Stewardship life experiment #1 | Update

Last week

In my post last Monday, I blogged that I would conduct a stewardship life experiment throughout the week where I would consult God first in all of my finances. I would pray for contentment, wisdom, and God's favor to be with me as I spent money.

Findings

Here is what found during this week:

1. In most purchases, I found to spend less than I might normally would. For example, I typically average about $110.00 a week on grocery spending. This week that amount was $92.60, a savings of $17.40.
2. Any "auto-pilot expenses" such as utility bills that I encountered during this week, came in at or below budget.
3. Unfortunately, I had a major, unexpected car repair this week on my air conditioning system. I had budgeted $250.00 in car repairs this month, thinking that I had a small leak in a hose, but the problem ended up being the main system valve and dryer. This is a major repair which cost me (along with an oil change and tire rotation) a total of $901.28. Ouch! The only good news in this repair is that my car's compressor didn't need to be replaced. If this had been the case, my total bill would have been over $1,500.00. In the end, I praised God that although the repair bill was higher than expected, I didn't have the worst case scenario.

Conclusion

In the end, I have concluded that one week is not enough time to really conduct the experiment. I'm not really sure what I was thinking in my original post. I will continue to conduct my experiment, record data, and give periodic updates on my findings. Stay tuned for more information on this ongoing experiment.