Money management talk

I believe managing our money is important because it is something God requires of us. Matthew 25:29 tells us ” to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.” So if we desire to please God we must work towards becoming better managers of our money which really is the money He has allotted us.

The benefits of managing our money is the reward of smart, hard work. Money increases more when you make it work harder. Every time I sit down and update our budget or divide our income into its proper category I invest into our future. Money was never meant to be used for mindless purchases or wasted with no clue of where and how it was spent. Money is meant to provide security, freedom and abundance if it is used correctly and according to the principles God has outlined for us.

You should definitely begin to manage your money even if you are living from paycheck to paycheck. One reason is because when you become more organized it seems to release the stress button. Stress comes from out of control finances and not being organized. Another reason is because many people discover they have extra money once they give every dollar a purpose and makes every dollar scream! Even those with less income can nickel and dime themselves into years of being broke. Have a plan for every dollar that goes out of your household. You should be watching your money like a hawk because sometimes you can’t afford to not know what’s going on financially in your life.

This is the sixth day of a new year. Have you started your money transformation? Have you began taking the steps to financial stability? No time to wait, the time to start is today!

In God we trust

“In God we trust” is printed on our money but is it printed on our hearts? Is it the foundation of our faith? Money is shakeable, unstable and uncertain but God is never shakeable, always stable and always certain.  We should be reminded that “Jesus Christ is same yesterday, today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

The sameness of God means we can trust that He will be there for us even if we slip on our journey to financial stability. Would God forsake us if we overspend one month and bust our budget? No, because “it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not; they are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Our will, discipline and change in how we handle our money are dependent on our ability to trust God. We are not only required to trust him in spiritual things but we can trust him to help us with our money. Do you have a hard time maintaining your spending plan? Trust God to give you the discipline to do it every month until it becomes natural and is no longer a chore or hassle. Do you have a problem overspending? Trust God to deal with your emotional impulses or whatever it is that causes you to overspend. Have you cut yor budget to the bare minimum and still barely have enough to put towards savings and paying off debt? Trust God to give you a promotion at work or a better job that pays more.

The point is you can ask God for help in what ever area you need help in and trust him to help you. If you are being faithful in making an effort to change, he will be faithful in helping you make that change. So let us not trust in money to succeed financially, let us trust in God. We should always do all we can by making the right decisions and practicing wisdom when it comes to money because this allows God to do his part. So as you take this journey to financial stability, always remember “in God we trust.”

New Year, New Start

Once again, we have entered a new year and with the new year comes new year resolutions. We vow to lose weight, get in shape, go back for that degree and the most popular one, get out of debt.

So what is going to make this year different? We made the same vow in 2006 and 2007 but have not made much progress. Many never even started. The shocking statistics reveal that nearly 50% have given up on their resolutions by the end of January.

Where do we fail in keeping our resolutions? What causes us to be highly excited about making a positive change and not follow through with it even after a month? What makes us slowly revert back to bad eating habits, overspending by using credit cards, not going to the fitness center or lose interest in taking night classes?

The answer is in faulty planning, lack of focus, and inconsistent consistency. To accomplish anything, you must begin with a written game plan. A plan is a method you work out in advance in hopes of accomplishing a goal. It’s a strategy or blueprint. When builders engineer a building, they always lay out a written, drawn out blueprint before any cement is poured. We must take the same steps by writing down on paper and on purpose our design to achieve whatever specific goal we have in mind.

If our goal is to begin the journey of becoming debt free, our initial acknowledgement should be to realize that it may take more than one year. It’s necessary that we write down from smallest to largest every debt that we have to pay off. This informs us of what we are facing and the degree of sacrifice that we may have to make. You have to know how much you owe, you can not properly prepare for opposition if you have no information on whom or what you are facing.

Our next step is to write down a budget. A budget is a game plan for your income every month before payday arrives. Every dollar should have a name to it. This is where you find out if you need to cut back on certain expenses or why you have been coming up short in certain areas of your finances. Why is this important? You have to know how much extra cash you can throw on the debt each month. A budget is also your first step in gaining control of your finances. However, this is something that must be done each month without fail. Don’t worry, it is not as tedious as you think, once you are comfortable doing it after the first couple of months. A budget shows the leak in your finances so you can stop them and gain control of out of control finances.

Any military general, team coach or good leader will tell you that knowledge and planning is only half of achieving success. You have to be mentally prepared to face setbacks in attaining the goal you set for yourself. This is where focus and consistency take their positions in your plan. I suggest that you not make new year resolutions but make new year plans.

Focus is consistent concentration on the thing you are attempting to accomplish. It means your main concern is paying off debt and this is where the majority of your energy and actions flow. Trying to do too many things at once is not progressive and will cause you to lose focus. The brother of focus is consistency. You consistently budget each month, consistently remind yourself of the plan, and consistently sacrifice to obtain your goal of becoming debt free. Focus and consistency will get you to the finish line every time.

So start this new year with a refreshed, updated plan of how you will become debt free. Mentally prepare for the journey, write down the plan and with focused consistency you can become debt free. It will take some one year and some two years but you can do it. Ultimately, the only thing that will hold you back from becoming debt free or whatever your “new year’s plan” consists of is you.