Goal Setting for Real Progress

New year, new you, right? We’ve all made New Year’s resolutions filled with lofty aspirations, only to find ourselves feeling defeated by February. You’re not alone. Setting goals that are too ambitious often leads to disappointment and discouragement, leaving us hesitant to even try again. Most of it is bull crap. If you’re nodding in understanding, then join the club.

The problem, often, lies in our approach to goal setting. We aim for the stars, only to land in mediocrity, or worse, give up altogether. It’s time to break the cycle of unrealistic expectations and set goals that are more realistic, sustainable, and lead to actual progress rather than disappointment.

Be Realistic

Remember Henry Ford’s words, “Fail to plan. Plan to fail.” Setting goals that are wildly out of reach is a recipe for discouragement. Instead, focus on incremental steps, small victories that build momentum and keep you motivated. Want to run a marathon? Start with a walk around the block. Aiming for a promotion? Focus on exceeding expectations in your current role. Remember, progress, not perfection, is the key.

Activity Based Goals vs. Outcome Based

Often, we get caught up in desired outcomes, “I want to lose 10 pounds,” or “I want a corner office.” But focusing solely on outcomes can leave us feeling directionless. Instead, shift your focus to activity-based goals. “I will walk 3 times a week,” or “I will take one online course relevant to my career goals.” Activity-based goals define the steps you’ll take, making the journey itself the focus, not just the distant finish line. This shift in perspective keeps you engaged and motivated, celebrating each step towards your ultimate goal.

Leave Room for the Unexpected

Life is a messy, unpredictable thing. Clogging your schedule with to-dos and commitments leaves no space for the unexpected, the spontaneous adventures, the moments of connection that make life truly meaningful. Schedule some buffer time, some white space in your calendar where the unexpected can unfold. Remember, sometimes the most valuable goals are the ones that emerge organically from the space we create for them. Meaningful conversations with loved ones and adapting to life’s curveballs are just as important as achieving your goals

Include Fun Goals

Let’s face it, all work and no play makes for a pretty dull year. Make sure your goal list isn’t solely composed of career aspirations and fitness routines. Include fun! Plan a weekend getaway with friends, learn a new hobby, join a book club. Prioritize activities that bring you joy and connect you with the people you love. Including these in your goals and plans will prevent burnout and keep you energized for the long haul.

Conclusion

Goal setting isn’t about reaching some impossible ideal. It’s about creating a roadmap for progress, a framework for intentional living. By setting realistic, activity-based goals, leaving room for the unexpected, and making sure to include some fun, you’ll be setting yourself up for a year of meaningful growth, not just empty promises. So, grab your notebook, ditch the pressure, and get excited about the journey of setting goals for real progress. Remember, the best goals are the ones that make you feel alive, not just exhausted. Happy goal setting!

3 Reasons to Be Hung Up on Stewardship

Why am I so hung up on stewardship? Nobody has ever asked that directly, but I often feel like some of the comments and attitudes aimed in my direction are dancing all around that question.  So here are three quick reasons I get hung up on stewardship.

1 – Our life is not our own.

Living my life to bring honor to God, managing Gods blessing Gods way for Gods glory (as Chris Brown says it) – whatever you want to call it if we claim to be followers of Jesus then we should be stewarding everything in our life for Him. I’ve seen how financial stewardship affects my own walk with Jesus and I don’t ever want to let being a poor steward hinder my faith. AND I want other Christians to experience the same peace and joy in their walk with Him.

2 – We’re called to share the gospel.

The gospel itself is an act of generosity where Jesus gave His life for our sins. We’re supposed to share it by how we live it. The early church shared Gods love through extravagant acts of generosity and people were so blown away they knew there was something different about followers of Jesus and they wanted to experience it. Being generous requires being good stewards. Sadly not enough of us have let the 2350 money/possession related verses in the bible get into our head and hearts deep enough for our behavior to demonstrate our belief in those scriptures. The world is watching and our generosity is the gospel for a lot of the world. I don’t have to be the one leading people through the prayer for salvation to know that how I steward my resources is part of their experience with the gospel.

3 – Ministry costs money.

A lot of people are vocational ministers and evangelists and, as the body of Christ, it is our responsibility to take care of the needs of those vocations as well as the needs of the ministry organizations they work for. God’s church has to be funded and that requires the diligent stewardship and generosity of His people. We often hear “God doesn’t need your money” followed by “it’s not about what God wants from you but for you” etc. That’s true. God’s plan is gonna happen either way, but shouldn’t we want to be a part of it anyway?

So the short answer is that teaching financial stewardship is part of my calling for spreading the gospel.  If the reasons above aren’t good enough to get every Christian a little bit hung up on stewardship shouldn’t we be concerned why not?

One Way to Keep Our Heart Believing

It doesn’t matter whether we’re long-time Christians or brand new, when life gets difficult and money is tight it is only natural to question things with regard to biblical stewardship.  We wonder if it’s ok to not give, or to give less, even if only for a little while.  We don’t even flinch at the thought of stopping our saving (if we were doing any to start with).  When it comes to spending we might wonder if it’s ok to still spend on this or that non-essential thing while we’re in tough times.  The struggle is real, and the juggling act of decisions is difficult.

As we seek direction from the word we find scriptures to remind us that giving is first and it is an act of faith and obedience.  We can also find that the purpose for that obedience is not just to follow rules but to act on our profession of faith in God the owner and provider of everything.  Here’s an example of that reminder for me.

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:10 (NIV)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:21 (NIV)

Believing with our heart is where our faith starts.  Professing it with our mouth is how we are saved.  Acting on that belief and profession includes the choices we make with our treasure.

Believing is one thing, professing is salvation, but to maintain a big audacious faith in the loving God that forgives our sins and saves our souls we have to ask ourselves some tough questions.  Whether things are good or bad or ugly, where is our faith?  Do we really believe with our heart or was our profession all talk?

We have to stand firm on something or we’ll give in to anything.  One way to keep our heart believing when the enemy challenges our faith is to keep our treasure professing that our faith is in God.

The Generosity Effect of Gravity CEO Decision to Pay $70K

Over a year ago the CEO of Gravity Payments, Dan Price, made the decision to raise the minimum pay for every employee to $70k while reducing his own pay to $70k.  It sparked a huge debate with polarizing opinions ranging from ‘brilliant’ to ‘idiot’ with a full array of doubt and interesting circumstances in between.  I’m not interested in being a part of that debate, but I do want to point out what I saw when the decision was made and what I see now over a year later.

Here’s what I posted on Facebook when I read about the decision last year, because I believe when you take care of people they take care of others, and this case helps prove that point (screenshot linked to article):

Gravity CEO Announces Minimum Pay $70K for Employees

Again, I don’t want to be part of the debate.  We can argue that $70k is a crazy amount of money to pay certain roles or that ‘$70k is nothing in Silicon Valley.  Apparently, going by all the noisy articles that ensued this decision, there’s a lot of detailed circumstances everyone could argue.  I don’t care about all that noise.   My point in posting this has nothing to do with the arguments and everything to do with the effect of valuing people and leading by example.

Here’s what the employees did for Dan Price because of his decision to pay them well. (article)

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Again, we could get hung up on thoughts about circumstances or say things like, “It’s easy to make decisions like Dan if we’re going to get something in return”.  But I’d be willing to bet that Gravity employees are more generous to people all around them than they were when they were being squeezed by the common practice of paying the most qualified people the least possible amount for the purpose of increasing profits – a practice that is a downfall of leadership in this world.  If Dan Price is as good a leader as his example of generosity suggests he might be, then I bet he is as happy to see how others are being blessed as he is to receive this blessing the employees gave him (well, maybe not AS happy, but at least happy).

 

Strengthened Faith Through Finances

It’s been a long time since I shared a keeping-it-real update of our financial journey, so I want to use this post to fill in a little bit of that gap. God is always at work – let me tell you…

In October of 2013 a side gig, a business I helped launch and worked with as an outside contractor for 5 years, came to a fork in the road that resulted in an abrupt ending.  The back-story is a long one and there’s no reason to go into too much detail for the purpose of this post. It was a wild ride full of lots of adventure and learning, and I loved it.  The parting of ways was painful not only emotionally, but financially as well.

A lot of reflection on lessons learned has helped us grow in so many ways, and clarity comes with time and patience and willingness to have open eyes to see the big picture as it unfolds.  We now realize that the Fall of 2013 was the beginning of a two year chapter in our financial life.

You see, right before the parting fork in the road situation, something very significant in mine and my wife’s journey had just taken place. We had asked God to show us what He wanted us to give generously (above tithing), and He answered. It was more than we had ever committed, but we committed it anyway – to God and to our church.

We made that commitment literally a matter of a week or two before the unfortunate parting of ways with the business. The business wasn’t a huge source of income, but it was a source of income significant enough to impact our ability to fulfill the commitment we had made.

A few months later an opportunity arose to sell our house and move into one more accommodating of our growing children’s needs. It was another test of faith. Either God wanted that move to happen or I didn’t come up with enough ‘only if’ contingencies for Him to perfectly align.  It HAD to be God because everything aligned just as we asked for it to.

A year passed and work was going ok. We were adjusting well to the new housing, and our generosity plan was coming together nicely despite the loss of side-business income. Because of the pay structure from my full-time job, the plan was to save monthly toward what we committed to give during 2014 and then give it all during 2015 on a monthly schedule. We had a plan and we believed it was God’s will.

Some months it was extremely difficult to save money for the purpose of giving it away, but we did it anyway. The plan was working. We began to realize that God will provide a way to do what He wants us to do as long as we are willing to take steps of faith and make choices of sacrifice. It is always encouraging to not only trust that God is with us but to see and feel His hand in the things happening around us and in our hearts.

The end of 2014 rolled around, business was so-so, but our resolve was strong. We were still on track with our plan. The beginning of 2015 rolled around. It was time to start giving on the monthly schedule according to the original plan. Everything was working out fine for the first three months, and then life got crazy.

Our 36yr old brother in law suddenly and unexpectedly passed away and rocked our entire families’ world. Then the company I was working for suddenly and unexpectedly went out of business. Then my wife’s grandfather died. All this happened in a two week period of time. We were emotionally down for the count AND had no income.

Between the business fallout, deaths in the family and loss of job, I had what some would consider good reason to be hurt, confused, and angry at God. I had what some would consider a good reason to back out on the giving commitment we had made. But I’m not a child of God only when I’m good. I’m a child of God ALL the time. He is with me and never forsakes me even when I don’t deserve it. How could I be for Him and obedient to Him only when things are good? So we did not lose heart. We did not back out on our commitment.

For two and a half months we had no job income, but we gave. For two months we watched our savings deplete in large sums, but we gave. And for two months we watched God pour out blessings all around us, while we gave. Friends, family, and members of our community, some who we barely know, rallied around us and contributed to our needs. We didn’t miss a single meal, and we didn’t miss a single bill. We were able to complete the giving commitment exactly as planned, and we’d go through it all over again knowing the outcome now.

All that roller coaster of events could be simply explained as life happening, but I believe it was meant to strengthen our faith. God honors our faith and trust in Him, and He always has good plans, often times plans we cannot foresee. The plans He has for our generosity is not only for the good that can be done for others with that generosity. It is also for the good that it does in our own heart and life. Our intimacy with God is deepened. Our faith is strengthened. He is made stronger through our weakness.

 

When Feeling It Is Too Late

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For years my financial friends and I have beaten our heads against the wall over and over again because of one simple question: “What do we do to teach young people how to start off on the right track with money earlier rather than later?”  It sounds like a simple question, but it is complicated as…well, it’s just very complicated.  But I can’t let it go.  I have to do something.

The idea is to help young people avoid the mistakes many of us make as we enter adulthood clueless about money because we know that avoiding those mistakes can set people up for accelerated success in life.  I know the argument against this idea.  “Kids aren’t interested in learning about money because they don’t have any”, or, “they don’t have any responsibility yet”, or, “they don’t want to hear about it.”  I’ve got a response to all of that, but first I’ll agree with the fact that many people, maybe even most, are still going to have to learn the hard way.  For whatever reason they won’t listen, or they’ll disregard the timeless wisdom, or they’ll simply make mistakes.  We all make mistakes, just some of us worse than others.

Now for my responses to those typical reasons why we shouldn’t bother teaching young people about money:

Do we give teens a license and keys to a car without making them first prove they know how to drive?  Do we give them a gun without teaching them how to shoot it, a knife without showing them how to handle it safely?  I know those are extreme leading questions, so how about one a little less dramatic.  Does the YMCA let kids go down the water slide just because they want to, or do they make them prove they can swim so they don’t drown?  Why do we reason that it’s ok to let young people mismanage money to the point of drowning in debt before we teach them how to swim?

It isn’t a matter of whether or not they have any money.  They WILL have money one day, and that day might come sooner if we teach them how to be trusted with money.

It isn’t a matter of whether or not they have responsibility.  They WILL have responsibilities one day (unless they’re never expected to grow up and move out), and again that day might come sooner if we teach them that earning trust with money requires responsibility.

It isn’t a matter of whether or not they want to hear it.  They don’t want to hear “save sex for marriage” either, but we tell them to anyway.  It’s a matter of telling them what they NEED to hear, not just what they WANT to hear.

Let me be clear that I completely understand learning financial management is not as high a priority for teens as other issues are, such as actually having a relationship with Jesus, developing the discipline to follow Him, dealing with peer pressure, sexual temptation, drugs, depression, etc etc etc.  There’s a long list of things that I’ve heard referred to as “felt” needs for teens, meaning those needs are much more pressing matters in the present than something that’s in the future.  Trust me, I get it.  Believe it or not, I was a teen once upon a time, and with young teens of my own, I’m seeing their struggles more every day.  BUT, that doesn’t make learning to manage money any less important, and it certainly doesn’t  mean I’m leaving my kids’ knowledge of money management to chance.

The problem with waiting to address issues when they’re “felt” needs is that by the time most things are a “felt” need it is already too late.  They’re already having sex.  They’re already giving in to peer pressure.  They’re already playing around with drugs.  They’re already suffering from depression, etc etc etc.

I recently asked an actual college student when he thought is the right time to make sure students are taught financial management.  He said, “No later than junior or senior year in high school, because if you wait any longer than that it’s probably too late for most people (because of the student loans, credit cards, and for some even car loans that students begin to pile on in college).”  So basically even this young man in that stage of life understands that it is better to be equipped to make wise decisions before being in the stage of life rather than being told later on that the decisions they’ve already made are a problem.  These young people aren’t stupid, and they don’t appreciate being treated like they are.  If they’re like me they’ll one day reach a point in their life where they ask the question, “Why didn’t anyone teach us this stuff in school or why didn’t our parents teach us, OR why couldn’t they teach us this stuff at church?”

If we would talk about money with young people more, I guarantee many of them understand the “felt” need more than we give them credit for, because they’ve watched their parents suffer through one of the toughest economic recessions in history.  I guarantee they would understand that waiting until financial management is a “felt” need typically means someone is already in way over their head in debt and other poor financial choices and habits.  But they won’t understand that if we aren’t talking about it.

Teaching our kids about money is part of our responsibility as parents, as the ones gifted with the opportunity to disciple our kids to be the best living example of Jesus they can be to the world who needs hope.  My kids accepted Jesus as Lord and savior at an early age and adopted the belief that God’s word is truth that provides guidance for how we live our life.  I want them to understand ALL of God’s principles so they can apply them to how they live at any stage of life.

I am far from a perfect parent.  My wife and I are struggling every day to raise our kids the way we feel God has called us to.  The last thing I want to do is come across like I’m some sort of parenting expert.  But please hear me out.  We do everything we can to not only recognize what our kids are dealing with now but to also look ahead and see what they’re going to be dealing with next.  We know there are multiple stages and phases of life for our kids, and we don’t want to be so overwhelmed with fixing what’s now that we can’t prepare them for what’s next.

Teaching young people about money is also part of our responsibility as a church.  It pains me, literally drives me nuts, that we as a church, in general, are sending young people off into the “real world” to earn and manage money on their own with little to no knowledge of financial stewardship.  I know that regardless of what we might teach them they’re going to make mistakes, but they might make fewer or less severe mistakes if we taught them.  I know that generally speaking there are so many young people that need to be reached with the gospel that it doesn’t make sense to teach them financial stewardship.  But what about the hundreds of thousands of them who DO claim to follow Jesus but they’re living according to the world instead of the word with regard to money?  THOSE are the ones we’re called to disciple, as a church, to not only proclaim the gospel but to also live by the word of God in a way that makes their example a proclamation of the gospel.

We all know that God fearing people raised in church are usually more likely to be moral and productive citizens as adults.  Yet it is no secret in church-world that “the last thing people typically surrender to God is their wallet”.  We’ll lie, cheat, steal, and murder before we’ll surrender that to God.  It is astounding that we don’t see the correlation more clearly.  Lack of surrender in one thing leads to lack of surrender in all things.

Do we really believe as a church that we learn that sinful lack of financial surrender as adults?  Do we really believe that the only way to change that sinful lack of surrender is to wait until it is a “felt” need?

It is time to start instilling the discipline and direction all Christians need to fulfill our purpose in Christ earlier in our walk with Him rather than later.  There is no better time to build that foundation for early age Christians than when we are young and don’t yet have the obstacles of adult responsibilities to constantly challenge our faith and compromise our complete surrender.  It is time to stop being so satisfied with “it’s never too late” and be more excited about “it’s never too early.”  The “never too late” mentality is for people who are ok with being late to start with.  The “never too early” is for people who know the power of having a head start.

Anything built on a foundation that has huge gaps in it will be weak when storms come over time.  What if the fire and desire young Christians have for pursuing Jesus is coupled with discipleship that builds a strong and complete foundation for their faith to grow on?  Imagine the impact Christians can have over the course of their life if their foundation of faith is complete with financial stewardship from the beginning rather than being burdened with filling the gap when it becomes a problem.

Every now and then we hear a story of a small group of youth taking steps to sacrifice their own financial needs or desires in order to provide a blessing to others.  What if instead of hearing about only a small few we started seeing the movement of many in that direction?  What if instead of only a select minority of wealthy young people learning to manage money well into early adulthood we saw an entire generation of young people already free from financial pitfalls and poised to change the world?

The current generation of young people making their way into adulthood and taking on the “real world” is a generation that is passionate about doing things that make a difference.  They care about causes that make the world a better place.  But they are just as clueless about financial stewardship as the generation before them and the generation before them and the generation before them, all the way up to the current baby boomers who are retiring broke.  The rising generation will have an exponentially greater impact if we teach them to be better financial stewards sooner.

I’m not sure what else can be said to make this point more clearly.  We can agree that teaching financial stewardship to entire youth groups might not be the most pressing need in general.  But for the young people claiming to follow Jesus, there is no reason to wait because being a Christian includes being a financial steward.  It’s up to us to equip them for the road that lies ahead.  They might not be ready to apply it now, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give them what they need to apply it later.

The greatest challenge my financial friends and I have had over the years is not the challenge of making money management interesting or relevant to young people.  It isn’t the challenge of helping young people see the need in their future.  The greatest challenge we’ve faced is getting the adults making decisions about what the young people are taught to provide the opportunity for them to hear.  Parents obviously aren’t doing a great job teaching it.  Schools barely teach it or don’t at all.  The same is true of colleges and universities.  And then there’s the church, the one collective group of people that has the most timeless financial wisdom in the world, the best money book ever written, the Bible.  But we are only teaching financial stewardship when it’s too late.  As a brother in Christ, I ask you, what can we do to change that?

Money Management Marathon – Part 3 – Embrace the Present

A first time marathon runner’s account of his experience details how he had to keep his focus on one step at a time to finish the race:

“On the way up this long hill between miles 20-22, I began to see fellow racers struggling. Some of them began to stumble and fall back while others had to drop out completely…”

The runner also stated that he knew there would be another difficult hill between miles 23-25, and he began worrying about whether or not he would be able to make it. As soon as the runner started worrying about what was down the road he started losing focus on taking the steps right in front of him. He recalls zoning out for a period of time:

“I have no idea how I lost the memory of miles 22-24… I finally knew I was going to finish. Until that point, I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not. But, at that moment, I knew, and I was filled with a calm and a joy that only those that have been there can possibly understand. I was going to finish a marathon, and there was absolutely nothing that could stand in my way.”

How was he able to zone out for 2 miles of the race? His training kicked in and he was on autopilot. His discipline was paying off. He also mentioned people who passed him, but all he could do is shrug it off and keep moving forward. He didn’t lose his mind and start trying to keep up with them. He was content to finish the race at his own pace. All he had to do in that moment was take one step at a time – embrace the present.

Managing money almost always feels like a marathon, and the reality of life is the money marathon never really ends until we die. The challenge we all face in finishing well financially is being prepared for the future without worrying in the present. Preparing involves awareness, discipline and contentment. Worrying involves fear.

Matthew 6:25-27 reminds us that we shouldn’t worry about what we have or don’t have now or in the future because it has no bearing on whether or not God will provide what we need to fulfill his purpose for us. All we can control is our discipline, our contentment, and our belief that God will give us at least what we need in the future; that shouldn’t be so hard to believe since we already have what He’s given us to take one step at a time in the present.

What are your worries and fears about the future of your finances?  How do you overcome those worries and fears to continue taking one step at a time?

Money Management Marathon – Part 2 – Embrace Contentment

Every distance runner knows that maintaining pace is critical. Good distance runners know when they should hold their pace steady and when they should push it faster. Based on their countless hours of training they know what their rhythm of energy is and how they perform in varying conditions.

It does no good to push the pace to the first place position only to pass out short of the finish line. Marathon runners know that no matter who is doing better than them or how bad they want to win, finishing the race is more important than how well they place. One of the things I admire about the running community, in general, is the attitude of finishing over winning. If you win, great. If you finish, you’re part of a community that is content with finishing and supportive of one another.

I’m not a great distance runner. My idea of running a race is sprinting 50-100 yards. In school, I played sports that involved sprinting more than pacing. So I’m still trying to get better at distance running.

When I’m on a run or in a distance event with friends I tend to try and compensate for my lack of training by making up time on the downhill sections of a run. They always warn me, “You might think that is a good idea but you’ll realize how much energy you’re spending when you get to the next uphill.” They’re right every single time. I have yet to figure out how to control my pace and build up my endurance to a sustainable level that helps me win, but I’ve learned to be content with finishing.

The way we manage money should be a lot like the way marathon runners manage their pace. We might not have everything we want or do better than anyone else, but we all should be content. There will without a doubt be good times and bad in our finances, and how much it affects us depends greatly on the state of contentment in our mind.

Philippians 4:12-13 teaches us to be content whether we have plenty or not, and that the way we have that contentment is to trust God the provider. The problem is we get ourselves so worked up with wanting more and more for pleasure, comfort, or comparison. We allow the marketing of our consumer driven culture to control our level of peace and contentment with the constant reminders of what we don’t have. This is a struggle for us all W.ether we’re savers or spenders, we never seem to be content with what we have whether it’s savings or stuff.

It’s time to make peace with our own pace and be content with what we have (Hebrews 13:5). The best way to increase our contentment here on earth is to increase our belief in and desire for treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

Money Management Marathon – Part 1 – Embrace Discipline

If you’ve ever known someone who has finished a marathon you might have an idea of what extreme discipline looks like. Marathon runners consistently train with high levels of intentional planning and diligence. They begin a training regimen months ahead of a race or event, and they have to stick to the plan to finish the race well.

A few years ago my wife and I ran a half marathon. When we signed up for the event we had a plan to train very consistently and diligently, but along the way my wife got sick. While she wasn’t feeling well we fell off the training regimen and never fully got back on it. Needless to say, race day was painful. We did manage to finish, but not nearly as well as we might have had we persevered through the training. It wasn’t that we finished slow. It was we finished extremely sore.

There are many areas of life that we have to develop discipline for in order to finish well as God calls us to. Hebrews 12:1-11 teaches us to overcome everything that hinders us and to run with perseverance the race set out before us. One of the many challenges of life we have to learn to persevere is managing finances.

Overcoming challenges in our finances is much easier when we train with discipline to manage money according to God’s instructions. Our future performance in the race of life depends on how disciplined we are today. Here are a couple of things we can all do to be more disciplined in how we manage money:

Have a budget, and stick to it. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” This is a simple instruction to have a plan (aka budget). Simply spend less than you make and include giving and saving in the plan. The trick to budgeting is not the math. It’s the discipline.

Give, save, and spend wisely. We all know we’re called to be generous and I believe most of us truly have the desire to be, but so often we fall short in saving and spending wisely and create a cycle of scarcity that hinders our generosity. We can never stress enough the importance of saving and spending wisely. Keep this verse in mind as you practice the daily discipline of saving and spending wisely. Proverbs 21:20 says, “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but falls gulp theirs down.” We can’t continue to consume everything we have and not save for whatever God’s future plans for us may hold.

Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” When it comes to finances that righteousness and peace comes in the form of generosity and contentment that are developed over time as we are daily disciplined in our management of money.

How are you doing staying disciplined and sticking to a monthly plan for your finances?

All Inclusive Budget Tool

Today I’m excited to share a new tool with anyone who it might help with the task of managing finances.

Proverbs 21:5 simply states “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” That very clear verse is one of many instructions in the bible that is a basis for our belief that we should have a plan for our finances. It is the basis for budgeting.

I believe one very important detail that is missing from many peoples’ plan is the diligence of tracking the performance of the plan – or the execution. It’s important to know exactly how our plans are working so we know whether or not the plan needs to be tweaked or our behavior needs to be modified. Telling every dollar where to go on paper is only as effective to our financial progress as our actual telling every dollar where to go in reality, and the only way to know if we’re doing a good job is to diligently track that reality. Nothing is more frustrating about financial planning than having a plan and wondering why it isn’t working.  Unless there is a measurement of execution we can’t identify problems with the plan.

There are many tools in the form of softwares or apps available for budgeting and tracking reality. However, many of the people we coach are not using those tools, and when we were hitting rock bottom with our finances we weren’t either. The most effective method of managing financial details for my family and many others has been to simply use a spreadsheet. The only problem is there aren’t many spreadsheets out there that offer a great way to track actual performance along with the budget. For years myself and many other financial coaches using spreadsheets have not had a great way to also coach people to track transactions without referring them to some other app they’re not likely to use. A couple of years ago I posted a solution to this problem, and now it’s getting upgraded, but it is still as simple as a spreadsheet.  Here it is:

All Inclusive Budget Tool (click to download)

There are instructions (that will probably change along the way) inside the spreadsheet. There are extra sheets for tracking debt snowball progress, another for the impact of interest on debt, and others for non-monthly expense planning, and another for mini-budget (special occasion planning). I’ve been calling this an all-inclusive tool because it truly does give most people a place to manage the most common financial details. My hope and prayer is that it serves you well in planning and diligence.