Money Money Money!

Get situated....this is going to be a long one....

Money....it's a sensitive topic for some, an important topic for some, it can influence your life greatly, it can rule your life, and it can destroy your life. So what's the deal with money?

Well, the Bible says this:

• “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." Malachi 3:8-10
• "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38
• "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
• "Wise people live in wealth and luxury, but stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it." Proverbs 21:20 Good News Translation
  
• "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8
• "Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough." Proverbs 21:5 Good News Translation

I am subscribed to Rick Warren's daily email devotionals called "Daily Hope", and the last 5 or 6 devotionals this past week have all been about money, finances, tithing, and budgeting. I guess he was really trying to get his point across. Here are some things he said in his devotionals:

• "The purpose of tithing is to teach us to always put God first in our lives. God doesn't need our money. He wants what it represents: our gratitude, our priorities and our faith."
• "There is a question you can ask yourself that will help you save more money. It's really simple. When you get ready to buy something, ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” And then be honest enough to tell yourself."
• "The Bible says we should not withhold the repayment of our debts, that we should let no debt remain outstanding. What does that mean? If you are only paying the minimum on your credit card, you are letting a debt remain outstanding. The Bible says don't do that. God is not going to bless that."
• "A budget is simply a plan. It's telling your money where you want it to go, rather than wondering where it went."
• "First, give 10% to God; second, put 10% into savings; then, set up a repayment plan. You may think you can’t afford it, but the truth is, you can't afford not to do it God’s way."
  
  

For most people who know me well, they know I have a pretty strong opinion about money management and budgeting. Here is my take on money:

• Everything we have in life is not ours, it is God's. Our life, our breath, our family, our jobs, our materials possessions...and yes, our money. Therefore, we have no right to keep something that was not ours to begin with. Therefore, God asks us to "bring the whole tithe into the storehouse" so we are called to honor God with our tithes.
  
• Money can cause worry and stress in your life if you don't manage it well. It can even become an addiction and can start to rule your life. So why not save yourself the trouble and worry and create a budget so you have financial peace of mind? I started tracking my money, income, and expenses from the very first day I got my first job. This is the best time to create the habit and get into the practice of budgeting - when you have little income and little expenses. That way, you just add onto the process and add things to the equation as you get older, such as a car expense, credit cards, mutual funds, IRAs, etc. Since I have been budgeting since such a young age, my money never got to a point where it caused stress or worry. It just didn't. If you track your money, you know exactly how much is coming in and exactly how much and where it is going when it goes out.
  
• Money is not there to be spent recklessly. I love how the Good News translation of Proverbs 21:20 states it. It basically says you are stupid if you spend your money impulsively. Well, it's true. You spend, spend, spend, then all of a sudden an emergency expense comes up and you have no money to pay for it. What now? You go into debt. Which brings me to my next point.
• Debt is bad. This was ingrained in my beliefs by my mom since Day 1. Why would you want to live day in and day out with this looming thought and burden over your head that you owe somebody something? Romans 13 states how we are too have no debt remain outstanding. That means credit cards, car loans, mortgages, etc. Some people take this to one extreme and abide by it to the letter of the Word and never own a single credit card. Though I don't subscribe to it that closely, I admire those who do. I do have credit cards, but I make sure to pay them in full at the end of every month. Therefore, I know I have the money to pay for everything I am charging to my credit card and make sure to clear my balance to zero each month. The way I do this is by tracking my expenses with an excel spreadsheet throughout the month and keeping track of ALL my receipts. Then I can tell if and when I get near my budget limits for each money category (groceries, cell phone bill, car payment, etc). This is just one method of budgeting. You have to find what works for you, but you have to budget somehow. Without a clearly defined budget, there is no way you will stay out of debt.
  
• Buy what you need, not what you want. This is a hard one for most people to follow, even myself. We live on this planet only for a temporary period of time. This is not our home and we are called to not build up our earthly treasures, but our heavenly ones. Therefore, one should not place too much emphasis or importance on material possessions or things that we can "buy" in this world. Buy what you need to get by, but don't try to convince yourself that you really need a new pair of jeans every year. Really? Do you really? Or don't convince yourself you need to go buy the latest and greatest CD or DVD in the store. Everyone has their weakness of what they spend most of their money on. I know mine....it's food. One of the things that I love to do is go out to eat with friends. I love eating at different restaurants, trying new foods, experience different dining environments. I just love to eat out. But do I really need to eat at Chipotle four or five times this month? (Yes, I just sat down and did my September budget tracking and realize I did this) Yes, it's good. But if I want to be a good steward of the money that God has blessed me with, it would be much wiser of me to place that money into my savings, then to waste it away on something that would only sustain me for part of the day. So, think about what is your weakness and be sure to track those expenses very closely. For me, I barely buy clothes ever, so I spend very little time tracking that budget category. But when it comes to the food category, I have to watch it like a hawk or I will go over my limit without fail each month.

Well, it's late and I could rant on and on about the important of budgeting, financial tracking, and money management. But I will stop here for now, and perhaps pick it up again in a later blog. If you made it this far in reading my blog, thank you. This was a long post for sure.