Should I Invest My Money in Experiences or Possessions?

You buy the thing quick, hit feels good, but then it fades absolutely fast.

Just more clutter.

But that late night laugh with someone you love.

That sticks for life.

Here's the truth, stuff doesn't satisfy.

Memories.

Do want real wealth?

Stop buying crap.

Start buying what lasts.

Stick with me and I'm gonna show you how to do that on today's show.

Hey there.

Welcome back to your daily, financially Confident Christian.

I'm Ralph, and it's great for you to be here again today and just working

towards answering that question, how can I become a financially confident Christian?

We're continuing on our series Beyond the Budget.

Finding financial freedom through living intentionally.

Now, if you missed yesterday's show, we talked about unsubscribing

from consumer culture.

So if you miss it, I'm gonna encourage you to go check it out.

I showed you how to break that cycle of that social culture

that's trying to, consumer culture's pulling you in so tight.

But today we're gonna change the subject and we're gonna talk about this.

Should I invest my money in experiences over possessions?

We're gonna get into it today.

Because here's the way it usually plays out.

At least it plays out this way for me.

You buy something that you thought was gonna bring you joy, and maybe it did.

It was that instant gratification.

Oh, I had joy for maybe about 10 seconds.

But that joy, it fades fast.

But those shared moments, those times that are just you and somebody you

love, or maybe you and your grandfather or or your mom or your dad, those

shared moments bring lasting joy.

See that pattern, if we really want to think about it, it reveals a true struggle

that a lot of us deal with, and we have to come to the realization that investing

in fleeting stuff instead of lasting meaning doesn't work for us anymore.

All it does is it leads to clutter, all kinds of stuff, crap all around

us, which leads to discontent and in the end just wasting a lot of money.

And here's the thing I want you to know and I want you to hear today.

I want you to hear loud and clear.

Possessions fade.

but experiences, those enrich your life.

I thought about it when I was preparing for today's show.

I can't remember most of my toys as a kid.

I couldn't.

I mean, I here and there.

Somebody will post something on things.

Oh yeah, I remember I had that.

I don't remember those things.

I do remember those tender moments I had with my mom now that she's not with us

anymore, and I remember those days just running around my grandfather's garden.

Those were experiences and see, it's those experiences that enrich our lives,

not the stuff, not the crap that we buy.

Let's look to scripture for some, God, look at the book of Matthew

chapter six, verses 19 to 21, and this just nails it with a hammer.

Do not store up treasures on earth, but store up treasures in heaven

for where your treasure is there.

Your heart will be also,

your heart is not going to be satisfied in stuff, but just

think about those relationships I mentioned a few minutes ago.

Those are things I think about every day.

Let's look at Proverbs chapter 15, verse 17.

Better.

A meal of vegetables where there is love.

Think about that at the time.

A meal of vegetables.

Lot people say, Rob, it's not a meal, it's just vegetables.

But that's better.

A meal of that where there is love, because here's a truth

bomb for today, and it took me a while to really understand this.

Honestly, it took me about 50 years of my life, but when I finally figured it out.

It was life changing and, and it's this statement, True joy, the true joy of

life is not found in your stuff, but it's found in people, it's found in

purpose, and it's found in presence.

And here's the biblical connection to this Truly why stewardship.

If we want to be why stewards of what God has given us, it values

relationships over that material gain.

So now you're saying, Ralph, great, okay, I get it.

But how do I make this work in my life?

What can I do?

How do I shift towards lasting richness?

I've got a really simple way for you to do it, and it's all about prioritizing.

I want you to prioritize meaningful experiences and relationship

building over material purchases.

Now that sounds easy.

I wanna talk to you in a couple minutes about how to make that

happen, but that's what it's about.

It's about prioritizing those meaningful experiences, those

times, those relationships.

Over that crap, that stuff that you buy that ends up on a shelf that

you don't even look at or ends up, you know, going to the charity.

So here's your one action item for today.

I want you to reflect on a past purchase.

I want you to think about something you bought recently.

Just think about it for something comes to mind and ask yourself this

really brutally honest question, did that bring you lasting joy?

Did it bring you lasting joy?

I think about the last thing I bought.

I bought a new car, for example.

Did it bring me lasting joy?

No.

It was kind of cool when I first got it.

It showed it around it.

Yeah, but it wasn't joy.

But now I want you to think the next question, think of a recent experience.

Did

that leave deeper joy?

Lemme give you some examples.

Let's say you purchased a trendy $50 gadget from an online ad. You're

scrolling through Facebook, you say, oh, this is a cool gadget.

I gotta have this.

You got it.

You used it one time.

Where's it at now?

It's in a drawer somewhere.

It's collecting dust on the shelf.

But think about that interaction you had with your kids, that spontaneous

walk and that stopping at the ice cream stand with your kids and just listening

to their laughter and that, and think about how much of a happy memory that is.

Tech Gadget used it one time that walk with your kids and stopping at

the ice cream stand, just watching 'em run around and maybe one of 'em

drop their ice cream on the ground.

That's a memory that you'll cherish forever.

Maybe you're, you're in the shoes.

You bought this pair of expensive shoes.

You, you bought it on impulse.

You were walking through 'em all and said, oh, those are sharp.

I gotta have those.

And they looked great.

Maybe they looked great on your feet.

Everybody's, oh, those are great shoes, Sally.

Now you're second guessing the cost.

'cause you're looking at your budget going, man, I, I was more than I

should have spent on a pair of shoes.

But then think about a comparison to that.

Maybe you could have spent just 10 bucks, rented a movie at home

with your spouse and had a deeper connection and really found relaxation.

I. So once you think about those things, next thing I want you to do is brainstorm

one value aligned experience, and I'm gonna give you some examples in a second.

Ask yourself what simple experience brings joy to my life and fits into my values?

We talked a lot a couple days ago about defining your

values, defining your enough.

Well, maybe for you, you value connection.

It's important that you connect with people.

Here's a great idea for you.

If you want to have a value online, that's not gonna cost you any money.

Invite a friend over for coffee.

Make it at home.

It's not gonna, not $10 share.

No.

Just a simple cup of coffee.

I don't drink coffee, but a cup of tea, whatever that is, and have a conversation.

Share their life.

Share what's going on in their life.

Be genuinely interested in them.

Maybe you value peace and rest.

You're not gonna get that from going to buying something.

So if you really wanna live in that, take a morning walk by the lake.

You don't have to buy anything.

Just listen to some worship music or listen to the show.

Or journal some, or think about why you're walking.

That's an experience.

Or maybe you value family.

So maybe for you, instead of spending money on something, have

the Saturday afternoon board games and pizza night with your kids.

Yeah, it might cost you a couple bucks for the pizza.

But you're gonna remember those days.

The rest of your life, you're gonna think back when, like me, my kids are grown now.

They're, they're, they're, they're al the nesta, as they say.

And, and I think back at it now, like I didn't take the time to invest in those

experiences as much as I could have.

So I just wanna encourage you to do that.

The third thing I'm gonna encourage you to do is to plan and prioritize,

because as I see on the show all the time, what gets measured gets done.

Schedule these experiences because it's not gonna feel normal at first, perhaps.

Then prioritize that budget for it.

Even if it's a small material purchase.

You need, like the pizzas for example, you can budget for that.

For example, let's say you want to do something with the family.

Schedule a Sunday family hike and bring along snacks.

Bring along snacks.

You don't have to worry about the kids.

Hey mom, what are we going to eat?

You got snacks right there and you don't have to worry about order

and takeout this week instead.

Or maybe plan a cozy evening at, at home with your spouse, maybe some candlelight

music and your favorite takeoff.

A good friend of mine, mark, does a podcast called Practical Prepping, and he

and his wife were talking about low or no cost ways to, to really enjoy date night.

Well, one of the things they mentioned is, you know, they set the table in the dining

room, they put the nice, the, the candle in the middle, and a nice tablecloth.

They were gonna have dinner together anyway, cost them nothing.

But think about the experience of that.

Maybe you host a potluck dinner with your friends next Friday.

Instead of all of you going out to dinner and spending a

ton of money, have a potluck.

Everybody brings something

that will be an experience that you'll remember.

You'll grow, you'll grow closer to people, and you'll build those relationships.

And all of this helps because it redirects spending to what truly matters.

I hope you're hearing this.

It's not about your stuff.

It's not about the crap.

It's the relationships because it deepens joy, it deepens those connections.

And when you have joy and you have strong relationships, you've got peace.

And in the end, it absolutely reinforces purposeful living.

Well, let's pray together.

Father God, we thank you for the joy of meaningful experiences in our lives.

Lord, just forgive us right now for chasing those temporary possessions,

those quick hits, that make us feel full for just a second Lord.

But then they're just gone.

They're wiped out.

And we just ask that you would help us to invest in relationships.

Lord, help us to invest in growth and invest in your glory.

And Lord, again, we ask that you would help us let our spending

reflect those eternal priorities.

And we just ask you to fill us with lasting joy, Lord,

and fill us with your wisdom.

And we ask this in confidence.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

As I said a few minutes ago, if you hear nothing else today, remember

this experiences enrich your life, but possessions are always gonna fade.

So make a decision today.

Make a decision to choose moments over material this week.

You are moving towards lasting freedom, and if today's episode

has helped you, I wanna encourage you to share it with somebody else

who needs a little, a little help.

A little pat on the back, a little hug, as they say.

You can point them right to our website.

That's it.

Financially confident christian.com.

And while you're there or they're there, I wanna give you a free gift.

It's a copy of my book.

It's called Mastering Your Finances.

Absolutely free for you.

It's a short read, but it is significantly impactful to help you get your

finances going in the right order.

And you can get that again by going to financially

confident christian.com/master.

Now, tomorrow we're going to take it up a notch even further as we work.

To be intentional, we're gonna be talking about applying mindfulness to

every spending choice that we make.

We're gonna really look at every single choice and apply mindfulness to it.

So I wanna encourage you not to miss it, but let's go out there

today and be financially confident.

Christians, you can do this.

I truly believe in you.

Believe in yourself.

Stay financially savvy.

God bless you, and you have a great day today.