Give Your Church $1,500 For Free

What minor (or perhaps major) sacrifices are you willing to make for the advancement of the Kingdom of God? This article was written with an eye towards increasing giving to a church capital campaign, but is equally true for everyday giving.

• Giving up just one fast food meal per week for a family of four saves well over $20 per week or more than $1,000 per year.
• Putting off buying a new car for three years would save a great deal of money. The average car payment is around $420 per month which equates to over $5,000 per year.
• Giving up a one weekend getaway per year could easily free up $500 or more per year.
• Instead of going out for lunch from work, bring a bag lunch twice a week (or more!). This would easily save over $10 per week or more than $500 per year.
• Studies indicate the average American goes to the movies 5 times a year at an average cost of $12.50 (with popcorn). For a family of 4, giving up movies would free up $250 per year.
• Skip the candy bar and soda at the gas station and save $2.00 per week or over $100 per year.
• Trim your cable or satellite TV package and save $10 per month and save $125 per year.
• The average household grocery bill for a family of 4 is over $800 per month. Clip those coupons and shop those sales to trim 10% out of the budget and save $1,000 per year.

Implementing just one-half of these lifestyle sacrifices (excluding putting off a car purchase) would free up over $30 per week for the Kingdom with no impact on the household budget.

You are able to give the church an extra $1,500 for free - since it did not cost you anything extra to do so. To this "free money", you should add a financial contribution as God has prospered and provided for you to do.