Debt and Scripture

I've been wrapping presents all morning. I still have several more to wrap and several more to buy. I've decided that I'm not going to buy for my Husband's Aunt and Uncle and their family, and I'm going to try and not feel bad about it. We just can't afford it. And it would be putting us deeper in debt, its not being a good steward of what God has given us. We are supposed to make due with what we have and take care of it. But by charging on credit cards, I have took money that God didn't supply and have put my family in more bondage. Hopefully, I will be able to pay it off before any interest is added.

Bible Scripture

1st Timothy Chapter 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Deuteronomy Chapter 15:6 For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

Psalms Chapter 37:21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Romans Chapter 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Galatians Chapter 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Proverbs Chapter 22:3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naïve go on, and are punished for it.

From now on, I'm going to try my best to be prudent and get out and stay out of debt!

Christmas Presents Christmas Debt

One of my Husband's aunt and uncle invited us to Christmas Dinner this year and said that they would be exchanging gifts... MORE GIFTS!!!! I don't know what were gonna do! We already buy for close to 25 people, now we will be adding 7 more!!! This is just so out of control, we have cut back A LOT on Christmas this year because we just don't have the money. Our house burnt back in May and we finally just moved back in a little over a month and a half ago. I wish they just asked us to dinner.... Why did they have to add the "exchanging gifts" part?

Another reason for learning embroidery and crocheting would be for PRESENTS!!! If I knew these skills, then I could make all the women two crocheted dishcloths and an embroidered flour sack. Then I'd probably still feel guilty about not spending money on them. I feel guilty every year about not spending enough money on peoples gifts for Christmas. I get so stressed every year because of the financial burden of Christmas. We were finally out of the credit card debit, until Christmas arrived! As of right now, we only have put a little over a hundred dollars on our credit card. But, now we have 7 more people added to the list! I'm thinking of getting the females a $5 large glass jar candle at walmart. But what about the men? Any suggestions?

Do any of you have this many people to buy for? How do you make ends meet? What kind of presents do you get? This is our fourth year of buying this many gifts, and it seems like there are more people added to the family every year! We don't even buy for everyone that buys for us. We just can't afford it. It gets us into debt every year. The first year my husband and I were married, I was in high school and did not work and he made a GRAND TOTAL of $11,000 that year. That Christmas we ended up $2,000 in debt! We have cut back on Christmas every year since. Last year I had a limit of spending $15 on each person, and we still wrapped up the credit card debt. This year I set my limit at $10 per person, but I did pretty well this year and re-gifted and spent as little as $2 on some gifts. But we still didn't escape the credit debit! Hopefully next year we won't have to use the credit cards....