May 17, 2012 By bnjewell
It’s just a pizza, but how you handle it can represent the success or failure of your family’s financial future.
Picture this scenario: It’s been a long day at work, you’re exhausted, your spouse is stressed, your kids are hungry and there’s no supper on the table. Your budget says that there’s no extra money for eating out this week. Your spouse is saying “let’s just order pizza.” You know that your checking account balance is low, but you can put that pizza on a credit card and deal with it later. So, do you ignore your financial plan and give in to the circumstances? It would sure be easy, and it doesn’t really seem to represent a threat. After all, it’s just a pizza.
In this series, we’ve been discussing the fact that God wants us to build a financial inheritance throughout our lives that will pass on to the next generation when we’re gone. And though you’re not thinking about that inheritance in the pizza scenario, the decision you make could have a big impact on the kind of inheritance you leave. Because great inheritances come from small decisions, and the way you handle money in small matters will shape the way your family views money altogether. [Read more…]
April 29, 2012 By bnjewell
How do you build a great tower? One brick at a time.
One of the pillars of God’s Master Plan for our finances is for us to build a financial inheritance that will continue to work for His good long after we are gone. It’s an idea that sounds great in theory. But most people don’t spend much time thinking about how to build an inheritance or grow their estate. So what’s the best way to do it?
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March 22, 2012 By bnjewell
In Paducah, Kentucky, a beautiful series of murals highlights the historic downtown district, where shops and restaurants sit just above the banks of the Ohio River. But the murals aren’t there just to attract visitors to downtown — they decorate the massive flood wall that the city built to protect itself from the river’s periodic surges.
Most of the time, the river is low, and the flood wall serves only as a piece of artwork. But every few years, rain pours, waters climb, and the wall keeps all of Paducah’s downtown treasures from flooding. It wasn’t always this way, though — the city learned just how badly it needed a protective barrier when it was trashed by a massive flood in 1937.
Just like a flood wall protects the treasures of a small Kentucky town, emergency savings funds protect the treasures in our lives. Emergency funds are an age-old idea, and the serve an irreplaceable purpose for people looking to handle their money wisely. But in addition to simply keeping us safe from financial disaster, emergency funds have some added benefits. Here are three of our favorites.
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March 1, 2012 By bnjewell
What’s busting your budget?
If you’ve started to create a budget as a means of taking control of your financial life, you’ll soon start to notice that some expenses seem to be stretching the whole thing pretty thin. Although there are all sorts of ways to plan a budget — on paper, on a spreadsheet, or with a variety of advanced strategies — there’s no way to work around bad spending habits. You just can’t outwit math.
Succeeding with a budget requires a lot of hard work and discipline, and that means taking a close look at lifestyle spending habits that may be stretching you too thin. To help you get started, we’ve identified eight common budget-busters that have become ingrained in our society. See if any of these sounds familiar….
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February 18, 2012 By bnjewell
Via Flickr, by user (nutmeg). Used under Creative Commons License.
A budget is a great road map for your financial life… but in the end, it’s only a document. It takes a lot of action on your part to execute that plan and make it your financial reality. Fortunately, there are some great habits and tricks that can help make that process happen more smoothly.
Once you’ve put together a good monthly budget for yourself and your family — either on paper or on a computer spreadsheet — you can use some of these methods and programs to put your plan into action. Here are four suggestions to get you started. [Read more…]
February 9, 2012 By bnjewell
Via Flickr by user joebeone. Used under Creative Commons license.
Hello, my name is Brian… and I’m a nerd. A budget nerd, that is.
When I began using a budget to plan my financial life a few years back, I loved the sense of empowerment and control that it gave me. I was enthralled with the fact that by doing some basic math and some strategic pencil-and-paper planning, I could put together a road map for my money that would steer me clear of debt and out-of control spending. I loved it so much, in fact, that I began building more and more complicated budgets… and I brought in technology to help me do it. [Read more…]
January 30, 2012 By bnjewell
Via Flickr, by user quacktaculous. Used under Creative Commons License.
So you’re ready to become master of your financial life, and you know that the first step in doing that is to make a budget. That’s great. So what do you need to get started?
A pencil, a pad of paper and a calculator. [Read more…]
January 21, 2012 By bnjewell
Via Flickr, by user Spirit-Fire. Used under Creative Commons License.
What is it that they say about the best laid plans of mice and men? To paraphrase, they often fall apart.
Building a budget is an absolutely critical first step to becoming the master of your money, but it’s only a step. Financial teachers talk incessantly about the importance of budgeting, and rightfully so. But a budget itself is no silver bullet; the fact that you write down a plan for your money doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to work. Success with a budget takes a much more critical ingredient — you. [Read more…]
January 9, 2012 By bnjewell
Via Flickr, by user uberculture. Used under Creative Commons License.
You passed the sixth grade, right? So you have pretty good handle on arithmetic.
I’ve got some great news: Basic math skills are all you really need to figure up an accurate monthly budget. You add up the amount of money that comes in, subtract money for everything you spend, and then see what you’re left with in the end. But is that the whole story? [Read more…]
December 30, 2011 By bnjewell
Via Flickr, by user brad montgomery. Used under Creative Commons License.
So you want to be the master of your money… that’s great. You’re committed to getting out of debt, spending wisely and giving to support good causes. But how do you take these good ideas and turn them into something you can actually do?
The answer is to make a budget. [Read more…]