Category | Finances

Over the years, I've noticed a trend in marriages that come to me with problems. It seems that every one of them had at least two of the issues presented in this article. The wise husband or the wise wife would do well to take the temperature of their marriage by examining these six areas. CHILD REARING DIFFERENCES Children don't make a marriage successful. A strong marriage will benefit from having children, no doubt, but if you are hoping that children will help or heal your marriage, you just made a mistake. Children don't look to see how they can heal or help their parents' marriage....

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Does God care about our money? Yes He does. Is money evil? No. It is the love of money that is evil not the possession of it. Should a Christian be concerned about money? Yes. 1 out of every 5 verses in the Bible deals with money or financial issues in some way. Here are four things that God looks at in regards to money. HOW YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY IS HOW YOU SPEND YOUR LIFE! There is no debate over the idea that God is interested in how you spend your life. But what is your life? Your life is made up of seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. You've only got so much of it. What...

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THE NEED FOR A GOOD BUDGET One of the major causes of divorce is bad money habits. Finances are a difficult thing for many people to manage properly. Mismanagement has caused communication difficulties, tension, frustration, anger, resentment, and suspicion. Money has ruined friendships and debt has slain dreams and mired people in desperation. For most of these people a simple understanding of the basics of budgeting would have saved them much anguish and grief. This article is meant to help you understand the practical theory behind having a good budget. Most digital budget programs...

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ACCEPT YOUR LIMITS This is not to say that if you don't have a job, you shouldn't look for one. Of course you should get a job. But the majority of people, who read this, have a job, makes some amount of money-and just aren't satisfied with it. There is nothing wrong with striving for promotions, or a pay raise. But until that happens, accept the means that you live in. Interestingly enough, most people who get a raise find that the extra money actually doesn't solve a single money problem they have. The reason for this is that as soon as they get a raise they go out and purchase something...

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Living within your means is one of the best ways to achieve security. Someone once said that there are two ways to be happy: 1. To get everything that you want in life. This is how most people attempt to be happy. 2. To want everything that you have in life. This is a much simpler means of achieving happiness. As a Christian, pastor, and counselor, I've discovered that many of the unhappy people out there are only so largely because they attempted to live outside their means and it came back to haunt them. A budget will solve this problem for you. It will give you stability, security,...

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It goes without saying that a marriage ought to transcend the mere material matters that consume so much of our lives. The Bible does say 'Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.' (Proverbs 15:17). This being true doesn't negate the impact that money and finances has upon the marriage relationship. Marriage is more than merely a relationship. It is also a financial union. Both parties bring their material wealth to the table and make some effort to combine them in normal living. For good or ill, you combine your assets and that means responsible decisions...

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Credit cards are very dangerous. If you haven't learned how to use them properly, then the best things you can do is cut them up and get rid of them. As a pastor of a Church, I've advised many people to do just that. But there is a way to use your credit card so that you don't have to pay interest, pay late fees, or even overspend. Credit cards are the easiest way to build your credit. Yet it is also the easiest way to destroy your credit too. I'll explain in detail what I do here, so that you'll be in charge of the credit card, not the card company. First, you need a budget. If you don't...

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Credit cards have become the financial bane of many a family. It seems like the only real winners are the credit card companies themselves. Look at some of these statistics for the year of 2003: 1. Total consumer credit: $1.7 trillion. 2. Credit card debt carried by the average American: $8,562. 3. Total finance charges Americans paid in 2001: $50 billion. 4. Percent of U.S. households deemed credit worthy by the lending industry: 78%. 5. Number of card holders who declared bankruptcy in 2003: 1.3 million. Clearly, the winners so far have been the credit card companies! If you are one of these...

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