Biblical Finances

On Sunday, Matt and I had the opportunity to speak to our Sunday school class (though they don't really call them that up here) with only being back just a couple weeks.  After much debate and consideration of our options, we decided we needed to return to the original church we were involved in.  They offer community.  Which right now we need the most.  I feel that God has confirmed that decision - and I am very grateful.

During the summer months, the class offers couples to take a stand and share during one Sunday morning.  Matt and I were enticed and quickly decided to talk on something that Matt knows well...and I have learned...finance/budgeting.  I was a little worried on how it would be perceived.  Budgeting isn't something that you get together with your friends and discuss over a cup of coffee (well, unless you are married to a finance guy, like myself) and can honestly be a touchy subject for some.  Sadly we've seen firsthand the consequences of not communicating and making a plan for your money in many people's lives.  Matt and I have our struggles, but I am blessed that they rarely involve money.  I think mostly because we are on the same page and discuss is regularly (extensively when we sit down and do our budget together each month). 

I thought I'd highlight a few of our notes from our talk.  We had a great time praying, organizing our thoughts and practicing together.  We came up with a "mock budget" that was based on our own to pass out to the class and shared Scripture and thoughts for each area.  Though I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest during the first 10 minutes while we shared our stories, but I hardly noticed any nerves during the remainder of it.

I. Money is not a popular topic when it comes to spiritual growth in the church, which can lead us to assume that they way we use our money doesn't matter.
    a.  There are over 700 references to money and 2/3 of Jesus' parables deal with money
    b.  Jesus ties our ability to handle spiritual things with our ability to handle money - Luke 16:10-13
    c.  We are merely a steward of God's possessions - Psalm 24:1, Haggai 2:8
    d.  "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will straighten out almost every other area of this life" - Billy Graham

II.  Income - the Lord will provide for all your needs - Matthew 6:31-33
    a.  Why is it so difficult to budget?  Because it requires a great deal of self-control.  You have two choices, to control your flesh or let your flesh control your financial future
    b.  A budget is a communication tool:
         1. To you to see where your money goes
         2. Between you and your spouse on how you believe your money should be spent
         3. Allows you to plan for future expenses

III. Tithe - Give the first fruits of your labor to the Lord- Proverbs 3:9
    a.   "Christians give an average of only 2.4 percent of their income" pg. 66 Your Money Map
    b. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
    c.  Give each month - start small if needed and pray that God will reveal to you what and where He desires you to give.
    d.  Make sure your attitude is right, give freely with joy - Proverbs 11:24-25, Acts 20:35
 
IV. Savings - Be diligent about saving/planning - Proverbs 21:5

    a.  Have a long term approach, emergency fund allows you to survive the bumps life throws at us.
    b.  Be on the same page with your spouse about goals - 5/10/15 years and retirement
    c.  Personal Example:  I plan on staying home with our kids, so we have always done our best to live off one salary and save the other from the beginning.  Matt and I also have to plan accordingly for retirement.  His retirement will need to support two.  We also have saved/are saving for expected expenses: baby, medical, future car (to pay cash for), etc.

V. Housing/ Car Expenses
    a.  Hebrews 13:5 - Avoid chasing the American dream. Keep an eternal perspective.
    b.  "People buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't even like" - George Fooshee
    c.  There are lots of examples of this in our society. Recent foreclosure market which is not the banks complete fault, it is the responsibility of the purchaser to know what they really can and cannot afford.
    d.  Based on our research complete housing expenses (insurance, tax, utilities, bills, etc) should not exceed 30-40% of your total income (and less if possible!).

VI. Variable expenses - Expenses that can fluctuate month to month

    a.  We believe that God allows us to enjoy the "fruit of our labor", not live in deprivation - Psalm 128:2
    b.  Determine what a need verses a want is
    c.  If you need to save, be willing to cut something (ex: live without cable for a year)
    d. When we first got married we decided it was important to each have set amount of money a month to do with what we wanted, no questions asked. That amount has fluctuated based on circumstances, but it allows freedom in a marriage within those means spend money on what you desire without arguments.

VII. Debt - there is good (mortgage and school loans) and bad debt (consumer credit)

    a.  There is a burden in owing money - Proverbs 22:7
    b.  We should strive to only owe love to others, not money - Romans 13:8
    c. "The average American card holder carries more than six credit cards, and the average household that has credit card debt owes more than $9,300 on their cards" Pg. 130 Your Money Map
    d.  There is hope if you are in debt and joy and freedom in getting out
    e.  Resources: http://www.crownmoneymap.org/, http://www.daveramsey.com,/ http://www.christianpf.com/

So there is a brief overview.  I am thankful for Matt's wisdom in money.  I am thankful to have that security and freedom in our finances.  We live frugal lives, but do not deprive ourselves of little joys (or save for big joys!).  We can spend our time and concerns on other things rather than the bank account.  I know we are blessed and I do not take it for granted.

Reading Night

I love my husband.  I love him for too many reasons to count...but one in particular is reading night.  I've always enjoyed reading (actually it's only been post college when I was no longer forced to read).  Alas, nothing is more relaxing than sitting with a good book and a cup of hot tea curled up in a soft, fluffy blanket in front of a window on a sunny afternoon (was that a run-on sentence?).  Matt however might say that nothing ends his day better than catching up on SportsCenter.  Oh the differences. 

Recently the Borders in Anchorage (1 of basically 2 bookstores in Alaska...I guess books aren't big up here) went out of business.  So, naturally, the deal-hunters we are, we went shopping.  This was all in preparation for our Maui trip, but we bought a few extras...I mean they were on sale!

Thankfully, Matt has taken a new found love of reading (while I don't mind the top 10 plays of the day every once in awhile either)...and realizes the importance of it to me.  We now have "reading night" about once a week.  Come home from work, Matt walks Mocha, I make dinner - afterwards we kick up our feet with a book.  We switch books, read new ones, grab old ones off the shelf....at this moment in time we have more than enough to suit our fancies for a bit.  

I recently just finished Fearless by Max Lucado (I mentioned here).  I highly recommend this book to anyone that lives in or experiences fear (ok, that's bascially everyone). Easy read, encouraging and filled with Truth.

I'm also working on More Than Enough by Dave Ramsey .  I'm married to a finance guy, so one can never had enough books on money managment.  One of the biggest obstacles in most people's lives, sadly.  My husband has taught me a great deal about living financially wise. I am blessed that he is so gifted in this area. Thankfully it hasn't been a big battle for us since I've always been pretty frugal myself.  But I do have a new found joy in spreadsheets and budgets.

AND my recent find, Radical by David Platt.  It's about not adjusting the Gospel to fit the American dream.  I'm not that far into it, but cannot wait to dive into it more.  Good thing it takes 12+ hours on an airplane to fly back south. I might get both of these puppies finished, plus a slew of others...

I'm always looking for a good book. So I'm always up for suggestions.  Here are a few of mine. :)

Price Matching

As I have previously posted, I am doing all that I can to save a few dollars - as we are on a slightly tighter budget these days with one income. For example, this frigid cold winter brought temperatures both inside and out down rather low for a few weeks. SO, Matt and I decided to invest in a space heater since I'll be home and we'd rather not run the heat all day. Other than having to carry it from room to room with me, it worked out rather nicely...like a portable fireplace. :)

As we decipher where else we can save money, I decided that my next project was to be on groceries. Usually I spend about $60 on groceries a week (we don't eat out except occasionally on the weekends) and my goal is to get it down to at least $50. Last week I shopped at HEB and through in-store coupons I save over $10...darn close to my $50 range. I was pretty excited especially since HEB puts the amount you save in big bold numbers at the bottom (this got posted on the fridge - I know I'm a nerd, but celebrate the little victories). Then I heard about the price matching that Walmart offers...now this seemed like an easy task at first but thankfully it only cost me what I have to spare at the moment...time! First Matt and I went and bought a Sunday paper yesterday and clipped all the coupons that we might use now or in the near future. I also had saved all the grocery ads from that week that we got in the mail. I made my weekly grocery list and marked next to each item the place and price it was on sale or if I had a coupon for it. That was the easy part...

Today at Walmart, I walked up and down the aisles with my ads, coupons and list in hand trying to figure out if it is cheaper to purchase the item on sale at Walmart, the generic brand, or the item I have price matched...I'm sure I looked ridiculous as I stopped at the end of each aisle double checking all my resources. Over an hour later I get in line to check out. I put all the items I needed to price match at the end and one by one I pulled out the ad (sometimes I forgot which ad and had to search through the 5 that I brought. oops, lesson learned!) and the nice cashier changed the price for me. I think my best deal was on bagged salad that was $3.78 that I got for $2 for being on sale at Kroger. It all worked out wonderfully except for:

1)the toilet paper that I got the wrong kind ($4.99 for a $12 package did seem too good to be true!)
2)the poor lady behind me that was unaware until too late how long it'd take me and
3)my unnecessary trip to HEB to buy their brand chicken for $1 a pound only to find out that split chicken breasts have bones (who knew?) :( so I had to trek back to Walmart to buy their chicken (again, lesson learned).

But today I saved $9.78 by price matching and was just slightly over my $50 mark. Not too shabby for my first time and buying $10 worth of chicken that will last us a few weeks. I plan on getting this down to an art and it not taking nearly so long!

It's so wonderful to feel productive...