1. think about what you really need, not what you want
For example, if you don’t talk that much on the phone, get a prepaid phone; they seem to cost more, but you really don’t need to talk for 500 minutes. I use an average of $10 a month, save $30 a month, and that translates to $360 annually.
2. savings
Open a savings account that receives automatic transfers from your checking account. You will save and earn interest without knowing it, which is a bonus.
3. small things add up
A pack of gum, a cup of Starbucks Frap, a magazine that you read and throw away-these all take bites from your budget. By the end of the month, I look at my bill and see $100 spent on nothing, absolutely nothing.
4. communicate with God daily
In the end, financial stewardship is best learned from the God who created us and understands the world’s monetary systems. Obedience comes from our love and relationship with Jesus Christ. This, my friend, is cultivated daily.
5. research and learn about God’s work today
He is leading multitudes from other religions to Christ and strengthening missionaries being persecuted to death in anti-Christian countries. We must come to realize God’s heart is for people to fall in love with Him-that is where our money must be invested.
There is a story about an American who goes to France on an extended vacation, to one day return to America. Upon entering France, she is told that nothing she buys will transfer or ship back to America. The only thing that does transfer is the money she deposits into her American bank account. Therefore, it would be ignorant for her to purchase a lot of land, houses, furniture, and things that she is not able to see in America.
The wisest thing, then, is for her to deposit into her future destination and goal. For us, we must realize the things in this world are temporary, able to disintegrate, and will be destroyed. We must deposit into our future destination, the Kingdom of God, because it lasts forever. God must be all for us.
