Your spending plan is a process, and it will have to be reworked often. Budget-killing times of emergency will come along. When this happens (not if), your spending plan must be reworked until you can live within your plan. After completing the spending plan, worksheets identify the budget items that are out of control or out of synch with your long-term goals. Resolve to  reduce spending in all categories so your spending plan will not be a life goal killer.

Abraham, Moses, David, Gideon, Samuel, Samson and all those mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11were all successful men of God. Some of them started slow and most of them struggled at some time along life’s way, but all of them finished strong. These were men of faith who trusted God at His Word. Each one had his own unique task that God called him to do. Each was given a difficult task to carry out, yet they all fullfilled their calling with skill and grace.  These men of God were ordinary men who had a God-given plan. Likewise, God has called each Christian to a unique calling that is unparalleled to any other. For what God has appointed us to accomplish, He gives us the means to do. In every way, these men of faith were successful because they were full of faith in God’s Word and they lived by His precepts. To have financial success, we must live by God’s financial precepts, and that includes having a spending plan which implements Biblical wisdom.

People who have a problem with over-spending usually go through denial. “I know that I’m not spending that much” is a familiar refrain. In my experience, only a few people with debt problems have been using a spending plan. They may have had one, but they have not been using it. A spending plan facilitates planning ahead and controls the biggest financial goal killer of them all: impulse spending.

God owns everything; therefore, we must conclude that each spending decision is a spiritual decision. When we realize it is not our money, we will ask God questions like: Heavenly Father, do you want me to spend your money on this new dress? Or Heavenly Father, do you want me to spend your money on that new car when my car runs fine? If we can ever reach that level of understanding, our spending becomes a spiritual issue.

Putting together a spending plan is crucial to avoid spending your way into serious problems. It develops a habit that can serve you well for a lifetime. A spending plan makes a personal commitment to managing money based on Biblical principles instead of letting your money manage you.

The first step in designing a spending plan is to track how you are spending money now. It is hard to resolve spending problems when you don’t know where the money goes. To track current spending, review two or three of your recent bank statements to get an idea of current monthly expenses and monthly take-home pay. Then from your review of your bank statement, use our spending plan analysis worksheet to record how much you want to budget on each listed category. Update it frequently.

Part of my job as an financial professional has been saving clients from some of their worst impulses, over-spending. I often encounter people who are withering financially, often a very frustrating situation. Our society often demands that we seek instant gratification. So the affluent along with the poor all seem to have problems with over-spending. As a Christian financial professional, it has been my obligation to tell my clients the consequences of their actions. Many Christian’s poor spending habits are like a man who is speeding along in his car at 100mph. He is enjoying the scenery but does not realize that he is heading for a cliff. Often these Christians will drive right off the edge. On the other hand, it is tremendously rewarding to see God’s blessings begin to flow on those who have a heart for God and begin to live out the financial principles laid out in God’s Word.

Including Christians, most people do not realize that their check book is a story book of their life. It tells of your values, how much you save, what you spend, to whom you give. In fact, your checkbook tells us more about your priorities than anything else. The born-again Christian’s checkbook should reveal God and establishing His Kingdom as top priority. However, most Christian’s checkbook will show material things hold the highest priority in their life. Does your check book reveal that you love God and put him first in your life, or does your check book reveal that you are in financial bondage because of poor spending habits?

The Successful Life Manager will always take a proactive role in planning his or her life. The planning process will combine reflection, core-values, life changing events and goal-setting in a formalized and structured process to arrive at a plan to achieve your specific goals. We must realize that we are not in complete control of all of our life’s events, because “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Contrary to the way many Christians live their life, by not having a plan, they set their aim at nothing, leaving their life to chance. The Bible tells us we are to plan, we should aim our sights at our God-given goals and let God direct our steps. Life-altering decisions are made daily, and aligning those daily decisions according to your plan will help you reach the goals of your dreams.

Each Christian should formulate his financial plan so to live a life to fulfill his God given calling so he can make an eternal impact. The master plan of God was to send His son to evangelize and make disciples while on earth, which included defeating the devil. Jesus was successful in fulfilling God’s plan. Success in any struggle involves the defeat of an opponent. Jesus defeated the devil in the garden and on Golgatha. Likewise, the devil’s goal is to see you live a life of defeat away from your calling and life goals. The devil’s desire is for you to be tossed to and fro (Ephesians 4:14), deceived by his lies and trickery. The only way to detect his lies is to know the truth of God’s Word. Your Successful life plan™ will incorporate God’s Word and will include what you are passionate about. The only way the devil can succeed in your life is with your help. Make a choice to plan your life and live by God’s Word. If you do, the devil’s plan for making you live a defeated life will not come to fruition.

The reason each Christian should have a Successful life plan is to keep an eternal focus. Your Successful life plan™ will help you make faith-based financial decisions and an eternal impact. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” God’s purpose is the key in Successful life planning™ for the Christian that is vastly different from the traditional financial and life planning models.  Setting your heart and mind on God is the beginning of the successful life-planning process. Without question, it takes prayer and seeking God’s face for your plan to be molded into the plan that God has purposed for your life. All born-again Christians should desire God’s plan and not their own. It is obvious from God’s Word that He expects us to plan. Unlike the secular world-view of financial planning, which is to follow your own physical desires, God’s plan is for the believer not to trust in themselves but to be guided by the Holy Spirit. It is only after we seek the heart of God and His direction that we can establish a Success life plan™ that is pleasing to Him. If God’s purpose is in your life plan, the plan will succeed. Otherwise, if your plan only follows your lustful desires, it will fail. A Successful life plan™ will always include God’s will in your plan. Successful Life planning™ is not only a Biblical concept, it is a Biblical mandate. It is God’s chosen method of working to establish how you intend to carry out the Great Commission and accomplish much for the Kingdom of God. Be intentional in getting God’s heart and knowing how you will accomplish His mission in your Successful life plan™. This can only be accomplished through prayer, reading His Word and meditating on God’s will in your life.

Your Successful life Plan™ will make your income, investments, and insurance work in harmony so you can achieve your life goals and God-given mission. Ephesians 4:14 tells us, “Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Unlike most people who wind up reacting to events that tossed them to and fro, being distracted they seldom achieve their God-given mission and their life-long goals, unlike you, a Successful Life Manager, they do not have a designed and implemented financial strategy that will keep them on course.

Sound financial planning begins with a reality check. This initial stage involves an examination of spending habits, which includes fixed and variable costs. The goal is to construct a spending plan that will enable you to meet day-to-day expenses so you can save for your long-term goals. One of the most useful exercises you can do to help you facilitate your Successful Life Plan™ is to write out a personal mission statement for your life. In addition, write out your life purpose. Your life purpose is the primary task that God intends for you to perform.

God has a general purpose for each believer that calls upon the name of Jesus Christ. You are special to God, and He has a specific purpose that He has called you to perform. It is unique to your talents, gifts, contacts and opportunities.

The new buzz word in the financial planning community is life-planning. As the financial planning profession matures, an emphasis is now starting to shift from traditional financial planning to a focus on life itself.  With the birth of life planning, a new profession has also evolved and its focus is life coaching. Both the coaching profession and the financial planning community have realized that meeting life’s goals and dreams are more important to life than just crunching financial figures and numbers. As people age and approach middle age, they usually will start considering their future; they start soul searching and asking themselves hard questions: Will I be able to achieve my life-long dreams? What is my purpose in life? How will I spend the rest of my time? Am I really happy? Once I retire, what will keep me motivated? Will I have enough money to retire? What is my life all about? Since most people need help with life’s transitions, the life planning approach has emerged. Life planning focuses on the person’s values, beliefs and goals, and then a financial plan is established to meet those needs and wants. Life planning has clearly emerged to help people find significance in their lives, and it is an on-going process. Traditional financial planners will concentrate on building wealth for their clients while life planners emphasize helping their clients use wealth to get more out of life. Life planning is financial planning with a different perspective. Successful Life Planning™ will help you build a financial strategy that will incorporate God’s calling and purpose into your financial plan. Your plan will include your life history (which tells how God got you where you are today), your life changing events (expected changes in your life), your core values (beliefs held to be true), and your life goals.

In the preparation of selecting specific investments for your portfolios, it is advisable to seek the help of a professional.  Your choice of an investment professional is critical.

Ask yourself the following question: Is my financial professional qualified? Before hiring a financial professional, you should first establish that the financial professional is a Christian, and that he or she operates as a Christian. The advice you receive from a Christian professional is different than the advice you will receive from a non-Christian. Simply put, Christians should not turn to non-Christians for advice. Psalms 1:1 tells us “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” I’m not saying that the Christian’s advice is better than the world’s advice, but the world’s paradigms do not line up with the truths of God’s Word. The secular financial professional cannot deliver peace of mind, and they typically concentrate on building wealth, while Christian Financial professionals emphasize helping clients find ways to use their wealth effectively to get more out of life and establishing the Kingdom of God. God’s Holy principles of stewardship transcend time and are unchanging. Likewise, the Christian financial professional’s advice is unchanging if it is based on scripture. Most everything Christians complain about financially is only a temporary position. The secular view is wrong because it takes a temporary view. All Christians should have an eternal perspective. We are to see the world through God’s eye, viewpoints and perspectives. A Godly perspective never changes; it always remains the same.

Investing is a tool that each of us should use to accomplish financial objectives. We  can accumulate wealth by spending less than we earn and invest the difference over a long time period. We preserve wealth by following the Biblical principles of diversification, professional advice, and by having a long time horizon. Investment speculation should only be done after asking the question “Can I afford to lose this money with no adversarial effect on my long-term goals?” Using investments to build wealth so to make a statement of faith and to provide for your family are legitimate reasons to invest.

Dollar cost averaging is a wonderful way to follow the Biblical principle of “steady plodding.” With this type of investing strategy, the investor does not have to worry about timing the market. Many Christians ask “Is now a good or bad time to invest.” Dollar cost averaging answers that question by making market conditions work for you not against you. Regular, periodic purchases of the same dollar amount each week, month or quarter will render you purchasing more shares of stock or mutual fund when the price is low and fewer shares when its price is high. Thus the average share price will be averaged down, reducing the risk of putting money into stocks at the top of the market.

The ultimate investment is investing in eternity. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:20 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” I have had a few Christian ask me “Is investing the same as gambling?” The answer is no. Here’s why. Gambling is taking an extraordinary amount of risk for an extraordinary gain. One of the great ironies of gambling is that the vast majority of people lose. Jackpots are built from other gamblers’ losses. Merriam- Webster’s collegiate Dictionary, tenth edition defines gambling as follows: “to bet on an uncertain outcome; to take a chance.” A gambler may risk one dollar on the lottery hoping to win $500. Everything we do in a sense involves risk with some possible reward for the risk taken. For example, there is risk associated with driving an automobile to the grocery store. Statistics tells us that the majority of traffic fatalities happen within a couple blocks of home. The risk of driving a couple blocks to the grocery store is the possibility of a traffic fatality. The reward is dinner on the table. Risk is inherent in the human psyche. However, the Bible never teaches us that we should never take a risk. God’s Word does teach us not to desire quick riches (Proverbs 28:20) and to abstain from all appearance of evil (Thessalonians 5:22). Biblical principles do not teach against taking risk, but God in His infinite wisdom gives us the ability to calculate risk with good judgment, so we can make good investment choices.