Skills, Talents and Gifts

I love the show Project Runway.  My daughter and I love to watch it.  Sometimes I live vicariously through the lives of the designers on the show.  It looks like it would be a lot of fun to be a fashion designer and know how to make beautiful clothes and live in a large city.  On occasion I have the thought that I could have been a fashion designer if I had not chosen to study accounting.  I can draw decently and I love fashion.  But, being a fashion designer was not what I was put on this earth to do.  I was made to be an accountant and to understand finances.

Through college and my professional work I have discovered a few things about people who work in accounting.  There are few people in this world who understand accounting; it is something that comes easy to them.  Either you understand it or you don't.  There are few people who enjoy accounting.  Either you love it or you hate it.  There are few people who stand in the middle.  The rare group of people are those who understand accounting and enjoy working in it.  I am in that group.

I truly believe that God provided me with a gifting, a talent and a skill set to be an accountant.  I believe that He shaped my path in order for me to be prepared for the work I get to do today.  The body of Christ is made up  of different people who are made to do different things.  God provides us with specific gifts and talents to do what only we were made to do.  He shapes our experiences so that we are prepared to move forward in what He has called on our lives.  We are individually entrusted with specific roles that we are individually made to do.

What is it for you?  Are you working in the area that God specifically designed for you?  Please note that my question is not, "Do you enjoy your job?" or "Are you making enough money?"  I am encouraging you to truly examine what it is that you are doing and consider if it is the one thing that God made you to do.  If it is, fantastic!  Work at it with excellence!  If not, begin the conversations with God about where He wants you.  It could make all of the difference.

What is the specific skill set that God has provided you?

Hard Work

Saving is hard work. If you’re a generous person, it feels selfish to save. If you’re a shopper it feels wasteful to save. If you’re barely making ends meet, saving feels like a rumor, like Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster. The truth is, saving is difficult and it never really gets any easier. Still, it is necessary.

Savings serves as a barrier between you and debt. Debt occurs when we encounter real or perceived emergencies, or when we encounter sales on things we “can’t live without”. You can establish emergency savings and you can save for things that you want or need. The second is always the hardest for me to be honest. Our culture is biased toward the “if you want it, get it” mindset. It’s so easy to get credit still that it feels stupid to not take it. They’re giving you 10% to 20% off of your purchase or 5% cash back, so that’s savings right? No. And I think deep down we know that, but we try to convince ourselves otherwise. On average, we spend 23% more with plastic than we do with cash. So even if you’re the kind of person that pays off your credit cards every month, you’re still incurring more expense than you would otherwise, which is the opposite of saving.

You and I are worth the effort it takes to establish and maintain a healthy saving strategy. Whether you operate by the 10-10-80 plan or some other method, figure out a way to start saving if you haven’t done it before, and then resolve to be consistent. Establish some goals. It’s totally fine to want a new couch or the iPhone 5, just save for them and buy them when you can afford it. It feels so much better to pay for something and have no payments following me home. We bought a dining room set several years ago on credit, and when the table got scratched a few months later I was bothered by having to pay for something that was no longer new or as nice as the day I got it. With payments you can experience buyer’s remorse on a monthly basis. Why subject yourself to that? When your car dies or needs work, it’s already a difficult situation, why prolong it over several months or years with payments. With an emergency fund you just fix it and go on.

Start now. It's not too late to get on the right track.

~Kevin

The Budget... It's an Essential

Establishing a budget is an essential as you travel the road to financial freedom.  At the end of the month do you want your money to tell you where it went or do you want to tell your money where to go?  Dictionary.com defines the word budget as “an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.”  An accounting textbook defines budget as “a comprehensive financial plan setting forth the expected route for achieving the financial and operational goals of an organization.”  John Maxwell defines a budget as “Telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”  In this blog we are going to define the word budget as “an itemized plan of how you are going to kick the enemy in the teeth in order to get out of financial bondage and live a God-honoring lifestyle that will not only bring financial freedom but financial peace.”

Keep in mind that your budget is not chiseled in stone.  You want to keep your budget flexible and know that it can be changed.  Your money is not the boss of you.  You are the boss of your money.

There are four necessities that you want to use as you build your budget.  These four areas are not negotiable and they are the first things that you pay every month.  They are important because without these 4 areas, you will not be able to handle the other areas of your budget.  The first necessity is shelter.  This area includes everything that is spent on housing, including your mortgage or rent, utilities and insurance.  You must have a place to live.  The second necessity is transportation.  You have a job so that you can pay your bills; therefore, you must have a way to get to your job.  This area can include all costs associated with owning and maintaining a car such as car payments, gas, oil changes and insurance or the expenditures for alternative forms of transportation such as bus fare.  The third necessity is food.  In order for you to effectively perform in your job and make wise decisions, you must provide your body and your family with nutrition.  The fourth necessity is clothing.  You need the necessary and appropriate clothing for your job and for general living.  Keep in mind that as you develop these areas of your budget, you do not have to be extravagant.  For example, in the housing section you may include cable as a utility but cable may be an expenditure that you can eliminate in order to develop other areas of your budget.  Do your best to develop these areas fully and wisely.

One final note about developing your budget…  If you know anything about dieting you have probably heard the advise to not eliminate the one favorite food due to the fact that you are more likely to fall away from your diet if you don’t have something to enjoy.  The same holds true for your budget.  Do not eliminate the one thing that will hold you to your budget.  This could be keeping cable or a monthly clothing option.  Please don’t risk blowing your budget and becoming hopeless because of the one thing that will keep you going.

Go for it and develop your budget for this month or the next month!  You can do it and you will be so glad that you did.  Please send any comments if you have questions or need assistance.

The 4 Essentials While Traveling the Road to Financial Freedom

We believe there are four essentials that you need to establish as you begin to travel the road to financial freedom.  The four essentials are:  (1)  establish financial objectives, (2)  develop a budget, (3)  save for an emergency fund, and (4) track your spending.

The first essential is to consider your financial objectives.  Financial objectives are your target, what you are aiming for.  They can be broad and long term such as having no mortgage in ten years or establishing college savings for your new baby.  Your financial objectives can be specific and short term such as paying off a credit card in six months.  Your financial objectives can be anything  that charts your course to financial freedom.  They set your path and give you direction.  Without objectives, you have nowhere to go.  Prayerfully consider what they are and approach them with knowledge about your current situation.  Our personal financial objectives include getting out of debt in 3 years, completing our Imagine 2 commitment with strength, tithe every year off of our gross income, save as much as we can for our daughter's college education, and save for a 50% downpayment on a new house.

What are some of your financial objectives?

What is Financial Freedom?

Why do we want to live in financial freedom?  It is a way of life that God always intended for us!  He did not intend for us to be slaves to our money but He knew that money would hinder us.  That is why Jesus talked about money so much.  Money and finances has the second-most scriptures in the Bible.  The topic that has the most – salvation.  Achieving financial freedom can impact and unleash so much in your life and in the spiritual world.  For you, it will reduce the amount of anxiety in your life and provide you with greater freedom to love.  In the spiritual world, more people achieving financial freedom can result in more people giving their lives to Jesus.

So, what is financial freedom?  In order to get to the definition of financial freedom, let’s first look at financial bondage.  In Matthew 6:24, Jesus states, “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money.”  Jesus gets pretty specific in that last statement.  We cannot serve two masters; we can not serve God AND money.  Also, God will not share His throne and He will allow us to pick money over Him.

Financial bondage can manifest in a variety of ways.  You may experience it as living paycheck to paycheck, accumulation of debt, or having an “I must have it now!” mentality.  An important step to take is identifying what underlying sin keeps you in financial bondage.  Examples are entitlement (I deserve…), pride (I can take care of myself…), comparison (I love what that person has…), discontentment (To feel good in life I must have Jesus and…), faithlessness (I know Jesus will provide but I need to know that now…), envy, addiction, and the list could go on.  Prayerfully consider what underlying sin that you may be experiencing that is keeping you in financial bondage.  If God prompts you, confess that sin to God and ask for forgiveness, confess it to a trusted adult, and begin the recovery process.

Now that we have looked at financial bondage, let’s begin to define financial freedom.  I believe we can experience financial freedom as the people of the first church experienced it.  In Acts 4:32 we read, “All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”  They lived as though what they owned was not their own!  They understood that everything they had was entrusted to them by God.  God created everything and owns everything.  We are merely trustees of what God owns.  Trustees have no rights, only responsibilities.  The primary responsibility is to take care of what has been entrusted to him or her.  The point is that financial freedom has nothing to do with how much money you make or how much debt you have.  It is about living with the understanding that God entrusts His limitless resources to us.  As each of us experience financial freedom, God’s kingdom will be resourced with more and more allowing us to reach more and more people. 

In order to get from bondage to freedom you must go through transformation.  You must submit to God’s transformational work in your life.  Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  You will receive lots of information, but the information is only good if you allow transformation to happen.  We must break away from this world and begin pursuing a God-honoring lifestyle.  We must become weird… not normal… an alien.  In John 15 Jesus tells His disciples that they are not of this world.  As followers of Christ, we truly are aliens of this world.  Do not conform to this world’s standards, but to a life that is God-honoring and of freedom.

~Alesha

It's Essential: Give Back

I know, it sounds odd doesn’t it? It goes against everything our society teaches. It doesn’t even make sense mathematically. Still, the truth is, you aren’t going to make any money until you give some of it away.

“Since you excel in so many ways…excel also in this gracious act of giving.” 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NLT)

Let’s start at the beginning. Some time ago, you were nothing. And then we were born. The Bible says you were crafted in your mother’s womb, and God knew you there. He knows the number of hairs on your head, and he gives us each certain gifts and abilities. Your abilities are to help others, and to help yourself. With them you’ll earn a living. He has given this to you. You may have heard that God asks for some of your earnings back. That’s not exactly true. He isn’t asking. He’s telling you.

I often tell my daughter to do things she doesn’t want to do. She doesn’t see the benefit to her, it interferes with what she wants to do in that moment, or it is just no fun whatsoever. But if you’re a parent like me, you know that we often tell our kids to do things for “their own good”. We’ve been there before. We see a bigger picture than our kids can. It is the same with God and us, only we’re the children.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

What God wants of us, through the act of giving, is to establish a lifestyle of generosity. It’s hard to be anxious about anything if you realize it isn’t yours to begin with. Are you free of anxiety when it comes to your finances? Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes.  What we have we received as a gift. What we have is to be cared for by God. What we have is available to others.

If you really want to be free financially, start with tithing. Tithing is ten percent of your income. Less than that is not tithing, it is, quite frankly, disobedience to the God who made you and gives you everything you have. Second, develop a habit of giving things away. To put it simply, de-accumulate.  If you are becoming attached to some possession, consider giving it to someone who needs it. What I’m referring to here is an addiction. Learn to tell the difference between a real or psychological need and an addiction.

He is the potter and you are the clay, to be crafted and molded into the person he has designed. Being molded hurts. It’s painful. Sometimes it takes a long time. But everything beautiful and worth having has gone through this shaping process. Be willing, it will go faster and will probably be less painful.

~Kevin

Anchors Aren't All Bad

Sometimes when we’re counseling people we hear phrases like, “I don’t know where that will come from”, and “we don’t make enough to match our budget.” In such cases we have to back up and look at the priorities outlined in the budget.

 

A priority is something that is given special attention, or something that comes first. It’s important to know what the top priorities are in your budget before you ever sit down to work on it. Make sure you have some form of shelter – a house, an apartment, or other living arrangements. Make sure you have food to eat. Make sure you have transportation to and from work or school. And make sure you have adequate clothing for your work and/or school. Dave Ramsey calls these priorities the “four walls”.

 

These are constant truths in your budget. You have to make sure that you are covering these things all the time, every month. Perhaps it doesn’t require explaining, but just to be sure, your job is your source of income, so you need to make sure you can get there – transportation – every day in order to earn that income. A budget without any income is not a budget, it’s a wish list. You need shelter to keep from getting sick so you can go to work. Also, you’re not going to do a very good job if you spend much of your day wondering where you’re going to sleep that night. You need clothes for that job, unless you work in a field that doesn’t require clothing. (Seriously, if this is you, please contact my friends at http://www.be-loved.cc/ and get help. You are worth so much more than this.)

 

Once you get these things down, then what? There are four other priorities we believe you need to consider:

• Give back
• Saving
• Get out of debt
• Do it now

These serve as anchors in your financial life, providing stability so that when the storms of life come and the waves crash into you, you won’t be crushed. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll cover each one in more detail.

~Kevin

Defining Financial Freedom

Kevin and I know that God has called us to lead more people into financial freedom.  The objective of this blog is to provide stories, resources, and information for more people to begin to experience financial freedom.  But what is financial freedom?

Some people may define financial freedom as no longer being in debt.  Others may define financial freedom as earning a certain income.  Still others may define financial freedom as no longer living paycheck to paycheck.  All of these are great indications that you desire to live in financial freedom and will provide a more personal definition of what financial freedom means to you.  For our purposes here, we're going to use scripture to help us define financial freedom.

We were not designed to live in financial bondage.  God did not place us on this earth and bless us with giftings and talents to work hard in order to be selfish with our money.  He made us stewards of His unlimited resources and entrusts us with all that we have.  However, He knew that we would fall to sin and find ourselves in financial bondage.  This is one of the reasons why Jesus focused much of His teaching on money and finances.  In Matthew 6:24 (MSG) Jesus defines financial bondage for us.  He says,  "You can't worship two gods at once.  Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other.  Adoration of one feeds contempts for the other.  You can't worship God and Money both." We cannot serve 2 masters!  Jesus said it and I believe it. It’s impossible to serve 2 masters.  We will get confused and chaos will happen.  And…  God will not share His throne.  If we chose to be a slave to money, He will allow us to pick that path.  Financial bondage is allowing money to take the place of God in our lives.  It becomes the center of our universe.  Money becomes an idol and when we live to serve it, we are in financial bondage.

Now that we have a definition of financial bondage, let's look at a picture of financial freedom.  The people of the first church experienced financial freedom.  Acts 4:32 (NLT) states “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.”  They lived as if what they owned was not their own!  Isn’t that amazing?  Everything that we have does not belong to us but is entrusted to us from God.  He provides us with all that we have and all that we need.  God created everything and He owns everything.  We are trustees.  A trustee has no rights, only responsibilities – the responsibility to care for what belongs to someone else. 

Reaching financial freedom requires an understanding that we own nothing but care for all that God has given us.  We are stewards.  We are not entitled and we don't deserve anything.  Can you imagine what our world would look like if everyone lived as if what they owned was not their own?  Those of you who have taken the courageous step to start the journey towards financial freedom can start the ripple effect that can change the world.

~Alesha

Ooh, I Need That...

“It’s on sale!” you say. “I’ll never get it cheaper!” Or perhaps you are more inclined to rationalize with, “I’ll use that for lots of things, and I don’t have one. I practically NEED it.” Yes, I too practically needed an XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, cordless finish-nailer, and an iPhone. While these are all great things, and I use them all quite extensively, I can’t really say that I needed them. In fact, as I bought 3 of 4 on credit, I ended up paying a lot more than retail for them, even though I bought them on sale (I’ll explain this some other time when I talk about compound interest).

Some people think debt magically appeared about the same time as credit cards. But debt has been around for a really long time; thousands of years in fact. Why is that, do you think? I believe it boils down to one simple thing. We see something we want, and we’ll do anything to get it. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have the money for it. It doesn’t matter that we don’t really need it, that by buying it I’ll actually increase my expenses just by having it, or that it doesn’t really match anything I own so I’ll “need” to go buy some other stuff now to match it.

Deep down we believe that stuff brings happiness. We are not content with our lives. We compare ourselves and our stuff to the people down the street, down the hall, or down the aisle at church. By having newer, better, bigger stuff, people will think more highly of us. Isn’t that important? Uh, no. Have ever really sat back in your chair and contemplated how great so-and-so is because of the stuff they have? If someone is nice they’re nice. If they're a *@$^~# then they’re *@$^~#. They’re stuff has nothing to do with it.

So why do we chase "stuff"? It’s very easy to blame it on our society. With all the advertising and slick marketing campaigns, I don’t think it’s wrong to place some blame there. But the majority of the blame rests with us, you and me. We decided we'd go with it. We decided to buy that, and that, and maybe even that over there. No one made us. We can continue to ride the tide of stuff and status, or we can stop, stand in the water, and take our licks as we go against the waves that will try to pound us into submission and conformity. You will probably fall, I have. Some of the waves are pretty big and they pack a mean punch. But I have gotten up again, and so can you. I can see the beach ahead of me, and I’m going to make it. Will you allow the tide to pull you off into the middle of the ocean where there’s nothing to do but drown, or will you stop, stand up tall, and take your first step?

~Kevin

Financial Freedom Requires Transformation

We are planning a beach vacation for this summer and I cannot wait.  Seven days on a semi-private beach with my fantastic family, great friends, and free time.  It will be amazing.  I do have to admit there is one thing that I am NOT looking forward to...  wearing a bathing suit.  Yep, the thought of wearing a bathing suit makes me cringe.  Don't get me wrong, I know that I am not overweight and I do not have self-image issues.  However, I do realize that I have some lumpiness in some places that are just not attractive.  I would be quite content with hanging on the beach in shorts and a tank top, but to put on a bathing suit...  no thank you.

The question to ask is, "What am I going to do about it?"  To simply realize that I am not comfortable in a bathing suit because of the extra lumpiness is not enough.  I can choose to wear a bathing suit and just deal with the lumpiness while on vacation, but doing so changes nothing.  I know that those lumpy places can begin to go away if I eat well (which I am on the track of doing) and if I begin to exercise more.  It also requires that I put a plan in place, change some things, and transform my thinking.

The same is true for our financial lives.  Once you recognize that you are in financial bondage, you must begin to take steps to get out of it.  Simply recognizing where you are will do nothing.  If you want things to change, you must begin changing things.  Put a plan in place -- begin using a budget.  Begin to change your approach to spending -- stop using the credit card.  Begin transforming your mind by looking at your money differently.  The Bible tells us that if we are going to live in a God-honoring manner, we must move away from this world and allow our minds to be renewed.  Romans 12:2 (New Living Translation) states, "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Transformation is an active choice.  It requires more than just trying to "do better."  It requires an agreement and an allowance for God to do substantial work in your life.  It requires an admission that the way you have been doing things was wrong and a submission to allow God to do a transforming work in you.  Transformation is not an easy road.  It could be short or it could be long.  Along the way you'll continually have to choose whether or not to quit or to endure.  But the road of transformation will get you to your destination -- financial freedom.

I am going to develop a plan to be in better shape before our vacation this summer.  If you want to hold me accountable to that, I may accept your offer.  However, you have to agree to be accountable to the transforming work that needs to happen in your financial life.  You can do it.  I can do it. We can travel the road of transformation together.

~Alesha

The B Word

Let's take a closer look at that B word – the budget.  When you hear the word “budget” what comes to mind?  Dictionary.com defines the word budget as “an estimate, often itemized, of expected income and expense for a given period in the future.”  An accounting textbook defines budget as “a comprehensive financial plan setting forth the expected route for achieving the financial and operational goals of an organization.”  John Maxwell defines a budget as “Telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”  We are going to define the word budget as “an itemized plan of how you are going to kick the enemy in the teeth in order to get out of financial bondage and live a God-honoring lifestyle that will not only bring financial freedom but financial peace.”

And let it be known that your money is not the boss of you!  The budget is the boss of your money and you are the boss of the budget.  You budget is a plan for your money, and at the beginning of each month you will establish a plan and give every dollar a name.  Your financial situation will not spin out of control because you have a plan.  Having a plan is half of the battle.   By the way, a written plan, if lived on and agreed to by parties, will remove many of the money fights in your marriage.

Let’s take a few minutes to consider a very simple budget plan.  It is the 10-10-80 budget style and it is quite simple… you give 10%, you save 10% and you live on 80%.  This is definitely a budget style that you can live with.  You have the opportunity to live on 80% of the income you receive.  It’s more than a majority, and is actually quite lavish.  However, if you have debt payments, this budget style may be adjusted to 10-10-10-70…  you give 10%, save 10%, pay down debt with 10% and live on 70%. Of course these are merely guidelines to consider.  You want to work out a plan that best suits your financial situation.  Working with your budget and your financial goals will help determine how you will divide out the remaining 80%.

When you have completed the budget, you will be in one of three groups…

1.       Expenses are greater than income

2.       Income is greater than expenses

3.       Expenses and income equal and you have a $0 balance budget

The final objective is to have a $0 balance budget.  If you are in group 1, then you may want to go back through the budget and consider any reductions that need to be made.  If you are in group 2, look at your budget and determine you want to use the excess for additional giving, savings or debt repayment.  The ultimate goal is that every dollar earned has a place to go.  Not giving every dollar a place to go can result in overspending.

Throughout life, school, and jobs you are presented with challenges.  A challenge is a call-up to how you are going to confront something.  I have a challenge for you.  The challenge is this… with your next paycheck use the 10-10-80 budget plan.    Yes, give a tithe of your income from that check.  Put 10% of your paycheck into savings (which is a good way to work on your emergency savings).  Use the remaining 80% for debt repayment and whatever other expenditures you need to make.  In Malachi 3 God says to test Him in your giving.  Go for it!  Test Him!  Test my words in this.  Take this challenge and give the 10-10-80 plan a try.  I don’t think you’ll regret it.

~Alesha

Its Going To Rain

A while ago our furnace was making a funny noise and our house wasn’t as warm as usual, so I called the repairman to come out and look at it. Our furnace was only a couple years old, so I assumed it was something minor. As it turns out, one of the fans needed to be replaced. Fortunately, it was still under warranty so we didn't have to pay for the part, but the labor cost was $600. This was an emergency, so we just put it on a credit card. No big deal. That’s what credit cards are for, right?

Murphy’s Law says, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” As we look back now and see that we addressed all of our emergencies – real or imagined – with the Plastic Protector of Life (AKA Visa) and his equally plastic sidekick MasterCard it’s no wonder that we ended up in debt. Credit cards are like screen protectors. If you put them on your phone or touch screen device you’re trying to protect the way your device looks, right? If you drop that phone or touch screen device, does that screen protector actually protect the screen? No. You needed something more durable than that little piece of plastic to protect your device.

Emergencies are like those drops, those accidents that just seem to happen. The storms of life swirl around us all the time; car accidents, car repairs, broken windows, job loss, or even your kids needing new clothes because they have grown. The only way to really protect yourself from those emergencies is to put something in between you and them. You do this in two ways. The first is to have adequate insurance to cover the big things like home replacement, devastating medical issues, and things like that. We’ll talk about insurance more at another time. The second way is to have an emergency savings built up.

Emergency savings is simply a savings account that you have set up to use only in case of an emergency. It’s not for rainy day trips to the mall; it’s for rainy days that cause leaks in the roof. Remember grandma used to say, “Save that for a rainy day”? Grandma’s roof leaked before too. So, before you do anything else, before you even start trying to get out of debt, set some money aside in case of emergencies. That way, when you’re a few months into your plan to reduce your debt, you can use your emergency savings to pay off that accident or address that emergency without incurring more debt. Set up something now, and set an achievable target.  Try to get $1,000 to $2,000 in an emergency savings account in the next 1 to 3 months. It will take some sacrifice to do that, to be sure, but you’ll be surprised how accidents happen a lot less frequently when you’re prepared for them.

~Kevin

When Two Debts Become One

When we got married we had different ideas about what we were going to do with our money; ideas that we did not communicate well.  We had different thoughts on spending, different thoughts on saving and different thoughts on who got to do what with it.  We began tracking our money, noting how much was spent throughout the month.  Surprisingly, this showed us that at the end of every month we had spent more than we made.

We lived in an apartment after we got married.  One day we were bored and decided we would look at houses, because eventually we would want to purchase one.  To say that we did not thoroughly plan the purchase of a house is an understatement.  We didn't think about it.  At the end of that day, we were the owners of a 5 bedroom, 3 1/2 bathroom, and 3000 square foot house - for two people.  We moved into this large house with our leftover college fixtures and began upgrading our furniture in order to have stuff that belonged in this house.  But no matter how much stuff we bought to fill the house, it just became emptier and emptier.

We knew how much money we were spending, where it was going, and how much debt we were accumulating.  In spite of that we operated under the assumption that we could take care of it whenever we wanted to.  The next raise, promotion or tax refund would make it all better.  We gave to the church we attended, and Kevin gave money to different causes and helped people when he could because he wanted to be seen as a good guy, a nice guy, and that maybe he was a little better off they they were.  We changed cars every couple of years, trying to get something better.  We brought our daughter into our fully furnished, emotionally and spiritually empty house filled with anger, resentment, and talk of divorce.  And in that season, God met us.  He intervened in a way that would change our lives and our finances.

We were "church shopping" one day and decided to try this church that was located, at that time, in a renovated batting cage arena.  Kevin had been listening to their radio broadcast on his way to work for about a year.  We liked it well enough, but thought we would try some other churches.  Oddly enough, we never did.  Most weekends we would end up back there.  About eight months later, Kevin made the best decision of his life and turned over his life to the Author of Life.  Kevin was seeing that his plans were not working.  His all-about-me life was crumbling all around him and he needed help.  His anger and entitlement weren't fixing anything.  So, he gave it all over in an instant.  In that moment he was changed.  He did not realize it at first but his thoughts were more about me, our daughter, and others around him.

About four months after that we sold our big house and the fancy car.  We used the proceeds from that to pay off our debt, completely. We moved into a townhouse that was about half the size of the house we were living in.  Throughout the summer I began examining my relationship with Jesus and a few days after we moved, I gave my life to Christ as well.

So, we were new creations, living debt free and our marriage was being restored.  One problem though is that we did not change our lifestyle.  Our thoughts about money had not changed much and after 2 1/2 years we found ourselves right back where we were...  in debt, no plans and no real budget.  And we came to the point where we'd had enough.  God had made us into new people and had implanted stewardship on our hearts.  It was time to put practical pieces in place so that we weren't just living with financial freedom, but that we would begin to experience financial peace.  We now operate on an envelope system.  We are getting out of debt.  We are practicing good financial principles and we are teaching these principles to others, including our daughter. 

Experience is a good teacher, but it doesn't have to be just your experience that you learn from.  That is why we are sharing our story and why we have started this blog.  We believe that other people can learn from our mistakes, and maybe even some of our successes.  We are also hopeful that we can share enough information for people to become transformed and begin to experience life financially free.

~Alesha

Hi. My name is...

Have you seen the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic?  That was me.  I was a Rebecca Bloomwood.  I love to shop.  I always enjoyed clothes, shoes, getting a new purse or perfume, and department store makeup.  My mom, sister and I would go shopping most weekends when I was in high school.  There was never a sense of over-spending as we always knew how much money we had.  It was one of our favorite past-times.  And, whenever I was bored, I would go to the mall.

I graduated from college with a degree in accounting and went straight into public accounting.  During my first tax season, I began working long hours in a stressful environment.  When I would leave work Saturday afternoon, I would go straight to the mall and stay for hours.  I had been stressed out and I needed a way to relieve that stress.  I even justified my purchases thinking that at least I wasn't one of those people who was relieving stress at a bar.  I was doing something better because I was going to a better place.  But, an addiction is an addiction.  I was justifying my purchases and I was entitled to what I bought.

As I continued to encounter stressful week after week, last Saturday's trip to the mall no longer filled me up and I had to go back.  I believed I deserved a new purchase and each new purchase became more expensive.  I was no longer content with purchasing a new outfit from WalMart. I had to purchase something from New York and Company, or The Limited, or Ann Taylor, or the new designer purse from Macy's.  I remember one weekend telling Kevin that I had to go to the mall to be in my "element."  I was having withdrawal.  But in the end all I had was a closet full of nice clothes, nice shoes, and more purses than any one person should ever own.  The void I was attempting to fill stayed empty.

~Alesha

But They Have Comic Books...

What was your childhood like? Often we go back to the earliest part of our life to figure out why we are the way we are. Growing up my family didn’t do too many things. I didn’t know what a vacation was because we never took one. I didn’t know what a mall was because we never went. And I didn’t miss any of that stuff.  We never talked about money, how much we had or didn’t have, what it got spent on, how to manage it, track it, etc.

As I got older though, I got to see what other people had. Most of my friends had the appearance of being better off, stuff-wise, than I was. They had video games and comic books, better clothes, more clothes, better toys, more toys. And I wanted at least a semblance of what they had. Early on as a teenager I began to get an allowance for doing chores around the house. You couldn’t buy much with that though, so I began to take money from my dad’s wallet for the things I wanted, the things my friends had. 

Once I was old enough to have a job I worked every moment I wasn’t in school. I didn’t really know why I did that other than to get money. I didn’t have a plan for what I was going to do with it. I just knew that whatever I wanted to do, I would need money for it. I began to become self sufficient in terms of acquiring and maintaining my stuff. However, I totally ignored responsibility for the stuff I thought my parents owed me. The things I thought I deserved. 

As I got older, through college, and when I started my first job the belief that I deserved some stuff, that I was entitled to things, began to grow.  My first paycheck was the most money I had made at any one time. In fact, I made in two weeks what I took me a whole summer to make when I was in school. With that amount of money I felt like there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do or anything that I couldn’t have. So in the span of about 2 months I had accumulated and surpassed the standard of living it had taken my parents 30 years to acquire. The problem is in order to do that, I had to go and get some debt. And this was debt that I owed to companies, banks, not to my parents or people I knew. And they wanted their money. So I had to pay them and try to maintain what I just created for myself, which meant I had to get some more debt. I didn’t know what I was spending. I didn’t know where the money went or how much I had. I made decisions based on if I felt I had the money for it or if I just wanted it badly enough. I bought a new car. I bought a house. Not with any kind of planning, just decided one day I wanted one. And then came the time when I was going to marry this girl I had been dating…

 

~Kevin

Our Stories

The next 3 posts that we are going to publish will show you our financial story.  You will see Kevin's story, my story, and then how our stories came together.  I'll be honest with you...  it's not a pretty story.  It's quite ugly.  But that is why we want to share it.  We don't want other people to live in the same crap that we put ourselves through.  God does amazing, redeeming work and, though we have some cleaning up to do, He has put our feet on the path that will keep us in financial freedom and more open to the blessings that He wants to pour through our lives.

Enjoy!

~Alesha

The "Why" Behind this Blog

The "Why" behind this blog is so very simple...  we want to see everyone live in financial freedom and to understand that financial freedom is easy to reach.  After salvation, money is the most taught on topic in the Bible.  Jesus taught on it frequently throughout the New Testament and there is great reason as to why He did.  He knew that money would be the one thing that would cause great bondage in our lives and that it would become a "silent" idol to us.  The enemy doesn't want us to live in financial freedom because he knows what could happen when financial resources become freed up to be used for God's kingdom.

God did a fast and great work in us a few years ago that planted our feet firmly on the road to financial freedom.  We are not perfect in how we steward our money; we mess up frequently.  But we clearly understand what is at stake if our money is not used wisely and in a God-honoring fashion.  Generosity becomes unleashed when people live in financial freedom and generosity enables people to hear more about Jesus and the transforming work He can do in their lives.

The next few posts will provide you with a picture of our financial story.  We started down roads that were completely self-consumed and all about what we wanted.  But God spoke to us clearly and we now live in a freedom that we had no idea that could exist.  We hope you enjoy our story and that it stirs something up in your life.  We also hope that you subscribe to our blog as we plan to post at least every other week.  Our objective is to provide you with scripture, thoughts and resources that could put your feet on the path to financial freedom as well.  Please comment and ask questions on our post.  God has called us to lead people into financial freedom.  We won't back down until more people get there.

~Alesha