewhere because you will lean on credit cards and personal loans and find yourself paying interest you didn't need to pay.  I believe most couples should aim to save an interest-bearing $200K for retirement - that, along with social security, should be enough to fund a basic lifestyle.  Any more is just extra for enjoyment.

I hope this helps you see how we do our finances and ensure that we curtail our spending in certain areas to make room for others.

I think we all have heard, and maybe even saw, the "attackers" that "stormed" into a Christian church recently.  Yes, these people violated the law of the land by doing so but how should the church respond?  This was a great opportunity to show Christ to your enemies literally!  Why not turn the other cheek, give them water, turn the music up and worship God?

If only God's people were as obedient as Satan's... - My Pastor

How should the church respond to its enemies?  I think God made it very clear but why is there seemingly no display of this in American society?  We see it in the depths of Africa - where Christians not only forgive their Islamist terrorists from slaying their people and destroying their village but they even go so far as to VISIT THEIR ENEMIES IN PRISON!  What love!  What compassion!  What forgiveness!

Would an American from that targeted church go to visit their enemies in jail?  Probably not.  They'll sue and speak against them publicly because all know that a lot of American Christianity is a cloak of hypocrisy.

Matt. 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Rom 12:19-21  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. 

Mat 5:38-39 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 

I love the way Matthew Henry said things, especially here:

My blog is and will continue to be written by a human (me) and free of AI posts.  I have been writing this blog since 2007 and you can rest assured that you are reading from a real person!  I think that is so important, especially as we enter into 2026.  It is raw, it is real, it is me with all my flaws and grammatical errors.

I gave my blog a refresh - simple changes like a larger font and different link colors, larger header bar and a new image above the about me section.

My life has been full as I continue to home educate my son, keep the home, travel and care for my family.  I have plans for when I finish homeschooling my son in a few years - I want to write books and make a homeschool history curriculum.  My short-term plans for this blog are to continue writing on how to live on one income, my tips on meal planning and eventually I would like to return to doing my podcast.

I am getting thousands of people a month reading this blog from all over the world.  I hope that what I have shared on here all these 19 years is a blessing to someone, somewhere and in some way.  May we all grow in His grace and knowledge of His Word this year!

I'm sharing this excerpt from our church handbook, which was written by my husband:

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; [2] While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. [3] Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; [4] But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. [5] For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: [6] Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

One of our favorite comfort food meals is biscuits and gravy with sausage!  

I have been using this whole wheat biscuit recipe for a few years but I make 12 medium-sized biscuits instead of 8 large ones.  I use about 2 1/2 cups of freshly milled flour that has been sifted for this and everything else in the recipe stays the same.

I love using a spreadsheet that helps me plan our grocery costs ahead of time.  It is meant to be used to know which store to go to for an item but I use it mostly as a planner for my total expected cost.  For instance, I can enter in my grocery list using a manual list spreadsheet and then it will tell me what it will all cost based on prices that I entered in before.  After each grocery trip, I compare my receipt with my price book in the spreadsheet and update any that have increased or decreased in price.  

I have my grocery items listed and then I created categories for each, the unit size and the main 4 stores I shop at and the prices at each:

I can also sort my list by various categories such as cold items:

This is so true!  We have so much more today and we have lost our minds of what basic needs are.  This was such a good video full of facts that I had to share despite there being a curse word in it.  There are MANY families making it on one income.  I see it all the time that ONE individual claims they can't make it on an income that families with kids are making it on.  

I'm deeply disturbed by this false Christianity that is pervading our society and culture.  It seems so heroic and full of valor and so right.  Yet, when we line it up with the New Testament's Age of Grace it is in total opposition.  This false Christianity is what spurred and justified the Crusades and what is provoking Christian Nationalism.

Don't be led astray by those who are bent on hatred, variance, debate and tell you to "take a stand" or "fight back" - all of which are contrary to true Christianity that tells us not to avenge ourselves and to lead quiet lives and leave those without alone.

Luke 6:27-28; 31  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you... And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 

God has called us to do GOOD to those that hate us!  To LOVE our enemies!  To PRAY for those that despitefully use us!  The political climate today is misrepresenting true Christianity, as God has never condoned political activism and Jesus Himself said:

My husband just got through teaching the past few months at our church on the topic of sin.  I combined each week's Bible study into one PDF (I did make one change to one definition that was incorrect).  He added more teaching during the Bible study that isn't on the guide but this would be a great guide otherwise.  He never expected me to share this outside of our church but I asked his permission and he said I could, so here you go!

I haven't been taking food pics all of the time but I did for a few new meals we've recently made and I really want to get back to sharing food pics and recipes more often:

Southwest Turkey Skillet

Sheet Pan Jambalaya 

You may remember that a tumor was found on my optic nerve in my eye/brain and I started a regime of 12 servings of vegetables and fruit and the tumor was smaller on the next scan.  Well, I haven't been as diligent with my veg/fruit servings and I'm hoping the scan this week doesn't show a growth.  It's hard to eat that many vegetables and fruits every day!  Here's some pics of how I've been getting the servings in:

This is my 4th post from the series and you can find the 3rd one here - it was a past post from 2020 that fit well within the parameters of the theme.

Living holy lives gets a bad rap in the modern Christian world today from those who want to claim Christ but don't want to obey Him.  In an American society where seemingly even $100K salary isn't enough to survive on, we see poverty-stricken women adorning themselves in everything from face creams to rouge to designer wear.  You see, men think that they can't afford a wife and kids on $100K but the truth of the matter is, they can't afford the women's vanity and covetousness.  I'm well aware that men can be covetous as well, if not more so, with their wants out of control, but this is a blog aimed at women.

Take a normal American woman today with her mani's and pedi's, salon visits, weekly clothing purchases, beauty creams, anti-aging potions and makeup galore - she is sure to break the bank of most men.  She's painted up like a plastic Barbie and forever worried about her image.  It's called idolatry and she worships at her mirrored and selfie altar.  Not only is this an expensive sin but it is a demeaning one.  She can't bear to be unmasked, as she is truly in a prison of fake.

• I ate 4 meals a day - yes MEALS; not snacks - I kept food going in every 3-4 hours up until 2 hours before I slept to repair my metabolism and keep my body well fueled.  
• I only ate 12 hours of the day, for instance I ate either from 10-10, 11-11 or 12-12 - it all depends on my sleep or what time I finally eat breakfast. So, say I eat breakfast at 11am, meal 2 would be at 3, meal 3 at 7 and meal 4 at 11pm. This not only helps your metabolism and blood sugar but it will keep you FULL and you won't need to snack in between; if you are eating enough at each meal.
• Each meal contained a protein, fat and carb.  I ate 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein on average, though sometimes my carbs were higher.
• I aimed to get 4-6 vegetable servings a day and 1-3 fruit servings.
• I strived for at least 30 grams of fiber but usually it was 35g+ most days.
• I ate mostly complex carbs - 100% whole wheat bread, brown basmati rice, 100% whole wheat tortillas, beans, etc. (See list below)
• I ate 80% healthy foods and 20% other foods to keep life happy!
• I didn't eat fake stuff like all those nasty sugar alcohols (I used real cane sugar and raw honey for my sweeteners) and I eventually stopped eating those high fiber wraps that are just full of added fiber that wasn't naturally occurring.  I also didn't do any of those high protein gimmicks - you can't possibly metabolize more 30 grams of protein in one go!  Skip these fad things that will ultimately tax your liver and kidneys.  I stayed away from "diet" foods.
• I drank at least 8 cups of water daily and made this a priority and I also made sure I took my vitamins and supplements.

Here are some examples of actual meals I ate:

I had always been a mostly healthy eater but I also had treats and ate fast food often but still, nothing that made sense as to why I was obese besides the medications and a decade full of surgeries, trauma and miscarriages.  To my surprise, I was only eating 900-1300 calories a day and maintaining on that and I chucked it up to menopause slowing my metabolism down.  (I had a hysterectomy in 2015 and went through what felt like menopause a few years ago.)  I thought well, there's no way I could lose weight because I'm already eating so little and this is just the way I'm going to always be.  At least hiking helped me lose 15 pounds but it had now been 3 years and no more weight had come off.  By the way, the doctor said I now had the heart of an athlete from my 3 years of hiking!!

I joined Weight Watchers in late May of 2022 the week of my daughter's high school graduation to just give it one last try and I was in a size 18 skirt and 2X/3X top.  I seriously thought it wouldn't work and expected this would be my last hoorah showing that I'm doomed to a menopause body forever.  That first week I ate ALL my points, tons of zero foods and ALL my weeklies - I thought you had too LOL!  I remember cramming my face full and feeling like I was going to be sick from all the food and I spaced it into 4 meals a day to get all that food in.  I thought there is NO WAY this is going to work.  To my surprise I dropped 2 pounds that first week.  I figured that was just water and eventually this wouldn't work.  Well, it worked every week!  I also started weight lifting after being so inspired at the weight loss and because I was adding in more exercise, I earned even more points and I ate all those too!  I was living in some kind of dream - eating MORE and losing weight!?  I was now eating an average of 1500-1600 calories and losing weight.

In 14 weeks I had transformed my body into a size 6!  

Some verses of note from the Bible:

Luke 3:14  And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Phil. 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

1Tim. 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Notice, we are given examples to be content with our wages, learn to be content in every state of life, be content with our needs being met and let our life be without covetousness - this spirit of never enough - and be content with what we have!  Satan wants you to get on the treadmill of never enough and it isn't just because he wants to bankrupt you financially but he also wants you to to go hell.  Covetousness is a sin and you won't enter heaven (1Cor. 6:10), so we should be very aware of this spirit that is destroying many Americans like a cancer.

My guest speaker for this podcast is my husband and he is admonishing women to build their house. We have to realize the enormous impact that we, as women, have on our homes and specifically our husband.