A Written Plan (part 2)

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>A Written Plan (part 2)</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id464.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gods Plan for Financial Fitness: A Writt"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id467.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Living Within Available Resources"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"God's Plan for Financial Fitness: A Written Plan" (cont.)</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, August 8, 2004</B></div> <bR> <div>      We have been talking about how to achieve financial fitness according to God's plan.</div> <div> Step 1 - Make the commitment to get out of debt and get financially fit.</div> <div> <B>Step 2 - Develop a written spending plan (current). </B>A plan is deciding ahead of time what you are going to do with your money (rather than wondering where it went - Dave Ramsey).</div> <bR> <div> A written plan involves the following five actions:</div> <div> [1. Trust God and show it by being generous. ]</div> <div> [2. Evaluate your current situation - your income and usual and not-so-usual expenses.]</div> <bR> <div> <U>3. Determine your priorities and adjust your finances accordingly.</U></div> <div>      "A number of people were injured at a Florida shopping center after the 'Money Man' threw $10,000 into the air. Twelve people were hurt in the scramble for the cash at the Bay Walk shopping and entertainment center in St. Petersburg. Six of the injured were taken to local hospitals, with the most serious injury being a suspected broken arm. The money, all in $2 bills, was fired into the air by a small 'cash cannon' used by real estate investor Kevin Shelton. He said he didn't intend for people to get injured. He began giving out the money two years ago as a way to brighten people's day and spark generosity" (Have a Good Day, Jan 2004). You can't spark generosity by playing to people's love affair with the Almighty Dollar.</div> <div> <B>Read </B><A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=1Tim+6:9-17" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U><B>1 Timothy 6:9-11, 17-19</B></U></A></div> <div>      The "love of money" (and of what it can do for you) is a matter of where your priorities lie. We need money to exist in our society, but our allegiance is not to our money or what it can accomplish. Instead, money is a tool to help you accomplish God's priorities for your life. Jesus said, "you cannot be a servant to both God and money," your loyalties will be given over to one or another (Matt 6:24). </div> <div>      Most of us are rich by God's standard. We who have our needs met and have some left over, we are the subject of this challenge - we are the "rich." The challenge to us is this: Don't love or trust in money, which does not last forever. Don't regard it as a security blanket. Don't see it as your main source of satisfaction. Instead, trust God and use money in such a way that you lay up treasures in eternity, experiencing the fullness of eternal life. It is a matter of priorities. Use your money to allow you to live a life that pleases God. Use your money to be generous for causes that honor God.</div> <div>      We must plan for our priorities; living moment by moment, day by day may seem "free," but it does not lend itself to living out God's plan for your life. It is too easy to drift, if you don't decide ahead of time (plan) to live according to appropriate priorities.</div> <div>      So following your evaluation (step 2) of your current income and expenses, do you have to adjust your priorities? Most Americans spend 110 percent of their income (Mary Hunt, <I>Debt-Proof Living</I>, 51)<I>,</I> digging a hole, month by month. Something is going to have to change to become financially fit. Do you spend so much on eating out that you can't afford to put money away for emergencies, leaving you vulnerable to further debt? One way God has provided for your <I>current</I> <I>and</I> <I>future</I> needs is with your present income (paying your expenses and saving for future expenses and emergencies).  But you must manage your income today with the future in mind. It's a matter of priorities. Are you unable to be generous because you are blowing all your money on yourself? How much do you spend to own a new car, or to have all the entertainment options you currently have? </div> <div>      In what spending areas can you and should you scale back, so you have more money available for greater priorities? Talk about what you spend your money on with a trusted friend or counselor. God does not condemn the rich person, the one who has his needs met and has more left over. But he challenges your priorities.</div> <div>      And if you find yourself using credit cards to "keep up" each month, you are not keeping up, you are getting further and further behind. If you have to use credit cards for monthly expenses, you have to make some serious changes. Get some counsel (we have people who can talk to you and help you work out a good plan). </div> <bR> <div> <U>4. Write out a spending plan, based on your income, expenses and new priorities.</U></div> <div>      Make decisions and commit your decisions to paper. Decide how your income, <I>every dollar</I>, is going to be spent, or allocated toward something. For monthly expenses, they get paid this month. For occasional expenses, plan to set aside some money this month for that upcoming need. You can keep the "occasional expense" records on a spreadsheet in your computer or on paper; or put the cash away in an envelope, and keep adding to it each month.   [Helpful forms are available here from <A HREF="http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_monthly_cash_flow_plan_forms.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_"><U>www.daveramsey.com</U></A> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>PDF</B></FONT>.]</div> <bR> <div> <U>5. Follow your plan to get out of debt and begin to save money.</U></div> <div>      This is the hard part. You have to adopt a more disciplined approach to your financial life if you want to experience the rewards. Once you have a workable plan, live by it. Virgin Mobile had an ad for their prepaid cell phone service. Rather having overage charges on your cell phone, because you went over the minutes you paid for, they offer prepaid service. They advertised that it teaches young people to live within a budget. When the minutes you paid for run out, your out until you pay for more. It keeps you from going in a hole; you can't use more minutes than you already paid for. You need to think of your budgeted money this way. Quit going over your monthly limit and tapping into credit and digging a deeper hole for yourself. Look at it like time - when it is gone, it is gone, you cannot recover it.</div> <div>      This is where partnership and accountability are going to help. Make a commitment regarding your finances. If you have a family, make it a shared commitment, and hold each other accountable. Talk about how it is going. If you are single, work together to be accountable with a friend.</div> <div>      You can use the cash envelope system for many expenses (groceries, gas, golf, cat food). Put the cash in the envelope for the month, and when it is gone, quit spending in that category. If you keep coming up short, adjust your plan so that it is realistic. Don't be stealing from other envelopes, and hope it gets made up later. </div> <div>      We also use the budgeting forms in the computer software program <I>Quicken</I> to keep track each month of where we are at. It is very easy to track and adjust as the month goes along, according to what is received and spent. When we have income or an expense, it is recorded in the check register and I also record it on the budget sheet, which does the math for me on the bottom line. We always know where we are at according to our budget. Instead of guesswork, our budget is a plan that provides guidance and information to help us make good choices.</div> <bR> <div>      Mary Hunt writes in her book <I>Debt-Proof Living</I>, "The average paycheck-to-paycheck kind of person has a huge misconception about the way millionaires live and think. Most assume that millionaires spend whatever they like, have whatever they want, and never think or worry about money. Not so! Statistics prove that self-made millionaires got that way by budgeting and controlling expenses. What's more, they maintain that status in the same way. The next time you observe someone living in a flashy, 'wealthy' way and you find yourself envying what looks like a carefree lifestyle, remember: chances are great that the person is deeply in debt, and what you see is just a phony front. Truly wealthy people live understated lives. They are as normal as the folks next door. So let's give three cheers for planned spending and controlling expenses - behaviors that promise a huge payoff in joy and peace of mind" (p. 57).</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2004, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>