"She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,
and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places and brings back exotic surprises"
She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places and brings back exotic surprises"
Quality:
Thrifty: Thriving by industry & frugality, good management
Frugal: Characterized by wisdom in the use of resources
Thorough: Carried through to completion, careful about detail, having full mastery
Breakdown:
To me this verse speaks of the 3 above mentioned character qualities. This woman is not a one-stop-shop kinda lady. When the P31W (Proverbs 31 Woman) goes shopping, she does so with sales fliers & coupons in hand! She is a woman who puts the resources that her husband (& perhaps herself) provides to the best possible use. She wisely manages their finances & seeks out the best quality for the best price. The qualities of thriftiness & frugality are imperative for several reasons. 1. Any married woman will tell you that one main source of strife between husband & wife occurs due to financial stress. 2. Many women are prone to overspending which in turn leads to financial stress, ergo marital conflict. 3. The more financial demands within a family = the more work required to produce funds for those demands = less time spent with the family = less time with family results in a weak family unit. The ability to be wise with financial resources greatly & positively impacts a woman's life...whether she is single or married with a family. The final quality that I believe this verse addresses is the ability to be thorough, and by this I mean the ability to carry to completion the qualities of frugality & thriftiness. It is one thing to desire & intend to be those things but it is an entirely different matter to actually practice them. It is easy to make a budget, far harder to adhere to it.
Application:
How I wish that as a young woman I would have learned to make a budget, to coupon, to save money, & so on...instead I learned those things because financially I had no choice but to do so! Young women, I implore you, seek to learn those skills! Ask your mothers to counsel you in this subject, under her tutelage begin practicing these methods.Fellow Wives & Mothers, it's never too late to learn these qualities! In my household we allot a set budget for groceries each week & I strive to come in lower than my designated amount. I personally am going to begin setting side the amount I save to use towards a family getaway. For example if my weekly budget is $150 & I only spend $130 then $20 goes put into the Getaway Jar. It makes saving & the effort to do so far more worthwhile when I have a goal in mind. For those blessed with wealth, be grateful for the lack of financial stress & perhaps find ways to gift others. "To Whom Much is Given, Much is Required". Foremost rid yourself of debt. If you can easily pay all the bills, then begin to pay extra on any debt. Once debt free begin mastering the quality of Generosity!
Confession: I generally do okay in this skill set, but I stray quite often. I'm confessing openly that I could be more wise with our finances...I will be striving towards this end, I will work towards becoming more Thorough.
Thrifty: Thriving by industry & frugality, good management
Frugal: Characterized by wisdom in the use of resources
Thorough: Carried through to completion, careful about detail, having full mastery
Breakdown:
To me this verse speaks of the 3 above mentioned character qualities. This woman is not a one-stop-shop kinda lady. When the P31W (Proverbs 31 Woman) goes shopping, she does so with sales fliers & coupons in hand! She is a woman who puts the resources that her husband (& perhaps herself) provides to the best possible use. She wisely manages their finances & seeks out the best quality for the best price. The qualities of thriftiness & frugality are imperative for several reasons. 1. Any married woman will tell you that one main source of strife between husband & wife occurs due to financial stress. 2. Many women are prone to overspending which in turn leads to financial stress, ergo marital conflict. 3. The more financial demands within a family = the more work required to produce funds for those demands = less time spent with the family = less time with family results in a weak family unit. The ability to be wise with financial resources greatly & positively impacts a woman's life...whether she is single or married with a family. The final quality that I believe this verse addresses is the ability to be thorough, and by this I mean the ability to carry to completion the qualities of frugality & thriftiness. It is one thing to desire & intend to be those things but it is an entirely different matter to actually practice them. It is easy to make a budget, far harder to adhere to it.
Application:
How I wish that as a young woman I would have learned to make a budget, to coupon, to save money, & so on...instead I learned those things because financially I had no choice but to do so! Young women, I implore you, seek to learn those skills! Ask your mothers to counsel you in this subject, under her tutelage begin practicing these methods.Fellow Wives & Mothers, it's never too late to learn these qualities! In my household we allot a set budget for groceries each week & I strive to come in lower than my designated amount. I personally am going to begin setting side the amount I save to use towards a family getaway. For example if my weekly budget is $150 & I only spend $130 then $20 goes put into the Getaway Jar. It makes saving & the effort to do so far more worthwhile when I have a goal in mind. For those blessed with wealth, be grateful for the lack of financial stress & perhaps find ways to gift others. "To Whom Much is Given, Much is Required". Foremost rid yourself of debt. If you can easily pay all the bills, then begin to pay extra on any debt. Once debt free begin mastering the quality of Generosity!
Confession: I generally do okay in this skill set, but I stray quite often. I'm confessing openly that I could be more wise with our finances...I will be striving towards this end, I will work towards becoming more Thorough.
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