I have been struggling with debt and managing my money. As a single person with only a paycheck to support me, I really feel that I don’t know how to manage my money.
You might consider taking a portion of your net income (perhaps as much as 10%) and put it into savings. When it gets as much as 5-10,000, you might invest it in an FDIC insured CD (certificate of deposit). This might help you build up some savings as well as try to stop losing as much from inflation.
I learned that perhaps you should save double or triple what you buy so if you need food 100 you should save 300 first. Then that 200 after to save as you will need it for your next , but you should also tally up all your bills and again work to save at least three times you have to have a cushion . I know life is not perfect and we need a saving for that too . Omg we just need to live in a bubble with nothing but keep trying that’s the main thing . Really important to save and budget make a budget and if you can’t you cant and you shouldn’t feel bad. I actually have been very poor and couldn’t even afford underwear it’s awful and when that is the case worry just takes over and you survive and you don’t budget. Just in case someone is thinking they should hopefully in certain situations when reality doesn’t say that. But I really like the budgeting advice and saving advice I received. Boy this is really bad but I don’t feel safe even talking about budgeting isn’t that sad that’s so bad
A budget is merely a way of managing your money.
To start make a written list of ever expenses you have to pay.
Rent, electricity, gas, water, insurance house, car, health etc, calculate your travel cost for work, car loan, petrol, parking fees.
How much do you eat in a pay period- bread, potatoes, vegetables, cheese, meat, tea, coffee, milk etc etc
Add it all up and subtract it from your pay.
If the figure is a minus you need to go over your expenses and work out how you can cut costs.
example, would it be cheaper to use public transport to get to work rather than pay for a car.
or eat cheaper food, turn lights off that are not needed to be on. Don’t buy new gadgets/toys untill utilities and food have been paid for.
If these is not enough you might have to get a second job.
Stewarding our finances well is so tough. My church is actually going through a sermon series on this right now. I think no matter whether you grew up with a lot or a little, we all have baggage and potentially things we need to “un-learn” when it comes to money and managing it.
I think you’re right that managing money is a spiritual discipline and is part of our spiritual formation. As such, I think it’s going to be a process. There isn’t a shortcut or single class we can take or sermon we can hear that will solve it for us, but I would encourage you to start reading or listening to some materials that address managing money from a Christian perspective and then pick one or two things to start implementing. Once you feel like those good practices have become a habit, you can add more. I wouldn’t try to do too much at once because small wins will help you gain momentum and will be more encouraging.
And pray! Jesus spoke a lot about money and our relationship to it, and I believe he will hear and help you as you seek him in this area.
Here are a few helpful tips to get you started:
Dave Ramsey is one of the best Christian financial advisors that has a free radio program. That should be a target for you.
I recommend using a Debit Card, and NO CREDIT CARDS. A Debit Card uses your savings/checking account for purchases. Also with that, setup another account where most of your savings will be kept, and only keep enough funds in your Debit Card account that you need to do business with. The object is to learn how to spend ONLY what money you actually have, and not to borrow any.
WARNING: all banks will issue you a CREDIT CARD along with a Debit Card. And your Debit Card can actually be used as a CREDIT CARD also. Don’t use CREDIT. Tear up a separate CREDIT CARD if they give you one. A bank’s main income comes from charging interest on loans. The advantage of using a Debit Card is that you are only using what money YOU have, that is in your account, with NO interest. It’s much like a check, just an electronic one.
You can have all your paycheck sent to your bank. I recommend a Federal Credit Union because they are under IRS non-profit status.
The Nitty-Gritty Part - figure out all your expenses for a month. Keep receipts if you want to be really accurate. For bills like car insurance, you can get a discount for paying yearly, instead of month by month. Homeowners insurance, property tax, etc., bills that come once a year, you save up for those; divide the yearly bill by 12 and put that amount in your account each month, and you should have enough to cover that bill when it becomes due. Do this with the other yearly bills too.
For other smaller bills, figure monthly. And reserve that amount in your account also. You could even use a 3rd savings account just to put your money in to cover bills. But tell them you don’t want it subjected to a Debit Card usage. Only have one account that allows usage of a Debit Card. This way, as long as your bills don’t change a lot, your paycheck going to the bills account you don’t have to worry about, as long as you don’t dip into it for anything else. Add a little bit of padding, just so your account balance stays on the positive side, say 10%.
Get automatic overdraw protection for your Debit account. Better to have that than to have overdraws on your credit history.
Just about everything today, utilities, insurances, car payments, etc., can be setup for Autopay. I recommend still getting paper statements from them though.