R"H, Money and Frugality

amother

Fri, Sep 03 2010, 4:34 pm

So on Rosh Hashana Hashem decides how much money we will have the following year.

So here are my thoughts/questions based on this concept:

1) in the last couple of days we've had car problems that are costing us from $300 to $1000 in repairs (maybe more, the mechanic will get back to us later today). There is a part of me that feels this is Hashem's way of balancing our money. The way I see it is we have $300-$1000 more in our pockets than was decided for us last R"H, and it doesnt belong to us so it needs to be taken away and this is the method that Hashem chose.

2) Continuing with the same idea as above, if I clip coupons and buy on sale I can save anywhere from $20 to $200 a month. However, what if I save it but the money wasnt suppose to be there, wouldnt Hashem take it away like in #1? On the other hand if I am suppose to have $20-$200 more a month, and I dont clip coupons, wouldnt Hashem find a way to give it to me?

3) Is there any difference in these two statements "I dont have to clip coupons because if I'Hashem "owes" me the money I'm saving He'll give it to me one way or the other?" and "I can take a job or sit and learn knowing that my income is lower than my monthly expenses, and Hashem will provide"

ora_43

Sat, Sep 04 2010, 3:10 pm

amother wrote:

2) Continuing with the same idea as above, if I clip coupons and buy on sale I can save anywhere from $20 to $200 a month. However, what if I save it but the money wasnt suppose to be there, wouldnt Hashem take it away like in #1? On the other hand if I am suppose to have $20-$200 more a month, and I dont clip coupons, wouldnt Hashem find a way to give it to me?

I think the coupons fall into the category of you deciding what to do with the money you got. IOW if Hashem decided you get $50,000, you can't make that $51,000 by clipping coupons - but you can spend $1,000 of your $50,000 on paying full price instead of bothering to clip coupons.

Quote:

3) Is there any difference in these two statements "I dont have to clip coupons because if I'Hashem "owes" me the money I'm saving He'll give it to me one way or the other?" and "I can take a job or sit and learn knowing that my income is lower than my monthly expenses, and Hashem will provide"

I think they're very similar. Same idea of not having to worry about the budget.