So tonight I went to church and they continued their series on Managing your Money.  And the pastor talked about a Biblical budget plan (The 10/10/80 Plan, which if you want to know more about feel free to ask).  And he also gave us his 10 Financial Commandments, the set of rules that his wife and he came up with (because he is a “chronic-spender”).  So I want to share these with you really quickly.

1-I will honor the Tithe and keep it holy.
2-I shall not spend money that I do not have.
3-I shall have no other needs above my family’s needs.
4-I shall not take my budget in vain (basically, don’t curse your budget, or talk bad about it or you know just be disrespectful, it’s only doing it’s job).
5-I shall not spend over (a certain amount of money that you set) without sleeping on it.
6-I shall not spend without (insert spouses name here if you are a big spender. But God’s name or an accountability partner also would work)’s permission that I may live a long life on this earth that God has created.
7-I shall teach my children the value of a dollar and the danger of debt.
8-I shall spend my spending money on whatever I want.
9-I shall not feel guilty when buying things that I have saved and/or budgeted for.
10-I shall spend money with my future in mind, as well as my present.

I thought these were cool and good tips for those of us who are getting closer and closer to adulthood. He also played this clip from the radio.  It was of this show about finances and getting out of debt.  And the clip was of the segment where the host has people call in and tell how they got out of debt.  And then at then end they scream, “I am debt free!”  The guy who had called in had paid off a $20,000+ debt with only a $40,000 a year income in 17 months (Do the math, that takes some serious work).  And at the end he shouted “I AM DEBT FREE!!!!  FREEDOM!!!!”  I cried…so yeah.  Let’s all strive to never get there so that God can use that money for something else more important.

The Big Sister- ‘Manias