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How Can I Make Every Spending Decision a Conscious Choice? · Becoming Financially Confident

• 0:00
  Ralph: Do you ever feel like your money just vanishes?
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  Now I'm not talking about in one big splurge, but in a slow drip coffee here.
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  Impulse by there until you look in your account is nearly empty.
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  And then you're wondering where did it all go?
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  What if that could change?
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  What if every dollar had a purpose and you were the one that was finally in control?
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  Imagine making spending decisions that reflect your values, not just your urges.
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  Well, stick with me today 'cause I'm gonna show you how to stop the money leaks and
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  start living with financial intention.
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  That's what we're gonna cover on today's show.
• 0:49
  Hey there, friend.
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  Welcome back to your daily, financially confident Christian.
• 0:53
  I'm Ralph, and it's great that you're joining me here again today as we
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  answer our continuing question.
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  How do I become a financially confident Christian?
• 1:02
  And right now we're in week three of our series.
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  Beyond the Budget, we're working to find financial freedom
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  through intentional living.
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  If you've been joining me every day, I just wanna congratulate you, and if
• 1:12
  you have missed any episodes, you can always find them right on our website.
• 1:15
  Now, yesterday we talked about how joy often comes more from experiences.
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  Then stuff, we had a long discussion about how experiences or the things
• 1:24
  that you take and you remember for a very long time, whereas stuff,
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  Hey, it's here today, gone tomorrow.
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  Well, today's question is, how can I make everyday spending decisions
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  a conscious, faith aligned choice?
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  We really want to talk about how to be intentional in our spending decisions.
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  So let me start by asking you something real.
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  If you're like me, you're often thought about this.
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  Have you ever checked your bank account at the end of the week and thought,
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  wait, I didn't buy anything big, so why is there so little left in my account?
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  And you start to dig in a little bit.
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  Maybe it's $6 for coffee or maybe $12 for that lunch out, or $9 for that streaming
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  app that you totally forgot to cancel.
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  You've been talking about doing that for a while, but you've never
• 2:08
  gotten around to it and it doesn't seem like much in that moment.
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  When you're buying that coffee, you're stepping out for lunch.
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  It doesn't feel like it's this big, huge thing, but what happens over time
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  is it adds up and it steals your peace.
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  I spoke to a listener last week.
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  She said this.
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  She said, Ralph, I'm not blowing money on designer handbags or vacations.
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  it's just Amazon boxes showing up with stuff I didn't even remember ordering.
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  can you relate to that?
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  The truth is most people aren't bad with money.
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  we're just not always aware of where our money's going, but
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  here's where it gets even deeper.
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  See, every dollar that you spend is a decision.
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  A lot of people don't understand this, but every dollar that you spend is a decision
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  and every decision that you make in life reflects your values or your habits.
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  What scripture says this in the book of Proverbs, chapter 21, verse five, and I
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  use this one frequently on the show, it says this, the plans of the diligent lead
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  surely to abundance, see decisions, plans, diligent plans, what do they lead to?
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  They lead to abundance.
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  Let's look at the book of Ephesians, chapter five, verses 15 and 16.
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  Be very careful how you live.
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  Not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.
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  But what are they saying there?
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  Every opportunity, every decision.
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  And there's this warning about being careful how you live and
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  being wise in those decisions.
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  And see that's not just about other things and choices about life.
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  It includes opportunities with your money.
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  And in the end, here's the big takeaway from today.
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  Intentional spending is faithful stewardship.
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  It just is because it's saying to God this, it says, Lord, I
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  see every dollar you've given me and I want to use it on purpose.
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  See, it's that decision to use it on purpose.
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  So now you're asking Ralph, how do we stop the slow leak?
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  How do we move from that autopilot spending to intentional living?
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  And I've got a simple but powerful way to do it, and it's called the Sacred Pause.
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  And I'm gonna encourage you to create a sacred pause before you spend.
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  Just a ten second window of clarity and a moment to ask this really deep question.
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  Is this what I really want my money to say about me?
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  I wanna say that again because this is so important.
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  During that ten second window, I'm gonna talk about how to do that in a second.
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  But you want to ask yourself, is this what I really want my money to say about me?
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  So let me get right to my one action step for today.
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  Let's talk, about this together.
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  The first step is, this is practice the pause and plan rule.
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  So next time you're standing in line at the store, you're right there at
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  the target counter or the Walmart counter, or maybe you're hovering
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  over that buy now button online.
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  You're just, you're just so close to clicking on buy now.
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  I just want you to go back and remember that pause.
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  I just want you to pause and I want you to count to 10.
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  Once you get to 10, then I want you to ask this question, is this in my budget?
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  Is this decision in my budget?
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  And then the second question is, does it align with what I value?
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  See, that's the two pieces to the puzzle.
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  Is it in my budget and does it align with what I value?
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  I I used an example from last week.
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  Somebody had talked about these great new earbuds.
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  Everybody's have gotta have these new earbuds.
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  And I was like, you know what?
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  I could go buy these earbuds.
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  And I got on Amazon new, a really cheap, like 40 bucks
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  and I wanted these new things.
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  Everybody had 'em.
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  I thought about it for a second.
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  I said, Hey, let's take that pause.
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  So I took the pause myself.
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  I waited 10 seconds and then I realized I had already had, I actually
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  had two pairs of working Bluetooth headphones and I didn't need these.
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  This was just a want.
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  This wasn't a need.
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  So what did I do?
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  I took that 40 bucks I was gonna spend, and my wife and I went out and had a nice
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  dinner together and see that one decision.
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  That one pause, that one saying to myself, Hey, do I really need this?
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  That conscious choice brought way more joy than that $40 pair
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  of Bluetooth headphones, which honestly would've sat on the shelf.
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  'cause I've already got two pairs.
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  That's step one.
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  Step two, if you battle this, one of the things I really encourage you to do is do
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  what I call a cash only in one category week, I want you to pick your weak spot.
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  Maybe for you it's that takeout or that's stepping out for lunch or those coffee.
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  I pick old coffee all the time, but maybe that's what, or those quick
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  target runs, you know, it's gonna go ahead and cut a couple things.
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  Maybe just one thing.
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  Here's what I'm gonna encourage you to do instead.
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  Withdraw cash.
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  Kinda like using that old envelope system.
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  Only use that amount this week.
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  So for example, one listener told me she gave herself a $40 cash
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  envelope for snacks and for fast food.
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  she saw this as an area where she was struggling with trying to stay
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  on point with her spending and staying on point with her budget.
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  So she said, Ralph, here's what I did.
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  Real simple.
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  I took $40 out.
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  I put it in an envelope.
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  I wrote snacks and food on it.
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  And when the cash was gone, she says, I was done for the week.
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  And then she reported back to me, she said, Ralph, I didn't just save money.
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  That would've been big enough.
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  She says, I felt free, and I love the way she ended her comment to me.
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  She said, Ralph, I was back in control.
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  Hey, if you want to gain that control, there's something you can do.
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  Another thing I'm gonna encourage you to do, step three in the three step
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  process, I. I want you to do a daily, two minute review, so at the end of
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  your day, whatever that looks like for you, maybe you're unwinding for
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  the day, you're checking your emails.
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  Before you go to sleep, I want you to get out your phone or maybe keep a notebook.
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  I think notebooks are actually good for this.
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  And write down what you spent just for that day.
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  Write down what you spent.
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  No judgment here.
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  Just write it down because I want you to start to build this awareness.
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  My wife and I were having this very discussion with
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  our youngest son yesterday.
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  He was talking about, Hey, everything is so expensive and I, he's living in
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  a house with a bunch of other people that're, sort of renting rooms and, he
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  said, dad, I really want to get on my own.
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  And I said, okay, well what does that look like?
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  And he goes, well, it's so expensive to do it right now.
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  And I said, okay, well, where does your money go?
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  He said, well, how would I figure it out?
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  I said, son, it's not complicated.
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  It's why two for a living?
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  I said, listen to my show once in a while.
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  I said, just take each, at the end of each day, just write down where you spent
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  your money, not about judging yourself, but about awareness, because I know
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  this tiny habit builds mindfulness and it's that mindfulness that will help you
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  break that cycle of asking that question.
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  We started off with, you get to the end of the week and you're
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  like, where did my money go?
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  Let's pray together.
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  Father God, we just thank you for every dollar that you've entrusted to us.
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  And Lord, we ask that you would forgive us for the times we spent
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  without thought, not even thinking about it, not even planning it.
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  And Lord, right now, we want you to teach us to pause, Lord.
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  Teach us to plan and to live with that intention that you want for our lives.
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  And we just ask that you would let every financial decision be a reflection of
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  our faith, a reflection of our values.
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  Lord, we ask you to make us wise and make us faithful in even the small things.
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  We just ask this in complete confidence.
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  In Jesus' name we pray.
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  Amen.
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  Friend, here's the thing I want you to hear today.
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  It's the little choices that shape a big life.
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  When you pause, when you plan, you're not just saving money.
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  That's that's a big enough piece, but you're building peace.
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  You're becoming the kind of person who walks in confidence.
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  Not just in confusion, and I wanna just encourage you right now if this
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  episode has been impactful to you, if you're getting value from this
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  show, I would love it if you would share this show with somebody else.
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  Other people can learn.
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  Other people can grow.
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  Just like you're growing by picking up this show on a daily basis, I'm just
• 10:05
  gonna encourage you to send them to financially confident christian.com.
• 10:10
  Hey.
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  Text him, send him an email and just say, Hey, I listened to this guy, Ralph.
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  He's got a lot of good ideas.
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  He's really helped me with my finances, and he's done it from a place of faith.
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  Again, just send him to financially confident christian.com.
• 10:25
  Hey, while they're there, get a copy of my book.
• 10:27
  I'll give you a absolutely free copy of my book.
• 10:29
  It's called Mastering Your Finances.
• 10:31
  You get to that by going to financially confident christian.com/master.
• 10:36
  Get it for free.
• 10:37
  No strings attached.
• 10:38
  Now tomorrow we're gonna get into another powerful topic.
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  We're gonna talk about the beauty and savings of secondhand simplicity.
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  You're gonna love this one.
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  We're gonna talk about how you don't necessarily have to buy
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  that new, flashy, shiny thing.
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  You've got this.
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  I believe in you.
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  Believe in yourself, and let's go be those financially confident Christians.
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  Stay financially savvy.
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  God bless you and you have a great day today.