Managing Money - Why Is It So Important?

When setting long-term goals the question of money always seems to come into play. Money too often limits the scope of our dreams and goals. Christians are called to "walk by faith" yet the scriptures are filled with teachings about money. This is confusing to some but makes perfect sense when you think about it. God wants us to be stewards of the gifts He gives us. While the love of money is the root of all evil, the use of money is a powerful vehicle that God can pour into us when He knows that we will allow it to pass through our hands to the places it needs to go. This might involve giving to church or charities or supporting widows and orphans, or maybe even investing into your BIG GOALS so that you can bless others on a much larger scale.

The Two Basic Secrets to Building Wealth
There are two essential rules that enable us to prosper financially. One is spiritual and the other very practical.
1 Tithe and Give Offerings - this enables God to "open the windows of heaven" and pour resources into our lives.
2 Spend less than you make - this is an amazingly simple concept that most people don't ever learn to do.


Why are they such hard concepts for us?

The concept of tithing the first 10% of our income is mentioned many times in the bible. It is an act of obedience, acknowledging that God is our provider and the first portion of our income goes into the storehouse where we are being fed, normally our local church. Offerings are over and above the tithe and we give obediently and in faith, knowing that all of our provision comes from an unlimited God.

The second secret seems to be simple common sense, but many, if not most people struggle with it. The easy access to credit makes the notion of saving money until we can afford something we want seem antiquated. I've often found that by waiting and saving for something that by the time you save enough up to buy it, you find that it's not quite as appealing as it initially was. Spending less than we make often means denying ourselves that instant gratification that credit encourages. That is a hard thing but not necessarily a bad thing.

Below are the audio clips from the meeting on October 26, 2008 where we discussed this. Take a listen and begin to see how these two secrets are working in your life!

Introduction to Money Management

First steps to Money Management

Tracking Our Spend
Tracking what we spend and where we spend it is a simple thing to do. It goes beyond just balancing the checkbook, but requires that we look at where every penny goes.

Try this exercise. For the next few weeks track every single thing you spend money on during the day, while you're going about your normal activities. Just jot it down in a notebook or piece of paper and track where every bit of it goes. At the end of each week, roll the spend up into categories to see where it all went. Ask yourself some hard questions. Where did I buy things you really didn't need? Where could I have cut back or gone with a less expensive option? Could I have prepared a meal versus eating out? Could I go to a matinee movie versus a prime time movie, or rented a DVD? All of these things can help you make informed decisions about where you want to curb your spending. Remember that every cent you can redirect is another step towards enabling that dream you have. Isn't it worth it?

The following is the audio clip from our meeting of October 26th:

Tracking Your Spending

Getting Out of Credit Card Debt
Credit cards are a huge issue for some people. Experts say that if you have credit card debt, the best approach is to start by cutting up the card to avoid the temptation of using it. For some people that might be the right approach. Others might have the discipline to tuck it away and not use it. So, what can you do if you're already in debt? If you have several bills and want to pay them off, how can you do it?

The first step after stopping use of the cards is to track your spending and find some extra money every month to apply to your outstanding debt. It might only be $50 or so, but it's still a big step forward! Instead of paying off the card with the highest interest rate, consider paying off the one that has the shortest time left on it. Keep paying the minimum on the other cards, but put the full $50 on the card with the shortest time left. Continue doing this month after month after month until it's paid off.

Now tackle the second card with the next shortest time left. Continue putting the $50 towards it, but now include the amount you had been paying on the first card (that you just paid off) perhaps now having $100 a month to accelerate the payment of the second card. Eventually you'll pay off this one too and you can go on to the third shortest debt, taking the $100 plus the amount of the second credit card payment and applying all of it to the third debt.

This approach will get you out of debt faster than spreading the extra money among the individual card payments. As a plus, you'll be able to see quicker results of your sacrifice as one by one the debts fall off. Eventually you'll be debt free from the chains of credit cards.

Take a listen to the excerpt from our October 26th meeting:

Accelerated Plan to Eliminate Credit Card Debt