It begins

If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.
Benjamin Franklin

As the season of lent begins I am going to try and give up spending any money on anything that doesn't benefit my family directly. For this season I am going to be a non-consumer, just spending money on necessities and not on anything else. I am curious to see if I can live this way voluntarily before I am forced to live this way by george bush and his band of merry billionaires.
I am actually a little scared by this commitment to give up spending money. I have never really imposed any restrictions on spending money on things. If I want something I usually just go get it. Now I am not talking about Ferraris or Gulfstreams but I usually don't mind spending $25 on a baseball hat. I am curious to see if I can succeed in this quest, it may have a very positive impact on the rest of my life.
Isn't that what religion is supposed to do for us anyway? Bring some positives into our lives? Sometimes it seems that all religious people want to talk about are the sacrifices they make. We should be getting something back from our faith, something positive, empowering and life changing. Maybe, by learning to save rather than spend, I will be able to better prepare my daughter for the post-georgie world that she is going to have to live in.