July 2024

If trying to manage your money leaves you confused, frustrated and anxious, you need a way to reduce financial stress. That’s why I created Stress-Free Finance. Money problems can stress you out and make life miserable. Budgeting is a chore, and getting out of debt feels impossible. You know you need to be making better […]

It pays to be careful what you do with your money. After all, the way you spend your money will set the direction of your heart. Where your treasure is today, your heart will follow tomorrow. We often think the things we do with our money demonstrate what’s going on in our hearts, and this […]

Via Flickr, by user Images_of_Money. Used under Creative Commons License. You hear recovering addicts say it all the time — the first step to getting help is admitting that you have a problem. So it goes with debt. That’s right, addiction isn’t just the realm of smokers, alcoholics, druggies and perverts. An addiction is anything […]

What does it take to become one of the world’s most prolific givers? I recently read “Outliers,” an excellent book by Malcolm Gladwell that studies the extraordinary practices and circumstances that vault superstars to prominence. The book deals with people who have been abundantly successful in technology, business, athletics, music and other commercial endeavors. And […]

So you think that maybe, just maybe, you’ve found “the one.” If this relationship is going to be the one you ride into the sunset, making good money decisions now can be the first step in setting you up for financial success in the long run. You’re certain to have some fun while you’re dating, […]

I don’t want to be the one to ruin your fantasies, but have you ever considered that your fantasies may be ruining you? Figuring out life and finance is a tough business. Because money is tied to so many things — our work, our families, our homes, our spending, our faith, our identities — our […]

An often-overlooked teaching in the book of Deuteronomy gives us a fascinating peek into God’s plan for taking care  of the poor. When we talk about God’s Master Plan here at God, Money & Me, we’re usually examining things that scripture says about how we should handle our personal finances. But God’s money plan goes […]

Most personal finance websites extol the virtues of thriftiness at length. But what happens when a penny-pinching spirit gets out of control? In more ways that almost any other facet of human life, money has an overwhelming capacity for making slaves of us. Some people are slaves to greed, envy, or poverty. Other times the […]

Via Flickr, by user snowpeak. Used under Creative Commons License. If your parents sent you off to college with a credit card, “just in case of emergencies,” they were likely operating under one of the most prevalent beliefs about debt in our society — that credit provides some kind of safety net, in case “something […]

The structural safety of a building is only as good as the integrity of the foundation that it’s built on. If the foundation is unsafe, the entire building is at risk. This metaphor from architecture has applications in many areas of life — so many that it became one of Jesus’ most famous parables. It […]

Via Flickr by user aaron13251. Used Under Create Commons License. If you’ve been around a church more than once or twice, you’ve probably heard a tired-but-true saying that sounds something like this: “God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life.” For most of us, this sounds pretty reasonable. That God loves me […]

How much is is your faith worth to you? Can you put a dollar amount on it? Is there a price high enough that you would be willing to give up your relationship with God for? If you’re like most Christians, you’re saying to yourself, “No way — I would never sell out like that.” […]

Your house can be one of the greatest blessings in your life, or one of your greatest curses. If the place you live controls you and your decisions, you might be a slave to your house. A crucial part of achieving financial freedom is escaping things that are holding you back. And for far too […]

God wants you to enjoy money. The first time I realized that God wants me to enjoy money, I almost couldn’t believe it. Parts of our culture tell us that enjoying money is a sign of spiritual decay. But that simply isn’t true. As I studied what the Bible says about money, I discovered that […]