Powerful Financial Tips With Sharon Epps

Apr 24, 2024

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The Power of Trust

Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

This establishes our role as stewards and God as the owner, which gives us the freedom to look to Him for His plans for our money and not worry about our plans.

The Power of Focus

The power of focus is to ask God what the next thing He would have us do is and to focus on that one thing until we progress on it before moving to the next.

Proverbs 4:25 says, “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.”
Proverbs 16:3 also says, to “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Research shows we can't multitask, so focusing on one goal at a time is essential.

The Power of Priorities

We can think of financial priorities for the "live, give, grow” pie, starting with the 10/10/80 principle—give 10% first, save/grow 10%, and use the remaining 80% for living expenses.

Prioritize giving first, then growing, then living expenses. The big priorities within living are housing, transportation, and food, and we should keep those to less than half of our take-home pay.

The Power of Planning

We must spend money on purpose by making a plan on paper or digitally before each month begins. We recommend using a budgeting app like FaithFi to digitally allocate money to "envelopes" each month for planned expenses.

Proverbs 27:23 tells us to “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,”

Larry Burkett popularized the envelope system in the past, and even digitally savvy couples sometimes find it helpful to use cash envelopes to control their spending in some categories better.

The Power of Cash

If you only use cash, you can’t easily go into debt.

Proverbs 21:20 reminds us, "Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.”
Proverbs 22:7 also says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”

The Power of Decision-Making

God’s Word teaches that we can always go to Him when unsure of what to do.

James 1:5 tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Here is a flowchart approach to decision-making, asking questions like if the expense is essential, whether it will help or hurt financial goals, whether it can wait, and whether there are less expensive options:

Is this expense essential for our family’s survival?
Will this purchase help my financial situation?
Will this purchase hurt my financial situation?
Will this purchase move me toward meeting my financial goals?
Can we wait to incur this expense?
Is there a less expensive alternative?

On Today’s Program, Rob Answers Listener Questions:

When I had my first baby, I had an attorney draft a will. Now I'm finding all of this about probate. My youngest is 18, and I am looking to see what I can do instead of having a will because of probate court. I made sure all my accounts had beneficiaries, and I'm looking to get my house title transferred upon death. What would you advise for that? How can I eliminate that will since it doesn't apply anymore? My kids are older and other people that I put in there I no longer want to be in there.
Medicare has notified me that they automatically provide prescription or drug coverage, so they gave me a new card. However, I already have Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage, which works fine, but I would have to opt out of what Medicare provides. I started to opt out of what Medicare provided but wanted your feedback since they already provided it. Do you have any thoughts?

Resources Mentioned:

Remember, you can call in to ask your questions every workday at (800) 525-7000. Faith & Finance is also available on Moody Radio Network and American Family Radio. You can also visit FaithFi.com to connect with our online community and partner with us as we help more people live as faithful stewards of God’s resources.

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