Stewardship

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A Personal Budget - Everyone Needs One

Do you have too much month at the end of the money?

Are you saving money on a monthly basis?

Are you being a good steward of the finances that God gives you?

These are just a few of the questions a family needs to answer concerning their finances. The best place to start your financial plan is to know what you are spending and where.

Most people spend there entire life just getting by financially. It does not have to be that way. With small consistent changes in your thoughts and habits you can make an enormous difference in your family’s financial bottom line.

Before you can put a plan in place you need to have a starting point. A family budget is a great place to start.

When starting a budget you need to determine what your income is and what your expenses are. Finding what your income is and expenses is not a difficult task.

Finding the frivolous spending is a little trickier. One way to do this is to do a soda factor list. Write down every penny you spend and what you spent it on over 7-14 days. You will more than likely begin to a see a pattern. It is these seemingly innocent patterns that can be the culprit for lost dollars. An example would be buying your lunch out each day at work. A typical lunch might be $7.00 if you times that by 5, you are spending $35.00 a week. If you look at that over a month you have spent $140.00 just on lunch. By taking a sack lunch you could save yourself $140.00 per month. Many times we opt for convenience to the detriment of our finances.

The money you find from doing a soda factor is money that you can put towards saving for an emergency, and saving for retirement.

A good goal for budgeting is work your budget until you are able to commit 10% of your income to tithing, 10-20% to your personal savings and the rest divided among your expenses.

Tithing and paying yourself first should become a non-negotiable in your budgeting program. It can be done if you change your thinking and your behavior.

By setting down a budget and sticking with it you are in control instead of your finances controlling you. Finances can be less stressful if you will take the necessary steps to control your spending.

Proverbs 3:9,10 Honor the Lord from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

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