Single parents are amazing to me.  People who aren't single parents have no clue of the kind of sustained pressure a single parent has to bear up under day in and day out with basically no source of consistent help.  At some point this can lead to some seriously flawed coping strategies if pursuing true wisdom is not your number one priority (Prov. 3:13).

"Finances" is an area that is especially vulnerable if you are going to "improvise" and not take advantage of God's generous offer to guide and order our steps (Psalms 37:23).  There are many aspects to managing our finances like:
     1.  our ability to affect our level of earning
     2.  our attention to budgeting
     3.  credit issues
     4.  our attitude towards giving
     5.  how we save, etc.
But SPENDING is easily the most immediate and identifiable struggle many of us wrestle with.

More specifically, Emotional SPENDING or Impulse Buying.  For those of us who don't partake in the "seven deadly sins," sometimes spending (or more accurately Overspending) offers a stressed-out or depressed "saint" a temporary diversion that unfortunately, wreaks havoc on your long-term financial picture.

A recent study has linked feelings of powerlessness to overspending.  The study is said to show that "the more often we feel powerless, the more likely we are to spend ourselves into the poor house!"¹  And of course the more messed up your finances are, the more you feel powerless and the downward cycle continues.  In the study, the participants who felt "robbed of power" spent twice as much for a fancy, embossed pen than the ones who felt powerful.  The research indicates that we try to compensate for our feelings of emotional loss by buying things that we feel can make up for and give us some status.  It's called compensatory consumption and when those bills hit, guilt, panic, and shortage bind us even tighter to that destructive state of mind.

Of course, this is a trick of the enemy and we need to "be honest with ourselves and honest with God."  If emotional spending has your finances all jacked up, you need to RECLAIM YOUR POWER.  (It's fascinating that the article chose to focus on the absence of "power"!)  Some people go to counseling, some people get a friend to hold them accountable.  With prayer undergirding whatever path you decide to take, you can decide today (now that this captivating ploy has been exposed) that you are not powerless.

Yes, times ARE rough.  But, some of our actions can actually make things WORSE.  If you're looking for status, you're already a joint-heir of God with Christ!  (Rom. 8:17)  If you think you might be unlovable in Ready-To-Wear, God actually already loved you, even when you didn't have the Coach bag (John 3:16).  And, if you feel powerless because of all the junk that's going on around you, find a sister or a friend and y'all meditate and pray with some scriptures that continually remind us that we have power - and not a false spending-induced fake power but, real power in the Lord who, if we diligently seek Him, will show us how to overcome every obstacle.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Eph. 6:10)
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)