The best method for raising financially responsible children is for the parents to be financially responsible themselves. You cannot teach your children what they should do if you yourself don’t do it. You first have to get your own financial house in order. Children don’t do as you say – they do as you do. They study your every move, and unfortunately, plenty of parents pass on some very damaging financial practices.

Children who watch their parents ring up huge credit card bills buying luxury items and taking vacations they can’t afford tend to dig the same financial holes themselves as adults. A child who sees bills pile up unpaid is getting a damaging lesson in managing money – one they may struggle all their lives to overcome.

Another way you can ruin your child’s financial future is by spoiling them. Many people seem to have convinced themselves that showering their kids with everything they want is good parenting. They lose the ability to say no to anything their child asks for. Then when that child gets out in the real world on a low starting salary, they have no sense at all of financial restraint. They still expect to be able to have everything right now. Of course, credit card companies are happy to assist them in getting what they want right away. It doesn’t take long for a child who has been spoiled their whole life to find themselves buried in $5,000-$10,000 of credit card debt.

Along those same lines, you shouldn’t buy your children something every time you take them with you to the store. It’s not a matter of being able to afford to buy them something, but rather an opportunity to teach financial restraint. Buying toys and gifts for your children should be reserved for special occasions (e.g. Birthday, Christmas, etc.). If you simply buy everything your children wants, you are not only taking away the “specialness” of gifts, you are setting up your kid to be a financial wreck. The children who get everything they want when they’re young end up struggling with debt the rest of their lives — simply because they were never taught moderation and living within one’s means.

Of course, parents can also teach their children bad financial habits by spoiling themselves as well. Very few families seem to know how to live within their means. They seem oblivious to the risks of spending more than they earn. In fact, they seem more concerned about the perceived shame that might come if they tried living within their means. Keeping up with the Joneses has never before been so pervasive in our culture. It’s impossible for you to teach your children how to handle peer pressure if you can’t resist it yourself. Spending money just to impress someone sends the wrong message to your children.

Of course learning how to manage money is something children have to learn by experience. Giving children a lecture about how to handle money is not enough. Children need to learn and experience it.

One great way to teach your children about earning and managing money is by giving them a regular allowance. This gives children first-hand experience in learning how to manage money and appreciate the value of their hard-earned dollars.

In addition, having an allowance will help children set financial goals and learn how to live on a fixed-income/budget. It will require them to make choices about what they will spend their money on. They will have to learn to balance what they have with what they want. They also learn that everything has a cost associated with it. Just because it’s advertised on television doesn’t mean that you can afford it.

Of course a child shouldn’t be paid for every little thing they do around the house. Each child should have regular household chores that they are required to do because they are a contributing part of the family. Then there should also be additional tasks and responsibilities for which they are paid an allowance. These tasks provide children with an introduction to the notions of work and receiving payment for the level and quality of the work they do. An important part of giving an allowance is that your children learn that if they don’t do the work and just as importantly, if they don’t do quality work – they don’t get paid.

Allowances can also be useful tools for teaching your children about other values. For example, teaching them that the first 10% of what they receive belongs to the Lord. Requiring them to deposit a certain amount each month in a savings account teaches them about frugality and long-term planning. Helping them to decide whether to wait to buy something later rather than right away shows them about the value of patience and delayed gratification. An essential part of becoming a responsible person is learning to delay gratification. Yet popular culture encourages – and profits from – people seeking immediate gratification. Teaching children to delay gratification, through the use of allowances, will make them more resistant to the messages of “Gotta have it now!” with which popular culture bombards them, and will help them grow up to be financially responsible adults.

How much you decide to give as an allowance will depend upon your individual financial situation and the age of the child. It shouldn’t be such a large amount that they are never required to make any tough financial decisions and it shouldn’t be so little that it doesn’t allow them to practice financial responsibility. As the child gets older, the amount you give should increase.

It’s important that children learn that money does not “grow on trees”. Just because you have checks in your checkbook or credit cards in your wallet does not mean you have money to spend. An essential part of fiscal responsibility is learning to live within one’s budget. Your children have to learn how to respect money and use it properly. Money is not just a means of buying popularity or happiness. The most important lesson you can teach your children about money has nothing to do with how much you can get, but rather how to use what you do have.

Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it.

Creditors have better memories than debtors.

There never was a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher’s stone.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.

A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose to the grindstone.

He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner.

He that lives upon hope will die fasting.

It is the eye of other people that ruin us. If I were blind I would want, neither fine clothes, fine houses or fine furniture.

If you would like to know the value of money, go and try to borrow some.

Time is money.

Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.

In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.

To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Buy what thou hast no need of and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessities.

He does not possess wealth; it possesses him.

A small leak can sink a great ship.

It is the working man who is the happy man. It is the idle man who is the miserable man.

Our necessities never equal our wants.

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.

Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Rather go to bed with out dinner than to rise in debt.

Many a man thinks he is buying pleasure, when he is really selling himself to it.

There are two ways of being happy: We must either diminish our wants or augment our means – either may do – the result is the same and it is for each man to decide for himself and to do that which happens to be easier.

Never take a wife till thou hast a house (and a fire) to put her in.

It is only when the rich are sick that they fully feel the impotence of wealth.

Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Gain may be temporary and uncertain; but ever while you live, expense is constant and certain: and it is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel.

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

God helps those who help themselves.

The use of money is all the advantage there is in having it.

Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.

Necessity never made a good bargain.

He that displays too often his wife and his wallet is in danger of having both of them borrowed.

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

There are three faithful friends – an old wife, an old dog, and ready money.

He that rises late must trot all day.

It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous.

Money has never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.

The doors of wisdom are never shut.

Just a few years ago would have spent money without even thinking or maybe I should say they would buy things on credit without thinking. Now those same individuals are rediscovering how to save money and reduce their monthly expenses. Unfortunately, while many of your monthly budget items are fixed expenses, one of the biggest expenses that you can control is your grocery budget.

Students of Christian finance will know that the Bible has always taught good stewardship. Even Jesus in one of his most famous parables said:

Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matthew 25:21.

We at eChristianFinance.com believe that the financial principles of the Bible are timeless and have put together the following 10 tips for consumers to save money on their monthly grocery bills.

1. Don’t shop at just one store. You actually save money by shopping the best prices at multiple stores.

2. Always shop with a list. It’s a known fact that consumers spend as much as 30% less.

3. Bring a calculator with you when you shop for multiple reasons. You can calculate the price difference between large quantity items versus smaller sizes. You don’t always save money buying in bulk.   You will also get to the cashier and know exactly how much you are spending.

4. Shop store brands over name brand items. You can save as much as 60% or more.

5. Clip coupons. Check your local newspaper or use sites such as www.smartsource.com, www.coupons.com and www.retailmenot.com .  Use both the store coupon and the manufactures’ coupons whenever possible for maximum savings.

6. Check your local grocery store ads for sales and plan your meals accordingly.

7. Shop stores lost leaders. Stores will routinely drastically discount certain items in order to draw more consumers.

8. If something is a great buy stock up. 

9. In order to save money your kitchen pantry must be organized you will loose money by overstocking.

10. Be sure to plan your meals ahead. By planning ahead you will be less likely to eat out.

Utilizing a monthly budget allows you to see where you are spending your money and keeps your spending on track. Managing your monthly cash flow will also help you maintain a balanced budget and keep you out of debt.

For your convenience we have provided this monthly budget financial worksheet in both a printable (pdf) format as well as in a downloadable (excel) spreadsheet format.

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8.

Monthly Budget Financial Worksheet (pdf)

Monthly Budget Financial Worksheet (Excel) 

Corporations are required to calculate their net worth on a quarterly basis. While monitoring your net worth every quarter would be ideal, we would certainly recommend utilizing this net worth financial worksheet at least once a year.

For your convenience we have provided this net worth financial worksheet in both a printable (pdf) format as well as in a downloadable (excel) spreadsheet format.

Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? Proverbs 27:23-24.
 

Net Worth Financial Worksheet (pdf)

Net Worth Financial Worksheet (Excel) 

As we begin to recover from this last recession, many individuals are making financial resolutions to insure they don’t get buried in debt once again. One of the first steps to establishing control over your finances is determining what your needs are versus what you would like to be able to afford.

Most of our needs are fairly basic – food, clothing shelter, etc. However, AdAge.com recently published an article titled “The New Necessities: Food, Clothing, And A Giant TV” that points to a new addition to the necessities category – big screen TV’s.

Consumers are rationalizing big screen TV’s as a necessity since they believe they will actually save money in the long-run by not going out to the movie theaters as often. This is further rationalized by the fact that the average American spends five hours each day watching television.

Consumers are willing to be quite creative in cutting expenses, but budget cuts don’t seem to effect their spending on consumer electronics. The AdAge article cites:

“We are seeing something really big and I don’t think people realize it yet,” said Nancy Bhagat, VP-consumer marketing at Intel. “I think we would have seen a larger slowdown in purchases if this had happened before 2009, but because the user of these devices has become part of people’s lifestyles, it’s becoming a must-have.”

Have we really reach the point where having a giant, big-screen TV is considered a necessity? If consumer behavior is any indication…I’m afraid that day is soon at hand (if it isn’t already here).

King Solomon was likely the richest man of his day. He lived in a massive palace (1 Kings 7: 2) that few could even imagine. He received annual incomes of gold, silver and other precious items. Yet none of Solomon’s wealth came because he prayed that God would bless him financially. In fact, Solomon prayed that God would give him neither riches nor poverty.

“Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:” Proverbs 30:8.

However, when Solomon prayed for wisdom, God also blessed him with wealth & riches.

“Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.” 2 Chronicles 1:12.

God blessed Solomon with great wealth, but also gave him wisdom to know how to use that wealth. However, in today’s world many of us lack the wisdom we need to handle the finances that God has given us.

Most individuals will be faced with several major buying decisions in their lives – such as when they buy a house or a car. These are the types of major financial decisions that you should not only pray about, but it would also be a good idea to counsel with someone like your pastor as well.

In recent years, too many people have been quick to spend money without even pausing to consider the potential consequences. Unfortunately, Christians have been just as hasty to spend money without regard to their role as stewards of God’s money. As a consequence of hasty spending decisions, millions of individuals have found their world crashing in on them over the last year.

Of course praying over the major decisions in your life seems obvious and I’m sure many of you reading this article have already done that. But after praying about which house to buy or which car to purchase, do you pray about how you should spend the rest of your money? It’s not just the big-ticket items that you should pray about, but also the little ones.

While I’m not necessarily advocating praying over whether or not you should buy a hamburger at McDonald’s or not, it is important to remember that God requires you to be a good steward over all the finances He has given you.

Are you spending money on things that you know God wouldn’t approve of?

If Jesus were paying your bills or setting your budget, would He make the same choices that you are?

As Christians, we are striving to live as Jesus would live. This is easy to translate into our church attendance, our relationships with other saints of God, our relationship with the world, but it is just as valid with our financial lives as well. We should even be striving to spend our money as Jesus would.

I have to believe that if we as Christians would pray more about how to spend our money, we would make much better spending decisions. We would likely have less debt and more peace as impulsive buying is replaced by prayerful consideration.

Financial incompatibility often is the result of radically different approaches that people have towards money. Although psychologists have many different groups that they like to categorize people into, for financial purposes most people fall within one of two categories: savers and spenders. You probably already know which type of person you are and usually you perceive your spouse as being in the opposite category. This is because opposites attract and is not always a bad thing!

Savers are often attracted to spenders because they see them as generous, fun-loving, adventurous folks. Spenders are attracted to savers because they think of them as grounded, fiscally responsible individuals. Having both a saver and a spender in a marital partnership can help achieve a good balance. Savers can end up living a miserable existence because they can’t bear to part with any of their money. Spenders can get so deep in debt that they can’t enjoy the things they spent the money on in the first place. There has to be a balance achieved between the two. Savers have to realize that financial security doesn’t demand stashing money in the bank to the exclusion of everything else. Spenders have to realize they can’t just buy anything and everything that they take a fancy to. So don’t despair if your partner has a different financial outlook on life than you. God put you together for a reason!

So what makes one person a free spending spirit and another a frugal saver? In most cases, people simply follow the example of their parents. Financially irresponsible individuals have probably grown up watching their parents make the wrong decisions as well. They simply never learned how to do things the right way. However, regardless of the type of person you are there are some actions you can take to help you get your financial house in order:

Develop a budget
A budget is a good first step in defining financial limits and long-term goals. A detailed budget forces you to balance income with expenses, while allowing you to make adjustments as needed. Constructing a budget should accommodate the needs of both partners, even if one is a spender and the other a saver.

Set long-term goals
Couples often spend more time planning their family vacation than they do discussing their long-term financial goals. So you first need to sit down and agree on your big-picture goals – things like saving up for a down payment on a house, funding a retirement account, or paying off the mortgage ahead of schedule, etc. Then set up a schedule to achieve those goals.

Share decision making
Develop guidelines for making major purchases, starting with how you decide what to buy and when. Going out and buying a big-ticket item without your partner’s knowledge or consent is definitely a recipe for disaster: Decisions on major items should be arrived at jointly – where to go for vacation, what type of new car to buy, etc.

Live on one paycheck
In 2005, 51% of families had both the husband and wife employed outside of the home. However, even with two-incomes many of these couples live paycheck to paycheck with total disregard for the future. Taking this approach can be the beginning of future money problems that can strain your marriage. Saving one of your paychecks can help build-up a nice down payment for a house or the expense of having children or just an emergency fund. You may not always have that second paycheck coming in. So even if you have two incomes, try to get by on only one paycheck and save the other.

Create a wish list
Both you and your spouse should sit down and create a wish list of things they would like to do or have. These items could be regularly occurring (going out to eat once a week) or they could just be one-time events (vacation to Europe). The challenge for the spender is to realize that they can’t immediately have everything on the list. On the other hand, a saver shouldn’t try to force a bare-bones existence on a spender. There should be items on your list that you can compromise on and there should be others that are joint goals that you both want. This is a long-term list and some things you may not be able to achieve for several years, but it will at least give you something to work towards. An additional benefit is that it helps you understand what is important to your partner and what they value the most. You may be surprised that some things that don’t cost that much are actually valued very highly by your spouse.

Have the spender pay the bills
If one person tends to be the spender in the family – have them pay the bills each month. This way they get a better understanding of how much money is going out each month compared to the income you have coming in to pay those expenses. It’s easier to spend money when you never have to worry with how those expenses are paid. If you are the one having paying the bills and you know there isn’t any money in the bank account, hopefully that will be a deterrent for you not to spend the money in the first place.

Set priorities
Spending time with your family should always take priority over trying to earn more money. Nothing can strain a marriage more than having one party always working late into the evening or working weekends just because they want to have more money. Having a higher standard of living isn’t just measured in by the size of your bank account.

Spending allowances
It might be wise to set aside some money each month to feed the spender’s need to burn cash. The amount should be budgeted, but there would be no need to keep track of where the money goes. This satisfies the saver by keeping the spending within limits and gives the spender some “free” money that they can use on anything they want.

Grow Up
There’s a message in your quickly evaporating checking account balance – you’re not a kid anymore! You’ve got to begin thinking about things like a mortgage, insurance, saving for college, retirement, etc. No longer can you afford to buy anything that you take a fancy to. Your responsibilities have to take priority over your wants.

Start Saving
It seems that few people these days actually save any of the money they earn. In fact, beginning in 2005 and continuing into 2006 the U.S. personal savings rate has actually been a negative amount. So collectively, we are spending more money than we earn. This is a very disturbing trend, because just 20 years ago people were saving more than 10% of their income. It’s never a good idea to spend every dollar that you make. Set a reasonable savings goal each month and stick to it, even if it’s only $100 per month. You can even set up automatic deposits from your paycheck.

In conclusion, you and your spouse have many decisions to make, which means plenty of opportunity to disagree with each other. How you’re going to handle your finances is one of those key decisions that you can’t afford to just avoid. The simple truth is that money issues are with us every day. If you aren’t in financial sync, your marriage could be in deep trouble. Harmony in financial matters can help lead to harmony in other aspects of the marriage.

In 2000, Dr. Bruce Wilkinson wrote a book entitled “The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life”.  This small book has become one of the driving forces behind the “prosperity gospel” message that is currently being preached in many Pentecostal and Evangelical churches. 

Dr. Wilkinson’s book and others like it teach that God wants to bless his people with material prosperity.  Those that are currently not receiving these blessings either are not living right or have not learned how to ask for them yet.  As God’s privileged children all we need to do is merely “name it and claim it”.

This book has become tremendously popular due in part to the fact that Christians today are ignorant of the Word of God and what it teaches.  Too many people are simply seeking God’s blessings and not the one that blesses.  They readily believe that God wants us to be blessed materially because he loves us.  They eagerly accept the teaching that since Christ suffered we shouldn’t have to. 

For 3,000 years, nobody even knew who Jabez was.  Now his prayer is recited daily by millions of Christian believers with the false hope that those words will bring material blessings upon their lives as well.  Now it is true that God has promised blessings to his people, but he has also promised suffering.  Below are several points that highlight the fallacies of this book and the “prosperity gospel” it has spawned: 

• Christ did not teach his disciples the prayer of Jabez!  When his disciples came to him and asked him to teach them how to pray, he didn’t refer them back to the prayer of Jabez.  In fact, Jesus continually taught against the dangers of wealth and how difficult it was for a rich man to be saved.  (Matt. 19:24)

• Not only did Christ not pray the prayer of Jabez, but there is no recorded evidence of anyone else using that prayer either.  We have numerous prayers recorded in the Bible by great men and women like Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Esther, etc.  However, none of them prayed the prayer of Jabez.  It is also interesting to note that Dr. Wilkinson doesn’t use Biblical examples as evidence that the prayer of Jabez works for everyone.  He wrote, “How do I know that it will significantly impact you?  Because of my experience and the testimony of hundreds of others around the world with whom I’ve shared these principles.” The Prayer of Jabez, page 11.

• The message of prosperity appeals to an individual’s covetous nature.  This of course explains the tremendous popularity of this book and others similar to it.  Everybody wants to have something for nothing.  Advocates of this “gospel” are fond of Job 42:10 where Job prayed and God gave him twice what he had before.  It’s easy to focus on that single verse and skip over the chapters and chapters of suffering that came before it. 

• Men that were called to be ministers of the gospel are now focusing on a prosperity ministry.  They write books entitled “You Need More Money” and “Godly Materialism”.  This message is continually proclaimed across pulpits, because it is what people want to hear.  The church of the 21^st century is focused on marketing itself to a specific demographic.  They are trying to attract the individuals that grew up in the materialistic craze of the 80’s, then played the stock market in the 90’s and in this decade are living in mansions and driving luxury cars.  This is the demographic that pastors need in order to build the big, mega-churches.  Naturally, these are the same individuals that are attracted to the message that Christians should be financially prosperous.

• This book promises things that the Bible does not.  Dr. Wilkinson remarks in his opening preface, “I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers…I believe it contains the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God….”  Unfortunately, there is no evidence in the Bible that if you say the right prayer that God will always answer you by giving you everything you ask for.  It is also incorrect to infer that just because God answered Jabez’s prayer a certain way that he will answer you if you just use that same words that Jabez did.  Sometimes when you pray a prayer the answer is simply “No”.

• Dr. Wilkinson in this book encourages individuals to read his book, not the Bible.  “…make the Jabez prayer for blessing part of the daily fabric of your life.  To do that, I encourage you to follow unwaveringly the plan outlined here for the next thirty days.  By the end of that time, you’ll be noticing significant changes in your life…. Read the prayer of Jabez every morning…. Reread this little book once each week during the next month….” The Prayer of Jabez, page 86.  However, David said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and I light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105).  If we want God’s blessings, we need to be reading his Word.

• The Lord doesn’t want us to say a repetitious prayer every day.  “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do….” (Matt. 6:7). There is no magical power in saying specific words in a specific order that moves God to answer your prayer.  There is no special mantra that you can chant that will convince the Lord to grant your request.  “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3).

• Many Christians today aren’t doing the things they need to do to be in a position to receive God’s blessings.  It takes a lot more than just repeating a few words each day.  According to Barna Research the proportion of households that tithe their income to their church – that is, give at least ten percent of their income to that ministry – was just 3% of adults during 2002.  If you’re not obeying God’s word in the little things that are required of you, then it won’t matter how often you pray the prayer of Jabez asking for God to bless you.  It probably isn’t going to happen!

• If God isn’t prospering you then something must be wrong.  Either you are not yet aware of his blessings or you have not learned the right prayer yet.  The prophet Jeremiah must not have known about the prayer of Jabez when he asked, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremiah 12:1).  This would indicate that it is often the non-elect that are prospering, not the children of God. 

• Advocates of prosperity teaching often proclaim that Jesus suffered for us so we don’t have to.  Therefore, they claim that Christians are not required to suffer sickness, poverty, or deprivation.  Of course Heb. 11:35-38 depicts a different story, “…being destitute, afflicted, tormented — of whom the world was not worthy.”

God does offering blessings to His people.  However, these blessings do not always come in the form of financial prosperity.  “…a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”  (Luke 12:15).  The Lord certainly doesn’t want us to be constantly asking for material blessings.  Any material blessings we can ask for in this life fall far short of the wonderful blessings that he has in store for us.