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My Financial Status – What could I have done differently? What can I do practically, now? How do I NOT spend money? Motivation to not spend money. How can I have True Financial Freedom? How can I handle this? Is this you? I’ve lost most of my money, my retirement, my house, my investments, all I’ve set aside for my family. Anything that is remaining doesn’t seem like enough to sustain us for the many years I had hoped and planned for it. What could I have done differently? Stock markets, mortgage fluctuation, bank crashes, companies going bankrupt, food and gas prices going up, etc.… all of these are beyond one person’s control. Pondering, criticizing, and blaming yourself over and over again for the negative financial outcome of your financial portfolio is futile. It can not bring your money back. It is only destructive to you personally. Do Not live in the past. Do not blame and condemn yourself for forces not within your realm of influence. (Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:1-29)
What can I do practically, now? Several things! How can I handle this? Learn from it. Watch the signs of the times. Watch the indicators for good and ill. Watch, look, observe, and discern. Then with wise judgment you can move accordingly. You may think - I did all that. I followed all the gurus’ advice. The whole globe is in this condition. What do you mean?? Fact - The economy is volatile and unpredictable. Many financial indicators are hidden, such as the lying and cheating within the stock market, inside trading, false accounting papers of major corporations where stealing occurs, deception of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government official taking bribes and hiding information, thus refusing to protect their constituency, and worse. Logic – There are obvious indicators of a good healthy economy as well as obvious indicators of unhealthy economy. Indicators of a good healthy economy can be seen in a society which produces products beneficial to a healthy society. Goods and services which feed, clothe, shelter, and maintain healthy lives and relationships. A healthy economy is fueled by people of good character. Honesty, lack of greed and covetousness, people living without debt, unselfish and productive people are its backbone. Self-sacrifice, care for an excellent product and service hallmark a healthy society. Indicators of an unhealthy economy can be seen in a society which produces products detrimental or not beneficial to society. Goods and services which are primarily pleasure serving, such as gambling, entertainment and fun of all sorts, serving the sensual pleasures of lust, greed, covetousness, drugs, alcohol, porn, sex trafficking, terrorism, violence, and more. With these focuses, materialism increases causing debt to rise due to the increased void of wholesome heart-caring relationships. Eventually it all spirals into poverty since no life can be sustained by pleasure. Self-centeredness and demanding human natures hallmark this unhealthy society.
What can I do practically, now? Several things – Do not spend money you do not have. Only spend money for items you need to survive, such as food, modest shelter and clothing. If you are overweight, now is a good time to fast (Joel 2:12, Matt 6:16-18, Philippians 3:18-21, Proverbs 23:21),lose weight and save money on food. Cut out smoking, drinking, carousing, vanities (Ecclesiastes), and non-essentials. Do spend time and effort smelling wild flowers in the countryside, watching children play and join them in their joy of life. Wonder at the clouds and see what shapes you see in them. Gaze at the stars and consider their splendor. Ponder the "great things the LORD has done." Deuteronomy 11:7, Psalm 71:19, Psalm 126:3, Philippians 3:8, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Romans 5:1-5. ALL Barter, trading goods and services with others. Take a walk and speak kindly to others. Smile often, even if you don’t feel like it. Your smile will rub off onto others, and then return to you in joy. Be a friend, so you are making friends. "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24 Have a yard or garage sale. Give away things for free which you do not need and would bless others. Thank people often for small acts of kindness or service. Garner an attitude of gratitude. (Psalm 28:7, 1 Corinthians 15:57, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Philippians 4:4, Nehemiah 8:10) Keep perspective – Do not worry. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. Psalm 47:8 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. Psalm 45:6 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89:2 Grow closer to God by trusting Him. Pray and fast (Matthew 6:5-18 ), humble yourself before the Mighty God "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 Read Life Principle, read Matthew 6:19-34. Don't spend money.
Motivation to not spend money - Debt and Slavery. If you owe money you are a slave to two things. 1) You are a slave to those from whom you are borrowing money (Proverbs 22:7) and 2) You are a slave to the things you bought with the borrowed money. This is the reason: you are working, earning money, spending your time and effort, making wages for those two entities because you are in debt to them. Debt means that you owe someone money for something you have. Debt means that someone else owns what you are using or what you have in your possession. Debt means that you do not own what you are using or have in your possession. Debt means that you are a slave to what you are using or having in your possession which you have not fully paid for. For example, if you buy a TV with a credit card and do not pay it off, then you do not own that TV. The bank of the credit card owns it. The bank may charge you 18% of the price you paid, so now the TV costs you even more than you paid for it initially. You now how to live and work to pay the bank back for the TV you have less time to watch. If you didn’t buy the TV, then you would have to work less or could have more free time to do other things. Instead, you have to work harder and longer to pay for the TV you cannot afford. Did you need the TV? No. It is a pleasure, not a tool for survival. If you hadn't made those purchases, if you didn't have those things, if you didn't promise to pay, if you didn't spend someone else's money then you would not be in debt. If you don't have debt, then you are free to spend your time and effort how you choose. Your time and energies can be spent unhampered. Your life is not ensnared to serving the needs of the lender or the requirements for keep those the purchases. God says about debt: Deuteronomy 24:6; Job 24:9; Proverbs 22:26-27; Habakkuk 2:7; Romans 13:8. If you owe no money, then you own everything free and clear, which means you are rich. People living modestly within their means are rich. They have no debt so they are owners and not a slaves. Alternatively, people with many material toys, conveniences, luxuries, pleasure hobbies, etc and with debt are poor. Just ask them why they work so hard - It is to sustain their things and their creditors. They may look like they have lots of stuff and they do, but their time and effort is spent on what they already spent and owe monetarily. They are trapped into the same pattern since they must pay back what they owe. They are not free. On the other hand, those without debt are are free to spend time with those they love, on activities that refresh them, on new views of life, and on giving to God in ways He has designed beneficially for them. If you are in debt. If you lust or covet for objects, materialism, pleasures, and things which you do not need for basic survival, then you may be involved in idolatry. Go through these links check-list to see what God says about it all... God's Laws, Idolatry , Temptation ,Your Religion? . It will help you see with God's wisdom and set you free. These are God's solutions: Repent , Come to Me , Cast your Cares , Broken Hearted , Pure Heart , Everlasting Love, Principle For Life , Fulfill your True Worth, and more.
How do I NOT spend money? Ask yourself. Do I Need this to survive? Do I want it or need it? How badly do I need it? Why do I think I need it? Then cut to the chase: If you do not need it, then do not even consider buying it. If you think you need it, wait and spend a week without it (if you can). If you can, then you don't need it and you have realized it is in the category of "wants". Your needs are real. You need NO debt. You need to not be a slave. Your needs far outweigh your wants. Every time you do NOT spend money, you have won. You have won greater self-respect because you are that much more less of a slave. You have won greater freedom from being owned by the things and the entity you owe money to. You have won freedom from materialism and addictions to whatever you have been compelled to buy out of a false sense of “need”. Every time you do NOT spend money consider how much you have “saved”. Every dollar which does not leave your pocket, every dollar which is not charged on your credit or debit card, ever single dollar not spent - means that you can consider yourself that much richer. You can put a $ dollar $ amount on what you did not spend and consider how much you “earned” by not putting yourself into more debt. While you cannot add that money tangibly into your bank account, you can add that to your “savings” account of self-respect. With this pattern of Not spending, your physical worth can increase. If you have a job, and save your money (meaning not spend it on things not needed), and you pay off your debt, the smallest ones first, then you are on your way to True Financial Freedom. For practical help to your own personal True Financial Freedom, visit http://www.crown.org/Tools/Calculators/Debt_AcceleratedPayoff.asp - http://www.crown.org/MyCrown/BibleTools/Scriptures.aspx -
True Financial Freedom Stories: http://www.crown.org/video/testimony_guatemala.swf http://media.crown.org/video/Radio/HeartOfTheMatter/HelenStandaloneHi.swf http://www.crown.org/video/testimony_thomas.swf
Practical mindsets for Not spending money – Example: You go to the supermarket to buy bread, milk and eggs. You see soda on sale. You think, “Oh, its on sale. A treat!” And you want to buy four bottles. Then you think $4.00. I’ll save it! I won’t buy any of it. I’ve just earned $4.00. You are that much richer! Or at least that much less in debt and you have that much more freedom to buy what you truly need in the future. Example: You consider buying a car. You think rightly, “It’s transportation, only. No on really believes I am more valuable if they see me in this expensive car. Most people driving their cars don’t own them. They are slaves. I would be in a lot of debt if I bought this status-symbol car. That’s foolish. I’m Not going to become poorer by “borrowing” this car from the bank. For, I wouldn’t own it, the bank would! Example: “Wow – this is a nice rich neighborhood. Why is this newly built home in foreclosure? Oh, they declared bankruptcy?! So much for this “rich” neighborhood. Know that your worth is not in the stuff outside of you, but is based on Who is Inside you!
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