"Help us through our cash crisis"

Today, I was sitting in a waiting room while Makalee was taking a dance class and picked up Red Book magazine, August 2008. I was just thumbing through it and came across an article titled "Help us through our cash crisis". I started reading it and it really got my attention as it was talking about how you should track your spending and start a budget. Well, you know with me being the nerd of the household and being a total geek about FPU, that was all I needed to read to keep me focused on what they would recommend next. The writer stated that the couple that the story featured "are like lots of Americans - good people, who got in over their heads". Then, in steps a financial advisor who was there to give them a money makeover and was offering her expensive wisdom. She states that this couple "feared money management and that this fear has led to poor decisions and has kept the couple from tackling their fear and their debt in order to get back on track." OK, so I agreed with these comments and read on, right up until I get to the point where the financial advisor actually says "if you tithe less for just a few months, you can pay off one of your credit cards." If any of you know me, from then on out, I could not read any more as my mind was going off and asking how could a financial advisor really say that. Then I realized well one who was not a Christian could say it easily.

Stockbridge Community Church just started our 5th Financial Peace class this past Sunday and we had 50 individuals there. Their first homework assignment is to actually put down their expenditures on paper in a budget. I am certain that some of these families once they actually write it down will realize that there is not enough money at the end of the month, just like this couple did and they will begin to panic and try to determine how to make the number balance out with nothing in the red and where they needed to cut back. I would just like to strongly caution all of you class members to stop and think about what expenses you will cut out and how they will really affect your life. Let's start with a simple list of extra items in the budget for this couple:

• Cable $150.00 (wow, you have all the channels)


• Dining Out $300.00 (loving those Friday night steak dinners aren't we)


• Gym $80.00 (that you never attend)


• Tithes $400.00 (not even a real tithe and 10% of their income)


• Starbucks $ 50.00 (or should we call it $5Bucks)


• Groceries $800.00 (holy cow, I guess they eat at home well also)


• 2nd mortgage $92.00 (that was used to pay off credit card debt that that recharged)

I know this sounds harsh and I really do not need mean to beat anyone up, but I know that at one point in my own life I could raise my hand and say hey that looks like my own budget.

So now is the time when you have your budget committee meeting with your spouse or accountability partner and you must then decide what you must cut out of our expenses to have a zero balanced budget. I will admit that I have recently actually had someone come to me and ask me the question "if I could not tithe for a while, we could make it, what do you suggest?"

I responded like this. This is really a decision between you and God and that Dave says that if he can just get people to give something it is better than most. I can tell you that statistically only 5% of Americans give a true tithe, a tenth of their income. Of the others that give an "offering", on average these evangelical Christians give less than 3% of their income. So Dave says if you give anything at all when you start this program, it is better than most give.

This is what I can tell you from a true experience in my own life. I have found that when I give back what does not belong to me anyway, I ALWAYS seem to be able to make ends meet at the end of the month. Sure, I have to cut out drinking tea when I eat out. For my family that is $20.00 a pop, because we have 6 children. I also had to cut my cable bill down to nothing, but hey, I have now have time to read and write this blog. I have read more books the last several months than I have my entire life. I have to use the cash envelopes to track my grocery spending and it is not always easy, but otherwise, I too, would spend $800.00 per month. I love a good Starbucks coffee and I will admit that I struggle with that one, so I made sure that my blow money is used up every week in that area.

The point I am trying to make here is that when you start managing your money the way God intended it to be managed, you will not have to cut out or back your "tithe" to God. God will always provide for you what you need. I will leave you with a few Bible verses and let you make your own decision about what you will cut back in order to have a balanced budget when you are ready to do your budget.

Psalms 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" - how can we even think that it is ours to decide how much we will give back to God anyway?

Malachi 3:10 "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it" - what HUGE blessings are you willing to give up in order to get a balanced budget? I bet this is not a guarantee the credit card companies can make when you pay them their full amount due each month?