The following article is a guest post by David of Your Finances 101. David is a new commenter here on Bible Money Matters and has just published his first book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life which is available at Amazon.

For those of us who have yet to at least adopt some measure of “frugal living” into our current lifestyle, I’d say it’s high time to get going. However, if you’re already at least doing something to improve your personal economy, hats off to you! No matter what steps you’re currently taking, you are at least on the right track.

But something that I have encountered a few times over the past several years has been “the screw up.” The financial “slip up”. It could be a lot of things. Say your son threw away one of your credit card statements, it simply slipped your mind and you forgot to pay it, costing you a good chunk of change in finance charges (true story). Or say you were trying to get too cute with moving your finances around, and didn’t leave enough in your checking account, resulting in $89 in overdraft fees (another true story).

These things do happen and happen to the best of us. The question is: What do We Do About it?

What To Do About Financial Slip-Ups

As a self-proclaimed expert in this area, I have come up with a list of do’s and don’ts for these situations that may keep you from going insane should you ever encounter one of these “mistakes”.

First, see if you can undo the mistake.

Believe it or not, sometimes you can weasel your way out of some of these mistakes. Regarding the overdraft fees I mentioned above, after I realized what happened, I went into my bank and spoke with the bank manger. I explained to him I had been a customer there for 7 years, never had an issue before, explained to him why it happened, etc. He refunded me 50% of the overdraft fees.

Second, do not, I repeat, do not beat yourself up.

After you get over the initial self-loathing, you just cannot continue to beat yourself up about it. What’s done is done and you can’t undo it. Putting yourself through this mental anguish is not productive at all. Give yourself a good scolding as a deterrent, but stay away from beating yourself up. It serves no purpose.

Third, identify why it happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Now this is something that sometimes can get lost. My son used to get into our “bills” drawer and one month he threw away the water bill. Well, I forgot to pay it, but with our water company, there are no late fees, so I just had to pay two months at once. However, I didn’t do anything to change the situation. It wasn’t until he threw away a credit card statement that I failed to pay which cost me close to $100 did I actually move the bills to a higher shelf in the house, and also implemented a checklist each month to make sure everything gets paid.

Fourth, forget about it.

If you do make mistake, you need to try to undo it if you can, you need to do something to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and once all is said and done, you have to forget about it. You have to let go. I guess this is similar to the beating up part, but also, you can’t dwell on it. Again, it does you no good. Just get back on track with all of the other good savings things going on in your life, and don’t let that mistake get you down.

Finally, move on.

Yes, in closing, you need to move on. If you’ve turned your financial life around anywhere near to the extent that I have, you have so many other celebrations to think about rather than some little mistake you made that cost you a certain sum of money. Rather, think about all your successes, get back to doing what you know best (saving and spending wisely) and soon, it will seem as though your little “fall from grace” never even happened.

Have you recently had a financial slip up?  How did you handle the situation, and are there things you could have done better? Tell us about it in the comments!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


The Financial “Slip Up” And What To Do When It Happens

Financial accounts are a modern day necessity.  Most people have an account at a bank, if not multiple banks.  At that bank they are likely to have a checking account, savings account, and even a CD.  In addition, it is quite common for people to have multiple active credit card and debit card accounts.  Unfortunately, each of these accounts adds a layer of complexity. One of my current financial goals is to simplify my finances – hence the need for a simple budget and fewer financial accounts.  In this quest to simplify finances I have found that there are many reasons why multiple accounts are a bad idea.

Why Are Multiple Accounts A Bad Idea?

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


How Many Financial Accounts Should You Have?

Jason Price is a volunteer financial coach and personal finance blogger at One Money Design. He helps people manage money wisely for everyday life using practical ideas and Biblical financial principles. If you want to get his free money management tips and put your personal finances in order, follow him by Email,  Twitter, Facebook, or RSS.

Cash flow management, managing what’s coming in and what’s going out, is critical to maintaining control of your spending and staying in financial balance. Some people manage it to extreme detail and others manage it up to the high level. Either way, its cash flow management and it’s our jobs as wise money managers to exercise it often.

Reflecting back on what I’ve seen work well; I thought I’d share some cash flow management tips that can make all the difference in the world to living within your means and making progress, month by month, towards your financial goals.

• It’s a daily exercise. Performing good cash flow management and staying in financial shape requires a daily exercise routine. Not matter how you track money going out, coming in and balancing each expense with your checking account, you need to find time to do it daily. The daily exercise just takes a few minutes to review receipts and either writing the amounts in your tracking form, or inputting into your personal finance software. If you’re tracking manually you can capture your expenses at the point of sale.
• You need to know where you’re at today. At any point in time, you should no how much money is in your account and be able to quickly determine how much money is left for each spending category. How do you have this information at your finger tips? If you track manually, you can keep the balances in a pocket book. If online, you can view category balances through mobile interfaces (or on via the web) available with most major applications. Either way, you can quickly determine how much money is left in the grocery category.
• Determine what works best for you. There are a lot of cash flow management tools. I’ve had experience using software and paper tracking forms. Software can save time, but there is something about tracking money by writing it down that allows you intimacy with your financial situation. I once had someone tell me they felt like they were on a Weight Watchers diet when writing down expenses manually. The more they had to write down their expenses the less they wanted to spend. The point is to find what works best for you and implement the tool into your routine.
• You can’t guess your way through it. Don’t try to keep track of your spending decisions or actual expenses in your head. I don’t know anyone that can successfully do this for their entire budget. Don’t try. You’ll eventually make a mistake or never really be able to determine where your money is going each month. Trying to manage in your head or via the summary balance in online banking won’t give you the measuring stick needed against a monthly spending plan.
• It’s typically an eye opening experience. If you’re convinced you need to track your spending, you can save money. It’s easy to go back at the end of the month and add up all the times you went out to eat or determine how much you’ve spent on cable TV in the last year. Having this information will enlighten you to your spending habits. And some of your spending habits may frighten you once you can go back and look at them. Cash flow management provides a great opportunity to curtail careless spending and keep discretionary spending under control.
• It’s a routine thing. If you’ve ever gotten into the habit of a regular exercise routine you’ll appreciate where I’m coming from with this one. Once you’re in a regular routine and miss a day or two, you feel empty. You feel like you’ve lost something that you have to gain back by getting into the gym again. When you manage your money, it’s the same feeling. Eventually, it will become natural and if you skip a day of managing your expenses or don’t plan your spending for the next month, you’ll feel like you’re getting out of financial shape.
• It requires commitment. I think it’s too easy to say “I need to start tracking my money or managing spending better”, but too many times people talk about it and don’t do anything about it. You have to be about it! There is a reason why people who commit to managing their money avoid debt. As a money coach, I’ve never worked with anyone who was diligent and committed to their finances and kept spending carelessly. The two just don’t go together. If we’re committed to managing our money, we are also typically committed to spending wisely and using a spending plan.
• Closing Thought – It’s not easy, but everyone can do it. As with most things in life that have big reward and pay off, it’s not easy. We can all add and subtract. That’s easy and the fundamental skill required. However, what’s not easy sometimes is going a little bit outside the norm.

I’m willing to bet the majority of the population doesn’t read 15 minutes a day. I don’t have any solid facts; it’s just a theory. If you’ll roll with my theory I think you would find reading 15 minutes a day would put you well in advance of the average in terms of information and knowledge you posses.

And so goes the same, in my opinion, with cash flow management. Why not do an out of the norm thing and practice just 15 minutes of managing your money each day? My theory, if you choose to believe it, will bring your finances in order, balance, and onto the path of debt free day.

What’ the best way you’ve found to manage what’s coming in and what’s going out?

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


What You Need to Know About Cash Flow Management

This is a guest post from Brad over at EnemyOfDebt.com. Read some more of his great posts at his site, or subscribe to his RSS feed.

It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.-Philippians 2:13

I once was an angry atheist—who surrounded myself with negative people that believed the same sort of things I did—pro-evolution, no god, no purpose, you just live and die, end of story. I would like to add that I wasn’t quite as angry towards Christians themselves, just what they believed. To be honest, I was lost and was missing something huge but I just didn’t know what that something was. Little did I know.

In 2002, I met my wife and we became really good friends. She was a Christian, and even though our views were so different, she saw something in me that I did not. I started working with her dad remodeling houses and it wasn’t long before we started talking about religion. I had accumulated a vast list of misconceptions about Christianity over the years that fed into my broken worldview. He probed as delicately and as patiently as he could until I finally started to open up, and we talked about them. His role was much more difficult than mine, as he had to set aside personal issues—after all I was by this time dating his daughter. One of my favorite parts to this story is that he accepted me anyway—a misconception that I had developed about Christians was immediately debunked at that moment, which left me confused.

So I was no longer antagonistic towards Christians, although I still didn’t buy into the whole Christian faith. Our conversations, while polite and positive in nature, led me to want to look into this a little closer. The only thing was that I decided to look into it with my sole purpose being to prove Christianity wrong. I started with the evolution and creation debate and I started to slowly realize I could be wrong. At the time that was a very life shattering realization, but it seemed as though it required more faith to believe in evolution and no god than it did to believe in Jesus Christ and Christianity. I pressed on.

I then became interested in philosophy to a point where I would read books by C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity, The Seeing Eye) and Ravi Zacharias (Among Other Gods, Cries of the Heart). These two people turned my world upside down, at least enough to encourage me to want to learn more. It was then that I found a book by Lee Strobel called The Case For Christ, that hit me like a ton of bricks. First of all this guy seemed a lot like me. He didn’t believe, was convinced evolution was fact, and had the same negative reactions to Christianity that I did. He actually decided to use his background in journalism to disprove Christianity. I must mention that it was his wife becoming a Christian in secret that led him down this path to prove to her—she was following a fairy tale.

I started to read that book and I was pulled right in. I read the book faster than any other book ever in my life. That book led me to The Case For A Creator, and The Case For Faith, and it was then at that point that I realized—I believed in God. This was a very emotional experience unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was as if God reached down and touched my heart like no one else could. The change was instantaneous, but you could say that I had been a work in progress. It was at that powerful moment that I believed that Jesus Christ had died for my sins. I called my father-in-law immediately.

In 2004 I joined my church and finally considered myself to be a Christian. What a huge shift in beliefs I had experienced. WOW! I could have never predicted it in a million years but am glad to this day that I decided to look into it for myself. I was baptized on December 10th of 2006 with my son, which was an emotional day for me as well. Just like Lee Strobel, my desire to disprove God led me to Him. How ironic.

Today I am very blessed with a beautiful wife, 2 kids, with another on the way. I have recently become debt free, by paying off 26,076.75 in 20 months. God has changed my life and given me purpose, which is to help others also become debt free. After all a debt free kingdom is a more charitable and giving kingdom. I am so passionate about this, and the truth be told, this passion really came out of nowhere. It was non-existent, and then all of a sudden it was bigger than words. My desire to help others manage their finances led me to introducing and leading Financial Peace University at my church, as well as starting my blog, Enemy of Debt. I am currently working to become a certified financial counselor as my vocation. Before I believed in God, it seemed as though I was always more concerned with myself. Now my life’s purpose is to serve Him by serving others. I have recently become a part of a new website called The Self Reliance Exchange where I hope to expand upon my ability to help others live debt free by helping them take responsibility for their finances, as well as their lives.

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


How God Worked In The Life Of One Debt Free Blogger: A Testimonial

One of the common criticisms of saving money is that some folks think that saving for tomorrow completely defeats the purpose of money.  These are the ones with a live for today philosophy.  The live for today philosophy claims, you could save your money for tomorrow and then have a heart attack and die.  What a waste!  Use your money for whatever your heart desires. Proponents of this approach to personal finances claim money is to be spent, to be enjoyed today.  Nevertheless, the reality is that saving for tomorrow actually improves the quality of life today.

Financial Security Offers Peace of Mind, Today

Finances typically are subject to the laws of cause and effect. Your actions today will directly impact the results tomorrow.  The problem with most of us is that we are so TODAY focused we are not even willing to consider tomorrow.  Remember the story of Esau and Isaac (Genesis 25:19-34)?  Esau had a wonderful right as the firstborn – the birthright.  Unfortunately, he was unable to see the value in what he had.  In a moment of temporary hunger he gave away his future assets.

I wonder how many of us are like Esau?  Making decisions today that are crippling our future. We borrow without considering what it will cost tomorrow.  Esau recognized his mistake.  He sought to have his future returned.  He desired to go back to yesterday.  But, regardless of how many tears he shed he had set his fate.

See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. (Hebrews 12:16-17 NIV)

Not only does disregarding future implications of our actions cripple the future; it also makes life today much harder.

Five Ways Saving For the Future Improves the Quality of Life Today

1. When small emergencies arrive it is not a source of worry or frustration. If the transmission were to go out on the truck you could simply pay the bill and move on.  If one of the kids had an accident and you were able to just pay the medical bill, how nice would that be today?
2. When the phone rings you don’t need to cringe.
   There is no fear that someone on the line is going to be calling about an unpaid debt.  Your nights are spent sleeping instead of worrying.  You and your spouse can actually talk to each other because the issue is no longer so tense.
3. You have money on hand for special activities.
   When your children want to be involved in extra curricular activities you don’t need to struggle with the question – where am I going to get the money to pay for that? You know that if Jack does want to play soccer there is money in the bank.
4. When you open the mail you don’t need to hold your breath.
   I enjoy checking the mail.  Perhaps there will be a card from a friend.  Many people who live for today dread checking the mail because all it has is bills, bills, bills.  What if mail call could be a highlight of your day instead of a nightmare?
5. When you feel like you’re splurging you can actually enjoy it.
   How often do you ‘live it up’ today and, just like Esau, wake up and regret the whole thing.  When you have money saved, your special night out with your wife doesn’t add extra financial worry.  When you go on vacation there is not the depression period waiting for all the bills.  Fun is fun.

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


How Saving for Tomorrow Improves the Quality of Life Today

My wife and I are currently in the middle of planning a week long vacation to the east coast.  We’re doing a driving tour of New England, starting in Niagara Falls, New York, and making our way towards Bar Harbor, Maine.  As we’ve been planning this trip, I’ve never been more aware of the fact that sometimes managing money is both an analytical and a psychological pursuit.    I’ve come to realize more and more that while you can plan for something – budget for it, save up your money, find great deals and be frugal about your expenses – that managing money and making spending decisions also has an emotional and psychological component to it.  If you’re not careful, one or the other component can take over – and make your decisions become the wrong decisions.

Managing Your Money Analytically

In our family I tend to be the one that likes to look at our finances from a strictly analytical viewpoint.  I like setting up a budget, setting spending and savings goals, and then working towards those goals without thinking about the emotions behind them.  I don’t like to think about emotions having a role in the family’s financial decisions, I just want to make decisions based on what is mathematically the best.  What route will mean that we have the most money in retirement?  Which car will give us the best gas mileage at the lowest price?  Or in the case of our vacation, what decisions will mean that our trip costs the least amount of money?

Managing Your Money Emotionally

My wife on the other hand tends to think more about our money decisions in the context of relationship, and how they will affect us emotionally and relationally.   She thinks about the experiences we can have while on vacation, and how it will draw us closer together.  She thinks about the fun we can have doing those activities, regardless of how much they might cost.  She values things to the degree that they are valuable for growing our relationship, and how much they contribute to our emotional well being.

Finding A Balance Between The Two Extremes

I think my wife and I look at money from different viewpoints, and often times those two viewpoints can come into conflict.  I simply want to find the best deal, make analytical decisions and build our bank account.  She on the other hand wants to do things that are fun, grow our relationship and give us common experiences that we can share together.   Both of us can get a bit two focused on our own viewpoint, and not realize that both of our viewpoints are valid, and are necessary in order to have a strong marriage and strong finances.  We both bring things to the marriage that are important and without those things our marriage wouldn’t be complete.  It brings to mind this verse:

Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” Matthew 19:4-6

The two become one flesh, and through their  union they become one complete whole – through Christ.    To me this verse also illustrates how God brings us together and how we designs us to complement each other.  While I may be more analytical about our finances, my wife balances me out and reminds me that sometimes you have to focus on more than just dollar signs.  Sometimes building the relationship is just as important.  My wife likes to focus on the emotional side of money, and building the relationship – but I’m here to remind her that sometimes we need to be careful about how much we spend.

All of us need to be careful about where we find ourselves in life, and we need to make sure that we’re not getting too far to one extreme or the other.  We need to watch what we’re spending, but we also need to take time to enjoy life – and each other.   The key to being successful both in life and in your finances is to find a balance between the two, where you realize the importance of making sound financial decisions, while also being able to sometimes let loose, enjoy each other and just have a good time.

Find a balance between making analytical decisions, and allowing your emotions to play a role, and you’ll be on your way to success.

What do you think about the balance between analytical decision making and allowing your emotions to play a role as well?  Do you swing towards one end of the spectrum or the other?   Do you have someone that helps to balance you out?  If not, do you think you should? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Managing Your Money Is An Exercise In Both Mathematics And Psychology

Few things are more discouraging than working really hard to accomplish a goal, but feeling absolutely no progress.  There is no better way to say it than the overused cliché ‘you are ‘spinning your tires’.  Thus enters the power of focus.

Financially, many of us are no more focused than the average horse.  The horse looks all over the place, wanders here and there, and walks wherever he pleases.  Hence the need for blinders.  Blinders force the horse to focus only on the object directly in front of the animal.

Many of our finances are simply a collection of good ideas and good advice.  We are so lightly invested in so many different things that ultimately we are failing at all of them.

We might have a little life insurance because someone said we should.  The kids are getting some money for an allowance because that is supposed to teach them financial responsibility.  The pastor said you should be giving, so you do.  Retirement is important so you allocate some dollars into a Roth IRA and then a few into a 401K because you never completely could decide which was better.  You give nice gifts because that is what a good human should do.  You make your minimum payments on your credit cards.  Write a check for your house.  And well, by the middle of the month, you have a little of a lot of good things that, as a result, are just a little of nothing.

Focus is the solution.

Choose only one financial task and invest all your resources into that task. For example, if you are in debt make sure you are minimally covered on essentials and drop everything else.  Like a military commander, you are going to call some troops away from a job over there and reassign them over here.  Reassign every extra dollar towards debt repayment. This means to drop your retirement savings for a time while you focus on becoming debt free.  Moreover, choose one debt (i.e. one credit card) that will receive all of your focus.

Why does focus make a powerful difference in our finances?

1. Focus leads to results.
2. Results lead to motivation.
3. Motivation leads to more focus.

Once you have discovered and learned how to leverage the power of focus the effects are far reaching.

Six questions to help you decide where you should focus your time and energy:

1. What is the most emotionally burdensome thing to you? Are you up late at night because a specific credit card company keeps calling?  Start with whatever would make you feel most liberated.
2. What item carries the most cost? You might have a high interest credit card and it really bothers you paying so much in fees.  Make that your priority.
3. What is the most immediate need? Do you really feel like you need a little cash for breathing room?  Do you have a vehicle about to be repossessed?  Focus on the time sensitive tasks.
4. What do ‘experts’ advise? You could be struggling to know where to start. Just get on the Dave Ramsey Baby Step plan and Ramsey will lay out the seven steps for you.  Just find out where you are and start.
5. What are those around you saying? Friends might be mentioning that you really need to get your car or credit cards paid off.  They might be concerned that you are not saving for retirement.  While their advice is not definitive, if enough people comment on the same factor it might just be worth your consideration.
6. What frees up the most money? If you have a truck payment that is completely out of line, focus there (focus might be focus on selling the car) because once that problem is resolved you will have ample resources to attack all the smaller issues.

While these factors might lead you to think a couple of places are a good place to start, resist the urge to do more than one thing at once.  Focus only on one item and you will see the most results.

Why do you think financial focus is hard for many of us?  How do you decide where you should focus your energy?

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


The Importance of Financial Focus And How It Leads To Results

Recently, I have been noticing an interesting relationship between what is necessary for physical fitness and for financial fitness.  This is not to say that everyone who is physically fit is also financially fit, but those who have overcome weight struggles have the proven skills necessary to manage their finances.  Also, those who manage their finances well have the qualities necessary for physical fitness.  Do you struggle with both fitness and finances?  Here is the good news - you only need to learn one set of skills that will apply to both disciplines.

Here are the qualities necessary for both physical fitness and financial fitness

1.  Motivation

I have a friend who will be on an upcoming season of The Biggest Loser.  He wrote on his Facebook wall,“the mental part of this is the hardest and your words are helping so much.”

The mental part?  I thought weight loss was about diet and exercise.  But, there is a mental battle necessary to motivate yourself into action.  Most people who are overweight know they should lose weight.  Most people in financial debt know they should get out of debt.  The problem often is the motivation is missing.  Something will eventually spark that passion.  The motivation might come in response to some external factor like a warning message from a doctor or a letter from a debt collector.  The motivation might also come from an internal factor where you finally get sick and tired of wishing and you are finally ready to act.

If you want to get out of debt or to improve your financial situation, you will need motivation.  If you want to lose weight or to get in better physical shape, you will need motivation.

Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. (Proverbs 6:5 NIV)

2.  Self-discipline

Self discipline is the ability to do what you know is right.

A person who is financially fit will avoid expenditures that will damage their overall financial situation.  They have an overall sense of their financial direction and they stop spending in areas they know are a burden on their budget.  They forgo wasteful activities and purchases by avoiding them completely or by finding frugal alternatives that fit within their income.

A person who is physically fit will avoid foods that damage their fitness plan.  They have a sense of what eating habits are destructive to their fitness plan.  This might be the time during a day when you eat more than you should, or it might be the type of food that contains little nutritious value.  Those who are self-disciplined have identified those problem areas and avoid them completely or establish a plan for consuming appropriate proportions.

If you want to get out of debt or to improve your financial situation you will need self-discipline.  If you want to lose weight or to get in better physical shape you will need self-discipline.

You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 NIV)

3.  The Ability to Say ‘No’

We are full of cravings.  Those cravings could be for physical “stuff”.  Those cravings could be for food.  A person who is fit in both senses has to learn how to say ‘no’ to those cravings. One who lacks the ability to say ‘no’ purchases whatever they want – regardless of the financial cost.  One who lacks the ability say ‘no’ eats whatever they want – regardless of the nutritional value.

For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:16 NIV)

4.  The Ability to Prioritize

Related to the ability to say ‘no’ is the ability to say ‘yes’.  This is commonly called prioritizing.  People who experience financial peace have determined what spending takes priority.  This way they do not spend money they do not have.  Their lives are not just about sacrifice, but they are defined by the ability to yes to the right spending choices (typically as determined by a budget or spending plan).

People who are physically fit also have the ability to say ‘yes’ to the right activities.  They prioritize in both their eating and exercising.  This priority may be seen in passing over a certain food in order to eat something else at a later point.  Rather than sleeping in, they place a priority on exercise.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33 NIV)

5.  Allocate Time and Energy

People often get into trouble when they start believing a problem can be solved without any effort or sacrifice.  Those looking to get rich quick often find themselves defrauded.  Those wanting to lose weight without diet or exercise find that they have spent a lot of money on different programs that simply do not work.

The truth is that both financial and physical fitness require time and energy.  Financially, you will need to spend time budgeting, reading, calling, and filling out paper work.  Physically, you will need to spend time exercising and learning about fitness.

If you are not willing to dedicate any time or energy to physical fitness, your plan will fail.  If you are not willing to dedicate any time or energy to financial fitness, your plan will fail.

If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks. (Ecclesiastes 10:18 NIV)

Why not apply these principles to help improve your physical fitness, financial fitness, or both?

In what other ways are physical fitness and financial fitness similar?  How do you motivate yourself?

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Five Qualities Necessary For Both Financial Fitness and Physical Fitness

In his book, The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley explains how his research has found that individuals who have attained a high net worth have quite a few things in common.  In particular, they were found to have these 7 basic attributes in common.  According to Stanley, if you can emulate them, you too can become wealthy.

7 Attributes Of High Net Worth Individuals

1. They live well below their means: They may make a large income, but they don’t live like it. They are, as Stanley says, “Frugal, Frugal, Frugal”.  They live in an older house, drive an older car and don’t spend a lot of money on life’s luxuries (often because they don’t enjoy them).   At an interview they did of millionaires, one deca-millionaire when asked if he would like an expensive glass of wine responded that he drinks only two things, scotch and two kinds of beer – Bud and Free.   For those wealthy that were married, they almost always found that the spouses were also frugal.  If one spouse is a hyper-consumer, it is extremely difficult to end up with a high net worth.
2. They allocate their time, money and energy efficiently in ways conducive to building wealth:  Wealth accumulators spend more of their time in doing things that are conducive to creating wealth – budgeting, planning and setting goals for their future.  They work hard towards their goals, and are more likely to be spending time planning their goals.  Those who are high income earners but that do not have a high net worth do not spend as much time in these activities.  In fact they found that PAWs (prodigious accumulators of wealth) spent almost twice as much time every month in planning their investments as did UAWs (underachieving accumulators of wealth).
3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status:  They don’t care about living in the right neighborhood, having a big house, driving the newest cars or shopping at the trendiest stores.  These high net worth individuals care more about providing for their own financial independence and work towards that goal.
4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care:  The parents of these high net worth individuals did not subsidize their lifestyle, or give them a bunch of money. They made their own way, working hard and succeeding on their own terms.  Children who receive economic outpatient care (EOC) often are stripped of their motivation to work hard and achieve, and as a result often do not become PAWs.
5. Their adult children are economically self sufficient:  The children of high net worth individuals have been taught how to live a frugal lifestyle, how to accumulate wealth, and often have been taught how to succeed on their own without help from their parents. Because they don’t receive EOC, and in general are self-sufficient,  it allows their parents to accumulate more and be better off later on.
6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities:  The high net worth are good at seeing opportunities and taking advantage of them.  They aren’t immune to the fear of failing that all of us have at times, but they overcome their fear and act upon good opportunities when they see them.
7. They chose the right occupation:  Those who have a high net worth almost always are doing something that they enjoy – and they work hard at their chosen career.  Just because you’re not an entrepreneur or a business owner doesn’t mean you can’t be wealthy. You just have to choose a career that will provide a reasonably decent income, and live in a way that is conducive to building wealth.  Find a career that you enjoy, work hard at it, and live frugally – and you can build a large net worth.

These 7 attributes of high net worth individuals really expose the framework for living a life based on sound financial principles.  The attributes prove that it is possible to live well  on much less than you make, and have plenty left over to save, invest and give.   It can even be done by individuals who don’t make a lot of money, as long as they are disciplined.

The attributes speak to the power of educating yourself and your children about money, and practicing sound money management through the use of budgets and financial plans.   They show that displaying high social status often means that you won’t be financially secure.  (That’s funny in a way, isn’t it?).  The attributes  show how money is a tool to be used, and should not be an end in itself.  Those who understand that are often happier, and in the long run, wealthier.

What do you think of these 7 attributes of high net worth individuals?  Do you find that they make sense to you, and are you practicing the things that they reveal? Are there areas where your values aren’t lining up with those of these high net worth individuals?  Let us know what you think in the comments!

• Get the book!:  The Millionaire Next Door
• Find Dr. Thomas J. Stanley on the web at www.thomasjstanley.com and follow the author on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thomasjstanley

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


7 Attributes Of High Net Worth Individuals

This article is provided by Jason Price at One Money Design. Jason is a Money Map Coach and has a personal finance blog that is all about managing money wisely for everyday living. He believes there is financial hope for people. He has a passion to see people prosper, become debt free, and experience financial freedom.

No matter the stage of life you’re in today, you’ve probably said to yourself,

“If only I would have known about (fill in the blank) 10 years ago my life would be different today.”

I think we’ve all said or thought that at one time or another. For many of us it’s about money and the decisions we’ve made managing it. In today’s economy we might often hear people say,

“if only I would have known to build emergency savings as a top priority when I finished school, I might not be accumulating so much debt today because of my job loss”.

Sure, sometimes it’s not about money. Sometimes, we talk about family and relationships and the lack of time spent with them, wishing things could be different today.

I heard a pastor once speak about his visits to a local hospital to encourage people with terminal illnesses. It’s interesting to know that no one he spoke or prayed with talked about their career accomplishments, cars, or other possessions in their final days. Instead, he said they always talk about their faith in God, family and relationships as the most important areas in their lives.

Most Christians would agree that faith in God and our relationship with Him is the top priority in life. Putting God first positions us to have a blessed marriage and other relationships because they are based on His solid foundation.

And so by putting God first, we can better understand the importance of living our lives from a Heaven backwards perspective (sometimes referred to as living with an eternal perspective). Of course it’s not easy to consistently live with this perspective on life, but it’s what we have to strive for as Christians to keep our priorities straight.

Living From A Heaven Backwards Perspective

Imagine if all of the sudden peoples’ decisions with money management were from a Heaven backwards perspective. People would certainly make different choices with how they make, spend, save and give it. They could begin to see money as a delicate blessing which we are all to manage wisely for prosperity as well as for the good of others.

Managing money from heaven backwards requires doing a few things that might cause some to raise a brow or advise against, but essential to live from this perspective.

Consider the below Manage Money from Heaven backwards Checklist to see what perspective you’re using to manage your money:

• Do you recognize God as the owner of all things and you are the manager of what has been entrusted to your care?
• Do you spend wisely by having a spending plan every month?
• Do you strive to live debt free? This includes spending money based on what one can afford (according to your plan) versus the amount of credit which may be available.
• Do you give of your first fruits by tithing? Ultimately, it’s God’s money and through this action, you are trusting in God with your financial prosperity, i.e., there is no more a reason to “get rich” because God is in control.
• Do you give back to others by sharing success stories and helping people know what it means to manage money from Heaven backwards?

If you can only say yes to 3 you may need to consider seeking counsel from other Christians or a financial counselor to identify specific action steps for your situation.

Many may define financial freedom as becoming debt free or getting into a position to where there is no more dependence on income from a job. However, the act of managing money from Heaven backwards is financial freedom.

What are some other ways we can manage money from Heaven backwards? Consider providing your input to add to this checklist. Leave us a note in the comments!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Manage Money By Living From Heaven Backwards