Family Matters

Find Financial Freedom

By Ruber and Ketty Leal

Since the Great Depression of 1929, the United States has experienced 14 economic recessions including the Great Recession of 2008. Some financial experts even estimate that we’ll see another recession in the near future. Whether one comes or not, it is critical for each person and family to develop good financial management habits. Edward Reid, who has written extensively on the subject, shares several guidelines for financial management and encourages every Christian to practice prudent living when it comes to spending and investing.

Here are a few of Edward’s best practices for relieving financial stress both now and in the years to come.

Get Organized You must know the state of your personal finances. Even if it’s not dollar-for-dollar, having a budget and sticking to it will take away the fear of the unknown from your financial life. Simply knowing the value of your assets against the amount of debt you have would be a good first step. Apps like Personal Finance or Mint can help tremendously in this area.

Spend Less Be determined to live within your income. The Bible says, “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.” It’s easy to overspend, but a little self-discipline can go a long way.

Save a Little The lack of a savings account is one of the major reasons people use credit cards for emergencies and end up paying large amounts of interest on emergency spending. Saving should be as regular as spending. If saving seems difficult, automatic payroll deductions can help. It becomes easier to save when you don’t even see the money leave.

Avoid Debt Interest is one expense you can live without. Out of control personal or family debt is the main underlying reason for bankruptcy. If you are in serious debt, consider taking drastic measures to get it under control. This means no more credit spending and setting up a plan to pay off your debts that you stick with until you are completely debt-free.

Be Diligent Do your best work each and every day, and people will begin to notice. Ask God for wisdom to do your work efficiently so that you can continue to work when times are difficult. Having the essentials like food and housing means we may have to find jobs outside our preferences at times, but good results and a positive attitude can work wonders for advancement.

Be Faithful In both feast and famine, maintaining regular tithe and offering matters. God promises that when we are faithful with little, we will be given much. The Bible is full of promises for staying faithful. Put God first and the rest will follow.

While we look forward to the soon return of Jesus Christ, the reality of the world around us necessitates things like having a job, a home, a car, or more. But, good financial management can take the stress of worrying whether there’s enough money to cover big things like a house or little things like your next meal. You can’t put a price on financial freedom.