Upwards Church

Top Ten List
Crown Financial Ministries has a practical Top Ten List of Things You Can Do to Find Financial Freedom.  

They are:

10. Build a budget—Figure out why there’s always more month left at the end of your money. Develop a monthly budget and make it your guide to financial freedom. “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established” (Proverbs 16:3).

Whatever you think your financial goals may be, you will not successfully achieve them without first understanding God’s financial principles found in the Bible. When you do understand, then develop lifestyle goals that reflect God’s principles and work out a written plan to do so. It’s called a budget, and will lead you to financial freedom.

9. Give it away—Set your priorities straight by first making some contributions. Give to God’s work; it’s His money anyway. Loosen up those purse strings; it will help loosen the grip money might have on your heart. “Be rich in good works, be generous and ready to share” (1 Timothy 6:18).

Don’t give in order to get. However, you’ll find that when you do give, God will provide you with more to give. “Let us not love in word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).

8. Reduce your use—don’t use your credit card so much. Develop discipline in your spending habits. Take away any security you might be using in case of emergencies, like credit cards or other avenues of borrowing. If needed, cut up a few credit cards. Commit to go no further in debt and you will begin to reverse the process that produced your debt. “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7).

Remember that the problem is not credit cards but the misuse of credit cards.

7. Get a grip—Spending (especially for indulgences) doesn’t lift depression. In fact, after the initial rush it can make things worse. (Yes… like right after Christmas.) “He who loves pleasure will become a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not become rich” (Proverbs 21:17).

It’s not the cost of an item that determines whether it’s an indulgence. However, its utility does. Do you really need it?

6. Look at your paycheck—Write the bottom-line number down, and then spend less than that. Personal savings rates are lower now than during the Great Depression. You can’t spend 104 to 112 percent of your income and continue to get away with it (despite what the government thinks). “I spoke to you in your prosperity; but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your practice from your youth, that you have not obeyed My voice” (Jeremiah 22:21).

Staying out of debt is no secret. Don’t spend more than you make, don’t borrow, and you’ll be on the road to financial freedom.

5. Cook a meal—Discover the kitchen occasionally and reduce the number of restaurant visits. Your spouse might enjoy meal preparation more at home if some help were provided (is that you?). “Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline, but he who regards reproof will be honored” (Proverbs 13:18).

Almost everyone enjoys eating out occasionally. So make it part of your “entertainment” budget; but then stick to it. Save to eat at a nice place for special events rather than squandering it on fast food non-events.

4. Get in the car—Take a local vacation this year. Cancun may be calling you, but there are also interesting things to see and fun things to do within a day’s drive of where you live. “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

People spend hundreds of dollars they can’t afford to travel thousands of miles to see things they might not remember next year. Has it occurred to you that people are doing just that as they come to visit areas within a three-hour drive of where you live? Go local this year. Use the road to Financial Freedom.

3. Don’t keep up with the Jones’s—They’re in debt, too (and you can be sure they won’t make your payments for you)! “Every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4).

Envy is the desire to achieve based on the observation of other people’s successes. Don’t set your goals based on what others have. In the long run envy and covetousness will still leave you empty, because you’ll never have enough.

2. Keep the “ultimate driving machine”—You know…the one that’s paid for. Most people buy new cars because they don’t budget car-maintenance money for the car they own; when it breaks down they can’t afford to repair it. You may say, “But it’s zero money down!” But remember, those new car little- or no-money-down financial gimmicks require some budget-destroying payments. “Which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28).

Average monthly maintenance for most cars on the road (about seven years old) is about 5 percent of a family’s budget. If you compare a monthly 5 percent of your budget for maintenance on an older car to about 15 percent to buy a new car, it’s no contest. Poor gas mileage? Forget it! It takes lots of gas to make up the cost of payments.

And the number one thing you can do to find Financial Freedom:

1. Pray each day before you pay—Emotional and spiritual balance will lead to Financial Freedom. So ask God to guide you and give you strength to follow the first nine steps; they are expanded and explained further at our Web site crown.org. “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Don’t be resentful for what you don’t have. Instead be grateful for what God has provided. Financial Freedom will bring contentment; and contentment grows out of an attitude of gratitude.

“This slightly tongue-in-cheek list is nonetheless a serious introduction to principles and practices that can lead to greater balance in your life,” said Crown Financial Ministries co-CEO Howard Dayton.

Dayton said: “With an already heavy debt load and some ominous clouds on the economic horizon, many people will be looking for ways to get a handle on their finances. We not only want to provide hope to those who feel over their heads financially, but to also provide practical tools and resources to help them achieve financial freedom in their lives.”

Special thanks to Nelson Searcy Coaching for helping me to develop this resource. You may check his web site at www.churchleaderinsight.com

Darrell

www.ridgefellowship.com

When it comes to family debt, a common shortcoming is the lack of planning. The primary method in which families can identify shortcomings and to do something about correcting the effects of the shortcomings is to develop a family budget and stick to it.

Three Common Expenses that Lead to Debt:  

1.  Home Purchases
Nearly every family in America dreams of owning their own home. But many times they try to buy a home too soon after marriage or pay too much for a first home and end up in financial trouble. Unfortunately, quite often these families don’t realize that owning the home created their financial problems, because it took too large a portion of their spendable income. Because of this, inadvisable home purchases are the number one expense that leads to unmanageable debt.

The percentage of an average family’s budget that should be spent on a house payment is no more than 25 percent of Net Spendable Income (after tithes and taxes). Add to the mortgage payment the cost of insurance, utilities, maintenance, repairs, and telephone, and the percentage climbs to about 38 percent.5 Unfortunately, many couples commit to as much as 60 percent or more of their budget to housing. As such, there is no way that the family can handle that cost. If a family can afford to purchase a home within their budget (budget should be based on one income only, not on the combined incomes of husband and wife), that makes sense. But to destroy the budget just to get into a home is not logical.

2. Car Purchases
The second most common purchase that leads to debt is the purchase of a new car. Quite often couples who cannot qualify to buy a home buy a new car as a compromise. This is a major debt trap for couples, especially those who have a tendency to overspend, because they are generally not concerned with the overall price of the car—just the amount of the monthly payments.

A new car debt is actually harder to deal with than overspending on a home. In most areas of the country, homes can be resold at or above their original purchase price, because the market for used housing is consistently stronger than for new housing. But a family seeking to sell an almost new car to relieve debt is shocked to discover how little the car is worth on the open market. Most families owe more on a car that is one year old than its actual value. For families who can afford to do it, saving in order to purchase a good used car is a wiser decision than financing or purchasing a new car.

3. Scheduled Disasters
In order to plan a financial disaster, all a family has to do is fail to plan for predictable expenses that haven’t come due yet, such as automobile maintenance, emergency home repairs, or personal injury. Failure to plan for these is a major reason many families end up in unmanageable debt, because when the expenses occur they must be paid, so the only alternative available is often a credit card.

Why do people fail to anticipate these expenses that are inevitable? Generally because when they try to work them into their budget they don’t fit. So they simply ignore them until a crisis occurs. To do otherwise would require adjustments in the other areas of spending, such as housing, automobile expense, or recreation. Therefore, credit card debt invariably grows in order to absorb these non-budgeted, but predictable, expenses.

Two Common Errors That Lead to Debt:

1.  Allowing a Get-Rich-Quick Mentality to Govern Decisions
Symptoms of get-rich-quick mentality are evident in many of the investment schemes in the world today. Unfortunately, many Believers find themselves caught in the get-rich-quick trap before they realize what is actually happening.

If investments in get-rich-quick schemes were limited to available cash, most people would be far more cautious about losing it. But somehow it is easier to risk borrowed money because it seems to many Believers to be almost free money. Much like the same justification used when purchasing consumer goods on a credit card, it is easy to justify using borrowed money to invest, especially if the return is “guaranteed.” But speculating on the future not only is a practice in surety, which is warned against in the Bible, it also is presumptuous, because no one can rightly predict what will happen in the country’s financial markets over the next hour, much less the next few months or years. So, borrowing money in order to speculate on the future is both unwise and dangerous, placing the borrower in a position of potentially losing everything if the economy turns downward.

Another danger concerning get-rich-schemes is that most times investors know nothing or very little about the product, service, idea, system, or organization into which they are being solicited to invest. Believers are particularly vulnerable to being tricked by get-rich-quick schemes, because they tend to trust people who call themselves Believer, especially if they claim to have a special revelation or leading from God. So, stay with what you know and do not invest until you have completely and thoroughly investigated the product, program, or company. In addition, no decision should be made hastily. Always wait for at least one full day, and earnestly pray before making any investment decision.

2. Ignoring Your Spouse
It is very dangerous for a husband or wife to ignore the primary advisor that God has given them: their spouse. When there is a relationship as close as a husband and wife relationship, there will be problems. Since opposites tend to attract, they may not agree on a number of things and issues.4 But that’s okay as long as they communicate and try to reach a reasonable compromise. God’s Word is very specific when it comes to husband and wife relationships.

Husbands are to love their wives and listen to their advice before making any financial decisions that would change or affect the families’ financial state. Wives may give their advice, but the final decision is up to the husband. And whatever the decision, whether she agrees or not, she must respect him as the head of the family. God created husband and wife to function as a single working unit, each with different but essential abilities. Without the balance that each can bring to a marriage, great errors in judgment will most likely be made.

Conclusion
Without some kind of written financial plan (a budget) families will not realize that they have a financial problem until it overwhelms them. A budget balances income and expenses and reports on the status of income and expenses every month. By maintaining a strict budget couples can identify shortcomings in their family financial picture, and by working together they can capitalize on each others strengths in order to avoid errors and expenses that led to unmanageable debt.

Sources:

1. Larry Burkett, Debt-Free Living, Moody, 1989, pp. 97-102
2. Larry Burkett, Debt-Free Living, Moody, 1989, pp. 141-149
3. Larry Burkett, Biblical Principles Under Scrutiny, “ Avoiding Get-Rich-Quick,” Christian Financial Concepts, 1985
4. Larry Burkett, Money Before Marriage, Moody, 1996, pp. 27-28
5. Larry Burkett, The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples, Victor, 1994, pp. 71-73
6. Larry Burkett, The Complete Guide to Managing Your Money, Inspirational, 1996, pp.492-493

Special thanks to Nelson Searcy Coaching for helping me to develop this resource. You may check his web site at www.churchleaderinsight.com

Darrell

www.ridgefellowship.com

Spending is a habit – Does money burn a hole in your pocket? Does buyer’s remorse set in after you have spent your money? If this sounds familiar, how can you manage your spending so you can buy the things you need now and also save for the things you need in the future.

In order to change spending habits, people must first understand how habits are shaped and the ways spending behavior can be changed. In essence, they must identify spending leaks that give immediate satisfaction but do not help reach financial goals and, instead, substitute desirable spending behavior that may not be immediately gratifying but will allow financial goals to be reached.

How to Change the Habit

Luke 16:11 says, “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?” People need to learn to handle the smallest thing God has put under their authority—their money. Larry Burkett believes that if the following guidelines are followed it will help control spending.

1. Establish self-discipline. Put all spending under God’s control. In so doing, individuals become managers of God’s finances and all spending should then be from the vantage point of whether He would be pleased with the purchase. With God’s guidance, any bad habit can be broken. People need to learn to recognize the drive that places them in a spending situation and then when they shop they can avoid the spending pitfalls produced by that drive by having a purpose for the shopping, a time limit, and a written plan. They need to make a list before they go shopping and then stick to it. In addition, they should limit the number of trips to the store or mall and never shop when hungry or depressed.
2. Establish a Budget. How far money goes usually depends on how much people want something.  As such, they need to be in control of the money, under God’s direction, instead of having the money control them by limiting what they do. Once spending has been brought under control, there should be a determination of how much needs to be spent each month in every area of an implemented budget; and, since the basic idea behind budgeting is to save money up front for both known and unknown expenses, there must be a commitment to stick to the budget. Larry believes that if people are having difficulty with income equaling outgo, they must cut some of their outgo. As such, they need to look at their budgets realistically and see where they can start trimming. A budget is a money plan. With it, people can organize and control their financial resources, set and realize goals, and decide in advance how money will work for the good of the family. Therefore, because every purchase should be considered in light of the established budget, buying any non-budgeted items on impulse should be avoided, especially if those non-budgeted items will need to be purchased with a credit card.
3. Establish Accountability. People need to be accountable to other persons for a specified period of time for everything they spend. Ecclesiastes 4:9,10 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.” If there is accountability, people will be more inclined to be more cautious in their spending habits—more of a look now, buy later attitude. So, shop around before buying and learn to say no. Keep a record of spending and purchases and share these with the accountability partner.
4. Establish a want-to-buy list. Whenever people feel they need to buy something that is not budgeted, they should put it on the list, but then wait seven days and find two additional prices for the same item, to be sure they are getting a good buy. If they still want the item after a week has passed, they will have thought about it and probably will be getting the best buy on the item. However, they still should not charge it. Finally, people can have only one item on the list at a time, so if they find new “wants” during the week, they will have to decide between the two.

Conclusion
A good way to reduce debt is to develop discipline in spending habits. That may include taking away any security that might be used in case of emergencies: credit cards or other avenues of borrowing. By committing not to go further in debt, people begin to reverse the process that produced the debt. Larry often recommends cutting up the credit cards and not taking out any bank or family loans. Then, they can develop a balanced budget that will control spending and will allow them to stay within the parameters of their financial means.

Sources:

1. Larry Burkett, Counselor Self-Study Course, vol. 2, Christian Financial Concepts, 1999, p. A-4-5
2. www.nncc.org/Business/devel.spend.plan.html
3. www.tuliptreepress.com/why.htm
4. www.tuliptreespress.com/why.htm
5. Larry Burkett, The Complete Guide to Managing Your Money, Inspirational Press, 1996, p. 113

 Special thanks to Nelson Searcy Coaching for helping me to develop this resource. You may check his web site at www.churchleaderinsight.com

Darrell

www.ridgefellowship.com

At The Ridge we believe that one of the greatest measures of our spiritual maturity is how we handle the resources that God has put into our hands. On this page, you will find a number of tools to help you manage your money wisely.

Below are some Exell Spreadsheets.  Just click on the one you want to view.  You may open or save to your computer. Put in your numbers and it adds all your totals and percentages for you:

PersonalFinancialPlan     

PersonalFinancialProfile

MonthlyBudgetLedger

For those taking Financial Peace University here are Dave Ramsey’s materials, just click to view or save or print.  Included in these forms are the instructions of how to use them:

 FPU_Quickie-Budget

FPU_Monthly_Cash_Flow_Plan_forms

It my prayer that you will grow spiritually in the area of stewardship.

Darrell

www.ridgefellowship.com