Sharing our journey.....

Stewardship Lesson #11 Learning Bookkeeping Parents & students need to understand bookkeeping principles & how - to's to be successful in managing finances. The following information is designed for a 3-4 day period, or longer of needed. During this time period the student will be keeping an entire set of books for a two-month period. Income Statement You are an Engineer for a major corporation. Your gross (that means before any taxes are taken or anything is paid from the money you earn) wages are $52,000 per year. To determine how much you will take home each month, you need to divide $52,000 by 12 (there are 12 months in a year). Your total should equal $4,333.33 per month. This is still considered your gross income. To determine your net income (taxes have to be taken from your gross income. A net income is the amount you really get to take home), subtract 18% of your gross monthly income. To do this take $4,333.33 times 18%. The subtract the ...

Stewardship Lesson #10 When discussing buying & living styles, you must always consider the dangers of debt. Is debt a sin? Or is it just not the wisest choice for our lives? Are there times we need to be in debt? Or should you do without necessities to be able to avoid debt? These are all questions that must be answered. The Dangers of Debt Debt is not a sin. The Bible discourages debt, but does not prohibit it. Debt is never the real problem; it is only symptomatic of the real problem – greed, self-indulgence, impatience, fear, poor self-image, lack of self-worth, lack of self-discipline. Debt can be defined in many ways. It is any money owed to anyone for anything. There Are Five Kinds of Debts Credit Card Debt Consumer Debt Mortgage Debt Investment Debt Business Debt Before purchasing an item, & before going in debt for it, there are four questions to ask: Does it make e...

Stewardship Lesson #9 How to Determine Life Style When discussing finances, the style of our living hits very close to home, for this tells exactly what our priorities are. How fancy of a house do you really need? How new a car? How fancy do the clothes that you wear need to be? Do you really need that new skateboard, or can the old one still work? These are all questions that, when we spend, reflect our priorities. We all approach finances similarly to our parents. Either we are attracted to their buying style in a positive way or in a negative way. When it comes to buying, there are some myths that need to be dispelled, especially if we wish to gain control of our finances. They are listed on the following chart for you.   Myths of Buying   Buying Myth The Truth Buy now because it will cost more later. Incorrect, because it presupposes that you will need the items you are buying in the fu...

Stewardship Lesson #8 Guaranteed Success Financially Do you remember the Biblical principles of finances? Recap them now. First, God owns it all. Second, money is never an end to itself, but is merely a resource to accomplish other goals & obligations. Third, if you spend less than you earn & do it for a long time, you will be financially successful. Time & consistency are the two words that are your friends in financial planning. If you can save the same amount every week & consistently do it, you will be financially successful. Look at the chart below. In it are listed the rates of accumulation of money using the principles of time & consistency. Suppose you have a goal to accumulate $65,000 for college. You have six years to do so. How much actual money do you need to be able to do this? As you look at this chart, consider the rate of accumulation by means of interest alone. Is this a wise use of money? In light of the parabl...

Stewardship Lesson #7 Integrated Planning To plan for the future you will need to do hour things: Summarize your present position. How much do you know have? List earnings from your job(s) & how much you need to spend. Write this information on a piece of paper. Next establish your financial goals. Do you want to go to college? If so, you will need about $65,000. Do you want to be able to travel when you graduate from high school? If so, determine how much you will need. Do you want to be able to start a business? If so, determine how much you will need. The point is, you must place monetary value on your goals. Write these down on the same sheet of paper you listed your current position. Plan to increase your cash-flow margin. If you want to reach your goal, you must increase how much money you have available to you. There are only two ways to do this: You must either cut back on your spending &/or make more money. List ways you c...

Stewardship Lesson #6 The First Step: Short Range Objectives There is a Chinese proverb which says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” The same is true with finances. We have to take the first short-term “now” steps before we can make it to our final goals. In the short term there are only five ways money can be spent: Given away Spent to support a lifestyle Used for the repayment of debt Used to meet tax obligations Accumulated or saved Every spending decision will fit into one of these five categories. How you allocate the money you have been given by God is determined by two factors: The commitments you already have & your priorities. If you have bought a house, then you must pay for that house. That is a commitment. You also have a commitment to feed & clothe your family. You have a commitment to pay the government the taxes due it (“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's & unto God the thi...