Sara told the Money: Faith and Finance about the practical and profound provision that comes with trusting GodKey points:Sara manages life as a single mum of five in Sydney by leaning on faith, community, and practical resourcefulness, including church pantries, council clean-ups, and Return and Earn.
\nA money mentor from Hope Economy transformed Sara\u2019s relationship with money, teaching her to give every dollar a purpose and take ownership of her finances.
\nFor Sara, budgeting is inseparable from faith. She says she can\u2019t sit down to do her budget without God guiding her through it.<\/p>\n
Sara is a mum of five, foster carer and rents her family home in Sydney, an expensive global city stretched by housing pressure and rising costs.<\/p>\n
Sara doesn\u2019t pretend living in Sydney is easy, but is quick to say she is not actually doing it alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout faith I would not be able to do this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I\u2019m in \u2018freaking out mode\u2019, I just go to God and I\u2019m like, \u2018These are your kids\u2026 help.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m your kid. Help me.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he does always come through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sara also credits \u201clots of community, being resourceful and creative\u201d as key to surviving as a single mother in Sydney.<\/p>\n
Creativity for Sara often begins with simply asking for help, something she admits initially took courage. <\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the first go, you are a little bit shy because you don\u2019t know how this world actually works,\u201d Sara said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut once you get a grasp on it, you know that you can go to these places and grab what\u2019s available.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Don\u2019t] shy away from going to the places that give you help.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of churches have pantries or hampers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are free places that you can get stuff such as fresh fruit and vegetables.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBudgeting lessons learned the hard way\n<\/p>\n
Yes, Sara is keen to be there for others, even as she shared how stark her own financial reality is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI earn probably 38,000, give or take,\u201d Sara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo get a rental on that is impossible,\u201d she added, sharing she only secured her home by co-signing with her mum.<\/p>\n
Sara didn\u2019t grow up financially minded or learn budgeting skills during her marriage. But necessity became a teacher; budgeting was \u201cthrust upon\u201d Sara.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also allowed me to take more ownership of what was coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had an excellent experience that changed everything,\u201d Sara said about the skills and assistance provided by her money mentor, who came to her home. <\/p>\n
\u201cI got to see that each dollar actually has a value and to be purposeful for where that dollar goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re in the kitchen making a cake, each ingredient has a purpose. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe same goes for each dollar; what is your vision for that particular dollar? Then, send it on its way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sara\u2019s practical approach is clear, grounded and might help your budgeting:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cRent is always first, has to be.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cDon\u2019t get a credit card; you don\u2019t need it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cHave a rent and bills account, and then a savings or an emergency savings account.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Even small habits matter when it comes to being creative around household finances. <\/p>\n
\u201cWalking down the street, I find a few cans, take them to Return and Earn and that goes immediately into that emergency fund,\u201d Sara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love a good council clean-up,\u201d Sara said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t remember the last time I actually bought furniture. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a treasure hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nFaith that holds everything together\n<\/p>\n
For Sara, budgeting isn\u2019t just practical \u2013 it\u2019s spiritual.<\/p>\n
Sara\u2019s faith is her anchor, even in moments when the numbers don\u2019t seem to add up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout faith I would not be able to do this,\u201d she said plainly.<\/p>\n
Even her budgeting reflects that dependence. <\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t sit down and do my budget without God showing me where this needs to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I lost a husband, I actually gained a really faithful \u2018dad\u2019 who\u2019s constantly showing me how to budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
And for anyone walking a similar road \u2013 overwhelmed, stretched, unsure \u2013 Sara offers something simple yet deeply grounded. For any and all of life\u2019s situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is that God\u2019s with us always,\u201d Sara said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sara told the Money: Faith and Finance about the practical and profound provision that comes with trusting GodKey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[29745,4362,29746,29747,3545,8937,29748,7286,247],"class_list":["post-33347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-budget-and-finances","tag-cost-of-living","tag-faith","tag-faith-and-finances","tag-housing","tag-money","tag-motherhood","tag-parenting","tag-sydney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}