The three shifts are:

1. 1. Budgeting (holiday spending)
   2. Cash payments
   3. Create products

These evergreen money lessons will help you to take back control of your finances so that you can do whatever you want to do. It could be moving abroad like we did, or starting a business, or going back to school. 

Whatever you want.

Money creates options and opportunities, and the more of it you have the more opportunities you can seize.

Use us as your example.

One thing we did was we stopped spending so much money on events and holidays…

Stop Excessive Holiday Spending

Every year there’s always something going on, and every month there’s some type of pricey event or some type of holiday.

So what we chose to do is to look at and examine these things to determine are these things that we’re planning to do what we want to do?

Or, is it just suddenly upon us, and we feel obligated to spend this money because it’s the cultural norm at this time of year?

Often times it was the latter, and that created overwhelm for our family.

Then we realized the truth. We had a choice in the way that we spent our money – and so do you. 

We started looking at the way we spent money and realized we weren’t doing what was best for us at the time. And so we made the choice to change how we did that so we would have better ways of spending our money and having bills paid off.

Make Major Purchases With Cash

The second thing that we did was make more cash purchases.

Take a major purchase. They usually end up with monthly notes, charge card payments and so on.

So when it came to, let’s say, buying a vehicle, we realized what everyone talks about.

But we said, hey – we have to take action.

One of those things (that everyone talks about) is when you purchase a new vehicle, as soon as you drive it off the lot – it depreciates.

So we took that a step further and said – let’s not do that. Let’s save up our money. If we’re going to buy a vehicle we’re going to buy it outright.

Yes, it’s going to be a used vehicle, like the time we had a black Honda Civic. That was a family car at the time, and it served us very well. 

And it was good to not have to have the monthly payment. And so we had more money because we paid it off and we didn’t have to be concerned about that.

We’re a family of six still living together at the time, and the second oldest son bought a couple of cars that way where he just bought a used vehicle with cash and was banking the monthly payment on it.

That is incredible because you can save it and prepare and you can move up to another vehicle if you want to.

It’s not minimalist because we’re not minimalists. We look at things with purpose.

We ask ourselves, what purpose does this serve?

And then we stick with that.

Start Creating VS Consuming

The third thing we did was move toward creativity versus consumerism.

It’s not enough just to stop this and stop that – you have to start something, you have to be about something.

One of the strokes of genius that God Almighty provided for us was looking at the Proverbs where it talks about knowledge of witty inventions. 

If he’s a Creator then we’re a creator.

 Proverbs 8:12 (KJV) – 

I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.

Where it came to light for us in regular life was when we authored our first book, written by Mark and our eldest son, Josiah (link here?).

And during that period of time we were trying to come out of debt.

It was unbelievable to receive royalties on something we created as an idea.

And we were able to take those royalties and go and pay off bills – charge card bills. And we vowed never to have them again.

To move toward abundance we saw the need to be our natural selves, and we ask you to be your natural self. Meaning, you want to be in a position where you’re creating things.

Imagine this – Adam and Eve are in the garden, and they need a place to sit down. 

The Almighty doesn’t give them a chair. Instead, they look at a tree and there’s the opportunity to get a chair (or a cup for drinking or a  table for eating) out of the tree.

You have to think, and use your wit and imagination.

And that was a huge lesson at IBM (a former employer) – they were really trying to teach us how to think, and we’re glad for that gem of wisdom.

That’s a little bit more about creating, and what we have to say in terms of the three things that helped us prepare to move abroad to East Africa, and settle for the past two years.

We hope this letter helps you transform your finances for the better – this new year or any year.

So… you loved this and you’re hyped to move abroad.

But you’re wondering…

How do I know if I’m are ready to move abroad?

We offer the FREE life assessment ebook to help you get started.

Or maybe you’re serious and already know exactly where you want to move to.

For those already preparing – who realize that they need to be organized to successfully move abroad – we offer the Epic Africa Move Workbook.