(This is a guest post from one of my friends, Raymund Tamayo. Visit his blog here for his productivity, personal finance, spirituality and minimalism tips. Thanks for the awesome post, Raymund!)
I’d like to talk more about managing our finances because I believe that proper handling of money is one way of becoming a faithful steward of the blessings God graciously gives us. Let me start by talking about the habit of spending less than you earn.
It doesn’t matter how much you earn, if you are not spending less than you are earning.
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| Tea and bread are enough for my breakfast! – Lianne |
Living within your means is the key to financial success. My wife and I have been applying this principle ever since we decided to become simplifiers in January 2010, and we have been blessed with a growing financial health.
A word of warning: If we don’t apply this in our financial life, we will go nowhere but be buried deep and deep into debt. And being deep in debt is not being a faithful steward of God’s resources in our life.
To spend less than you earn, you need to:
1. Evaluate your financial habits. At this time, be honest about yourself. Most people handle money without control or care. And they usually get shocked by the end of the day about where their money went. Take time to track where and how you spend money. Knowing where your money goes makes it easier for you to manage your finances and cut back on unnecessary expenses.
2. Make a budget. And stick to it. Use your budget as a guide to control your spending. This will make sure that you spend within your capacity to earn. As in every area of life, it will take discipline to do this. Realize the importance of budgeting to have a healthy financial life. If you don’t plan how you’ll spend your money, you’ll always end up in the same place financially: you’ll have nothing at the end of the day.
3. Find ways to cut back on expenses. This is about being wise and frugal. There are tons of ways to do this. Realize that buying is not always the solution. Make your life count. Focus and simplify. Appreciate that the best things in life are usually free.
4. Build an emergency fund. An emergency fund is critical for financial health. It gives you a buffer for unexpected expenses, so you don’t spend more than you earn by blowing your savings and your budget or by using credit cards. More on this in a separate article.
5. Don’t buy on credit. I personally don’t believe in credit cards. When I want something really bad, I save up for it. I believe that our wants can wait. The only exception I feel we can enter into credit is when we use it for business, or when purchasing a non-depreciating item such as a house or land. There’s no such thing as “easy” installment payments. Believe me, every payment will be hard! One of the many traits of a truly successful life is learning delayed gratification.
6. Learn balance. It is very important to not take anything to the extreme. Living a simple life doesn’t mean living in deprivation. There are special days when my wife and I eat in a fancy restaurant. Or we splurge on a vacation once a year. If you can see our stuff, we own less but they are not cheap, and all of high quality. The point of living a simple life is prioritizing on which are most important to you, not putting yourself into misery.
1. Evaluate your financial habits. At this time, be honest about yourself. Most people handle money without control or care. And they usually get shocked by the end of the day about where their money went. Take time to track where and how you spend money. Knowing where your money goes makes it easier for you to manage your finances and cut back on unnecessary expenses.
2. Make a budget. And stick to it. Use your budget as a guide to control your spending. This will make sure that you spend within your capacity to earn. As in every area of life, it will take discipline to do this. Realize the importance of budgeting to have a healthy financial life. If you don’t plan how you’ll spend your money, you’ll always end up in the same place financially: you’ll have nothing at the end of the day.
3. Find ways to cut back on expenses. This is about being wise and frugal. There are tons of ways to do this. Realize that buying is not always the solution. Make your life count. Focus and simplify. Appreciate that the best things in life are usually free.
4. Build an emergency fund. An emergency fund is critical for financial health. It gives you a buffer for unexpected expenses, so you don’t spend more than you earn by blowing your savings and your budget or by using credit cards. More on this in a separate article.
5. Don’t buy on credit. I personally don’t believe in credit cards. When I want something really bad, I save up for it. I believe that our wants can wait. The only exception I feel we can enter into credit is when we use it for business, or when purchasing a non-depreciating item such as a house or land. There’s no such thing as “easy” installment payments. Believe me, every payment will be hard! One of the many traits of a truly successful life is learning delayed gratification.
6. Learn balance. It is very important to not take anything to the extreme. Living a simple life doesn’t mean living in deprivation. There are special days when my wife and I eat in a fancy restaurant. Or we splurge on a vacation once a year. If you can see our stuff, we own less but they are not cheap, and all of high quality. The point of living a simple life is prioritizing on which are most important to you, not putting yourself into misery.
Living in Debt
Living in debt is one of the best ways to live an anxious, stressful, tension-filled life. God clearly doesn’t want us to live that way, as it is not honoring and bringing glory to Him. There are more verses in the Bible about handling money and being a faithful steward of God than it is about heaven and hell.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22:7 “Those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders.” And we know that we can’t have two masters at the same time. Our master should only be the Lord Jesus Christ.
Peace of Mind
Living within your means is more than about cutting costs and saving money – it is about peace of mind. When you spend less than you earn, you are no longer playing catch up and living a paycheck-to-paycheck life. The stress that comes from living that way and worrying about bills payments and stuff are paralyzing. Living within your means not only gives you peace of mind, it also allows you to save and invest for the future.
Live wisely,
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thank you for having me here in your blog, lianne. 🙂 I see you have a powerful blog about handling finances wisely.
keep on sharing your thoughts to us, your readers, as it is much needed during this tough economic times.
keep on!
@Raymund
Hi, Raymund!It was great having you on my blog. 🙂 Your post was great and I loved how you emphasized the basics of living within your means.
I agree – we really need to have a good grip on our finances nowadays!
Thank you!
Hi Lianne,
I was looking for more resources for my blog http://howtomanagemypeso.blogspot.com/ when I stumble over here. I have to say that I really like the feel of your blog. When I see the food, I thought I was in a different kind of blog about money management. I've visited some sites, and I didn't see any food in there. Not even in my own blog. So your blog is a fresh breath of air, at least to me.
I also sensed that you are a Christian blogger and I appreciate that because I am also one. In our country, Christian generally refers to Protestants or Born Again Christians so I am assuming that you are one. I'm a Catholic, but I consider myself more of a student/follower/admirer of Christ or a Christian.
I couldn't agree more to the ideas of Mr. Raymund Tamayo. They are quite similar to some of my beliefs. What struck me was when he said that he and his wife are simplifiers. The idea of making a joint decision with your spouse to life a simplified life is quite appealing to me.
@Raoul:
Hi, Raoul! Thank you for visiting The Wise Living. I love the fact that you loved the feel of my blog. 🙂
Oh no, I'm also a Catholic. 🙂
That's good! Are you a fan of minimalism as well? It is quite appealing, isn't it? I also wish that if I ever get married (I'm still 20), my partner would also like the idea of a simple life.
Thank you for the comment! God bless!
@Lianne:
Hola! You can say that I am a minimalist. The idea didn't occur to me before. But I think that I am one. For one the 'simplifier' idea of the contributor, Mr. Raymund Tamayo, caught my attention. And your breakfast of tea and bread only caught my attention as well. Yap! I'm a minimalist.
hi lianne & mr. raoul,
check out the Facebook page of other Filipino minimalist bloggers here >>> https://www.facebook.com/groups/238174012964273/
you may join us.
@Raoul:
Awesome! Minimalists unite! 🙂 I will be checking out your site soon, too! Maybe we can do guest posts, too. 🙂
@Raymund:
Thanks for sharing. I checked out the group and requested to be a member already. 🙂
@Raymund and Lianne,
I've already requested to be a member already. Thanks a lot. See you in Facebook…