ReTHiNK: 3 Ways to work towards financial freedom. August 27, 20171. Slow down your spending. Proverbs 13:7 2. Budget!!! Re-Budget, RE-RE Budget. Luke 14:28, Eph. 5:15, 4:28 3. Get out of debt. Romans 13:8, 2 Chron. 1:11-12, Proverbs 10:4 Grow Money Don’t Blow Money. Available Tools Debt. Thermometer, Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby steps, & The Budget Sheet. ReTHiNK Finances- 3 Ways to work towards Financial Freedom.Ephesians 5:15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wiseTHIS BUCKET IS YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE IT CAN OVERFLOW IN RESOURCES RIGHT NOW. Write the expenses on the side of it. 5 gallon bucket. Drill holes in the side of it when talking. And let the water drain out. Have duct tape and start closing the holes so that more water can be kept. Car; Monthly (Cable / Internet / Student loans / Health Insurance / (it pays to shop around… you can call up your current provider and see what they can do.) $5 basic satellite tv that I canceled because I didn’t use it. ; Fuel / Energy; Home ; FoodThe Water represents our money. And the holes are at different levels and heights and allow us to have more or less. Could use the baptismal or blow up the small VBS pool. Parkinson’s Law- no matter how much money people earn, they tend to spend the entire amount and a little bit more besides. Their expenses rise at the same time as their earnings. Many people are earning today several times what they were earning at their first jobs. But somehow, they seem to need every single penny to maintain their current lifestyles. No matter how much they make, there never seems to be enough.Ecclesiastes 5:11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers!"Financial independence / freedom comes from violating Parkinson’s Law."Parkinson’s Law explains the trap that most people fall into. This is the reason for debt, money worries and financial frustration. It is only when you develop sufficient willpower to resist the powerful urge to spend everything you make that you begin to accumulate money and move ahead of the crowd.# 1 Way to work towards Financial Freedom #1Slow Down Your Spending: Proverbs 13:7 Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor."If you allow your expenses to increase at a slower rate than your earnings, and you save or invest the difference, you will become financially independent in your working lifetime."This is the key. I call it the "wedge." If you can drive a wedge between your increasing earnings and the increasing costs of your lifestyle, and then save and invest the difference, you can continue to improve your lifestyle as you make more money. Action Exercises2 things you can do1st imagine that your financial life is like a failing company that you have taken over. Institute an immediate financial freeze. Halt all non-essential expenses. Draw up a budget of your fixed, unavoidable costs per month and resolve to limit your expenditures temporarily to these amounts. THIS AND NO MORE> Carefully examine every expense. Question it as though you were analyzing someone else’s expenses. Look for ways to economize or cut back. Aim for a minimum of a 10 percent reduction in your living costs over the next three months. SACRIFICE2nd resolve to save and invest 50 percent of any increase you receive in your earnings from any source. Learn to live on the rest. This still leaves you the other 50 percent to do with as you desire. Do this for the rest of your career.Spending Fast- Pick one day a week where you will buy nothing. Nothing on Amazon at the gas station. Nothing. FIND WHERE YOUR MONEY IS LEAKING-STOP THE LEAKING#2 Way you can work towards financial freedom. BUDGET!!!! Re—Budget, RE-RE BudgetBe Patient its hard work. Luke 14:28 8“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’Sell the car if the payments are too high. How much is the shiny metal worth if you can’t sleep well?Get rid of cable and buy an antenna(talk down comcast… got rid of dish)Get rid of monthly subscriptionsGym Membership you don’t use : Casinos; Lottery Tickets; Fastfood; Cigarettes; Big Gulps; Impulse purchases; Energy drinks, Grocery Junk, Eating out… Shop at Aldi. Look for sales. Use coupons. Only buy WHAT YOU NEED.Delayed GratificationEphesians 5:15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. The wise live disciplined lives. You will never have more money then you can handle. You have a natural level that you feel comfortable with that will only change by becoming uncomfortable and doing something different. Know how much $ you are planning to spend each week. Keep a weekly spending log that you keep track of everything you spend. When Emily & I were first married in our first apartment our trips to Walmart were killing us. When you go to get a $4 item and spend $54-$120 that’s not good. So we limited how often we went to Wallyworld. Have a weekly savings goal$$$. Ephesians 4:28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.Generosity is the natural way to defeat greed. Ephesians 5:3 – Greed Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.The things greedy people desire become their gods. Idolatry At times people lack $ because of greed… the inability to wait. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 Wealth is uncertain. 17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.Live GenerouslyGenerosity is important. God says that he blesses the generous. I view my contribution to the church, missions, and charities as an asset or investment in the kingdom of heaven. I have seen God help me become wiser with less than 90% of my income. Generosity keeps me from greed. If I’m having problems being generous it’s not because I’m lacking $ it because I’m becoming greedy. Greed doesn’t always show up in the form of having money. Sometimes its using all of our money on what we think we need#3 GET OUT OF DEBT Proverbs 22:7 Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.THEN DON’T GO BACK IN DEBT>>> Dave Ramsey approach pay off the smallest debt. Then snowball the next smallest and pay off the principle. . Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.WISDOM IS MORE VALUABLE THAN $2 Chron. 1:11-12 God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people— 12 I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”Pick up Debt Thermometer, Dave Ramsey’s 7 Babysteps, Budget worksheet. Grow Money don’t Blow MoneyProverbs 13:11 Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow. Proverbs 10:4 Diligent hands bring wealthPick up Debt Thermometer, Dave Ramsey’s 7 Babysteps, Budget worksheet.
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