How To Live Within Your Means

In 1955  Cyril Parkinson published a humurous essay in the Economist which started with this statement: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. " In our modern day, this term has been adapted by many in the financial world to read, "expenditures rise to meet income" meaning that no matter how much wealth we build or how high our income rises, our expenditures will always rise a the same rate or even higher.

We see it everyday as we meet with people making hundreds of thousands of dollars but declaring that they are "broke." The issue is that it doesn't just cost money to buy a nicer car or nicer house; it costs even more money to keep them kept new. If you buy a new tv, well of course you have to buy a monthly cable service. And you can't just watch cable, you will have to watch movies because what is that nice big screen tv without the ability to watch Terminator 3?

Our culture has entrenched us to believe the lie that we have to continue to expand our lifestyle with our increase in income. Because we earned it, right?

Well, in the Bible, God encouraged His people,  "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest.  Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien."

Right there lies an amazing principle that I believe we have forgotten in our society: leaving the edges of our harvest for the poor.

You see, God has blessed us and given us more than we could ever hope to have, but He also encourages us to not max out our lifestyle so that others can eat too. Here at our church we use the phrase: Live simply, so that others might simply live.

We like to call it a financial finish line. This means setting a line in your salary or your income when enough is enough. And once you get here, guess what, you can start giving tons of money away.

So go ahead and try it out. What does your family really need? What is your financial finish line? Where are the edges of your harvest?

How To Budget

 
One of the main questions that we get all the time is, "how do I budget." Budgeting is simply a blueprint for your financial life. If you want your financial house to look anything like you dreamed, you need a blueprint.  

Somebody Save Me!

One of the most important financial decisions you can make on a daily and monthly basis is to save money. But in our society saving is often an afterthought, if that. People become so focused on the demands of today that they forget to save for the demands of the future.

The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, believed so much in savings that he communicates emphatically in Proverbs 6 to, "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.  How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep— So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man."

And later on in chapter 30 he says, "There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer."

Solomon was amazed by the wisdom of the ant who could barely see above a blade of grass, yet had enough foreknowledge to set aside provisions for the winter to come.

But there lies the problem for many of us. We get caught up in our own "blades of grass" that we forget that the winter does come, it always comes.

To be honest, I'm not always thinking about what I need to be saving for that is a year out or five years out. So I need some help. One amazing tool that I have started using is a website called http://www.smartypig.com/.

This website allows you to establish savings goals and then it automatically drafts whatever amount you choose out of your account each month. So if I want to save $1200 for Christmas, I set up a Christmas savings account and then it automatically pulls out $100 on whatever day I choose.

This way I have no choice. It doesn't matter if I forget or if I don't really feel like savings, I have to because SmartyPig makes me. There are several other bonuses like money market-ish interest and the ability to earn cashback on purchases. But I just use it to keep me disciplined with savings.

So no matter what format you use, you need to save. You have to save! Your financial health depends on it.

A few practical points to leave you with:

1. Save with a Purpose
• Don't just throw money back because something might happen, have specific savings goals-  i.e. college, car fix-up, house fix-up
2. Save Consistently
• Do it every month. Do it every paycheck.
3. Save Now!
• Even if it is just fifty cents. Put it in a piggy bank and save all the change you get.
4. Save Today...so you can say no to your credit card later
• When you choose to spend instead of save it will always catch up with you
5. Save Second
• After you pay your tithes, it's best to pay yourself. Otherwise Ronald McDonald always seems to get to it before the month is over.  

So go ahead and start saving today. Make a choice and put something back.

And We Have Lift Off!

Welcome one and all to our new blog.

Our goal with this new blog is to give common sense, biblical wisdom for the most frequently asked financial questions. Each week we will take a look at a few of the most pressing financial topics and see what the Bible has to say about it.

Over the past several years we have been asked thousands of financial questions ranging from health insurance to dealing with a non-paying renter. We want to offer a format for those questions to be asked and answered. To start off, we will begin answering a few of the most asked questions, but in the meantime, feel free to send us your questions at financiallyrestored@gmail.com or use the "Ask a Question" gadget at the top of the page.