1. Skip just 2 fast food meals a month. The average fast food tab for a family of 4 is easily $15-$25!
2. Skip 1 "dine-in" restaurant meal a month.
3. When you do dine out, ask for water instead of another beverage. It’s free. Pass on the appetizer or dessert.
4. Opt to rent a movie and skip a trip to the theater.
5. When you do go to the movies, pass on the popcorn, sodas and snacks.
6. Cut back on Starbucks a few times a week and bring your coffee from home. No time in the mornings? Even switching to coffee from a convenience store will save you enough to save a child!
7. Leave the matching purse or shoes or accessories behind when shopping. Do you really need them? Will you ever miss them?
8. Bring snacks from home to work instead of hitting the snack machine in the afternoon slump.
9. Stay home. By sticking closer to home in the evenings and weekends, you won’t have to fill the gas tank as often.
10. Dust off your library card. The typical hardcover book is $20 or more. Borrowing from the library is free.
11. Couponing and playing the drug store game. You’d be amazed at the amount of money you can save by taking a minute to check store circulars and clip a few coupons! (And if you know me, you know I could dedicate an entire blog to this hobby! lol)
12. Clean out your house. Pull out all the stuff that I know is hiding in your closet and have a yard sale or list it on ebay or Craigslist.
13. Have a date night challenge. Make a game out of how you and your honey can have a romantic evening out without spending extra. Instead of dinner and a movie, how about a picnic in the park? Or an evening stroll around town? Or lying in the backyard watching the stars?
14. Skip the manicure or pedicure. Paint your nails at home or go natural.
15. Share babysitting costs with a friend. Volunteer to watch each others kids the next time you need a sitter.
What else can you do to save? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas!
35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I
was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave
me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited
me.’
37 "Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 "And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,you were doing it to me!’
Q: Do you know much about this Hopechest organization? Do you know these people? Can I trust them to be financially responsible in how they distribute donations?
A: Yes, yes, and yes! These are great people who are in this because they have a heart for and are passionate about helping orphans. Three of the leaders of this organization left high-paying jobs and took drastic pay cuts to serve in this way. Several of the people working full-time for Hopechest are doing so on a completely volunteer basis. Several of them are adoptive parents, including the Chief Operating
Officer Bob Mudd and Tom Davis, the President of Hopechest, who has two adopted children and who is a well-known and respected advocate for orphans and vulnerable children - and the author of a few of my favorite books (if you haven't read them, you should check them out - Fields of the Fatherless, Red Letters, and his latest, a novel about an orphan actually set in Swaziland called Scared). Hopechest is audited every year by the ECFA (Evangelical Coalition for Financial Accountability). 80% of every dollar that comes in goes directly to the field (this is a very high percentage!). In fact, one way they are able to do this is that they help communities by supporting local believers in these countries who are already trying - with extremely limited resources - to help kids in their communities. Thus, Hopechest is able to use funds to leverage work already in place and in progress rather than having to spend money to get staff to every location and start from scratch. If you have any questions at all about how the financials of this organization work or how funds are handled and distributed, please let me know and I will put you in contact with the Director of Outreach and Partner Relations, Vince Giordano, who will be happy to answer them.
Q: What does sponsorship entail?
A: Basically, we're forming a "community of sponsorship" for this care point. This means that this particular care point is "our" community to take care of, and getting a sponsorship for each child is just a part of it. Being part of the community of sponsorship means that you will have access to an online community that will give you frequent updates on the care point. Your sponsorship community will focus on specific projects for our care point as they come up (for example, perhaps a well at some point so these kids can be drinking clean water), and there will be an annual trip planned so that anyone who wants to visit our care point will have the opportunity to go there and serve. My friend, Brandi, who volunteers full-time with Hopechest, will actually get to visit our care point in February with a group to train some local leaders and to assess some of the major needs (another project we will do for our community before she goes will be to gather some donations of items to send to our children - I know some of their other sponsorship communities have sent things like pencils and underwear for their kids).
