Practicing Good Stewardship

Good Stewardship

For God to trust you with a lot, He has to know he can trust you with a little. You have to learn to be responsible with your money; being responsible doesn’t happen overnight. Some situations occur in life that may impact how we manage money and how we learn about money. You should not be wasteful with anything God gives you because then, why should he give you more? When you finish your budget and understand your spending habits and behaviors, simply ask yourself, “Are there areas where I am wasteful and can be more responsible with God’s resources? ”Stay consistent when managing your bills and bank account. It is a good best practice to review your bank account regularly. I’ve seen many times where customers didn’t know how much they were paying for subscription services out of their account. They didn’t even know they were being overcharged or double charged because they did not review their bank statements. Sometimes people make mistakes, which can be discovered by studying all your statements.Nowadays, where everything is done electronically, sometimes, there are system errors. When you review your bank account regularly and line it up with your budget, it helps you stay on track. Having a plan keeps you from just going in and seeing how much money you have on that day and not accounting for bills that may not have been deducted. The biggest thing is being connected to your account transactions and knowing how much money you have in your account. You should also be connected to the other payments you make from your account and the dates paid.

Managing Expenses

It’s essential to learn how to manage your bills. Managing your bills are more than just paying them when you receive them. You want to make sure that you’re paying your bills on time every month, not just the ones impacting your credit. This means managing credit cards and debt on your credit report and those bills like your gas and electric bill or your cell phone bill that may not be tied to your credit reporting, but there are still important things that you need to utilize. You want to pay your bills on time to avoid late fees. Number one, late fees are nuisance fees. You don’t want to pay additional money on top of what you already owe a company. Number two, It’s a waste of money. Number three, you don’t have to worry about late fees if you pay bills on time. You don’t have to worry about disconnection fees and the stress of having the things you utilize every day being disconnected. So you want to ensure you are constantly paying your bills on time. Being aware of what bills you have, when they are due, and the average amount helps when operating on your budget because this helps you remain consistent, and it also helps you stay on track with paying your bills on time when they’re due.

Reducing Bills

Finding ways to reduce your bills is also a good habit when managing your bills. Take a look overall at what you spend your money on once you do your budget, and you can outline everything you are keeping and anything you need to change. Review your spending each month and identify what you can reduce. Often, you can contact companies used for services and see if they have lower packages. Sometimes, they may have lower promotional rates for specific days, services, and subscriptions. Also, make sure you’re canceling subscriptions that you don’t currently use or don’t need anymore. Ask yourself if that subscription aligns with your values and money goals. If you have a subscription service for something like Shoe Dazzle and are trying to purchase a house, does that subscription service to purchase additional shoes line up with the ultimate goal? Maybe you’re not spending as much, or it may be that you’re connected to the costs, and you’re okay with it or that it’s within your budget. You get to decide but keep in mind that everybody’s goals are different when you have particular goals. You want to ensure those goals and what You’re spending money on things that are in line with your goals.Another important thing about managing your bills is how you spend your money. Take a clear look at your budget and understand how you’re spending your money. How much is going towards your monthly bills, lifestyle, and your savings? Whichever lifestyle you want, make sure that you know your eating out habit isn’t obsessive, or if you’re purchasing a lot of things on, say, Amazon or any online network, you’re cautious of your spending. You should budget your spending, and you can spend extra money however you like. You just have to make sure that it’s within your 100%. Again, everybody only gets 100% to spend every month. So where’s your money going? And how are you spending your money consistently to keep track and make sure your regular bills are paid on time and that you’re connected to what else you’re spending money on? 

Here is the reality:

• About Thirty-nine percent of Americans cannot even cover a 

$400 personal emergency.

•  About Sixty-four percent don’t have $1000 saved in the bank.

• About Seventy-eight percent of most people live paycheck to paycheck. 

That’s eight out of ten people that you know. If you consider ten people in your circle, eight of them live paycheck to paycheck, and if anything happens to that one source of income will completely change their entire lives.The goal of this book is so that you’re not one of those eight people. If you are one of those eight people living paycheck to paycheck right now, let’s change that. Take a look at your situation and your circumstances and commit to make a change. So it doesn’t completely knock you off your reality. The goal here is to have a better perspective to live a better life. God didn’t create us to struggle and not have what we need and want. However, we live in a natural world, so sometimes, things happen beyond our control. Just know no matter your situation, we have supernatural help.

Saving Long-Term

The next category for your savings. Have a retirement account in place. That retirement account could be a mutual fund or retirement could be your 401(k). That retirement account could even be you dipping into stocks. SAVE SOMETHING. The goal is to have something with higher interest rates or compound interest rates so that you can grow your money quickly. The goal is not to have to rely on social security. Also, you’re not trying to figure out, once you retire, if you will have enough income to support yourself for the future. Your future is important, and you must plan for it now. So, you shouldn’t be spending all of your money now. The reality is you should be able to save at least 20% of your current income for your future to ensure that you’re good as you get older. It would help if you were also mindful of other expenses that may come. If you are not saving 20%, start today. If 20% is too much, start with 10%, and just begin somewhere.

Emergency Savings

If you want to have an emergency savings account, it needs to have about $1,000 in it for emergencies. This should be an account you can access easily, but it should only be used for emergencies and not to support your spending habits. If something happens, like you need a new tire or something quickly for your home, that’s an emergency. You should have a savings account on hand with at least $1,000 in it to make sure you can cover quick expenses. The main goal of your emergency savings account is to keep you from going into debt. So many people take out payday loans or overdraft their accounts when things happen. Try your best to avoid high-interest payday loans or overdrafting your account because these methods are hard to recover from, and you end up in debt pits you can’t get out of easily. Your emergency savings should be able to cover some expenses to keep you from going deep into debt.

If you don’t have an emergency account set up; start one TODAY. If not, you are leaning on credit cards, payday loans, or worse, you cannot cover the emergency at that time, which could negatively impact your daily lifestyle. Please ensure you take this seriously and build on it if needed. After saving up your emergency account with at least $1000, you also need an expense savings account. And the difference between the two is your expense savings cover your household bills for an entire month, and you want to have that set up for about six months. If anything happens on your job or in your business or however you primarily receive your income, you know that you have six months’ worth of money saved to still pay all your bills for at least the next six months. That temporarily alleviates you from having a lot of stress in your life. When you’re trying to either find another job or find more ways to increase your income, you know that you have this savings set up just in case. Now, sometimes you may have more significant expenses that may increase. But the biggest thing is to make sure that you have everything set up so you know you’re covered. You’re not living paycheck to paycheck. You have a nice savings built up.

Importance of Insurance

Yes, you should have insurance and keep your policies up to date. You should have insurance on your car to protect it if you’re ever involved in an accident. Be sure that your policy covers your vehicle being repaired, replaced, or if an accident is also your fault. You’re covered just in case you are liable for another person’s injuries. Yes, you should have homeowners’ insurance, which protects you if you ever have a fire or damage to your home. If there’s stuff involved; any stolen items will also be covered with homeowners’ insurance. There are different rounds of renter’s insurance that you can investigate to see what the best option is for you. I would also advise that people have life insurance. I feel like this is a topic we don’t discuss enough in our culture and community.We don’t talk about death, and we don’t talk about what needs to happen when that person dies, whether it is the last will and trust situation, an estate plan, or whether there’s life insurance and the coverage that needs to be taken care of. Life insurance is essential in these scenarios. Even just simply having burial costs saved or prepaid burial plans. Whatever it is, the importance of insurance is for when a person passes away so that the family doesn’t have to scrape and scramble to figure out how to cover the funeral cost or debt that that person incurred once that person passes away.

So, I think this should be a conversation that every household has to make sure they’re connected to what the family has established. Whether it’s life insurance or pre-burial costs, which need to be discussed. It needs to be planned out, and it needs to be implemented so that it’s not the family trying to grieve and also deal with financial burdens.I’ve seen many times where people must start GoFundMe accounts. I’ve seen people who had to beg for money or get a loan to lay their loved ones to rest. In addition, there may be debt from that loved one that needs to be paid. The family sometimes has to be responsible for the debt and handle all affairs. They have to find money to pay off debt or bury their loved ones during stressful times. Planning after a family member has passed can be emotionally challenging for the rest of the family members. You want to give your family the best options possible, where they’re not completely stressed if something may happen to you. Now, I know this is a difficult topic to discuss. It’s hard to bring it up to your family. But I think every family should be responsible enough to have family planning sessions and be connected to each family member, especially as you get older. Please take this part of your financial planning seriously.

Giving

There is something about giving that shifts a situation. When you’re willing to let go of something from your hand that you need and even feel like you must hold on to it tightly, favor comes. It shifts your energy and allows money to flow to you freely because you made a choice to give. So, many times, people say, “I don’t have money to give,” “I don’t have enough,” or “I can’t afford to give,” but the truth is you can’t afford not to give. I think it’s crucial for you to shift your perspective on what you have and don’t have. God has given us so much. So, God asking for 10% for tithes and offering is nothing compared to what He’s given us because He allows us to have 90%. The reality is that 100% of it belongs to Him anyway. He asks for 10% as a heart check. Are you willing to let go of a little to get a lot? This concept is not for everyone and some may disagree, yet giving has always existed. Be sure to give with an open heart. If you feel resentful or upset about giving, don’t do it with a hard heart. Just keep it! God does not want you to give anything your heart is not fully into. When you give sometimes, it doesn’t always have to be monetary. Sometimes, you can provide your time and or resources. Sometimes, you can give your focus on helping someone else in their situation. You determine what that looks like for you and consult with God about what is on your heart. Sometimes, it could be something as simple as paying for someone’s groceries in the store or their prescription at the pharmacy. You apply a little bit of positive money energy to give to somebody else, ultimately increasing what’s coming to you in the future. If you give, you will receive. If you think about somebody else for a second, something good will begin to come to you.

“God is the one who gives seed to the farmer and bread for 

food. He will give you all the seed you need to make it grow so 

there will be a great harvest from your goodness.” 

(2 Corinthians 9:10 NCV)

When you give, you let money know to grow, and when You give, and you let God know He can trust you with more. I’ve often learned this perspective when I felt like I didn’t have to give, yet I gave anyway. I have also paid for things for people, I didn’t even know, and every time that blessing has come back to me pressed down, shaken up and running over. So my encouragement would be for you to look for opportunities to give instead of receiving or always telling yourself you don’t have the money to give. How about from this point on, you start shifting your perspective? Wake up and start asking how I can give today. The universe will always respond to your questions when you ask whether you are providing the time you are giving money, your giving resources, or support. You just have to have a giving mindset when talking about shifting and healing your money mindset. You want to have a providing perspective to completely change where you are today. So, Start this practice today, and go and give.

“When you learn, teach, when you get give.”

Dr. Maya Angelou.