As stewards, we ultimately answer only to our master. It does not matter what the world or even what other Christians think of our stewardship. Our goal should be to be welcomed into the joy of our master as a good and faithful servant. To hear the words “Well done”. Not “well thought” or “well believed” but “well done”. Every decision that we make should be based on its effect on this one final result.

C.S. Lewis says this brilliantly in his essay “The Worlds Last Night”

We have all encountered judgments or verdicts on ourselves in this life. Every now and then we discover what our fellow creatures really think of us. I don’t of course mean what they tell us to our faces: that we usually have to discount. I am thinking of what we sometimes overhear by accident or of the opinions about us which our neighbors or employees or subordinates unknowingly reveal in their actions: and of the terrible, or lovely, judgments artlessly betrayed by children or even animals. Such discoveries can be the bitterest or sweetest experiences we have. But of course both the bitter and the sweet are limited by our doubt as to the wisdom of those who judge. We always hope that those who so clearly think us cowards or bullies are ignorant and malicious: we always fear that those who trust us or admire us are misled by partiality. I suppose the experience of the Final Judgment (which may break in upon us and any moment) will be like these little experiences, but magnified to the Nth.

For it will be infallible judgment. If it is favorable we shall  have no fear, if unfavorable, no hope, that it is wrong. We shall not only believe, we shall know, know beyond doubt in every fibre of our appalled or delighted being, that as the Judge has said, so we are: neither more nor less nor other. We shall perhaps even realize that in some dim fashion we could have known it all along. We shall know and all creation will know too: our ancestors, our parents, our wives or husbands, our children. The unanswerable and (by then) self-evident truth about each will be known to all…

We can perhaps, train ourselves to ask more and more often how the thing which we are saying or doing (or failing to do) at each  moment will look whan the irresistible light streams in upon it’ that light which is so different from the light of this world- and yet, even now we know just enough of it to take it into account. Women sometimes have the problem of trying to judge by artificial light how a dress will look by daylight. That is very like the problem of all of us: to dress our souls not for the electric lights of the presents world but for the daylight of the next. The good dress is the one that will face that light. For that light will last longer.

Back when I was in Navy, packing up and moving around the country on a regular basis was pretty much the norm. I remember one time; I had been living in Charleston, SC for about a year and a half and I was given orders to a training facility in upstate NY. Unlike most assignments, I knew that this school was only going to last for six months before it was time to move again. Because the time that I would be there was so short, and because the workdays (and workweeks) were long, I was encouraged not to buy a house or distract myself with hobbies or other non-work related activities while I was there. It was best just to rent a temporary place and not get to comfortable or collect too much stuff because I would just be packing up and leaving soon and the Navy will not pay to move a lot of junk. Once I got to New York I found out exactly how good the advice I was given really was. The workdays were 12 hours long, 6 days a week and by the end of the day, I was ready to go to bed. When it was all over, I was ready to leave. I got my orders, left my rental, and moved on to my new station.

It’s funny how we can look back at a small part of our lives and God can use it to help put things in perspective for us. In this case, my short stint in NY reminds me that our time here is short. It’s not wise to devote our time to collecting a lot of useless garbage that we can’t take with us. As entertaining as it may be, it’s nothing more than a distraction. We have a job to do, a purpose to focus on. God will provide us with what we need while we are here. And while we are responsible for what we have and what he gives us, that should not be our focus. We have something much better to look forward to when our job is done.

After training in NY, my new orders were to Norfolk, VA. While it wasn’t exactly heaven, it was much better than NY. I had time to get married, buy a house and settle down with my wife and plan a family. It made me realize how right my chain of command had been in telling me not to get too comfortable in NY.

“Each man’s life is but a breath”  Psalm 39:5

The legalism of tithing is why everyone gets edgy when the subject of tithing is brought up, because the giving that is taught to believers is a giving out of obligation and guilt and not one of freedom and joy.

The kinds of giving you refer to in your books, in 2 Corinthians 8 and Acts 2 and 4, are perfect examples of what I am talking about.  That kind of giving came from an overflow of joy and not from the apostles “harping” on getting their giving up to at least 10%. The concept of tithing robs everyone who gives less than 10% from any sense of joy from their giving because they have been made to feel guilty because it is too little.  This guilt will seldom, if ever, produce a joyful giver.

What about a young couple who is only able to give 5%, but for whom this is giving by faith? Wouldn’t God be pleased with that gift, and wouldn’t they be blessed even though it falls well below the Old Testament requirement?

Answered by Randy Alcorn

According to a 2002 Barna poll, only 3% of Christians give 10% or more. Most of these are in churches that emphasize tithing.

So waiting for people to overflow with joy is not working very well, is it?

Acts 2-type giving came into my life after I tasted the joy of giving, but had I been told “giving is completely optional, no need to stretch yourself, start anywhere you want,” I wonder how far I would ever have gone in giving.

I believe that nearly any young couple in this country could give 10%, and if they did, they would experience joy and see God do great things. But the average American Christian gives away 2.5% of his income. To say that God is happy with His people (who He went to the cross for, and who He put in the most affluent society in human history) giving one fourth of what He required of people without the indwelling Messiah, living in poverty, is something I find difficult to imagine, both biblically and logically.

There are innumerable younger and older people in our churches who could give away 10% simply by forgoing Starbucks, Hollywood Video, and eating out-not to mention new cars, home entertainment centers, etc. In other words, we’re not even talking sacrifice. I suggest that starting at 5% “or whatever you choose” is not really being helpful to those people. Would I rather that they give 5% than nothing or 2%? Of course. But I just don’t see the removal of the tithe as the training wheels being any real solution to getting people up on the bicycle of giving. Since we have to start somewhere, why not start where God started with His people?

I also believe that to think of most churches being full of legalistic tithers is out of touch with reality. That Barna poll found that only 3% of Christians tithe. If we found that only 3% of Christians observe a day of rest, would we conclude our churches are full of legalistic sabbath-keepers? I wouldn’t.

10% is not some lofty goal, just a starting place, but starting is important. The question is whether we should encourage people to move from nothing and 2, or 3% to 10%, where God started his nation Israel, as a stepping stone to the truly generous giving to be found beyond 10%.

What I say to people is, if you’re uncomfortable starting at 10% because you think it’s legalistic, that’s fine; start at 11 or 12% or 20%, or 40%. But if you’re going to start at less than 10%, then realize you’re elevating the law over grace by saying that the law produced greater fruit in a poor culture than the transforming work of the Holy Spirit does in an affluent culture. Personally, I just can’t buy that.

by Randy Alcorn,

Eternal Perspective Ministries,

39085 Pioneer Blvd., Suite 206,

Sandy, OR 97055, 503-668-5200,

www.epm.org,

www.randyalcorn.blogspot.com

In this series we have taken a few small steps towards being stewards of the Lords possessions but they have been just that, small steps. True stewardship is not confined to keeping a budget or maintaining files, these are just tools that will make tracking and managing the assets that the Lord has entrusted to us a little easier and a little more accurate. True stewardship extends beyond the world of finance and into every area of our lives. It requires a change in our world view which will be reflected as a change in our actions. We must learn to see our possessions, our abilities, our time and even the bodies we live in, not as something that we are entitled to but as something we have been entrusted with for a purpose and as something that we will be held accountable for.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

Hebrews 3:13

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

We must also be careful that we do not forget who we serve and unknowingly end up serving money instead of the Lord. Our first priority is to serving God, whether while rich or poor. Do not let the living standards of the world draw you away from your true goal.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

Paul relates our training as stewards to an Olympic athlete training for the games. If a marathon runner was to take his time training and just do a little jogging a few times a week between other activities he would never become a world class athlete and wouldn’t stand a chance at winning an Olympic medal. Olympians make training their first priority. They study how their body works and train day and night to find their weaknesses and overcome them. They have a purpose. And they do it all for a medal that will eventually rust or be destroyed. We are told to train the same way as servants of Christ. But the crown that we will receive will not perish but be eternal.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man bearing the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Many people use money as a defense against chance. Remember that God knows our needs better than we do and he has promised that he will take care of them even if it is not in the lifestyle that we are accustomed to. Sometimes God calls us to leave our comfort zone and just put our faith in him.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33

I want to encourage you to continue your path of stewardship and take the time to learn what being a true steward entails. I will continue to post what little bits of insight that the spirit blesses me with but don’t take my word for it. Remember, you will be held accountable for your beliefs and your actions. Take everything you read here and test it against what the bible says. Even look up the verses for yourself and understand the context that they are written in. If you find something I have written that you think may not be correct, please post a comment and let me know.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

Proverbs 12:1

Why have a budget.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Luke 16:10-12

Now that we have systems in place to track our income and spending, we know how to estimate our net worth, and we have our files set up, it is time to tackle the almighty budget. This is the true crucible of personal finance. Not so much the development of the budget itself, but the responsibility and discipline required to face the real numbers and adjust your lifestyle accordingly.  If this is the first time you have created a budget you may be in for a little shock. Most people don’t realize how much money gets spent each month on impulse items, such as fast food and convenient store or vending machine snacks. But this is why having a budget is so important. Unchecked spending can only go on so long before it catches up to you. And when it does, it’s usually sneaks onto your credit card statements at exceptionally high interest rates. A well designed budget combined with the personal discipline required to keep it is the most powerful tool you will ever employ to your finances.

The goal of a budget is simple – to determine how much income you have available over a set time period, and to divide that income up in a way that all of your financial needs are met. Notice I said needs, not wants. HDTV, high speed internet, and a 10,000 minute per month family cell phone plan are not needs. Because each family is different, each budget will be different but there are some important steps that you can follow as a guideline.

1.       Determine what your needs are – Be honest with yourself. Do you really need three cars?  Could you downgrade your internet connection or even cancel it if it really came down to it? Do you need both a home phone and a cell phone? On the other hand, don’t forget about things that help you earn an income. If your job requires you to wear a suit, then dry cleaning may be considered a need. Don’t forget about utilities.

2.       Determine the cost of your needs – Don’t forget to budget for long term items. If a car is one of your needs, budget in the fuel and maintenance costs. Things like clothing and shoes will wear out and need to be replaced as well. These are the things that tend to break a budget if not planned for. Finding your yearly clothing need cost may take a while before you get an accurate number but it still needs to be estimated and budgeted.

3.       Determine your income – I listed this third because often people need to know what their needs are in order to adjust their income. By determining the cost of your needs first you can figure out if you need to work more, less or if you may need to consider changing jobs.

4.       Set your spending – Set an amount for each need that you have. Once that is covered you can start giving some money to your wants. When the money runs out, don’t budget anything else. If you haven’t met your needs then you may need to consider some lifestyle changes.

5.       Get a second opinion – If you’re sitting at your computer at three in the morning trying to put together a family budget on your own…STOP. Most individuals don’t know the true expenses of their family. Ask your wife how much she really needs for school supplies or how much lunch costs for your kids at school. You may not consider life insurance a need but ask your family how they feel first.

It’s simple for the most part but it’s important that you’re honest about the numbers and stop when the money runs out. Part of the reason for having a budget is to keep you from spending more than you have. Your Mint.com account has an excellent tool for setting and tracking your budget but you will still need to follow the above steps to ensure its accuracy.

Be sure not to forget about saving and giving.

“There is never enough left over to save, it has to be budgeted.”

I don’t remember who said that but he’s/she’s right.  The same is true for giving. Don’t forget, this is not our money we are managing, it’s Gods, and he is very clear about our need to give. While the amount of each is up to you these should be listed under your needs, not your wants. (A good rule of thumb for starting a budget is to give 10%, save 10% and live on 80%. Then work on increasing the saving and giving.)

This is just a quick guide to setting up your initial budget. In future posts we will discuss popular strategies and budgeting systems that can help you increase your long term control over your budget. Don’t forget that as your life changes your budget will need to be reviewed and updated

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

Proverbs 27:23-24

Our goal of this series is to honor God by taking the first step towards responsible management of the material possessions that God has entrusted to us. In previous posts we discussed how Paul trained himself to serve God with the same intensity that an Olympic athlete trains for the games and how he encourages us to train in the same way because the crown that we receive for our stewardship will last forever.

Today we are going to get right to work setting up our long term filing system. This will work in conjunction with the simple filing system that we set up last week and will give us an organized method of storing vital paperwork.

For supplies we’re going to need file folders. Regular manila folders work great but if you have a few extra dollars I would recommend picking up a few of the thicker, multi-classification file folders. They will last a lot longer and it’s just easier when you can group similar classes of documents into one folder. You don’t necessarily need a file cabinet for this but if you have one sitting around the house I would recommend using it. Many office desks have a drawer or two that are set up for filing as well. If you are using a cabinet of some kind then you’ll probably need to pick up some hanging files in addition to the manila folders. If you don’t have a file cabinet, don’t sweat it, you can pick up an expanding file (or accordion file as they are sometimes called) that will fit all of our needs for around $10. I would also recommend picking up a two-hole punch and some two-hole fasteners like these although they really aren’t required.

How to organize folders

There are several different thoughts on how to label your folders, the most popular probably being the one-account-per-folder approach which means that each bill (telephone bill, electric bill, checking account) is placed in its own folder (along with previous statements). In recent years the tendency for companies to offer multiple utilities has made this difficult. I get my home phone, internet, and cell phone all on one bill which makes it all but impossible to separate them into their own folders. That’s why I prefer the one-company-per-folder approach.

The first thing you need to do is make a list of every company that you have accounts with. Don’t overlook the companies that auto-draft out of your checking account each month. Also, be sure to include things like charities which you’ll want to keep track of for taxes but that may not send you a statement every month.

Once you have your list. Start making files. Label each folder and, with the two-hole punch, install a fastener. Now, if you have paid bills still being stored in the simple file system that we developed last week, go ahead and hole-punch them and put them in their appropriate file. This should be done at least once a month.

Now we have our tracking system and out filing system in place. Next post we will talk about the final step. Making a budget.

Creating a filing system

In a previous post we designed a simple filing system to help us keep track of which bills had been paid. Now we want to expand that system to more thoroughly manage other important paperwork such as tax documents, warranties, auto maintenance records, ect…

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

Proverbs 27:23-24

The first thing to consider when creating a filing system is which documents you need to keep and for how long. While there is room for personal preference when designing your system you don’t want to go too far to either extreme. I admit I went a little overboard when I first started filing. I saved everything for years– utility bills, paycheck stubs, credit card statements, even the return envelops that came in the bills that I paid on-line (you know, just in case). While I’m an advocate of being safe rather than sorry, I have to say that my caution was not rewarded in this case. I ended up with two file cabinet drawers filled with years of worthless documents, a good portion of which were from a house in another state that was sold years ago. So while we are going to be prudent while we design our system, we are going to ensure that the documents we save are really important enough to hold on to.

So how long should we hold on to paperwork? That depends on what it is. Tax paperwork is usually the most important because the IRS can audit you for up to six years. So for tax forms or paperwork regarding assets that are taxable (such as a car, home, or stocks) we hold onto for at least 7 years. In the case of a taxable asset you want to make sure that you don’t start the counter on that seven years until it’s no longer in your possession. As long as you own it, keep all the paperwork for it. This includes any paperwork for maintenance or home improvements as they can help reduce your tax liability. The tax returns themselves I make sure to hold on to indefinitely. If any future errors are found in things like social security or a retirement account you can use them to track the problem back to when it started. You can save a lot of space by just scanning the returns into your computer as opposed to storing them in a closet. The documents themselves aren’t worth anything, just the information on them.

Non-tax related paperwork has a wide range of recommended hold times. As far as utility bills, credit card statements and paycheck stubs, you probably won’t ever need them more than a month after they have been paid or deposited but I usually hold onto mine until the end of the year and then carry over the last two months into the New Year just to play it safe. Sense you only get 12-24 each year and you already have a folder for them it doesn’t take up any extra space to play it safe. Bank statements are the same way except at the end of the year I throw all of them out except the year end summery. If you don’t want to hold on to these for that long it probably won’t hurt you. You can usually get another copy from your bank if you ask. As far as insurance paperwork, hold onto everything for as long as you have the policy or have claims open plus one full tax year. This doesn’t include those “explanation of benefits” papers you get after each time you go to the doctor. If there is a long term purpose for those please let me know because I put those straight in the trash.

More permanent things such as medical records (not insurance statements or explanation of benefits), pet records, insurance policies, and warranty information you’ll want to hold on to for as long as long as you have the object that it belongs too. In the case of medical records or pet records, that means as long as they’re alive.

In the next post we’re actually going to get our files set up but in the mean time you might want to get acquainted with your scanner. Scanning documents saves space in your house and doesn’t take up much space on your computer. In fact, I have about ten years worth of paperwork saved on a 2 GB flash drive that I keep in a fireproof safe as a backup. If you’re super computer savvy then you may not even need to keep paper files. Programs like Quicken will allow you to scan copies of your bills directly to the program so you can keep digital copies for years to come. There are also digital document organization programs out there for a price. If you know of any good free ones, please let me know. For those of us who prefer to be able to spread out our papers in front of us while we work, then I would recommend keeping the paper files and once a year scanning the old stuff to the computer. Just be sure to make a backup and keep it in a safe place.

Why do we track Net Worth?

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

Proverbs 27:23-24

As Christians desiring to be stewards, the reasons for tracking our net worth may be different for us then for the rest of the world. While many people look at their net worth as a financial scorecard, we need to understand it as a summation of what we have been placed in charge of. As stewards, part of our job is to keep track of and manage everything that has been entrusted to our care, and nothing makes you look more closely at everything you have like estimating your net worth. Net worth is also a valuable tool for evaluating the effectiveness of financial decisions and analyzing our financial strategies. But it is important to remember that our net worth is not what determines our success as stewards, nor is it something to get emotionally attached to, it is only a tool to be used to make us better stewards.

Your net worth, in the strictest terms, is the cash value of everything you own, minus everything you owe i.e. if you sold everything including the clothes on your back and paid off every debt, how much cash would you be holding. This number is important because it sums up your financial life. If your individual accounts and assets are battles, your net worth is what lets you know who’s winning the war.

How we track it

The bad news is that your net worth changes every day and to keep an exact figure pretty much requires you to be both an accountant and a prophet. The good news is that it’s possible to get a fairly reasonable figure without that much work. Sense Mint.com is already tracking our major accounts for us, all we have to do is figure out what other assets and liabilities we have and do the math. Fortunately, Mint will do most of the work for us. If you played around with Mint.com for a little while after you set up your account, then you may have noticed that there is a place for you to track the worth of your property. In fact, you can track everything from the value of your home to the value of your dishes if you so desire. If you haven’t found this feature yet, click on the My Accounts link at the top of your Mint.com home page and you’ll find a place to add financial accounts, real estate and other.

Now I have no intention of making you sit down and estimate the value of your clothing, curtains and cookware because even if you remembered how much you paid for them, chances are you aren’t familiar with the laws of depreciation and who knows what you would be able to sell them for anyways. There are things that we can find out about though, your house and car for example. In fact, the house is the easiest, and if you have a mortgage payment, you definitely want to make sure to include this. All you have to do is put your address into Mint and it will estimate the value for you. It won’t be exact but neither will any other number that you get short of actually selling your house and writing down what was paid for it. I do follow real estate in my area fairly closely though ( I still have dreams of flipping houses for a living) and the estimate that Mint came back with was in the ballpark for what I had figured – if anything, it was about $4 – $5000 high.

Next we figure in our cars. The easiest way to do this is to look up its Kelly blue book value. Again, this is not an exact value but it is an estimate based on what other similar cars are selling for. So go out to www.kbb.com and answer the questions. I usually use the Private Party Value because I have no intention of ever selling my Jeep to a car dealership. If you regularly trade in your cars or are planning on doing so in the next few years, you may want to use the Trade-In value. Once you have an estimated value, go ahead and put that in Mint.

Next we put in our property. Like I said, it’s almost pointless to put in everything we own because there is no way of knowing how much we could really sell most of our stuff for (assuming we could sell it at all). But there are things you should be sure to find the value of and include, such as boats, RVs, jewelry, collectables, artwork, antiques or anything that is not likely to depreciate in value. Also, there are certain things that should not be included such as items that you could not sell or things that only have sentimental value. Do not include household fixtures or appliances that would stay with the house if sold, those are understood to be included in the value of the home. Also, do not try to attach a value to non-material things such as work experience or the potential value of your education (do include college loans though).

Now that you have the “Big Picture” items in, feel free to add anything that you want. If you really want to do the research and find out how much your curtains are worth, then go for it. Just remember that it’s only an estimate and if it really came down to it, you may not be able to sell them for as much as you think. That being said, it’s a good idea to update the information included in your net worth at least once a year to keep it relatively recent. So if you don’t want to figure out the resale value of your bath mats each year, don’t add them, or in accountant language, assume their resale value has depreciated to $0.

Important

This was where I originally planned on ending this post but I felt it was important to touch on something again. Many people get very emotionally attached to their financial net worth and use it as a scorecard to determine their successes. As Christians, we need to understand that our worth does not determine our success as stewards. Suppose for a moment that a man’s net worth continued to fall year after year because his amount of giving continued to increase. From a worldly standpoint this would be considered financially unwise but from a Christian standpoint he is simply giving what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

The world acts from a position of ownership, we must act from a position of stewardship. Our goal is not to become wealthy even thought our duty as stewards may include increasing wealth. So do not use your net worth as anything other than what it is; a tool for determining your financial position and for tracking the direction or your finances. It is not a measure of your stewardship, it is not a scorecard of your wealth, and it is not a figure to devote unhealthy amounts of your time obsessing over.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

We have been spending the last few days talking about the importance of stewardship and developing a plan to help get our personal finances in order. A lot of this may be extremely basic for some people but because much of what is required to create and maintain a responsible home budget isn’t taught in school, I decided to start from the beginning. If you don’t currently have a system set up in your house then I would suggest reading the previous two posts to help catch up.

The first step that we took was to create a simple filing system and calendar to help keep track of our bills. Today we are going to set up a system for tracking income and expenses. Proverbs 27:23-24 tells us;

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.

Proverbs 27:23-24

So in light of that, we are going to set up a system to ensure that we can constantly monitor and give careful attention to the condition of our finances.

If the thought of this makes you groan, believe me, I understand. It was many years before I was able to set up a system that accurately let me see where my money was going. But the good news is, it’s only going to take you about 15 minutes.

Create an account with Mint.com

Mint.com is a free, online, personal finance tool that helps you to track multiple accounts with banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions. It also easily allows you to create a budget and see how much you are spending in different categories such as groceries, utilities, dining, gifts, ect.. And the best part is that, after a little setup time, it takes very little maintenance on your part. Each day, it will download your transactions from your financial institution(s) and categorize them according to where the money was spent.

If you have trouble with Mint.com, or you are more familiar with the quicken interface, you can also set up your accounts with QuickenOnline.com. I have used Quicken for years but am personally partial to Mint.com because of its interface and its ability to include the value of my property (such as a house, car, jewelry, ect..) in my net worth. We’re going to set that up in a future post but for now, just be sure to get your major accounts listed. Make sure to include the following accounts:

-Checking Accounts

- Savings Accounts

- Credit Card

- Mortgage

- Loans (including auto and student)

-Investment Accounts

If you can’t get your investment or retirement account in there it should be ok. We’re mainly just trying to get the “high traffic” accounts, that is, the accounts that are used on a regular basis. If Mint.com isn’t set up with one of your major financial institutions, then you may want to try QuickenOnline.com.

Now that we have a method of tracking credit card and bank transactions, that only leaves one area…cash. If you are one of those people who have been using a check card or credit/debit card for so long that you’ve forgotten what cash looks like, then this isn’t for you. But, if you do carry cash for vending machines, parking meters and such then we need to keep an eye on that as well. I’m going to recommend an age old budgeting tradition. Keep a small notepad or even just a piece of paper with you each day for the next two weeks and write down how much cash you spend. It’s amazing how a little change here and there add up.

Don’t forget to keep tracking (and paying) your bills in the mean time. We’re going to come back to those in a few days when we set up our filing system. Next post we are going to discuss finding and tracking your net worth.

     Before we begin, take a look around. How many trophies do you have? What about ribbons, metals, certificates, diplomas, degrees, even report cards? How many are framed and hanging on the wall of an office or on the refrigerator door? And how hard did you have to work to get them? Now consider the fact that one day all of those things will rust, decompose or in some way, return to the minerals that they were originally made of. They are a perishable and temporary monument to the work that you put into them. I don’t mean to say that they were not well deserved or that there is anything wrong with having them, but the fact is that one day they will be gone along with the memories of what they were for. While there is nothing wrong with having something to show for your accomplishments, it’s important that we understand what the true riches are.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly;’ I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

     I wanted to make the point above to emphasize the importance of what we are talking about. The diplomas and trophies that most of us have were not easy to get. We put many hours of training and studying into them and they are a testament to our achievement. Our walk with Christ should not be any different. In the above verse, Paul was talking to the Corinthians about why he lives his life the way he does; to spread the gospel. But I think that the point he makes applies to the way all Christians live. According to 2 Corinthians 5:10 we will all have to give an account of our lives to Christ and receive what is due, whether good or bad. If that is the case, why would we not put at least, if not more effort into training ourselves to be stewards then we did to get our perishable rewards. Paul likens his personal training to that of an Olympic athlete to show that if a crown that will not last (in ancient times Olympic athletes won crowns of leaves, not metals) is worth the incredible determination that it takes to earn, then the rewards that we receive as good stewards will be worth much more.

     How, then, do we start down this path of training? The first thing is to understand that everything that we have, money, talents, time, the very bodies that we live in do not belong to us, but to God. He has placed us in charge of managing them and left us directions on how he wants them used. We will go into more detail about what he wants us to do with them in later posts. The first thing we need to do to get on the right path is to find out what we are already doing with them.

Find Out Where Your Money Is Going

     Yes, even before we tackle the almighty budget we have to find out how much we have to manage and where it is currently going. I’m going to start from bare basics here because I know that most people are not taught how to file, manage bills or keep track of spending in school. I wasn’t. So here is how we begin.

Start An Organized File System. – First off, if you are married, there has to be someone who is ultimately accountable for the money and bills. If you both work on them that’s fine but at least one person has to have all the info, all the time. In my house, I do this job. My wife did it for years while I was in the Navy and out to sea but recently we swapped. She is always welcome to help, but I have to be updated on everything that happens. The person, who is responsible for this, is also accountable to their partner for it so don’t take the position lightly.

     Here is how my wife and I have things set up. First, everyday she gets the mail while I am at work. Anything that comes from a company that we pay money to (including bills, bank statements, charitable organizations) gets immediately put in a folder that is hanging on the door to our home office (you can use anything as long as you both know what it will be. We just did it this way so that things didn’t pile up on our desk). Then, every day when I get home I go through the mail in the folder. Any junk mail is thrown out and any bills are placed in a pile. I then go through the bills and mark the amount owed and to whom on my Google Calendar. You can use any calendar for this, I just prefer Google because I can check it anywhere I’m at. Be sure you put this info on the day that the bill is due, not the day you received it. Then the unpaid bills go into another folder labeled “Unpaid Bills” to sit until they have been paid.

     All in all, this takes maybe 10 minutes a day if you get a lot of bills. Most days, it won’t even take five.

     Here’s another trick though. When you put your bills on Google calendar be sure to click on “create event” and check the box that says “all day event”. This way it will show up on your calendar as a solid bar that is easy to see. Once the bill is paid, we will unclick that box (it doesn’t matter what time it’s listed for) and it will become just normal text in the box. I also put the date it was paid in the event details so that I can come back later. This is an easy way to know at a glance what bills have been paid and which ones haven’t. But we’ll talk about that more later.

          For the sake of the length of this post, we’re going to stop here for now but let’s do a quick recap.

You will need:

-          2 folders (or other document organizer)

-          A Google account and Google calendar

1.       Every day, put any mail from anyone that you pay money to in a folder labeled “Mail”

2.       Open the mail, throw out junk and find the bills

3.       Immediately list the amount due, the day it’s due, and to whom on Google calendar

4.       Put all bills in a folder labeled “Unpaid Bills”