Financial health- what does this involve? While this subject may not seem to fit the category of the other posts on health in terms of food health, you would have to agree that financial health would be of importance in the category of the health of our mind! 🙂
Many people lay awake at night wondering how they will make ends meet. I’ve been there. Many pour over their meager budget wondering how to make it more meager. How will I feed my family? Pay the mortgage? Put gas in the car?
Many people drive to work at a job they hate, but don’t feel they have a way out. Financial stress has caused many a heart attack or anxiety attack. It can cause irritability, anger, bitterness, fear, or broken marriages. The credit cards are maxed out and you live paycheck to paycheck, typically not really even making it to the next paycheck. Life seems bleak with no hope. Is there a way out of this cycle, this unending hamster wheel that keeps rolling the faster I try to run from job to job???
THERE IS HOPE! 🙂 I just felt this subject of financial health is important to discuss and want to share some of the ways I have been helped with regards to finances. Money is not a bad thing. How we choose to handle money impacts our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Luke 16:11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of worldly wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?”
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8
“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” Proverbs 22:7
I have several friends in the past couple years who have diligently worked on debt elimination and have achieved their goals. One person said it was the biggest weight off his back! After careful planning and talking to several advisors, both personal and professional, I am well on the way to financial freedom in the next 1.5-2 years! Each little bit that you pay extra on your loans will soon snowball into a greater effort! Skip those daily doughnut or bagel and coffee stops! Pay extra and be the example to the next generation. Show that we don’t HAVE to be bound by debt/student loans/credit card debt. Live with fewer materialistic items so you can be debt free. Have a garage sale/bake sale/craft sale. Get your children involved and teach them the true benefits of saving quarters so they add up to dollars! 🙂 Print this out and show yourself you can save 25 cents a week! Here is the template for saving $1 a week for a year.
Here are some ideas below to stretch your dollar farther or ways to assist in changing your beliefs about money. Some people want to know if investing is scripturally legitimate. They want to know if money is evil. Money can be used for good or evil. It is the love of money that is the root of all kinds of evil. The Bible never condemns money itself, only the misuse of or the wrong attitude toward it. (CBFS)
- Crown Biblical Financial Study
- Money Life Indicator
- 17-ways-rich-people-think-differently
- Simple Living on a Budget here and here
- 7 Things to keep when money is tight
- 50 ways to make money on the side
Blessings on your journey to true financial health! I am here cheering you on in your successes! It is truly liberating to cut up the credit card after paying it off! 🙂 When God blesses you with a check in the mail from an anonymous giver, give Him a tenth, then use the other amount with wisdom. When you are given more than enough, raise your standard of giving! You will reap the blessings.
One final thought is to work with a financial coach. I gained a lot from this financial coach. She has many resources on the subject of financial health. ~Coach Shannon