Christian Womanhood

Keep the Change!

by Cricket Boyd

Cricket is the wife of Bill Boyd, a part-time faculty member at Hyles-Anderson College.

My husband was involved in a construction accident on February 11, 1999, which left him a quadriplegic. That day I became our financial advisor. Prior to this day I only dealt in cash which my husband would give me for my allowance. Mind you, I loved it! I had to learn how to pay bills, balance a checkbook, pay taxes, keep money in the bank without the words “insufficient funds” coming in the mail, prepare to buy a new home, purchase a car for our daughter Tisha, and keep her in college. Saving money is something all of us want to do. Most aspire to do it but never quite get around to it. Or maybe you are the one who says, “There’s no use—just forget it!”

As a child I remember going to a rummage sale in a department store in Texas with my mom. This was to be my first and last in my young life of six years. There was a large table with many items that were apparently wanted by more than one person in the room.

You know the old story, and you can see the scene running through your mind. One woman on one side of the table and another woman on the other side with a child in tow (me!)— each grab an item, their hands come up, and they are holding the very same item! A tug-of-war ensues.

“Hey! I had it first!”

“No! You didn’t!”

“Yes, I did!”

The next thing I remember, we were standing outside the store, looking around, and both Mom and I had a fearful look on our face. Then the laughter came. No doubt you have heard the saying, “Don’t mess with Texas!” I learned one very valuable lesson that day: “Don’t mess with Mama!”

While growing up, I babysat the neighborhood kids and saved what I had earned. When I had saved $13, I went to Zales Jewelry Store and purchased my first beautiful diamond chip set in a ring. Then I moved on to fashion. I saved enough money to purchase a new outfit, so off to G. C. Murphy’s we went. I was on top of the corporate world! Work, save, wait for the sale, and then spend.

I passed this love of savings, waiting, searching, and then spending on to my two girls, Kristy and Tisha, my greatest joys! I taught the girls to “keep the change!” Let me explain: If you buy something for $1.01, “keep the change,” and deposit the 99 cents into a savings jar. By the year’s end, you may have saved as much as $350 to spend at Christmastime or for a new kitchen stove or to go to the greatest garage sale ever— in Indianapolis in May. This is the one where you clear your schedule a year in advance, and do or die, you go! I have personally furnished my house with some very exquisite items from around the world via yard sales. My girls wore the best of clothes—all bought from garage sales, GW Enterprise (Goodwill), or end-of-the-year sales at our favorite stores. I love being able to save 99% of our spending money for what we need or just plain want.

Though I had already developed some good practices, I still had to learn how to survive after my husband’s accident. The following are some practices we adopted:

1. Cut up the credit cards. After paying off the credit cards in 32 days, I destroyed them.

2. Pay the bill the same day it is received. When the bill came, I wrote out a check for it and mailed it that day.

3. Learn that just because something has numbers and looks like a bill does not mean that it is a bill. I learned this one the hard way, but in a funny way. Our town sent out assessments for town taxes, and the information on the assessment made it appear like a bill, so I paid it! Someone in the assessor’s office called and said, “Mrs. Boyd, this wasn’t a bill. This was just an assessment or approximate value on your property and what your taxes might be.” I told her I had never been in charge of the finances and explained my husband’s situation. “If it looks like a bill, I pay it!”

She laughed, and I laughed, and we both learned a lesson: read the portion that says, “THIS IS NOT A BILL.”

4. Learn how to balance a checkbook. I became so proficient at this that my boss at a real estate office handed me his ten multi-million-dollar accounts to balance and reconcile monthly. Sometimes his wife would come to me with the checkbooks in hand and say, “I can’t find where I made a mistake. Can you find the $10,000 I have lost?”

In my head I was saying, “Are you kidding? Me find $10,000?” as I would be telling her, “Sure, no problem.”

I would find the error for her and show her the problem with her calculations in the checkbook.

5. Learn how to prepare a tax return. Once again, I became so proficient in this area that my boss asked me to prepare the 1099s for the year.

6. Learn how to purchase a home without being cheated. This is a good one! All I can say is, “Girls, keep up your guard.” Don’t jump at the very first house that you see. Compare the prices of houses that have sold in the neighborhood, drive by the house at many different times of the day, see how quiet the neighborhood is, and sit back and watch.

This article contains just a very small “dot” of how I did it, but you can too! God teaches us all of this in His wonderful “how-to” Book called the Bible. Proverbs 31 has been my manual of choice for the last seven years. I have so much to learn, but I must say I have great teachers.

Our husbands do so much for us, and we never even think about it. We just come to expect it. I thank God for my husband and for all that he had done and is now doing for our home and family—all the while being paralyzed from the middle of his chest and down. What a great man I have!


		Keep the Change! by Cricket Boyd Cricket is the wife of Bill Boyd, a part-time faculty member at Hyles-Anderson College. My husband was involved in a construction accident on February 11, 1999, which left him a quadriplegic. That day I became our financial advisor. Prior to this day I only dealt in cash which my husband would give me for my allowance. Mind you, I loved it! I had to learn how to pay bills, balance a checkbook, pay taxes, keep money in the bank without the words “insufficient funds” coming in the mail, prepare to buy a new home, purchase a car for our daughter Tisha, and keep her in college. Saving money is something all of us want to do. Most aspire to do it but never quite get around to it. Or maybe you are the one who says, “There’s no use—just forget it!” As a child I remember going to a rummage sale in a department store in Texas with my mom. This was to be my first and last in my young life of six years. There was a large table with many items that were apparently wanted by more than one person in the room. You know the old story, and you can see the scene running through your mind. One woman on one side of the table and another woman on the other side with a child in tow (me!)— each grab an item, their hands come up, and they are holding the very same item! A tug-of-war ensues. “Hey! I had it first!” “No! You didn’t!” “Yes, I did!” The next thing I remember, we were standing outside the store, looking around, and both Mom and I had a fearful look on our face. Then the laughter came. No doubt you have heard the saying, “Don’t mess with Texas!” I learned one very valuable lesson that day: “Don’t mess with Mama!” While growing up, I babysat the neighborhood kids and saved what I had earned. When I had saved $13, I went to Zales Jewelry Store and purchased my first beautiful diamond chip set in a ring. Then I moved on to fashion. I saved enough money to purchase a new outfit, so off to G. C. Murphy’s we went. I was on top of the corporate world! Work, save, wait for the sale, and then spend. I passed this love of savings, waiting, searching, and then spending on to my two girls, Kristy and Tisha, my greatest joys! I taught the girls to “keep the change!” Let me explain: If you buy something for $1.01, “keep the change,” and deposit the 99 cents into a savings jar. By the year’s end, you may have saved as much as $350 to spend at Christmastime or for a new kitchen stove or to go to the greatest garage sale ever— in Indianapolis in May. This is the one where you clear your schedule a year in advance, and do or die, you go! I have personally furnished my house with some very exquisite items from around the world via yard sales. My girls wore the best of clothes—all bought from garage sales, GW Enterprise (Goodwill), or end-of-the-year sales at our favorite stores. I love being able to save 99% of our spending money for what we need or just plain want. Though I had already developed some good practices, I still had to learn how to survive after my husband’s accident. The following are some practices we adopted: 1. Cut up the credit cards. After paying off the credit cards in 32 days, I destroyed them. 2. Pay the bill the same day it is received. When the bill came, I wrote out a check for it and mailed it that day. 3. Learn that just because something has numbers and looks like a bill does not mean that it is a bill. I learned this one the hard way, but in a funny way. Our town sent out assessments for town taxes, and the information on the assessment made it appear like a bill, so I paid it! Someone in the assessor’s office called and said, “Mrs. Boyd, this wasn’t a bill. This was just an assessment or approximate value on your property and what your taxes might be.” I told her I had never been in charge of the finances and explained my husband’s situation. “If it looks like a bill, I pay it!” She laughed, and I laughed, and we both learned a lesson: read the portion that says, “THIS IS NOT A BILL.” 4. Learn how to balance a checkbook. I became so proficient at this that my boss at a real estate office handed me his ten multi-million-dollar accounts to balance and reconcile monthly. Sometimes his wife would come to me with the checkbooks in hand and say, “I can’t find where I made a mistake. Can you find the $10,000 I have lost?” In my head I was saying, “Are you kidding? Me find $10,000?” as I would be telling her, “Sure, no problem.” I would find the error for her and show her the problem with her calculations in the checkbook. 5. Learn how to prepare a tax return. Once again, I became so proficient in this area that my boss asked me to prepare the 1099s for the year. 6. Learn how to purchase a home without being cheated. This is a good one! All I can say is, “Girls, keep up your guard.” Don’t jump at the very first house that you see. Compare the prices of houses that have sold in the neighborhood, drive by the house at many different times of the day, see how quiet the neighborhood is, and sit back and watch. This article contains just a very small “dot” of how I did it, but you can too! God teaches us all of this in His wonderful “how-to” Book called the Bible. Proverbs 31 has been my manual of choice for the last seven years. I have so much to learn, but I must say I have great teachers. Our husbands do so much for us, and we never even think about it. We just come to expect it. I thank God for my husband and for all that he had done and is now doing for our home and family—all the while being paralyzed from the middle of his chest and down. What a great man I have!