Money Moment: It All Belongs to the LORD

No matter how much we each have or don’t have the principles of good, godly money management are the same.  It all begins with the same truths:

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,… (Ps. 24:1 )

‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. (Hag. 2:8)

How much better to get wisdom than gold,  to get insight rather than silver!   (Prov. 16:16)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,  and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  (Prov 9:10)

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isa. 30:21)

 Everything belongs to God.  EVERYTHING.  No exceptions.  No excuses.  He asks for our respect.  He asks for our obedience.  He knows where He wants every penny to go to work.  He expects us to ask, listen and obey.  We are merely stewards – caretakers of what is His.

When Jesus left, He gave us His Spirit.  If we ask, the Spirit will teach us to recognize His voice and lead exactly in the way the Father wants us to go – including how He wants the money He provides utilized (for our blessing and the blessing of others).

He is completly merciful and forgiving to His children as we seek to learn how to do this.  He will not condemn us for a mis-step when we ardently, authentically seek to hear from Him and follow-through on what we think we hear.  The LORD looks at the heart.

We need to seek and obey.  Then our joy will be complete.  For we will be in Him as He is in the Father and the Father is in Him.  We will have done His will. There is nothing better.

Until next time…live purposefully, live responsibly, live well.

by Elizabeth B. Fulgaro, CFP, AFC (c) 2012    www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org

Budgeted Gift-Giving

One of the hoped-for outcomes of this blog is that the word “Budget” would be seen as blessing once again instead of being misconstrued as bondage.

Good budgets simply provide an on-going reality check of where you are financially, where you are headed and what steps would be most constructive to get you there.  Good budgets consistently put choices in front of you to increase the chances you won’t find yourself financially sidelined because of what you didn’t consider.

A good budget is indeed a “spending (and savings) plan”.  In other words, you look at the income you expect to have and the expenses you expect to incur and decide what changes you need to make if any in either in order to make your finances balance out at the end of the month.

You can’t spend what you don’t have.  It simply does not work over time.

One of the most frequent “I’m-closing-my-eyes-and-just-buying-this-on-credit-without-considering-the-consequences” expenditures, is for gifts – especially Christmas gifts.  Yikes!  This is a sure budget buster for which there likely will be consequences long after the money has been spent!  It does NOT have to be this way every year.

First, it is fairly certain Jesus did not teach to borrow money to give those you love and care for gifts.  Your love and emotional support of them is the true gift everyday, just as Jesus is the only true and lasting gift to us from God.

Secondly, we are early enough in the season this year that you can still save yourself from unwarranted financial ruin!

STOP.  STOP RIGHT NOW.  MAKE A LIST.  CHECK IT TWICE.

1) Log down all the income you anticipate between now and year end.  The income of which you can be fairly sure (unless you lose a job).  Don’t count gifts of money you anticipate unless you actually have them!

2) Now log down every single expense other than Christmas gifts you expect to incur between now and the first pay-check date for next year.  ADD UP THE EXPENSES.

3) Subtract the total from your total anticipated income.  Now…..how much money do you have for gifts???  If it is as much as you hoped for – congratulations!  For most of us, there is way more we would like to do for each person who is important to us, than funds to do it. NOW whatever the amount you just defined as available for gifts THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE.  If you need a way to remind yourself you do not have more to spend, convert that amount into cash and put it into a “gift” envelope.  Now call on the Holy Spirit for the gift of self-control and decide this is the only place you may go this Christmas season in order to get funds to pay for Christmas gifts.

Controlled spending of less than you had hoped is not necessarily bad.  Perhaps God knows better how to bless the people we love than we do. Pray before you shop.  Do any ideas for gifts drop into your mind with great peace which would be affordable?  Is there something simple you could make?  Could you write a beautiful letter about how much this person means to you on paper you design and print?

Remember….if a friend is only a friend as long as you shower him or her with gifts which cost more than you can really afford, perhaps he or she is not as good a friend as you thought.  Your value should not be measured by the thickness of your wallet.  God does not even consider how much money you have when He measures your value.  You are priceless to Him!  Do not accept anyone’s devaluation of the person you are because of the size of your bank account!

BE STRICT WITH HOW YOU SPEND THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON and you will NEVER REGRET it.  Within weeks of Christmas, most people have forgotten what they received anyway.  In addition, consider how many people really need more “stuff” regardless of how wonderful it would be.

NOW, for next year…..start saving for Christmas in January.  Since you won’t be paying off this Christmas next year, you can use the money you would have used to pay credit card bills to put directly into a savings account which will provide money for next years’ gifts.

Actually, if gift giving is important to you (including not just at Christmas, but anniversaries, birthdays, Mother’s Day, weddings, etc), add it to one of the expenses you want to be able to afford monthly.  To do this, make an estimated list of everyone to whom you expect to want to give a gift each time you would want to give them a present for the next year, then decide how much you would like to be able to spend on each present.  Pick an average, like say $15 per person per event. (This is just an example.  Pick any other dollar value which works for you).   Now total up all the times you expect to spend that $15 per person in a year.  Divide the result by twelve.  The result is the monthly amount you need to save in order to always have the funds available to buy the gifts you want without having severe negative effect on your finances.  If at all possible, at a pre-determined time each month, have this amount automatically transfer to a savings account attached to your main checking account and make a mental note this is your gift money.  Now when you need a gift, the money is there to pay for it!

Obviously not all gifts cost the same.  Some will cost more and some less.  You are looking for an average expense amount to have an estimated total of how much you need to allocate towards this expense every month.

Do not be discouraged when you add up all the gifts you want to give for the year and discover the amount you would have to set aside every month is more than you can afford. This only makes you normal!  Re-adjust your thinking about how much and what type of gifts you plan to give.  Pray.  The Holy Spirit has the answer.  And remember, you are the greatest gift to all around you.  If you simply appreciate people in a way they can sense, by spending time with them, or listening to them, you have often given them the most valuable gift of all, by honoring them as individuals and affirming their intrinsic value.

Saving ahead for gift-giving – especially Christmas – saves huge financial headaches and keeps the financial running of your household from stalling or becoming unstable.

Until next time…live purposefully, live responsibly, live well.

by Elizabeth B. Fulgaro, CFP, AFC (c) 2011    www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org

Challenge =)

Here’s a challenge to look at your money in a new way.  Instead of looking at how much you can spend before you run short, consider how little you can spend….period….

How can you restructure your expenses before there is a problem to spend less not more?  How much can you save a week?  In a month?  What does that add up to for a year?

Every…..little….bit….matters….

Let’s say it again:

Every….little…bit…matters…

It all adds up!

Let’s look at an example…..if you could spend $10 less per day…

….it would mean $300 more cash flow per month

and this results in …….. $3,600 more free cash flow per year, which could be utilized anyway God leads.

You could save it.  You could invest it.  You could use it to pay down debt or do something really important to you and your family.  You could give it away to have a substantial positive effect on a cause of great importance to you.

This is one of the benefits of monitoring and controlling the little expenses.  It causes us to consider our priorities and makes sure money isn’t literally slipping through the cracks (and disappearing) on stuff which in the long-run doesn’t matter to us.  And sometimes stopping these money leaks is the key to funding the larger expenses which are our personal priorities.

So how much can you reduce your spending today?  Tomorrow?  The next day?

Start with $1 per day.  You’ll be surprised how easy it is….AND how much you like the result.

Until next time…live purposefully, live responsibly, live well.

by Elizabeth B. Fulgaro, CFP, AFC (c) 2011    www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org

Prayer Dedicating Finances Back to God

Lord God, You are Creator of all and Master of the universe.  I am not.  Everything I own You made and enabled me to have.  It is Yours. I ask Your forgiveness for every time I have been tempted to manage it as if it were mine.  I also ask forgiveness for every time I have worried about money.  You promise if I will try to follow You, there will be enough.   You promise that you will take care of all my needs perfectly.  In fact You command me not to worry.  Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me not worry about money and help me hear Your instructions for how You would like all that You have provided managed.  Though some days it can seem a little scary, I really do only want Your will because I know You promise to use all things for good.  My eyes are on You.  You help me look at my life from here to eternity instead of obsessing about life here.  Thank You, Father for Your plan. Thank You, Jesus for paying the price and opening the door to being reunited with the Father.  Thank You, Spirit for guiding and counseling me in the will of God every moment I will listen.  Lord,  again I bow.  Everything I have is Yours. Lead me in the way I should go and I will joyfully follow.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

 ¹ The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,    the world, and all who live in it;  (Psalm 24:1 NIV)

¹⁰When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for all the good land which He has given you…¹⁷And beware lest you say in your [mind and] heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.  ¹⁸But you shall [earnestly] remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.  (Deuteronomy 8:10,17-18 Amplified)

Until next time…live purposefully, live responsibly, live well.

by Elizabeth B. Fulgaro, CFP, AFC (c) 2011    www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org

No Runaway Horses!!!

To be unaware of your overall financial picture is like being on a runaway horse.  You have no control over what is happening or where you are going.  You are unable to steer in any particular direction.  Once the horse has taken control, it is difficult to get control back (though not impossible). In the moment, you just hang on and hope you don’t fall off.

With your finances it is similar to riding a horse in that usually there is a bridle with reins intended to give you control. Don’t give up the reins!

At the same time, just like in order to have the best ride on a horse, hold the reins of control over your finances neither too loosely nor too tightly.  Ultimately, your money is not yours.  It is God’s.  He created all things.  All things belong to Him and He is the only One with the plan and complete overview, therefore only He knows how He wants you to use that which He has provided.

There are hundreds of good ideas of how to put to use each dollar that you have.  You cannot accomplish every possibility and option, and most often you only have one opportunity to make a decision regarding how a dollar is allocated -whether it is spent now, saved and invested for later or donated.  For instance, once the decision is made to purchase the meal at the restaurant, there is no going back. The money has been allocated.  It is gone.

Or course, Christians know God speaks to them, He has the plan, and He promises to protect and provide exactly enough when they are seeking to follow where He leads.  The truth is, sometimes He wants you in that restaurant buying a seemingly frivolous meal in order to bring His presence to the waiter.  It’s His money.  He knows how He wants to use it.  Your job is to be like Jesus – listen for God’s direction through His Holy Spirit and do only that – nothing more and nothing less.

If you are too loose with your money, you will have not enough to support yourself or to do what God wants you to do when the time comes.  Important: rarely will He ask you to give or spend more than you have.  He Himself states, that you need to be able to support yourself, so you do not become a burden to others.   Even in Biblical times, if you gave away all your harvest, from where would the seed come to produce the next harvest to feed you and your family next year? Thus, if you are too loose with your money – even if it is a good cause – God cannot bless you.  And yet, and yet……this must be balanced by faith which manifests in obedience.  You must give and spend as He tells you and sometimes this feels like a stretch which might break you.

If you are too tight with your money, ministries fail, which He had intended to be provided for in part through you.  If you hold onto what you think will control your financial security too tightly (which is a lie, because you are not really in control, but enabled by God), you will say ‘no’ to God when He asks you to move and miss out on the blessing of serving Him where He wanted to place you.

Keep in mind, He is a supernatural, yet practical God. He created the systems we live under on earth. Though it is fully within His power, rarely will He miraculously cause money to “grow on trees”.  The majority in every generation since Adam and Eve have had to work in order to have what they needed.  Generally, God has provided through the work, not of instead of work. Consider what would have happened once God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, if they had sat around waiting for a harvest to drop from the sky, instead of working the more fertile soil daily until the harvest was produced.  They would have starved.

Does this all sound too wishy-washy and uncertain.  The answer to sound financial management is truly simple.  Our money belongs to God.  Therefore according to His Wisdom, keep a firm grip on your money until the Holy Spirit nudges you, then release exactly the amount He lays on your heart, when, where and how He tellls you.  If you don’t know how to recognize His voice yet, ask.  He will teach you.   Good ideas often lead to frustration, but God-ideas always produce results with eternal consequences.

Until next time…live purposefully, live responsibly, live well.

by Elizabeth B. Fulgaro, CFP, AFC (c) 2011    www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org

B-U-D-G-E-T Spells FREEDOM

Budget.  B-U-D-G-E-T.  Contrary to how some people think, “budget” is NOT a four-letter word, we should refrain from using.  Better said, the ”B” stands for “blessing.”  A household budget is a tool to freedom.

STOP!  Did that already tempt you to stop reading?  You are herewith challenged to continue….and face the fact that no matter how much money you have, there will always be more ways to spend it than time available.

A budget (also known as a “spending plan” for those who are budget-phobic) is your tool to financial freedom.

There is this myth that if you succumb to a budget it will control you.

Quite the contrary.  A budget puts you in control.  It allows you to assess your income and costs at a glance and make decisions regarding what is the most important to you in terms of what you need (and eventually want) your finances to accomplish.

Beginning to put a budget in place is mostly terrifying because sometimes you may not want to see what the numbers reveal.  But if you never look at your numbers, you will never be in control of your finances.  If you are never in control of your finances you will never be financially free and daily financial stress will  be your ongoing unwelcome companion (which is not so nice).

A budget (spending plan) combined with a spending log give you the information you need to make good choices to help you achieve your goals – whatever they are.

So…where to start….(you don’t have to do it all at once).  Begin by keeping track of what you spend. EVERYTHING. EVERY DAY.  NO EXCEPTIONS. Its not valid to avoid logging a particular expense with the excuse you’re only spending in this way one time or its not a regular expense.  It all counts because it is money gone – allocated – used up – that you no longer have at your disposal.

A completed budget provides an overview of your anticipated income and expenses.  You can’t anticipate what you don’t know you spend.  Therefore begin with the list.  Log it in your phone, your planner, on a pad of paper, your laptop or you iPad.  It doesn’t matter WHERE you log what you spend.  Just DO it. And do it in WRITING.

It will take a month or two or three of data to get an idea of where you money is going.  (And if your finances right now seem like a leaky dinghy and you are constantly bailing in order to stay afloat, this list is your tool to fixing the leaks.  You can’t make a choice if you don’t know what your alternatives are.)

DO NOT QUIT if you miss a day, a week or a month of logging expenses.  Simply DO NOT QUIT.  New habits take practice.  New habits do not happen automatically.  You can get on solid ground financially – in fact, you can become strong financially, so long as you DO NOT QUIT.

In future posts….more detail on the debt-busting, setting-financially-free power of the budget (and how to do it)

For now….know God is with you when you invite Him to be…..live purposefully, live responsibly, live well.

by Elizabeth B. Fulgaro, CFP, AFC (c) 2011    www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org

 

Its about the GIFT, not your gifts

Christmas is coming.  Don’t let it hijack your finances.  Christmas is about “Christ”-mas.  It was added to the calendar to annually celebrate the God’s gift of Jesus Christ to the world, which following His death and resurrection (after 33 years on earth) would open the door for whoever believed and followed straight into eternity with God.  Prior to what Jesus did for us on the cross, we had no way to conquer and get beyond physical death.  Wow!  Christmas!  Let’s celebrate!

Of course since then we’ve add that “neat-o” tradition of giving each other gifts.  It’s quite nice actually.  For many of us the giving is even better than the receiving.  We love to  make those we care about happy by blessing then with gifts!!!

But gift giving can be a financial booby-trap unless we are careful.  Remember, you are more important to the people with whom you are involved than any gift.  They should like you for you with or without a present to unwrap.

Sometimes we have the funds to shower those we care about with the gifts we want; often there are limits on what we can do.  The limits are okay!

Consider that as nice as any gift might be, there is no gift we can buy someone which will fulfill all their needs and wants.  This is because gifts are an effort to cause the recipient to feel special or loved.  Well…it is the down-deep-in-their-heart knowledge that they are loved which finally fulfills this. A gift might help, but it is not the answer.

God’s love is the ultimate answer.  When a person finally realized the invisible God is more real than the visible “me” and begins to understand the everlasting, infinite, all-forgiving nature of this love, that is when the person finally begins to find inner peace and joy and contentment.  Only God can love unconditionally.  He can work through us to accomplish the same in part if we let Him.  But none of us are God.

Don’t be mistaken, your efforts to love help!!! Dont’ stop. But the expression of your love does not have to be purchased to be given.

Begin your “holy”day planning by making a list of all those to whom you would like to give.  Now realistically look at your income as compared to your expenses.  If you haven’t been saving all year in  order to have extra to give gifts you might not have any extra with which to make the purchases.  Be honest.  What can you afford?  And DON’T include what you can put on a credit card.  That doesn’t count.  Christmas on a credit card is often paid for all next year as well!  If you do that, how will you save for next year’s gifts?

In the next week or so we will look at some easy, inexpensive alternatives to give love, express appreciation, validate those you love and not ruin yourself financially.  In the meantime may God bless you and…..

live purposefully, live responsibly, live well =)

by Elizabeth Burgard Fulgaro, CFP, AFC  (c) 2011     www.holyspiritpress.org   www.eaglesnestfoundation.org