If you’ve ever listened to a youth minister, you have probably heard him or her talk about a number of things, including but not limited to: Jesus, the Church, the best use of shaving cream in an opening icebreaker.
Being pulled in so many different directions, youth ministers have an array of knowledge on many topics. But, there’s one topic that unites us all, and no matter what you do, inevitably it will come up in a conversation with a youth minister at some point. (Trust me, we have a pact that requires this.)
And what is that topic? How little money we have.
It’s well known and well documented that youth ministers do not make a lot of money. In fact, we’ve even been known to stock our wardrobe with 15-year-old retreat t-shirts just to keep us clothed. And yet, somehow most of us have an iPhone. Go figure.
For some reason we just love to talk about how “poor” we are. Sometimes we are pretty direct about our low salaries, but most of the time we try to disguise it with phrases like:
“My car muffler is being held together by a clothes hanger.”
“I still sleep in my childhood twin bed.”
“We’re taking a collection tonight so that I can renew my membership to the Top Ramen Fan Club.”
“I live in a van down by the river!” (Oh wait a minute. I think I heard that one somewhere else.)
In a world where people love to show off how much they have, we love to brag about how much we don’t, as if it’s some kind of contest. But it’s all for Jesus and the teens, and that’s what keeps us moving even when our cars run out of gas.
Question: How do you support yourself and/or your family on your salary? (Share some of the ways you make ends meet below.)
Dave Ramsey and lots of planning ahead. Need I say more!?
Amen brother! Love Dave Ramsey!
LOL I agree with the both of you! Dave Ramsey has seriously saved me the past few years! Budgeting is KEY when you have to live off a small salary!
Megan, Couldn’t agree more. Budgeting is so important.
My parents are very supportive of my work in ministry. The twin bed I sleep on is NOT the bed from my childhood, but a new one they bought for me when I moved out.
In all seriousness, my parents and my grandmothers make a habit of giving me household furnishings & food, and I’m still on the family plans for health insurance, dental & optical, cell phones, etc. It really helped get me established, which allows me to do things that later save money.
That’s great Dill! Thank you for your “yes” to this ministry.
As a single mom (of two very active children), a full-time student, and a youth minister, I am poor! LOL! You want money saving ideas to share?
I’ve had to become very creative: bake my own bread, gratefully accept hand-me-downs & help from others (the help part is the hardest for me since I am so independent but I have fabulous neighbors!), take advantage of free local events (we’re fortunate to have many available in our area), only drive when absolutely necessary and then try to include all the in-between stops on one drive, buy used text books, couponing (though I admit I’m not an “extreme” couponer), case lot sales on selected products, late season clearance racks, volunteer room mom at dance lessons for a reduced tuition, … so much more! I’ve learned the best time to buy appliances is the end of the year towards the end of the month. Retailers are anxious to rid their stock of last year’s model and sales people are looking to reach that sales goal. Cars, of course, are much cheaper when used. I buy when they are around 2 years old with 30k miles. I’ve purchased furniture from a retailer who first rents it out, then after about 6mos-1yr sells it for about 1/3 the original price and it’s still in good condition. Then there’s IKEA’s great deals.
Debra, Sounds like you have a good plan going. Thank you so much for sharing.
Ditto to all of the above!
We <3 Dave Ramsey
Hand me downs and thrift stores
Bargain Shopping and Couponing
We also garden, can vegetables, bake our own bread, and buy a pig, chickens and beef from family who raise them on their farm.
Cloth Diapers for wee ones are a little investment in the beginning but save a TON of money in the long run.
Awesome! Couldn’t agree more about cloth diapers. Great investment.
With both my husband and I working as full-time youth ministers, money can certainly be tight at times, but it’s also been great to be creative and find a lifestyle that has really added to our relationship. We love Groupon and Living Social for fun date night deals, and only occasionally miss having cable.
I’ve also found awesome deals (especially on baby/kid stuff!) from Craigslist.
Joy, Those are great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
I started a business with my wife soon after we got married 3 years ago. Then she went part time at her job, then finally she jumped into our photography and graphic design business full time. She has been doing that for a year full time. It doesn’t pay much but it helps us get by. We really love thrift stores for some stuff, and we like the occasional treat of going out to eat. I shoot with my wife on all our portraits and weddings. I also drive the school bus for our school for some field trips(rarely) and I also also got a job driving for a local limo company. I drive for them rarely too. Just recently my wife took on babysitting 3 days a week for a core member to make a little extra cash too.
Mainly we really try to not live above our own means. Which can be hard especially when society tells us to buy, use, and throw it away. So i have gotten good at becoming handy especially with making furniture out of used shipping pallets.
Lastly I had the boldness after 5 years here to ask my pastor for a raise. They had decreased us all 15% across the board when the economy tanked and then i asked for it back. God does provide we just need to trust. Being bold and asking for a just wage is not a bad thing. But the pastor has to believe in youth ministry as a reality.
But it can be hard to be a man and try to provide for your family and not just want to work work work but rather still put family first. God will bless it. A good friend told me that our father will never order something without picking up the tab or the bill.
Brandon, Wow! Those are great tips. Thanks for sharing.
So true!!!
With college to pay for and little expenses that always add up, I am always broke!
If my parents weren’t so amazing for allowing me to live with them at the age of 21, I wouldn’t be ableto make it. And they even pay my cellphone bill!
Store coupons help A LOT too! Specially ones for photo processing, since I take lots and lots of pics of our events and post them on our church bulletin board.
Needless to say, I only shop clearance and have become a great bargain shopper. Our youth group also does Clothes Swaping a few times a year. We all bring five items of clothing, then swap. It helps me, the teens, the parents…
Being a youth minister may not make financial sense, but when I think of any other jobs I have had/could have in the future, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do. It keeps me grounded, it reminds me to always invest in my prayer life and hey, where else would I get paid to directly serve the Lord and evangelize?
Gabriela, I never realized how much I loved coupons until I saw the savings start adding up. Great tip! Thank you for all you do for teens.
My husband and I definitely make do with a smaller budget than most of our friends and family. We try not to see living simply as a burden but instead as a gift from God who so wisely removes much of our temptation to focus on the things of this world and uses it to focus us on Eternity. You’re right Eric it’s all for Jesus! I think we as Youth Ministers need to be careful when we are tempted to use the words “I’m poor”, as I so often catch myself doing. We need to keep the truly materially poor of this world on our minds and hearts and remind ourselves of how rich we really are in faith and truth. I highly recommend the book “Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom” by Thomas Dubay – Ignatius Press. I reread it often, whenever I need a good kick in the butt.
God Bless,
Erica
Erica, Thank you for the comment. You’re absolutely right. It’s important to have proper perspective when using the sentence, “I’m poor.” God bless you…
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