For many people the “b” word is a bad word. They see a budget as retraining; as choking their lifestyle. However, one of the most freeing tools at your disposal is a budget. For those who do not like the word budget use the phrase “a spending plan.” We could also call it a saving plan or a giving plan.

Basically, there are three things we can do with money. We can spend it, save it, or give it away. Giving away money is a fun thing to do; more about that later. Saving (investing) money is a wise thing to do. Spending money is what we have to do or want to do. In order that we may do all three of these in a Christ honoring manner, we need to know our income and our expected outgo. Thus, the need for a spending plan.

There are many spending plans you could use. For sure, all of them should have the goal of fulfilling the biblical admonition found in 1 Corinthians 14:40. There we find, “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

Without a workable and useable plan, we will find the words of Proverbs 23:5 coming into play. “Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven. Another way to say that is, if we do not tell money where to go, it will disappear. Many of us have started the day with a certain amount of money in our possession, by the end of the day, it is gone, and we do not know where it went. It just flew away like the Proverb states.

Think of a spending plan like an email address or mailing address on an envelope. You would not send one of these without an address. You want it to reach it’s intended recipient. Likewise, a budget is putting an address on the money entrusted to you. You are telling it where to go (how to save it, spend it, or give it away) even before you receive the money. You do not want it to just disappear into thin air.

A budget is a plan. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty. Proverbs 24:3-4 says, “Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” 

Proverbs 20:18a says, “Plans are established by counsel.” Let me know if you need help setting up your budget plan. There are several ways to track your spending using tools available to you on your computer or with some inexpensive financial software. For some financial consulting and coaching, send me request here: Tom@tomsavage.us. Have a great day!