• How much do we spend? i.e. what do we need vs. what do we want. The point here is to not waste money on what we don’t really need so we can conserve it for other, better uses, like helping other people in some way.  
• How/with whom do we spend it? We should always try to do business with companies whose management, products, and services are ethically and environmentally responsible. We want to do no damage through what we buy, as well as and not support those companies and organizations that do damage anywhere in the world. Optimally we should purchase goods and services from companies that actually have a positive effect on others and the environment.  
• What do we do with our financial surplus? (What’s left when the bills are paid?) Having saved some money by buying less and wasting less, we will have at least a little left over. How we save or invest this surplus is important, starting with the question, “how much should I save for my/our own use (big purchases, retirement, college) versus how much should be reserved for giving?  
  If we really want to be helpful to others, we should consider putting it in socially responsible mutual funds, community banks that practice community investing, or perhaps organizations offering micro-loans. All of these do good for others, sometimes a great deal of good, while giving us some, sometimes smaller, return for ourselves.  
• How much do we give? Since the point of simple living from a Christian perspective, is to be able to give more to others, we should carefully put together our ‘giving budget’.

How much should we give to the church? Should we be tithing or doing even more?

How much should go to which social service organizations, environmental groups, and anti-poverty agencies?

Putting it on paper and making it a formal commitment, even if only to ourselves, will help us to carry through on our intentions.

• Your Money or Your Life - Nine Steps To Transforming Your Relationship With Money And Achieving Financial Independence; http://www.simpleliving.net/main/category.asp?catid=2;This is a terrific book that can help you get very concrete about how you use your money, gain control of you money and finally begin to make a life, rather than just make a living. It should form the basis for anyone trying to live more simply and justly. It covers:
  
  -     Getting out of debt and developing savings
  
  -     Reordering material priorities and living well for less
  
  -     Resolving inner conflicts between values and lifestyle
  
  -     Saving the planet while saving money  
• Ministry of Money; http://www.faithandmoneynetwork.org/; This organization encourages people to become free from their attachment to cultural values regarding money and to live out joyfully God's call for their lives and resources.
  
  You may find their Money Autobiography especially helpful particularly when used in conjunction with the Your Money or Your Life book. 

• Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries; http://bcm-net.org/; BCM provides a circle where persons called to gospel ministry can find support to discern leadings of the Spirit. It isan organizational vehicle that promotes gospel practices of mutual aid, restorative justice, Sabbath economics, nonviolence and social change as well as an umbrella structure that facilitates capacity-building among people of faith committed to the work of peace and justice organizing, church renewal and holistic discipleship. BCM's Sabath Economics Covenant is an excellent outline for how we can live our daily economic lives more justly, with many good suggestions for specific practices and resources.
• Bolder Giving in Extraordinary Times; http://www.boldergiving.org/; Bolder Giving's mission is to inspire us to give at our full potential by providing remarkable role models and practical support.
• Alternatives for Simple Living; http://www.simpleliving.org/
• Counting the Cost; http://www.countingthecost.com/index1.htm
• Coop American (Newly renamed 'Green America'); http://www.coopamerica.org/; This is a terrific site to help you make the very best use of your investment and savings dollars. It can help you select socially resposible banks and investment firms and avoid those that indulge in unsustainable and unethical practices, which, unfortunately includes many of the best known institutions!) It also provides the latest news related to green practices and socially responsible investing and related organizations.

• For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment, and a Sustainable Future, Second Edition, Herman E. Daly, John B. Cobb, Clifford W. Cobb, Beacon Press, 1994
• Beyond Growth, Herman Daly, Third Edition, Beacon Press, 1998
• The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein, Metropolitan Books, 2007
• The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs, Penguin Group, 2005
• Biblical Resources for Marketplace Christians; Works that discuss and debate the pros and cons of a Christian World View in the matters of Economics and Social Justice. http://www.scruples.org/web/resource/resecon.htm
• The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard; http://www.storyofstuff.com/; This is a 20-minute look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.