Steps to Control Your Money
"In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil,
but a foolish man devours all he has".
Proverbs 21:20
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How you handle money is a reflection of your soul. There was a time when I thought that to save for the future was against the Bible. Because it means I wasn't trusting God.
But then one of our Church Pastor read this verse: " Take a lesson from the ants... Do you know the story of the ants? You will learn from their ways and became wise! They labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter." Ants works hand and hand to make sure that they will save enough to survive during the storm. Are you doing the same thing or your one of those one day millionaire where in you spent all money you have without thinking of saving for your future?
The problem with most of us catholic is that " we keep asking God for blessings when in fact He has already blessed us but we mismanage our blessings".
Here's one example.
Let say your sister asks you money for her school project, so you give her money for $200. Then the next day she asks you again for school project and tells you that when she drop by in the mall she saw a beautiful dress and buy it. What will you feel and what will be your reaction?
We may not always feel it but God always blessed us so much wealth everyday even from the smallest thing we have. From the food we eat, from the house we live at and from the job that gives us money to survive and pays all our bills,it's just that we failed to manage them properly.
So, i want to share you some ways to take control of your finances. You may see this steps in other blogs too but I will explain it to you on my own way of understanding it.
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Step #1:
Stop Borrowing
"The borrower is the slave of the lender."
It's a big lie when the leaflet you receive in the mall says, "You can get this flat-screen TV set in 12 Easy Payments" because there's no such thing as an easy payment. All payments will be hard and it gives you sleepless nights and marital fights. There's nothing wrong in buying good staff but we have to spend so much only if we can afford it.
Rule # 1: If you can't afford to buy it now, don't buy it.
WHY? Simple because it will compromise other things in your budget list. This usually happens if you have a Credit Card. If you buy something using your credit card make sure to pay the whole amount at the end of the month to avoid paying interest even if credit card companies will say that, "Pay only 5% of your total amount due. So they will charge you 3.5% interest each month. And if you total that its 42% for a whole year.
Step # 2:
Protect Your Assets
If you have small children or have other people depending on your income, buy insurance. But pray that you won't be needing it, that you'll live a long life and won't need it at all.
I have attended some seminars that gives us information regarding investments. Like buying term insurance and invest the difference in mutual funds, stock market and other investments like starting a business. This way you'll earn much more in the long run.
