This world is not my home

The Paradox of Pressure

Have you ever had that feeling that something was wrong? That feeling that you have forgotten something important combined with the feeling that remembering what it was will only make you feel worse; a growing anxiety that just lingers without a direct cause.

I have had a week like that. I don’t know exactly why but there is a tension in my heart and mind that is causing me to feel heavy. I can feel the pressure rising inside of me.

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where the wind blows...: my beloved skandalon

Fishers of Men – Part 2

Despite my previous comments about my poor fishing results I would like to give you are short fishing lesson as it relates to the core business of the church…

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Wedding Sermons - Part 6

This is part 6 of my weddings sermons blogs. If you missed the previous 5 you can find them here:

Part 1 - Toby & Brooke Pearson

Part 2 - CJ & Ellen Sautelle

Part 3 - Steve & Kat Kellie

Part 4 - Colin & Gemma White

Part 5 - Jeremy & Kirrily Burnett

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Jonathon and Natalie’s Wedding

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Fishers of Men – Part 1

I really enjoy fishing but I would be lying if I said I was a great fisherman. I have had many days where I sat sunburnt and freezing, wet and dehydrated, hungry and lonely in a dingy little inflatable kayak for 6 hours and caught nothing.  Every now and then I have gotten lucky and caught a great fish but not as often as I would like. Over the years though, one thing keeps standing out to me as I research fishing.

10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish.

It has also occurred to me that this 10% always know what they are going to catch before they catch it. I am still a pretty average fisherman but I have begun to understand the key difference between an average fisherman and a great fisherman…

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Talitha's thoughts on Christmas

Financial Management

Last week Rob Holmes and I shared some of our ideas about money. If you want to read over some of the things Rob shared here is a link to an article he recently wrote called ‘Kingdom Finances.’

In this blog I will be listing the 13 principles that I shared on Wednesday. These are a set of principles, not a set of practices. By that I mean they are ideas about money, not rules. Under different circumstances and for different people the best option may conflict with these principles but generally speaking I believe these ideas represent some wisdom about financial management.

Many Christians have a warped view of money. Some think being wealthy is sinful whilst others think that being poor is sinful. I think a theology that demands God to bless us financially is a silly theology. I don’t believe anyone that says I will get rich if I give THEM all my money. That is just plain foolish. I don’t think that poverty is a universal sign of a spiritual person though either. If a person can manage their money well and live a generous life they shouldn’t be accused of being less spiritual.

I am not a super rich guy but I believe that these principles have allowed me to manage my resources in a wise, prudent and generous way. I would encourage you to seek genuine financial advice if you are planning to make significant financial decisions. That said, I hope these ideas help you to have a broader understanding about how to manage your money and make wise decisions about your future savings, investments and cash flow.

If you are unsure about some of the terms in this article I wholehearted recommend reading this blog by Jeremy Burnett as he explains the financial language we discussed during our meeting last week.

I hope that these ideas will help you to make some great decisions that lead to healthy relationships, abundant generousity and financial security in your future.

1. Don’t pretend that you don’t care about money. If you didn’t care about money you would quit your job. We all care about money, the question is, are you going to be wise or foolish with your money; generous or stingy. Not thinking about it or intentionally ignoring it is not an honest representation of the value that you place on money.


2. Have a game plan and play on the same team. This is true for individuals but even more for couples. For couples it is really important to work together for your financial success. You need to have an agreed game plan for how you will give, save, invest and spend. If you don’t have an agreed plan you are setting yourself up for conflict.
   
   
3. Cash is king. It’s not about how much money you make; it’s about how much money you keep. It is possible to be asset rich but also be so poor you cannot eat. Quality of life is all about cash flow management. If you buy expensive things that create expenses for you to maintain (even assets like a car or a house) you ultimately have no freedom because you will need to keep working to pay for them. How much of your income do you get to keep/invest/spend after you pay your expenses? Make sure you do not need to go further into debt (especially credit card debt) to pay your expenses or simply live. Good cash flow is crucial to good money management.
   
   
4. Avoid upgrading your life. Live simply and don’t give into the temptation to follow the patterns of this world. A pay rise should not immediately mean an increase in expenses. By living a simpler life and taking on less expenses you give yourself more freedom to invest in the things that really matter like your family, community, ministry and hobbies. Pick a standard of living that you think is right and try not to upgrade your life… Even if you get more cash flow. If you can do this you will become wealthy much sooner (have a look at point 6 to understand how I define wealth).
   
   
5. Learn how to downgrade your life (expenses). In this time of financial crisis more and more people are struggling to make ends meet. We need to learn how to reduce our expenses. We need to learn how to live in a more humble way. This is especially true if you are moving out of home for the first time. It is most likely that you will not be able to afford all the things your parents provided for you when you lived at home. Learn how to downgrade your expenses and save some money.
   
   
6. Wealth is when our assets generate enough income to pay for our expenses. When we are wealthy we no longer need to work to survive – we are free to do as we please. Wealth is when we have financial freedom and life freedom to spend our time how we want to. It is possible to have a massive pay check and still not be wealthy; you can be rich but not wealthy. If you choose to live a humble life you can achieve wealth much sooner. I know I would rather a humble life and the freedom to do whatever I want with my time than a very luxurious life that means I have to work long hours for many years just to pay for it.
   
   
7. Make your money work for you. Every pay check put aside money to invest in your future. Every dollar you put aside will work 24 hours a day to make you more money. Don’t ‘dip into your savings’; once you put money aside as an asset never take it out, it is your employee.
   
   
8. Keep a wish list. When you find something that you want write it down and check again in a month to see if you still want it. This will help you to avoid impulse purchases. It also helps you stay accountable to your spending. If you get to the end of the month and you have 50 things on your list… Pick one or two things instead of spending all of your extra cash. If you can stay disciplined with your spending you won’t need to work as much to pay for everything.
   
   
9. Good assets create income not expenses. A car may be considered an asset by the bank but in reality it is losing capital value everyday (it is depreciating rapidly) and it is expensive to maintain, register and insure. All things considered a car costs you money; it does not make you money. So even though it is an asset on paper, in truth it is an expense each month.
   
   
10. Never use credit to buy a depreciating asset (this is bad debt). I call this bad debt because you couldn’t actually payout the loan if you sold the asset. The car in the previous point is a depreciating asset. I think it is unwise to use credit to buy things that are becoming less valuable. If you can’t actually afford to pay cash for something you probably can’t afford it right now. Buying things simply to keep up with the Jones’ or to look rich will ruin your cash flow and often leave you with bad debts. If you really want to buy something earn it first.
    
    
11. Pay of your credit card and high interest debts. Minimum repayments are good for the bank not you. Minimum repayments will stop you getting fined but they will keep you paying off your debt for as long as possible. The longer it takes to pay off your debt, the larger the amount of interest you will pay.  If you owe $3000 at 20% interest and pay it off at $100 per month it will take you 41.93 months (about 3.5 years) and cost you $1193.44 in interest.  If you owe $3000 at 20% interest and pay it off at $277.90 per month it will take you 12 months and cost you $334.80 in interest.  If you find yourself with some extra money don’t just spend it, use it to reduce your debt. If you have $500 from some extra work you could lower your debt. In the second example shown above (paying the debt off over 12 months) reducing the debt by $500 at the beginning reduces the monthly payments to $231.59 and reduces the overall interest payments by $55.72.
    
    
12. Invest in things with intrinsic value. It is important to weigh the financial cost of emotional investments and honestly decide if it is worth it. Sentimental value can’t be resold. If you are looking for investments the goal is probably to make money so look for things that will increase in value faster than the average; things with intrinsic value. E.g. look for property with good views, close proximity to schools, golf courses, beach front etc.
    
    
13. Buy things once. When you need to buy something, buy a quality product that will last the distance or you will simply need to buy it again. Buying something twice is almost always going to cost more than buying the right product the first time.