Money: Coming In and Going Out

I really do enjoy writing. I love writing blog posts and getting people’s feedback. And I know that at least some people enjoy reading my blog. =) I know my parents enjoy my blog posts, as it helps them have a small window into my life and some of the things that are going on. During this Christmas break I’m hoping to be able to spend some time writing since I won’t have all the pressures of school bearing down on me. 

My first post will be about money.

Money. Why is it so important? Why do I go to my job and spend hours and hours working just to see a little number go up on my computer screen. The reason is that money can be used to satisfy desires. Basically, any desire that you could ever have could be satisfied if you had enough money. (Every desire except for one, which also happens to be the most important one. And it also umbrellas over all the other desires not allowing any of them to be complete without it. I am of course speaking of Jesus Christ. But that is another topic for another time.) Now, desires that we have are not all necessarily wrong. It is not wrong to have a desire to eat, to sleep in a bed, to seek further education, to purchase gifts for others. Money is needed to buy all of these. So I think that it is safe to say that money can be a legitimate need.

But my point today isn't to discuss the philosophy of money and its potential for good and for evil, but rather to talk a little bit about some of my experiences with budgeting that I’ve been through recently.

A section of my budget report

Back in mid-June I decided that it was time to start building a budget for myself. The first step I took was to track my spending and earnings. I started diligently keeping all my receipts and filing them according to month. I then put together a very basic program in Access which allows me track of all my money coming in and going out. It has been very good to be able to see where all the money I am earning is going. Granted, I’m not making scads of money, but I am making a decent amount and sometimes it seems it runs out all too quickly. So, starting a budget and tracking my spending seemed like a good, responsible, grown-up thing to do, so I did it.

Examining my spending and earnings has been both a comfort and a challenge to me. It has challenged me to be very careful in my spending and only purchase things that I truly need. Thankfully my parents were very wise and taught me these principles as a child, so I am usually very good about evaluating my purchases before I make them to be sure that I can justify the item and the cost.

But also it has actually been far more of a comforting than a challenge since I have been able to see how I am spending my money and know that I am actually doing a good job at spending it wisely and not wasting it. So, when I don’t have a whole lot left over at the end of the month, it’s not that I am wasting it, it’s just that that is the stage of life I am in right now. Not saying that I can’t improve my spending at all, but as a whole, it’s going pretty well.

A chart of all my expenses

Life is expensive, and tracking my spending has helped me understand better just how expensive it can be. Just as an example, take my school life: I work 30-32 hours a week during the semester at Public Safety which gives me a decent amount per month. But of that, 75% goes directly into my school bill. Then 10% is for my tithe, and then about 6% is for vehicle expenses such as gas. That only leaves 9% of my net income for everything else such as medicine, home necessities, savings, clothing, food, gifts, etc. So, basically, 91% of my expenses are fixed and there is no way for me to cut back. That actually makes me feel better, because it’s not really that I’m wasting all my money, it’s that I’m spending most of it on actual needs. So, if Public Safety were my only source of income I really wouldn’t be able to buy anything other than the bare necessities. But thankfully God has allowed me to earn some extra money through yard work and driving to supplement my Public Safety income so that I am actually able to buy some clothes, and food, and gifts for others (which is a good thing.) But even with that extra income a significant portion still goes straight into fixed expenses, though not quite 91% (I can’t really calculate how much because my extra income can vary significantly from week to week).

But all this to say, that tracking my spending and income has really helped me understand more about finances and good stewardship. Though it is not always fun, this process of budgeting has been very beneficial to me. If you don’t already keep track of your spending in some way I suggest you start sometime soon, maybe as a new year’s resolution. It doesn’t need to be fancy, it could be as simple as saving all your receipts and reviewing them at the end of the month, but I believe that you would benefit from it. Even if you don’t change how you spend your money, I believe that it will help you appreciate the money that you do have even more. It certainly has helped me praise God for all that He has given me, and I think it would help you in the same way. Because really, every cent that we receive is a gift from God, and I can know that He has given me exactly the right amount. The philosophy of our world is designed to make us always want more, but if we step back and look at what we have already been given, as Christians, it is impossible not to turn back towards heaven and praise our Lord God for His wonderful blessing. For He is wise and generous God who will supply all our needs.

       Thanking my savior for His wonderful blessing,

                   Tim

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

~ Hebrews 13:5-6

We can be content in Christ.