Church is no one-time thing for me. Really starting to get hooked on this.

To the subject at hand, today’s sermon was about how rich we really are, and just how well we’ve got it made compared to the rest of the world.

A website was brought up where we could plug our figures in. That site is http://www.globalrichlist.com.

Plugged some numbers in. The maximum threshold for earning food stamps is about $11,000. Apparently, plugging this into the calculator made it seem like that figure ranks in the top 15.8% in the entire world. I plugged in the estimated yearly earnings I make at both of my jobs, and that number rose to where I apparently rank in the top 3.2% in the entire world.

But perhaps a more accurate estimate of my comparison with the rest of the world is the option the website gives for calculating actual wealth. Plugging in my bank accounts, and the monetary value of the things that I possess (car, and a few small things that I tally up at likely sale price). In this regard, I’m at about the top 43% among the rest of the world.

Because I’m single, that 43% is not including the cost of children or the cost of a girlfriend. If I had either, that 43% would decrease.

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I make money, and each cent of it is classified as either required spending, or discretionary spending. A certain percentage is determined for required spending – stuff I have no control over (rent, car insurance, cell phone, gas, electric, water, sewer, health insurance). The other stuff I tend to have a close eye on, and I don’t spend it all. I have no debts. I limit my spending, and have quite a bit left over in actual cash.

I’m blessed to have that sense of security where if something happened to me, I’d have that mostly covered.

Now notice that I don’t work 100 hours a week and try to reach monetary milestones in my life. I am comfortable with what I have right now. Now, could I make a big change and challenge myself to earn more money and “Head East, young man?” I guess I could, but I’m not wanting to do that.

I’m also blessed to work in a professional setting at SVM, but more than half of my income comes from working at Casey’s. I work with people that have family lives and medical expenses, and a lot of them get anxious for that moment with the paycheck is deposited in their accounts. Some of the people I work with are desperate to pick up extra available hours, not because they want them, but because they need them.

And here I am, pinching pennies, watching what I spend, and sitting on this heap of money. I have given up a couple of shifts so far to help those that need it, and those couple of times didn’t hurt me any financially – but it made it easier on me to get the things I needed done.

I’m living on less than $6,000 available in assets after required spending. That’s a far cry from one million, or even six-figures. I’m able to manage what I need well, because I don’t really require much in order to function and be happy in my life. I don’t like “keeping up with the Joneses”, or having the newest Apple i-Whatever.

I know that it’s strange for me to feel humble by a “meager” amount of money, but that’s where I’m at right now. Even still, I think about the biggest passage told to us at church today.

” … it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

I’m already ahead of over half of the world’s population. Gotta remember that there are over 3 billion people to be mindful of.