How Much Did It Cost You Financial Being or Leaving The Witnesses

by Was New Boy 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  Was New Boy

  It these tough economic times many of us have looked back at the decisions we made concerning money with much dismay. The organization has cost many people 100's of thousands of dallors or more over the course of their life time.

  1. All the time and gas spent on knocking on doors.

  2. Brothers that ripped you off in business.

  3. All the money I gave my exwifes dead beat relatives.

  4. Making just minumum wage for two years of poineering. Than going to Bethel for four years making only $22 a month, 9 dallors of which went for subway tokens. What are the 6 years between 18-24 really worth?

  What has it "cost" you in dallors and cents?
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  anewme

  Remember, whatever the costs and sacrifices, they were entirely up to you. Not everyone gives up everything to serve Jehovah.

  Some go to college, some COs retain their homes and properties, some JWs never pioneer and continue to work full time.

  You made choices which admittedly were influenced by literature or counsel from the meetings, but ultimately you made choices to sacrifice where others have not.

  We need to get over it.
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  Was New Boy

  I have got over it. I've made peace with the whole experience. I do these threads so others may see what a scam the whole thing is.

  Thank you for your concern "anewme"
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  I quit!

  I think they sent me a bill for $10.00 but I never paid it.
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  I quit!

  Actually I'm a lot better off financialy because I left. When I left the Witnesses I knew didn't buy houses or save money because the end was near. I started thinking that this was stupid even before I left and started making changes.

  You mentioned helping dead beat relatives in the Witnesses. I was till helping them out after I left. There was and still is a lot of loser mentality in the Watchtower side of our family.
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  Giordano

  After I left I always felt I was ten years behind the curve in friendships, earnings and busness, owning a home and of course education. When I was 30 I still felt like a twenty year old, when I was forty I felt like a 30 year old in experience, wisdom etc. Still trying to figure things out. But by the time I was fifty I had caught up and surpassed my goals plus I felt like I was 40! My wife and I retired at 55. We each do what we want. We live in a great town we hand picked, tons of friends and life is good. The JW life never missed it for a minute.
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  Broken Promises

  After I left I always felt I was ten years behind the curve in friendships, earnings and busness, owning a home and of course education. When I was 30 I still felt like a twenty year old, when I was forty I felt like a 30 year old in experience, wisdom etc. Still trying to figure things out.

  I couldn't have said it better. That's how I feel too. I didn't buy a house because "the end" was allegedly near. Now I'm stuck in the rental wheel and will never be able to save let alone afford a house of my own.
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  life is to short

  anewme

  I am so happy for you that you were one of those who had a brain and knew that "not everyone gives up everything to serve Jehovah." That you did allow what was pounded into most of us our whole lives to affect you. I only wish I had your smarts and grit to know that it was all a lie like you did.

  Unlike you I was raised to believe the only way to true happiness was to pioneer and suck up to everyone. I was a man pleaser I admit it. I came from a totally crazy screwed up family who was around the JW's. My parents took me to the meetings since I could breathe. I was forbidden to have worldly friends, yanked out of school at the age of 14 because the system was so close to the end and what good is an education in this system anyway. I was abused at home sexually and every other way but no one cared, not even the teachers at my school who I am sure knew of it also.

  So unlike you anewme I wanted to fit in somewhere in my life. I did not fit into the world, and I truly did not fit into the JW world either but it was the only thing I knew. It had been drilled into me since I started to breath that it was the truth the only way to please someone and since I never could please my parents nor any of my teachers in the short time I was allowed to go to school, I tried to please the elders.

  At first it worked, I got praise and acceptance something I craved like a drug, and something I had never had in my life before. The more the elders praised me the harder I tried, but soon the praise went away and I lost my drug, my high, so like most addicts I went crazy trying to get my fix by pioneering, going to Bethel, being an elders wife, never having a mind because women in this religion are not supposed to have a mind. I shut my mind off to receive more of my drug, to get more of a high.

  But just like with most addicts the initial high is the best and after that all you do is chase after it but you never feel that first high again.

  Even though I pioneered, was a Bethel, opened my house up to have meals after the meetings sometimes having up to 80 or 90 people in my 900 square foot home, I was never good enough. I got no praise no acceptance, I was STUPID I admit it. I truly wish with all my heart I had been like you anewme.

  So to the original question of how much did it cost me financially to being a Witnesses, it was huge, a tank of gas a day, putting on 30,000 miles a year on our car. Car repairs. Going to Bethel and taking vow of poverty, not getting a education. I would say financially this religion destroyed me.

  But like you said anewme it was all my fault. It was my drug of choice.

  LITS
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  WTWizard

  To join, I ended up throwing away quite a bit of stuff. The music cost me a few thousand dollars to replace, not to mention trying to repair tapes I had to ruin because of "bad" songs by putting the "bad" songs back in their places. I also had to throw away my Christmas decorations. Granted that quite a few had seen better days and/or were old technology (the lights, particularly, were incandescent). That cost me plenty to replace.

  Additionally, I had to waste money on the organization. They charged for the littera-trash, and if I didn't place it, I took a bath on the amount I spent on unplaced littera-trash. They wanted me to donate to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund, and I gave them too much (probably around $1000 in all, and that was $1000 I wish I would have invested in silver). I wasted money on suit dry cleanings, rides to and from the boasting session (they charged me $1 each way, and it was less than 1/4 mile out of their way), and supplies. In all, I am guessing that this waste was around another $1000 or more. The waste is worse because, had I invested it all in silver instead, I would have made around $20,000 on that.

  Plus, they were talking about how everything was headed to zero. Gold and silver were bashed, just as was the stock market. I never got into the stock market because of this--nor did I get into the precious metals. Instead, they wanted me to waste all my money on field circus supplies and Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund donations. Not to mention the time--had I got paid 2 1/2 ounces of silver per hour wasted on them, it would equal almost a whole ton of silver. And that would be worth a small fortune even now--which is all going to escalate when it goes to $6,000 per ounce.
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  Broken Promises

  WT Wizard, can you ever post a reply without referring to silver?