False economies

Jennifer suggested I write a post one of the ways I tried to save money back when we were dating. But first, a little background.

Back in 1997, I was living in a small..."apartment." It was actually a tiny mobile home in the backyard of another mobile home. My apartment was about 250 sq ft. It had enough room for a full size bed, a two-person table, a tiny kitchen, and a tiny bathroom, which didn't even have a door. But, the apartment came furnished (bed, table, some kitchen utensils, etc), with utilities, for about $300/mo.

I lived there without a TV. And I didn't have a phone. I would walk to the gas station, which was one mobile home away, so I could use the pay phone.

Anyway, one of the ways I tried to save money was by getting the most for my money when it came to garbage bags. That meant buying 30gal bags. After all, why would I spend money on small 13gal bags when I can get the giant 30gal bags for about the same price.

Well, you can probably imagine how long it would take a single guy to fill a 30gal bag. So, there were occasions when the apartment would stink pretty bad 30gal of rotting trash stinks up 250 sq ft quite easily.

So, in my attempt to live super-frugally, I ended up living like Oscar the Grouch.

There is such a thing as a false economy. Cheaper up-front costs don't always equate with long-term satisfaction.

WWJB?

What Would Jesus Buy?

Christians are supposed to use our money--really God's money--in ways that glorify God. We are entrusted to manage God's resources just as a business manager is entrusted to manage the resources of the business owner. A business manager is expected to use resources just as the owner would if the owner were making those immediate decisions. In fact, executives of publicly-traded business are required by law to seek the best interest of the stock-holders (owners).

As Christians, we're to spend the resources entrusted to use in the way God would most want us to spend them. But, how do we know what God wants us to do with the resources? Since Jesus is our model for daily living, would it make sense to consider him a model for daily spending? And if so, would that mean one way to understand how to spend money or use resources would be to ask, "What Would Jesus Buy?"

And if that is a good question to ask, how would asking that question change the way we spend money? What do you have that you think Jesus would spend money on? What do you have that you think Jesus wouldn't spend money on?

An attractive young man?

OK, I never thought I'd be writing a post about attractive young men, but a recent sermon series by Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, got me thinking about how young single men should live. According to Driscoll, a single man should be saving to buy a home, saving for the college educations of his future children, etc. Then, when he meets a young single woman who wants to know what he's been doing, he can say, "Well, I've been saving to buy a house and send my future kids to college." That, Driscoll, says, is a great way to woo a woman.

Now, I can't disagree that women would be more interested in the man with a plan than with a man who's spent his single-man's income on trips to Vegas. But, here's my question. Which of these is a better choice for a man to be able to say:

A) "For the last 5 years since graduating college, I've saved $18,000 so I can buy a house when I get married, and I've started a college fund for my future children. While my old college friends have been buying nicer cars and taking ski trips, I've been praying that God will help me find the right woman to spend my life with, and I want to be prepared when God sends her to me."

or

B) "For the last 5 years since graduating college, I've been giving most of my extra money to missions and Christian charities. I've been able to help a few families with medical expenses, and I'm investing in clean water projects through Blood:Water Mission. Giving means I can't take ski trips with friends, and I don't have a lot saved for my own future, but I trust God to give me what I need."

or

C) Some combination, or something different altogether. You tell us.

Singer Solution

Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton, wrote "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" (a magazine-length article) to outline what he viewed as a the moral imperative and method for helping the world's poor. If you have 10 minutes, read it and tell me your thoughts.

Is Singer right or wrong? How do his views compare or contrast with Christian hedonism and the wartime lifestyle?

choosing a house

I once heard of a missionary who was asked how he accepted his low standard of living. He explained that everyone knows Americans are richer than the vast majority of the world's population, but he liked to remind himself that--even at his missionary wages--he was richer than 90% of Americans were in 1950.

Not too long ago, my family moved from a 1,500 sq ft 3/2 house on one acre of land to a 1,371 sq ft 3/2.5 townhouse. After factoring in the space lost to our new staircase, we were losing more than 200 sq ft (~14% of our living area); we also lost a 2-car garage for storage.

We felt like we were moving into a shed, but we also understood we were moving into a home our grandparents' generation would have considered luxury.

The average American home built in 1950 was less than 1,000 sq ft. But, by 1990, the average new home was larger than 2,000 sq ft. The average number of bathrooms increased from 1 to 2.5 during those years (National Association of Home Builders). In addition, the percentage of homes with two car garages increased from 48% to 75% from 1968 t0 1992 (McKeever & Phelps).

The amount we spend on our homes has also grown much faster than inflation. The average new home cost $11,000 in 1950 , which adjusted to year-2000 dollars would have been $78,597. By comparison, the average new home in 2000 cost $206,400--and that was before the housing bubble (NAHB; AIER).

In fact, researchers Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi have claimed today's Americans spend less on food and clothing (thanks Wal-Mart) and cars (thanks Japan) than Americans spent in the 1970s. But they found we spend much, much more on housing.

Warren and Tyagi claim two-income families are spending more on homes in order to get into neighborhoods zoned for the best schools. But, that wouldn't explain why most new homes also happen to be built in deed-restricted neighborhoods. I wonder if people are more driven by finding neighborhoods with decent neighbors. But, whatever the cause, we're spending a lot of money on houses.

So, here's my question:
How do wartime Christians decide how much to spend and what to look for in a house?


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Sources:
McKeever & Phelps. http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/pdf1994/mckee94a.pdf
National Assn of Home Builders (NAHB). http://www.nahb.org/
American Institute for Economic Research. http://www.aier.org/research/worksheets-and-tools/cost-of-living-calculator
Warren & Tyagi: http://bostonreview.net/BR30.5/warrentyagi.html

Random discolures: My first house, purchased in 2000, was a 1206 sq ft 3/2 that cost $76,500. My second house, puchased in 2003, was a 1500 sq ft 3/2 that cost $125,000. My current house, puchased in 2008, is a 1371 sq ft 3/2.5 towhouse that cost $114,900.