Notes….

The average households under 35 are saving -16% of their income.

Financial freedom has nothing to do with our income. 

The law of guaranteed wealth: Spend less than you make for a long period of time.

Man, these powerpoint slides are from around 1980 or something.  Someone needs to read Presentation Zen! 🙂

Comparison to others destroys your contentment.

  • You will always be able to find somebody else that has something better than you. 
  • In the comparison game we will never be content.
  • “Most people are motivated to success by the envy of our neighbors” – Ecclesiastes

What happens if we buy into the philosophy of the culture?

  • Distorted view of what brings happiness
  • As “stuff” increases… Happiness decreases
  • Money and possessions quickly take control of your life
  • The desire to acquire blinds us to what’s really valuable.
  • Materialism undermines healthy self-worth

People living on plastic spend 26% more than with cash.

How can I get out of debt?

  • Make a solid commitment to be debt free
  • Add no more debt.
  • Live on Cash – do “plastic surgery”
  • Construct a debt deduction plan
  • Apply all “windfall money” to debt payment.
Budgeting:
  • “living on a budget makes me feel trapped.”
  • “a budget is the next best thing to being in prison!”

It’s actually 180 degrees the opposite.  A budget produces freedom. A budget is like a freedom fence. 

Budgeting:

  • Reduces waste and allows for saving money
  • Brings freedom by eliminating surprises
  • Can take corrective action to head off disasters.
  • Increases positive communication about money.

There is a constant battle between giving, saving and debt because they are usually the last things that we put in our monthly spending.  We think that these three things are making us take on more debt.  But really, the problem is our lifestyle.  

We need to start with Saving and Giving and saving and then create a lifestyle that works from there.  Save 10% and give 10% and live on 80% of our income.

What are the three major things that keep seeking to subtly or blatantly expand your lifestyle? Figure out what they are and attack them.

The “redefining of the Normal”:  

  • Average size of american home in 1940: 750 sq. feet. -> Today: 2300 sq feet.
  • The problem here is that we have redefined normal to where we can no longer afford normal anymore.  And the only way to be normal is to be in debt.
  • In 1960 the self-storage industry was non-existent and today it is one of the fastest growing industries. 
  • We can get caught up in being “normal” without even realizing. 
  • This has come from the difficulty to borrow money to today where there are people who are trying to force people to borrow money that they don’t even want.  There used to be a gut fear in borrowing money. Today we view borrowing as a vehicle to prosperity. 

These slides might be getting worse.

**Budgeting with a variable income.

  • Set up a payroll account and only live off of a conservative estimate of your monthly needs.
  • This way you put yourself on a consistent paycheck.
  • Initially use some of your emergency fun to fund this payroll account.
  • This assumes that you will make what you said you are going to make.
  • If you realize you going to make less money over the year, give yourself a pay cut. 

It takes about 9 months to get a budget to actually balance. Have patience. 

Savings:

Without savings its impossible to become debt free.

There is a difference between hoarding and savings.

Personal Savings rate is negative for three years in a row for the first time since the great depression.

  • In 1985 there was a major change in our attitude.  The 12% savings rate dropped like a rock since then.
  • Around this time that Credit cards became relied upon as backup for savings.
  • We went from an attitude of savers to an attitude of spenders.
  • In one generation we went from being a nation of savers to a nation of spenders.
  • Personal note, this is a stunning trend and a dramatically important statistic. 

Make minor changes in your life style that last over a long period of time and this will make a major difference.  Its not only about putting $400 away at a time. 

The key is you save before you spend.

Generosity:

  • “I am not sure I have met someone that is financially free who was not also generous”
  • You cannot separate generosity from financial freedom
  • Giving is not about raising funds, is about a relationship with God.
  • Giving: Generosity and gratefulness in action.
  • Giving is at the very heart of our relationship with God. To be more like God, we need to become givers.

Study of II Corinthians 8 & 9

  • There is no connection to generosity and the amount of money than they had.
  • “Gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will…”
  • Giving is the evidence of the reality of our love for God. 
  • It allows God to provide the very gift for us to give.  “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous.”
  • Our generosity has the power to influence the relationship between others and God.

Been a great day.  I’ve got a lot to work on.