Tag: honoring-God-with-money

9 Tips for Sticking to Your Budget

A few weeks ago, I shared tips on developing a personalized budget that works for you and your family. You can find that blog by clicking the following link. https://susaneball.blog/2023/03/30/how-to-create-a-personalized-budget-one-size-does-not-fit-all/

A reader wanted me to share some ideas on how to keep on track and stick with a budget. Often we desire to manage our finances and enthusiastically start the steps to wrangle in our spending but quickly lose the motivation and discipline. So, this post focuses on motivating yourself to follow the budget you developed to manage your finances better and achieve your goals.

What is Your Goal?

You should take the time to determine your goal(s). Simply saying that you want to save money is typically not incentive enough to save money. It is nebulous, and you will find that you can justify overspending when you have not determined a marker of how much to save and a date to accomplish this goal.   Setting specific financial objectives and developing a budget will take you one step closer to achieving success. Your plan will motivate you because every good spending decision brings you one step closer to your dream. Your goal should be unique to your life, and you might have multiple ones that you are working on simultaneously. If you have not thought about your financial plan(s), below is a list of some common ones:

  1. Pay off debt(s). 
  2. Reduce stress.
  3. Improve your credit.
  4. Save for a memorable vacation.
  5. Save a down payment for a house.
  6. Save for a new(er) car.
  7. Retire early.
  8. Invest in your retirement fund.
  9. Save for your children’s college expenses.
  10. Start your own business.

Keep Your Goal in Front of You

When my husband and I decided to buy a pizza franchise business, we knew we had to save money to invest in our company. We cut back on discretionary expenses, such as dining out. When we were tempted to go out to eat, we reminded each other that the money we saved by eating at home helped us to achieve our dream. To maintain our excitement about our future business venture, we worked on our business plan and discussed our business goals daily. We also sold possessions not needed in our new life so we could add to our investment fund. Sticking to our minimized budget and saving money was easy because we were excited about our new venture.

Celebrate Goal Milestones

Try to set intermediate goals and celebrate reaching them. It takes a long time to achieve many financial goals, such as paying off a large credit card debt or accumulating a down payment to purchase a home. The average home price is about $350,000, and the lender typically requires 6% as a down payment from the buyer. That means you will need to save $21,000 for the down payment. If you save $1,000 per month, it will take you nearly two years to put aside the down payment. To keep yourself from getting frustrated, set mid-goal milestones, such as saving multiples of $3,000, and celebrate hitting those marks. Your celebration needs to be modest and within your budget, such as having a reasonably-price dinner at a restaurant or purchasing an accessory for your future home. Also, you might make a chart to record your progress if you are visually motivated.

Focus Your Spending Attention on Discretionary Spending

Your mortgage or rent payment, car payment, and insurance premiums are set amounts each month. In the short run, you cannot change them. Of course, they are a significant portion of your budget and must be considered. However, it would be best to focus on areas of your budget where you have more flexibility. Consider saving money on utilities, telephone and internet services, food, clothes, recreation, and other miscellaneous spending.

Use a Bill Paying System to Make Bill Paying Easy

I have scheduled each regularly occurring, fixed payment bill to be paid using our bank’s bill-paying service. This system is great for paying the mortgage, HOA fee, car payment, and insurance premiums. Utility bills and other expenses that vary from month to month are delivered directly to the bank, making it fast and easy to pay them.

Set Regularly Times Each Week to Pay Bills

Setting a regular time to pay bills and balance your checkbook will reduce your financial stress. You can put bills out of your mind until it is time to deal with them. I balance my checkbook each Sunday morning before we go to church. Our church service starts later than a typical workday, and our Sunday morning routine is less hectic than our Saturday mornings. After breakfast, I pour a second cup of coffee and settle at the computer. It only takes a few minutes since there are only one week’s bills to pay and cleared checks to reconcile. 

Set Up Automatic Transfers to Savings

Once you have established your budget, you need one additional category added to your automatic transfers. This new category should be your savings. Once you determine that amount, set up an automatic transfer on the first of each month or the first payday. This is one less decision you must consider, and you are unlikely to be tempted to pull the money out of savings once it is there.

Make It a Family Effort

If you are married, it is important that you and your spouse work together to set your goals and achieve them.  If you have children, share your goal with them and build excitement.  This is a great learning opportunity for them, and will help them to understand why you are saying “No” to certain items they want you to purchase.  Set aside a time once a week or twice a month to assess where you are and hold yourselves accountable to one another.   As intermediate goals are met, have a family vote to decide on the reward, or take turns choosing the reward.

Recruit an Accountability Partner

If you are not married, you will want to recruit someone that you can review your spending with once or twice a month and who will encourage you to stick with your plan. Be careful not to sabotage your budget by asking your shopping buddy to be your accountability partner.  Perhaps you have a mentor at your work or church, or a parent, who has consistently demonstrated financial responsibility who would be willing to assist you.  Having an accountability partner greatly increases your chances of being successful in reaching your goal.

In summary, set goals, reward yourself for reaching your intermediate and long-term goals, and set up systems to make it easy to pay bills and live within your budget. The easier it is to monitor your spending, the more successful you will be in sticking with your budget.

To learn more about how to manage your money, please click the Finances categories tab to find many blogs on money management, budgeting, and stewardship. My book Honoring God with Your Money is a great tool for financial money management.

Four Reasons to Check Your Credit Report

Most people have easy access to their credit scores.  Mine is available on my credit card statements each month and from my banks.  People are less likely to look at their credit report, especially if their credit score is good or excellent.  However, it is a good idea to review your report occasionally.  Here’s why.

  • Check for identity theft.  If someone has gotten access to your personal information, they may have applied for a loan or credit card in your name.  You need to review your report periodically for any accounts that you are unaware of.  One of my credit card companies checks this for me and notifies me each month as to whether any new accounts have been open in my name.  You may want to check with your credit card company to see if that service is available to you.
  • Check for errors.  Credit card companies process more than a billion transactions each day. They are going to make some mistakes. The sooner you catch a mistake, the sooner it can be corrected and the less likely it will negatively impact your credit score.  Additionally, some lenders may fail to report closed accounts or debts that have been paid in full, so you will want to check for those type of errors, as well.
  • Learn why your credit score is not higher.  I spoke with a lady recently who told me her credit score was 580.  That is on the cusp between Poor and Fair.  She could not understand why it was so low, as she said she had no debt other than her home mortgage and a loan on one of her four family vehicles.  We pulled her Experian credit report, which told a very different story.  The woman had seven accounts that were flagged as Potentially Negative.  Each of them was small debt that she had not paid and did not realize that she owed.  It was immediately obvious why her score is so law.
  • Make a plan to improve your score.  The seven debts that the lady had not paid have all been sent to collections.  She needs to take care of each of these.  Her plan is to (1) contact each creditor to verify that the bill is correct, and (2) pay each debt that is truly owed.  In her case, one debt was for about $350 and the other 6 were approximately $100 each. She can pay off all seven bills for less than $1,000.  She should see a significant increase in her credit score in 30 – 45 days.

In the case of the lady I spoke with, her credit score was quite low due to unpaid debts totaling less than $1,000.  She can easily pay all of these bills, once she verifies they are accurate.  In other instances, however, someone may have no debts that have gone to collection, yet still have a low credit score.  This could be due to a pattern of paying bills late, opening too many new accounts in a short period of time, or having too much debt in relation to your maximum.  It is difficult to assess why your score is low and make a plan to improve it without reviewing your credit report.

Everyone is entitled to a free copy of their credit report once a year from each of the three major credit rating agencies.  Some financial experts recommend checking all three at the same time each year and comparing them, while other experts recommend spacing them out during the year.  The lady I worked with pulled her Experian report last week. She will take care of each of the debts and allow 45 days for her records to be updated. Then she will get one from either TransUnion or Equifax to verify that the debts have been removed, and later in the year she will get the third one to ensure that she is staying on track with all of her open account.

To access your free credit report, go to annualcreditreport.com

If you need help to learn to manage your money and improve your credit, please check out some of my other blogs on Finances, Money Management, and Stewardship. My book Honoring God with Your Money is a great tool for financial money management.

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Eating Well on a Tight Budget

Inflation has soared to an annual rate of 8.6%–a rate that has not been experienced in America since 1981.  Steve and I were newlyweds in 1981.  We were in graduate school, and money was tight.  We had to live on a strict budget and had only $20 a week to spend on food.  Even though $20 bought a lot more in 1981 than it does today, we had to shop carefully to make ends meet and dining out was not an option.

Mom and daughter checking grocery list while shopping; daughter is in the grocery cart
Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.com

$20 in 1981 had an equivalent purchasing power of $64.31 today.  We were shopping for just the two of us and, with careful planning, we were able to eat pretty well.  There is much concern today over rising food prices and food shortages. So, I decided to share some habits that helped us through our graduate school years.

  1. We created a list of affordable meals that we enjoy.  I have shared that list below.
  2. We checked the grocery ads to see what was on sale before planning our meals for the week.
  3. We made a grocery list and stuck to it.
  4. We clipped coupons and used them, if the product was the best deal.
  5. We shopped at the same store every week and bought many of their store brands.
  6. We purchased 1/2 gallon of milk and one bottle of juice each week.  We brewed tea and made lemonade from a powdered mix.  And, we drank a lot of water out of the tap.
  7. We purchased one snack item each week.  Usually, it was a box of crackers.  Occasionally, we bought a bag of cookies or chips.
  8. We grew fresh vegetables in a community garden for university students.
  9. If we could not be home for lunch, we packed a lunch.
  10. We were diligent about eating leftovers and not letting food spoil.

I should also mention that we tithed regularly throughout these lean years, and we trusted God to meet our needs. 

The economic health of our country has significant impact on our financial wellness and bank balances.  Our economy will go through periods of inflation and periods of recession.  Interest rates fluctuate, and the stock market can increase and decrease dramatically.  All of this is out of our control. 

Yet, the Bible tells us not to fret or worry about what tomorrow brings.  God is in control, and God loves us. We have a responsibility to manage our finances as best we can and to seek God’s guidance on financial decisions.  We must follow the Biblical principals of money management set forth in the Bible, and we must trust God that our lives are in His hands.

”Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” Luke 12: 22 – 31

If you are looking for affordable main dishes, this is our list from our graduate school days:

  1. Hamburgers in mushroom gravy.  We used golden mushroom soup.
  2. Tuna casserole made with canned tuna, peas, cream of celery soup, and egg noodles.
  3. Pot roast simmered in the crock pot.
  4. Spaghetti with homemade sauce, sometimes without meat.
  5. Baked chicken and stuffing.
  6. Hot dogs.
  7. Salmon patties, made with canned salmon.
  8. Whole chicken cooked in crock pot with vegetables.
  9. Grilled hamburgers.
  10. Tacos.
  11. One pot chicken and rice medley, with onion, carrots, celery, and bell peppers
  12. Grilled chicken leg quarters.
Plate of spaghetti with loaf of bread in the background
Photo by Klaus Nielsen on Pexels.com

What are some of your favorite affordable main dishes?

To learn more about how to honor God with your money and build treasure in Heaven, please click the Finances categories tab to find many blogs on money management, budgeting, and stewardship. My book Honoring God with Your Money is a great tool for financial money management.

Last-Minute Donations

2021 is quickly drawing to a close. However, there’s still time an impact in the lives of others by making tax-deductible donations before the clock strikes midnight on December 31.  Here are some ideas.

  1. Operation Shoebox.  Shoebox collection week has come and gone.  However, you can still participate in Operation Shoebox by packing a shoebox online at https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/buildonline/   You select the items you want to include in your box, and volunteers will pack the boxes, which will be delivered in the coming months.  You can also donate $9 to deliver a box that another person has packed.
  2. Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog,  You can purchase gifts year-round to help those in need.  Gifts options include providing food to hungry children, purchasing chickens or honeybees to help a family start a business, providing clean water for a community, rescuing children in crisis, and assisting refugees.  Learn more at:  https://www.samaritanspurse.org/our-ministry/gift-catalog/
  3. Disaster Relief.  Every year many communities are impacted by natural disasters. Many, many families lost loved ones, homes, and belongings in the tornadoes that ravaged five states recently.  A super typhoon struck the Philippines days before Christmas. Please consider making a donation to an organization that provides disaster relief.  These organizations include:
    1. The Red Cross https://www.redcross.org/
    2. Convoy of Hope  https://convoyofhope.org/
    3. Salvation Army https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/
    4. Samaritan’s Purse   https://www.samaritanspurse.org/
  4. St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital– https://www.stjude.org/  Make a donation to help a critically ill child get needed treatment at no cost to their parents.
  5. Your local food bank.  Food banks serve their communities year round to ensure that everyone has access to healthy food.
Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

There are many, many other charitable organizations that are fulfilling Christ’s command to care for those in need. Pray earnestly about which organizations God would have you support.

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ ” Matthew 25:34-40

NOTE:  Donations sent by mail and postmarked by December 31 are considered as 2021 donations, regardless of when they are received. 

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Lessons in Money Management

My parents raised nine children on a single income, so careful money management was a priority.  I don’t recall them ever formally sharing money management lessons. Rather, they instilled good money management habits through their example and casual conversations.  One of the ways they taught us good money management skills was by a allowing my sisters to make some of our spending decisions at an early age. The lessons I learned include:

  1. Spending for one thing means less money for something else.  When I was about 13, my parents decided to give us each $20 per week allowance.  In 1972, $20 was a significant amount of money. In fact, it is equivalent to about $130 today.  The catch was that the money had to cover all of our discretionary spending.  We were free to pack lunches for school, but if we wanted to buy lunch, it came out of our allowance.  We were also responsible for buying our own clothes and paying for movie tickets and other recreation.  We learned to manage money and make hard decisions.  If I wanted a new pair of shoes, I might have to pack my lunch for a whole week.
  2. Shop the sales.  My mother was a master shopper.  She watched sales and clipped coupons.  I have seen her leave a department store with multiple shopping bags of clothes for which she paid less than $20 in total.  She loved to search the clearance racks for a blouse or sweater that everyone else had overlooked, and she loved the challenge of finding the perfect skirt or pair of slacks to go with it.  She would go to every clothing store in the mall in search of what she needed to ensure that she got the best bargain. Mom knew what month to shop for appliances or furniture, and she knew when the “white” sales (linens) would be going on.  She loved to shop the after-Christmas sales, and she often bought outfits in January which she would give to us the following Christmas. With four daughters born in a 4 ½ year span, she knew one of us would be able to wear the skirts and sweaters she bought.
  3. Buy quality and keep belongings until they wear out.  My mother believed it was worth spending a bit more to get better quality.  She bought traditional styles that would not go out of fashion, and she wore her clothes until they were worn out.  Similarly, Dad taught us to keep cars until the costs of repairs exceeded the car’s value.  He and Mom purchased a car when they married in 1955; my middle school principal purchased the car from them in 1974.  They added a second car in 1965, as I was starting first grade.  I drove that car until my junior year of college, when I was rear ended while driving it.
  4. Save up for major purchases.  I don’t recall my parents ever taking out a loan to purchase a car.  Of course, a new car was a true rarity in our household.  I do recall, however, a couple of occasions when my father borrowed cash from his life insurance policy to cover a major purchase.  He explained that the interest rate was very low, and he was, in essence, paying it back to himself.
  5. Balance your checkbook regularly and know where your money is going.  Balancing the checkbook before we had computers could be a time-consuming activity.  My mother always sat at the kitchen table to balance the checkbook.   Canceled checks were returned to the payer in those days. Mom would tape the canceled checks to the check stubs in a large, three-ring binder.  She would mark them off on the bank statement and determine what checks she had written that had not cleared.  Mom balanced the checking account to the penny, and she was never satisfied until it balanced.
  6. Count the true cost of debt.  My parents bought their final home in 1971 for about $35,000.  The monthly payment of $238.  I believe the interest rate was 7 ¼%.  Mom marked off each payment on an amortization schedule. When there was sufficient money, she would make an extra principal payment or two.  I remember her explaining to me that when she paid extra money toward the principal, she was saving more than one payment, as the balance went down and less interest accrued from then on.  I also recall multiplying $238 by 360 payment and realizing that, if they made each payment as scheduled, the $35,000 house would cost them about $86,000.  This was an eye opener and provided an ideal opportunity for us to talk about homes as investments that would increase in value, whereas a car would lose value over time.  My mother paid off the house in about 13 years.  While my father appreciated not having a mortgage payment, he did fuss more than once over losing the tax deduction of the interest.
  7. Establish credit early and manage it well.  When I graduated from high school, my parents bought me a sewing machine.  Mom then declared that I needed a sewing cabinet, which I would have to buy myself. We went together to the Singer store and picked out a cabinet.  I believe the price was $125.  She instructed me to put $25 down and helped me apply for a credit card.  When the bill came, I paid off the balance in full.  At the age of eighteen, I had established some credit of my own.  I never used that credit card again, but it was the key to allowing me to get a Sears card a few years later.
Calculator, currency, and note pad.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

These money management principles have served me well. Steve and I have tried to instill them in our own children. I hope that they will help you to manage your money better and have less financial stress in your life.

For more money management tips and information on creating budgets, please check out my other blog posts under the Finance tab. For those desiring a better understanding of Biblical principles of money management, I have written a book Honoring God with Your Money. It is available on Amazon and from Barnes and Noble.

If you have money questions you would like me to answer, you may email me at susan.ball5@aol.com or write your question in the Comment section.   Those who email me will be signed up to receive my free quarterly newsletter with money management tips, encouraging stories, and Scripture inspirations. 

Financial Impact of Divorce

As my husband and I approach our 40th anniversary in two weeks, I have been thinking a great deal of the blessings of a long marriage in both financial and non-financial terms. That will be the subject of my next blog. Today, I want to talk about the devastating financial impact divorce can have on both members of a couple. This was on my mind even before I read the sad announcement today that one of the world’s wealthiest couples is divorcing.

Photo by Caio on Pexels.com

Bill and Melinda Gates are ending their marriage after 27 years. Their wealth is staggering, and both of them will emerge from the divorce with more money that most of us can comprehend. Hopefully, they will amicably divide their great resources and continue to be generous in their philanthropic endeavors.

For most couples, however, divorce negatively impacts their finances and significantly lowers their standard of living. The costs of obtaining a divorce are staggering. In a relatively amicable dissolution, it is estimated that each partner incurs legal fees in excess of $10,000. Those costs can be much higher if the proceedings are hostile and protracted. Considering that the average household savings in the U.S. is about $42,000, a divorce can wipe out 50% or more of the savings accumulated by the couple.

With their savings significantly depleted and about half of the income they previously enjoyed, each member of the couple must strike out on their own. There are now two rents to be paid and two sets of utility bills. Each spouse winds up with a considerably lower standard of living. There will likely be additional childcare expenses, and perhaps travel expenses, if one spouse moves to a new city or state. Many divorced people struggle for years to achieve the standard of living they enjoyed while married.

Women are hit particularly hard, as they are often the custodial parent. The non-custodial parent typically helps with some of the expenses by paying child support. However, there is often resentment by both parties. It is very rare for either parent to be satisfied with the child support mandated by the courts. The custodial parent struggles to meet the needs of the children, and the non-custodial parent struggles to make the child support payment and provide for his or her own needs. This is not God’s plan, and it is not good for either the parents or the children.

Of course, the devastation of divorce is much more-far reaching than just the financial impacts. And the blessings of a till-death-do-us-part union are much, much greater than the financial blessings. God’s Word tells us that marriage is for life. When Jesus was questioned about divorce, He responded, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mark 10: 5 – 9)

If you want God to bless you in both your marriage and your finances, it is important to make decisions that honor God. That includes loving your spouse and doing all that you can to have a long, prosperous marriage.

Honoring God with Your Money

My new book, Honoring God with Your Money, is now available on Amazon. This book is a study of what God’s word says about money, wealth, charity, greed, tithing, savings, and much more. It includes principles of budgeting and steps for getting out of debt.

Cover of Honoring God with Your Money, by Susan E Ball

If you are stressed by financial decisions or an inability to manage your money, this is a great book for you. God provides us all with resources to provide for our families and to bless others. Money is intended to meet your needs, not cause you more stress.

As you honor God by managing your money well, tithing, and blessing others, God will bless you. He has promised that in Malachi 3:10, “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.‘”

This is a great book for small group studies and Sunday school classes, as well as for young people graduating from high school or college and going out on their own for the first time and newly-married couples. For those who want to teach this in a group setting, I have developed teaching materials. These include activities, discussion ideas, and examples to enhance the lessons. Teaching materials are free and can be obtained my emailing me at susan.ball5@aol.com

I pray that God will use this book to bless you as you honor Him.

Dreams Denied by Too Much Debt

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Every day I meet with people who dream of opening their own business, and far too often, they will not be able to fulfill their dreams due to the inability to manage their finances and to having too much debt.   The median household income in America is about $54,000; in the area in which I live, it is nearly $83,000.  That is $29,000, or 53%, higher than the norm. Yet, many of the people I meet with are living well beyond their means and are saddled with debt.

For example, I recently met with a man whose annual household income was more than 4 times the median at $220,000.  He has done somethings right–he has a government pension and he has invested on his own into a retirement plan.  However, he is drowning in debt.  He has children in college and owes more than $100,000 in student loans. His credit card balances, car loans, and consumer debt total nearly $200,000.  He came to us hoping to borrow $300,000 to open his dream business.  He wrote a great business plan, he had the right management team lined up, and he was willing to inject some of his retirement funds into the business.  However, no bank was willing to give him a loan due to his overwhelming debt.  I doubt that he even realized how deeply he was in debt until we required him to complete a personal financial statement.  It is likely that much of that debt represented purchases made with little forethought and for possessions with little lasting value.

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Unfortunately, this is not a unique story.  I see it time and time again.  I had one client tell me recently that the bank should understand that going into business was her plan for getting out of debt and improving her family’s financial situation.  Life does not work that way.  Opening a business is risky, and banks will only loan money to those who have proven that they can manage money. Of course, they also have to have a good plan.  But, no matter how wonderful your idea is or how great the potential of your proposed business, you cannot borrow money to start a business if you don’t have good credit, moderate to little debt, and your own money to invest in this business.

Your dream may not be to own your own business.  You dream may be to retire at an early age, to become a missionary, to buy a vacation home, to leave your children with a large inheritance, to donate millions to charity, or something else entirely. Whatever your dream, it will be difficult to accomplish if you do not manage your money well and live within your means.

Making a budget and sticking to it is the first step to living within your means.  Budgeting allows you to (1) discover where your money is going, (2) determine what level of expenditures is appropriate for your income, (3) develop a plan to pay off your debts, and (4) start building a nest egg to make your dreams come true.

Budgeting isn’t glamorous, but it pays big dividends.  As Proverbs 21:5 tells us “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.”    Make a commitment today to start budgeting and managing your money, so that your dreams will not be deterred by excessive debt.

What dreams are you being held back from fulfilling do to too much debt?  How can you make changes in your spending to make your dreams come true?

 

If you need help with budgeting and money management, please see my earlier blogs on “Honoring God With Our Money.”

Honoring God With Our Money: Cultivating True Wealth

For the past three months, I have taught a Sunday School class entitled, ‘Honoring God With Our Money.’  In this final lesson, we looked at true wealth and how to cultivate it.  Money is a necessity in our world and it serves many purposes.  However, money in and of itself cannot bring true happiness, contentment, or joy.  And money most certainly cannot buy eternal life.

The Bible teaches us that true wealth can only come from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  To enter into a personal relationship with Jesus, we must admit that we are sinners in need of a Savior, recognize that Jesus is the only one who can be our Savior, and accept His freely-offered sacrificial death as cleansing for our sins.  Repentance and faith in Jesus leads to true peace on Earth and ultimately to an eternity in Heaven.

In Proverbs 22:4, King Solomon wrote that “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.”  We must come to the Lord humbly admitting that we are sinners and in fear that He will give us the just punishment our sins demand before we can truly accept His gift of salvation.  In accepting Jesus as our Savior, we become children of God and joint heirs with Christ in the abundance of Heaven.

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked what he must do to obtain eternal life, Jesus told him to obey the commandments.  When pressed for what else was necessary,  “Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  The come, follow me.'” ( Matthew 19:21)  The  next verse tell us, “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Matthew 19:22)  This young man was so tied to his earthly riches that he was unwilling to give them up for the true riches of Heaven.  How very sad!  Our earthly possessions are fleeting, but true wealth will last forever.

Jesus further illustrated to his disciples the way to acquire true wealth by telling them the parable of the sheep and the goats, found in Matthew 25:31-46:

 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
 
 

I urge you, as you read this post, to consider whether you are cultivating true wealth through your relationship with Jesus Christ and through your actions.  If you are not, it’s not too late to start.  For those of you who do know Jesus Christ as your Savior, I urge you to use the money God entrusts in you wisely and to honor God in all that you do.

Honoring God With Our Money: Rules of Investing

If you have created a budget and are following it, eventually you will wind up with more in savings than you need for an emergency fund.  At that point, you should think and pray about investing your excess money to meet future needs.  The following rules of investing are adapted from Larry Burkett’s book, Family Budgets That Work.

investor

Rules of Investing:

  1.  Never invest money you cannot afford to lose.  All investments have an element of risk and the possibility exist that you might lose all or a portion of the money you have invested.  One only has to look at the variability in the stock market to see that this is true.
  2. Never get involved with things you don’t understand.  Don’t try to buy individual stocks unless you know the company well and have confidence that it is well-run.
  3. Demand sufficient information to thoroughly evaluate the opportunity.  Take the time to thoroughly research possible investments.
  4. Seek good, non-involved Christian counsel.  There are many knowledgeable Christian financial counselors who will discuss your needs and goals and help you to make wise investment decisions.
    • Proverbs 19:20  Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
  5.  Set a minimum time to pray and seek God’s direction.  Don’t let anyone rush you into an investment decision.  If the opportunity is only available for a limited time, it is probably an opportunity you should forgo.
  6.   Once you have God’s direction, write out an investment plan.  A written plan will help you keep your goals in mind and help you make investment decisions that are consistent with your goals.
    • Proverbs 20:5 The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.
  7. Avoid ‘get rich’ schemes.  Plan for slow, steady growth.  If it sounds too good to be true, then it almost always is.
    • Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
    • Proverbs 28:20 – 22  A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.   To show partiality is not good—yet a person will do wrong for a piece of bread. The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them.

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