July 11, 2025 • 13 mins
Ever feel like your bank account is leaking money, even when you haven’t made a big purchase? In this episode of Financially Confident Christian, Ralph unpacks how those small, unplanned expenses add up and steal your peace — and what you can do to stop them. He shares how a simple pause, a clear plan, and a values-based approach can help you make every dollar a conscious spending choice.
Check out the full podcast episode here
You’ll hear practical tips like the Sacred Pause, cash-only challenges, and daily spending check-ins to build intentionality and confidence in your financial life. Ralph encourages listeners to let their spending reflect their faith, steward God’s gifts wisely, and enjoy the freedom that comes from living with purpose.
Chapters:
- 00:15 - Taking Control of Your Finances
- 01:30 - Making Conscious Spending Decisions
- 04:21 - The Sacred Pause: Intentional Spending
- 06:29 - Making Conscious Spending Choices
- 08:37 - Building Mindfulness Through Daily Awareness
- 10:38 - Embracing Secondhand Simplicity
Takeaways:
- Money can slip away without us even noticing, like a ninja in the night.
- Being intentional with our spending means every dollar is a reflection of our values.
- Before you buy, take a 10-second pause to think about what you really want.
- Tracking daily expenses can help us stay aware of our spending habits and goals.
- Experiences bring more joy than material goods, so choose wisely with your cash.
- Practicing mindful spending can help break the cycle of impulse buys and financial stress.
Links referenced:
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WATCH NOW ON RUMBLE (OUR VIDEO VERSION)
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ralph@askralph.com or leave a voicemail message on our podcast page
Buy Ralph's Book - Mastering Your Finances!
Buy Ralph's Book - Gospel of Entrepreneurship: Following Jesus in Your Business Journey
Buy Ralph's Book - How to Become a Financially Confident Christian
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ralph (00:00):
Do you ever feel like your money just vanishes?
Now I'm not talking about in one bigsplurge, but in a slow drip coffee here.
Impulse by there until you lookin your account is nearly empty.
And then you're wonderingwhere did it all go?
What if that could change?
What if every dollar had a purpose and youwere the one that was finally in control?
(00:22):
Imagine making spending decisions thatreflect your values, not just your urges.
Well, stick with me today 'cause I'm gonnashow you how to stop the money leaks and
start living with financial intention.
That's what we're gonnacover on today's show.
(00:49):
Hey there, friend.
Welcome back to your daily,financially confident Christian.
I'm Ralph, and it's great that you'rejoining me here again today as we
answer our continuing question.
How do I become a financiallyconfident Christian?
And right now we're inweek three of our series.
Beyond the Budget, we're workingto find financial freedom
through intentional living.
If you've been joining me every day,I just wanna congratulate you, and if
(01:12):
you have missed any episodes, you canalways find them right on our website.
Now, yesterday we talked about howjoy often comes more from experiences.
Then stuff, we had a long discussionabout how experiences or the things
that you take and you remember fora very long time, whereas stuff,
Hey, it's here today, gone tomorrow.
Well, today's question is, how canI make everyday spending decisions
(01:34):
a conscious, faith aligned choice?
We really want to talk about how to beintentional in our spending decisions.
So let me start by askingyou something real.
If you're like me, you'reoften thought about this.
Have you ever checked your bank accountat the end of the week and thought,
wait, I didn't buy anything big, so whyis there so little left in my account?
(01:56):
And you start to dig in a little bit.
Maybe it's $6 for coffee or maybe $12 forthat lunch out, or $9 for that streaming
app that you totally forgot to cancel.
You've been talking about doingthat for a while, but you've never
gotten around to it and it doesn'tseem like much in that moment.
When you're buying that coffee,you're stepping out for lunch.
It doesn't feel like it's this big,huge thing, but what happens over time
(02:21):
is it adds up and it steals your peace.
I spoke to a listener last week.
She said this.
She said, Ralph, I'm not blowing moneyon designer handbags or vacations.
it's just Amazon boxes showing up withstuff I didn't even remember ordering.
can you relate to that?
The truth is most peoplearen't bad with money.
we're just not always aware ofwhere our money's going, but
(02:45):
here's where it gets even deeper.
See, every dollar thatyou spend is a decision.
A lot of people don't understand this, butevery dollar that you spend is a decision
and every decision that you make in lifereflects your values or your habits.
What scripture says this in the book ofProverbs, chapter 21, verse five, and I
(03:07):
use this one frequently on the show, itsays this, the plans of the diligent lead
surely to abundance, see decisions, plans,diligent plans, what do they lead to?
They lead to abundance.
Let's look at the book of Ephesians,chapter five, verses 15 and 16.
Be very careful how you live.
(03:28):
Not as unwise, but as wise, makingthe most of every opportunity.
But what are they saying there?
Every opportunity, every decision.
And there's this warning aboutbeing careful how you live and
being wise in those decisions.
And see that's not just about otherthings and choices about life.
It includes opportunities with your money.
(03:50):
And in the end, here's thebig takeaway from today.
Intentional spending isfaithful stewardship.
It just is because it's sayingto God this, it says, Lord, I
see every dollar you've given meand I want to use it on purpose.
See, it's that decisionto use it on purpose.
(04:10):
So now you're asking Ralph,how do we stop the slow leak?
How do we move from that autopilotspending to intentional living?
And I've got a simple but powerful way todo it, and it's called the Sacred Pause.
And I'm gonna encourage you to createa sacred pause before you spend.
Just a ten second window of clarity and amoment to ask this really deep question.
(04:32):
Is this what I really wantmy money to say about me?
I wanna say that againbecause this is so important.
During that ten second window, I'm gonnatalk about how to do that in a second.
But you want to ask yourself, is this whatI really want my money to say about me?
So let me get right to myone action step for today.
Let's talk, about this together.
(04:54):
The first step is, this ispractice the pause and plan rule.
So next time you're standing in lineat the store, you're right there at
the target counter or the Walmartcounter, or maybe you're hovering
over that buy now button online.
You're just, you're just soclose to clicking on buy now.
I just want you to go backand remember that pause.
I just want you to pause andI want you to count to 10.
(05:17):
Once you get to 10, then I want you toask this question, is this in my budget?
Is this decision in my budget?
And then the second question is,does it align with what I value?
See, that's the two pieces to the puzzle.
Is it in my budget and doesit align with what I value?
I I used an example from last week.
(05:38):
Somebody had talked aboutthese great new earbuds.
Everybody's have gottahave these new earbuds.
And I was like, you know what?
I could go buy these earbuds.
And I got on Amazon new, areally cheap, like 40 bucks
and I wanted these new things.
Everybody had 'em.
I thought about it for a second.
I said, Hey, let's take that pause.
So I took the pause myself.
I waited 10 seconds and then Irealized I had already had, I actually
(05:58):
had two pairs of working Bluetoothheadphones and I didn't need these.
This was just a want.
This wasn't a need.
So what did I do?
I took that 40 bucks I was gonna spend,and my wife and I went out and had a nice
dinner together and see that one decision.
That one pause, that one saying tomyself, Hey, do I really need this?
(06:20):
That conscious choice broughtway more joy than that $40 pair
of Bluetooth headphones, whichhonestly would've sat on the shelf.
'cause I've already got two pairs.
That's step one.
Step two, if you battle this, one of thethings I really encourage you to do is do
what I call a cash only in one categoryweek, I want you to pick your weak spot.
Maybe for you it's that takeout or that'sstepping out for lunch or those coffee.
(06:44):
I pick old coffee all the time, butmaybe that's what, or those quick
target runs, you know, it's gonnago ahead and cut a couple things.
Maybe just one thing.
Here's what I'm gonnaencourage you to do instead.
Withdraw cash.
Kinda like using that old envelope system.
Only use that amount this week.
So for example, one listener toldme she gave herself a $40 cash
envelope for snacks and for fast food.
(07:04):
she saw this as an area where shewas struggling with trying to stay
on point with her spending andstaying on point with her budget.
So she said, Ralph, here's what I did.
Real simple.
I took $40 out.
I put it in an envelope.
I wrote snacks and food on it.
And when the cash was gone, shesays, I was done for the week.
And then she reported back to me, shesaid, Ralph, I didn't just save money.
(07:25):
That would've been big enough.
She says, I felt free, and I lovethe way she ended her comment to me.
She said, Ralph, I was back in control.
Hey, if you want to gain thatcontrol, there's something you can do.
Another thing I'm gonna encourage youto do, step three in the three step
process, I. I want you to do a daily,two minute review, so at the end of
your day, whatever that looks likefor you, maybe you're unwinding for
(07:47):
the day, you're checking your emails.
Before you go to sleep, I want you to getout your phone or maybe keep a notebook.
I think notebooks areactually good for this.
And write down what youspent just for that day.
Write down what you spent.
No judgment here.
Just write it down because I wantyou to start to build this awareness.
My wife and I were havingthis very discussion with
our youngest son yesterday.
He was talking about, Hey, everythingis so expensive and I, he's living in
(08:10):
a house with a bunch of other peoplethat're, sort of renting rooms and, he
said, dad, I really want to get on my own.
And I said, okay, wellwhat does that look like?
And he goes, well, it's soexpensive to do it right now.
And I said, okay, well,where does your money go?
He said, well, how would I figure it out?
I said, son, it's not complicated.
It's why two for a living?
I said, listen to my show once in a while.
I said, just take each, at the end ofeach day, just write down where you spent
(08:33):
your money, not about judging yourself,but about awareness, because I know
this tiny habit builds mindfulness andit's that mindfulness that will help you
break that cycle of asking that question.
We started off with, you get tothe end of the week and you're
like, where did my money go?
Let's pray together.
Father God, we just thank you for everydollar that you've entrusted to us.
(08:57):
And Lord, we ask that you wouldforgive us for the times we spent
without thought, not even thinkingabout it, not even planning it.
And Lord, right now, we wantyou to teach us to pause, Lord.
Teach us to plan and to live with thatintention that you want for our lives.
And we just ask that you would let everyfinancial decision be a reflection of
our faith, a reflection of our values.
(09:18):
Lord, we ask you to make us wise and makeus faithful in even the small things.
We just ask this in complete confidence.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Friend, here's the thingI want you to hear today.
It's the little choicesthat shape a big life.
When you pause, when you plan,you're not just saving money.
(09:39):
That's that's a big enoughpiece, but you're building peace.
You're becoming the kind ofperson who walks in confidence.
Not just in confusion, and I wannajust encourage you right now if this
episode has been impactful to you,if you're getting value from this
show, I would love it if you wouldshare this show with somebody else.
(10:00):
Other people can learn.
Other people can grow.
Just like you're growing by picking upthis show on a daily basis, I'm just
gonna encourage you to send them tofinancially confident christian.com.
Hey.
Text him, send him an email and justsay, Hey, I listened to this guy, Ralph.
He's got a lot of good ideas.
He's really helped me with my finances,and he's done it from a place of faith.
(10:20):
Again, just send him to financiallyconfident christian.com.
Hey, while they're there,get a copy of my book.
I'll give you a absolutelyfree copy of my book.
It's called Mastering Your Finances.
You get to that by going to financiallyconfident christian.com/master.
Get it for free.
No strings attached.
Now tomorrow we're gonna getinto another powerful topic.
(10:42):
We're gonna talk about the beautyand savings of secondhand simplicity.
You're gonna love this one.
We're gonna talk about how youdon't necessarily have to buy
that new, flashy, shiny thing.
You've got this.
I believe in you.
Believe in yourself, and let's go bethose financially confident Christians.
Stay financially savvy.
(11:02):
God bless you and youhave a great day today.
Do you ever feel like your money just vanishes?
Now I'm not talking about in one bigsplurge, but in a slow drip coffee here.
Impulse by there until you lookin your account is nearly empty.
And then you're wonderingwhere did it all go?
What if that could change?
What if every dollar had a purpose and youwere the one that was finally in control?
(00:22):
Imagine making spending decisions thatreflect your values, not just your urges.
Well, stick with me today 'cause I'm gonnashow you how to stop the money leaks and
start living with financial intention.
That's what we're gonnacover on today's show.
(00:49):
Hey there, friend.
Welcome back to your daily,financially confident Christian.
I'm Ralph, and it's great that you'rejoining me here again today as we
answer our continuing question.
How do I become a financiallyconfident Christian?
And right now we're inweek three of our series.
Beyond the Budget, we're workingto find financial freedom
through intentional living.
If you've been joining me every day,I just wanna congratulate you, and if
(01:12):
you have missed any episodes, you canalways find them right on our website.
Now, yesterday we talked about howjoy often comes more from experiences.
Then stuff, we had a long discussionabout how experiences or the things
that you take and you remember fora very long time, whereas stuff,
Hey, it's here today, gone tomorrow.
Well, today's question is, how canI make everyday spending decisions
(01:34):
a conscious, faith aligned choice?
We really want to talk about how to beintentional in our spending decisions.
So let me start by askingyou something real.
If you're like me, you'reoften thought about this.
Have you ever checked your bank accountat the end of the week and thought,
wait, I didn't buy anything big, so whyis there so little left in my account?
(01:56):
And you start to dig in a little bit.
Maybe it's $6 for coffee or maybe $12 forthat lunch out, or $9 for that streaming
app that you totally forgot to cancel.
You've been talking about doingthat for a while, but you've never
gotten around to it and it doesn'tseem like much in that moment.
When you're buying that coffee,you're stepping out for lunch.
It doesn't feel like it's this big,huge thing, but what happens over time
(02:21):
is it adds up and it steals your peace.
I spoke to a listener last week.
She said this.
She said, Ralph, I'm not blowing moneyon designer handbags or vacations.
it's just Amazon boxes showing up withstuff I didn't even remember ordering.
can you relate to that?
The truth is most peoplearen't bad with money.
we're just not always aware ofwhere our money's going, but
(02:45):
here's where it gets even deeper.
See, every dollar thatyou spend is a decision.
A lot of people don't understand this, butevery dollar that you spend is a decision
and every decision that you make in lifereflects your values or your habits.
What scripture says this in the book ofProverbs, chapter 21, verse five, and I
(03:07):
use this one frequently on the show, itsays this, the plans of the diligent lead
surely to abundance, see decisions, plans,diligent plans, what do they lead to?
They lead to abundance.
Let's look at the book of Ephesians,chapter five, verses 15 and 16.
Be very careful how you live.
(03:28):
Not as unwise, but as wise, makingthe most of every opportunity.
But what are they saying there?
Every opportunity, every decision.
And there's this warning aboutbeing careful how you live and
being wise in those decisions.
And see that's not just about otherthings and choices about life.
It includes opportunities with your money.
(03:50):
And in the end, here's thebig takeaway from today.
Intentional spending isfaithful stewardship.
It just is because it's sayingto God this, it says, Lord, I
see every dollar you've given meand I want to use it on purpose.
See, it's that decisionto use it on purpose.
(04:10):
So now you're asking Ralph,how do we stop the slow leak?
How do we move from that autopilotspending to intentional living?
And I've got a simple but powerful way todo it, and it's called the Sacred Pause.
And I'm gonna encourage you to createa sacred pause before you spend.
Just a ten second window of clarity and amoment to ask this really deep question.
(04:32):
Is this what I really wantmy money to say about me?
I wanna say that againbecause this is so important.
During that ten second window, I'm gonnatalk about how to do that in a second.
But you want to ask yourself, is this whatI really want my money to say about me?
So let me get right to myone action step for today.
Let's talk, about this together.
(04:54):
The first step is, this ispractice the pause and plan rule.
So next time you're standing in lineat the store, you're right there at
the target counter or the Walmartcounter, or maybe you're hovering
over that buy now button online.
You're just, you're just soclose to clicking on buy now.
I just want you to go backand remember that pause.
I just want you to pause andI want you to count to 10.
(05:17):
Once you get to 10, then I want you toask this question, is this in my budget?
Is this decision in my budget?
And then the second question is,does it align with what I value?
See, that's the two pieces to the puzzle.
Is it in my budget and doesit align with what I value?
I I used an example from last week.
(05:38):
Somebody had talked aboutthese great new earbuds.
Everybody's have gottahave these new earbuds.
And I was like, you know what?
I could go buy these earbuds.
And I got on Amazon new, areally cheap, like 40 bucks
and I wanted these new things.
Everybody had 'em.
I thought about it for a second.
I said, Hey, let's take that pause.
So I took the pause myself.
I waited 10 seconds and then Irealized I had already had, I actually
(05:58):
had two pairs of working Bluetoothheadphones and I didn't need these.
This was just a want.
This wasn't a need.
So what did I do?
I took that 40 bucks I was gonna spend,and my wife and I went out and had a nice
dinner together and see that one decision.
That one pause, that one saying tomyself, Hey, do I really need this?
(06:20):
That conscious choice broughtway more joy than that $40 pair
of Bluetooth headphones, whichhonestly would've sat on the shelf.
'cause I've already got two pairs.
That's step one.
Step two, if you battle this, one of thethings I really encourage you to do is do
what I call a cash only in one categoryweek, I want you to pick your weak spot.
Maybe for you it's that takeout or that'sstepping out for lunch or those coffee.
(06:44):
I pick old coffee all the time, butmaybe that's what, or those quick
target runs, you know, it's gonnago ahead and cut a couple things.
Maybe just one thing.
Here's what I'm gonnaencourage you to do instead.
Withdraw cash.
Kinda like using that old envelope system.
Only use that amount this week.
So for example, one listener toldme she gave herself a $40 cash
envelope for snacks and for fast food.
(07:04):
she saw this as an area where shewas struggling with trying to stay
on point with her spending andstaying on point with her budget.
So she said, Ralph, here's what I did.
Real simple.
I took $40 out.
I put it in an envelope.
I wrote snacks and food on it.
And when the cash was gone, shesays, I was done for the week.
And then she reported back to me, shesaid, Ralph, I didn't just save money.
(07:25):
That would've been big enough.
She says, I felt free, and I lovethe way she ended her comment to me.
She said, Ralph, I was back in control.
Hey, if you want to gain thatcontrol, there's something you can do.
Another thing I'm gonna encourage youto do, step three in the three step
process, I. I want you to do a daily,two minute review, so at the end of
your day, whatever that looks likefor you, maybe you're unwinding for
(07:47):
the day, you're checking your emails.
Before you go to sleep, I want you to getout your phone or maybe keep a notebook.
I think notebooks areactually good for this.
And write down what youspent just for that day.
Write down what you spent.
No judgment here.
Just write it down because I wantyou to start to build this awareness.
My wife and I were havingthis very discussion with
our youngest son yesterday.
He was talking about, Hey, everythingis so expensive and I, he's living in
(08:10):
a house with a bunch of other peoplethat're, sort of renting rooms and, he
said, dad, I really want to get on my own.
And I said, okay, wellwhat does that look like?
And he goes, well, it's soexpensive to do it right now.
And I said, okay, well,where does your money go?
He said, well, how would I figure it out?
I said, son, it's not complicated.
It's why two for a living?
I said, listen to my show once in a while.
I said, just take each, at the end ofeach day, just write down where you spent
(08:33):
your money, not about judging yourself,but about awareness, because I know
this tiny habit builds mindfulness andit's that mindfulness that will help you
break that cycle of asking that question.
We started off with, you get tothe end of the week and you're
like, where did my money go?
Let's pray together.
Father God, we just thank you for everydollar that you've entrusted to us.
(08:57):
And Lord, we ask that you wouldforgive us for the times we spent
without thought, not even thinkingabout it, not even planning it.
And Lord, right now, we wantyou to teach us to pause, Lord.
Teach us to plan and to live with thatintention that you want for our lives.
And we just ask that you would let everyfinancial decision be a reflection of
our faith, a reflection of our values.
(09:18):
Lord, we ask you to make us wise and makeus faithful in even the small things.
We just ask this in complete confidence.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Friend, here's the thingI want you to hear today.
It's the little choicesthat shape a big life.
When you pause, when you plan,you're not just saving money.
(09:39):
That's that's a big enoughpiece, but you're building peace.
You're becoming the kind ofperson who walks in confidence.
Not just in confusion, and I wannajust encourage you right now if this
episode has been impactful to you,if you're getting value from this
show, I would love it if you wouldshare this show with somebody else.
(10:00):
Other people can learn.
Other people can grow.
Just like you're growing by picking upthis show on a daily basis, I'm just
gonna encourage you to send them tofinancially confident christian.com.
Hey.
Text him, send him an email and justsay, Hey, I listened to this guy, Ralph.
He's got a lot of good ideas.
He's really helped me with my finances,and he's done it from a place of faith.
(10:20):
Again, just send him to financiallyconfident christian.com.
Hey, while they're there,get a copy of my book.
I'll give you a absolutelyfree copy of my book.
It's called Mastering Your Finances.
You get to that by going to financiallyconfident christian.com/master.
Get it for free.
No strings attached.
Now tomorrow we're gonna getinto another powerful topic.
(10:42):
We're gonna talk about the beautyand savings of secondhand simplicity.
You're gonna love this one.
We're gonna talk about how youdon't necessarily have to buy
that new, flashy, shiny thing.
You've got this.
I believe in you.
Believe in yourself, and let's go bethose financially confident Christians.
Stay financially savvy.
(11:02):
God bless you and youhave a great day today.
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