This was an original post I did over at ChristianPF - you can check it out in its entirety there.

My wife and I recently built a new home and moved in a few months ago.  It feels good to be done with the process!

There are some good financial lessons to be learned from building a home.  If any of you have done it, you know what I’m talking about.

There’s a lot that goes into building and each step needs to be done in a certain order otherwise nothing will get accomplished!

The same can be said for our personal finances.  We need to have a good plan and make sure things get done correctly, otherwise we’ll be spinning our wheels.

So, here are some lessons learned from the building process and a blueprint for all of us to build our financial house:

Footings

Under every house is a foundation, and under most foundations are footings. Footings are extremely important because they are the basis on which the foundation is laid. 

Improper footings will not allow the foundation to withstand the give and take of the soil.So what are the footings in personal finance?

Giving

A heart of generosity and a willingness to let go of our own stuff to meet the needs of others is one of the footings on which we build our financial house. 

Why? Because God was so generous to us – therefore that characteristic should flow through us as well.

I know what some of you are thinking, “But I don’t have enough money to give” – well certainly there are other things you can give, like time.  But let me ask you – how much have you prayed about your giving?  Have you considered selling things you do have to help meet the needs of others? 

Giving is a critical footing that we must not simply ignore.

Proper Attitude

An attitude of stewardship - not ownership – should be a key footing as well. In other words, as stewards we should desire to make more money, get out of debt, and get our spending under control because we are handling God’s money – not ours.

When we realize that we are to be responsible managers for God’s currency and that our money is simply a conduit of grace, we can begin to have the proper motivation to get a handle on our money.

Foundation

The foundation is the next crucial piece to building a house.  The foundation for constructing a well-built financial house are things like cash flow, emergency funds and a commitment to getting rid of non-mortgage debt! 

Cash Flow

This is simply your income minus expenses. 

Why is this so important?  Because the secret to getting ahead financially is that there is no secret – spend less than you make.  Everything else hinges on this very point.

Emergency Funds

This also is extremely important because inevitably things come up.  Cars break down, roofs leak, furnaces go out.  So you must have the ability to pay for the emergencies without racking up credit card debt.

Framework

Framing is one of the exciting parts of building a house.  You finally get an idea of what the house will be like.  It’s also key because you need the proper beams in the right places to support the house.

Paying off  Non-Mortgage Debt

Credit cards, car loans and the like are mole hills in a garden.  Working hard at getting rid of those types of debts will help free you to give more, save more and invest for your future.

Insurance

Proper insurance coverage is your support beam for your financial house.  This includes reviewing and acquiring proper health, home/auto, disability and life insurance. 

Let’s take for example life insurance.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions when purchasing these policies, so you need to make sure you ask the right questions before you buy life insurance.

Exterior Shell – Roof, Brick and Windows

Now this is where building really gets fun and the house begins to take on the character of what you were envisioning when you began the process.

In personal finance the exterior shell would be things like:

Saving for Retirement 

Funding your 401k plan, IRA or Roth IRA is a big step toward getting your financial house in order.  This is the fun part!  Seeing these accounts build up and realizing that you are saving toward a long-term goal is exciting.

Saving for Other Goals

This could be college savings for your kids, saving for a rental home or even your first house.  Having the ability to sock some cash away for these things is a great feeling.

Final Touches

Getting the drywall in and painted, the flooring and carpet in and making some final touches on the inside is when the house comes together and you’re just about ready to move in.

From a financial standpoint some of these final touches may include things like:

Tax Diversification 

This simply means utilizing your investment accounts from the best tax perspective so that you’re not left holding a huge tax time-bomb in retirement. 

You may want to consider shifting your savings around to help diversify yourself from a tax stand point.

Investment Strategies

At the beginning, it’s good to just get saving.  But as you progress and your account balances begin to grow, you may want to re-evaluate your portfolios to determine if you should employ more sophisticated investment strategies to help maximize your returns and minimize losses.

Something to Remember

Building a house is a process that takes time, effort and energy – and things don’t always go as planned.  Don’t get discouraged, and keep plugging away.  The end result will be well worth it!

Yesterday we set the stage for the topic of tithing and Christian giving. 

Today we want to delve a little further into giving and try to answer this question, “How much should I give?”.

We are going to take a bit of a journey to get there, but that’s where we’ll end up.

This post might be a little controversial for some, and downright uncomfortable for others – but that’s exactly what I’m hoping for.

Ready?  Let’s go!

Why Tithing is Such a Polarizing Topic

 A reader yesterday commented that he never realized tithing was such a polarizing topic – and you know, he’s right.

Why is it that Christians get so worked up about the concept of giving and tithing. 

I think the answer lies in the reason why Jesus spoke so much about money and possessions – because money has a way of subtly blinding us to what’s really important!

The topic of giving is controversial because in our heart of hearts we want to clutch our possessions with tight grips and we don’t want anyone telling us we need to give things up!

C’mon, be honest – what’s in the very depths of your heart, the place that you don’t anyone to go?   I know what’s in mine - selfishness. 

We want things for ourselves - don’t leave me hangin’ here…

Don’t miss another post!  Get Redeeming Riches delivered straight to your inbox!

Why We Want to Know Exactly How Much to Give

Alright, so we are selfish by nature.  We naturally want things for ourselves and our hearts are little idol factories - and money is one of our greatest idols we treasure!

So if we ask the reason why we want to know how much to give, what do you think our answers would be – so we can make a budget, it’s good planning, God tells us to purpose in our heart what to give might be a few answers?

Those are all good things and very accurate – but here’s my theory of why we want to know exactly how much to give:

Because you and I want to know the minimum requirement we can give to God and still make Him happy!

Too many of us are working on a To-Do List with God; so we give our 10% (although we know that it’s really much less than that on average), check it off our list and feel good about ourselves that we gave God his money.

We view tithing as some sort of tax that God is exacting from us and we think if I give Him this money then He’ll bless me because I did what I was supposed to do.

Why the New Testament is Eerily Silent About Percentages

Have you ever wondered why percentages are not mentioned in the New Testament?  I have. 

I mean, if it’s so important why didn’t Jesus say, “Give x%!” or the Apostle Paul when he was writing half the NT didn’t just once say, “Well you know Ephesians – you are to give x% so let’s keep it up!”

I believe that it’s silent because if it gave a percentage we would give exactly that percentage and no more.  We would satisfy the minimum requirement.

In Order to Excel at Giving You Must Do This First

There’s a great passage about giving in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9  that I will highlight later in this series, but I want to take a look at verses 3-5:

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Ok, so here’s what’s going on – Paul is writing to the Corinthians urging to excel at giving (v.7) and he gives the Macedonian church as an example of excelling in giving.

But notice what he says about those Macedonian believers – they gave themselves first to the Lord.

What we need to do before we give anything is we need to surrender!

We need to surrender our hearts, our lives and our idols to God!  We surrender our finances to Him, we give up our conrol over our lives and we let go of all the stuff we want to clutch so tightly to.

That means, if you are a believer – you get down on your knees, repent of anything that you’ve placed above Him in your heart.

And it means if you are not a follower of Jesus, you carefully consider what He said and surrender your heart for the very first time to Him! 

God wants our surrender because He loves us and He knows what’s best for us - we’ve been created in His image to worship Him and He knows that He is the only thing that can truly bring peace and lasting joy to our lives!

Understanding This Truth Will Help Excel Us in Giving

 I like what Tim Keller says about giving:

The solution to stinginess is a reorientation to the generosity of Christ in the gospel, how he poured out his wealth for you!

Here’s what will help us answer the question of how much:  The Gospel!

2 Corinthians 8:9 says:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Look to Jesus – by His sheer act of grace He gave up all the riches of heaven to come to earth, live the life that you never could and died the death that you should have.

He gave up everything for your sake, so that you might experience those same riches of heaven – not wealth, but true riches!

One of the reasons we don’t give more is because we don’t see the great grace by which God has saved us and we don’t trust that God is good and He’ll provide for our needs.

Thankfully Jesus didn’t “tithe” His blood or we’d all be in big trouble!

So how much should we give?  As much as we possibly can – it’s the least we can do.

Questions to consider

Readers, do you think we should always be looking to give more and more by increasing the percentages that we give?

Do you think we should set a percentage and as long as we give cheerfully then that’s good enough?

Will you change your giving habits, if so how?

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks around the R2 household and office!  There seems to be just a lot of stuff going on.

I’m really looking forward to some rest this weekend!

But, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a quick tour.  

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena.

So give these articles from a few Yakezie Challenge Members a click!

• Free Money Finance has a great and convicting post on giving that exposes our lack of it!
• Peak Personal Finance offers up a look at the new Credit Card Act and the resulting increase in bank fees to be on the look out for!
• Personal Finance by the Book takes a look at the Fair Tax and whether it’s too good to be true!  Great overview by Joe!
• Jacob from Early Retirement Extreme talks about his Extreme Retirement Method over at Monevator – he’s got an interesting story so be sure to check it out!
• Not Made of Money cautions against store credit cards - but it’s so tempting to get an additional 10% off!
• Cool to Be Frugal asks about your family’s money dynamic and if you’re able to talk freely about money or if it’s a taboo subject!?
• Free From Broke takes a look at the different Bank Cards and Their Uses
• Daniel from Sweating the Big Stuff writes about the correlation between debt and credit – an interesting look at debt’s affect on credit scores!
• Jeff at Deliver Away Debt is talking about Christmas in April – but he’s talking about a debt-free Christmas, which is GREAT!
• Canadian Finance Blog asks, “Which Car is Right for You?” and takes a look at how to answer that question as well!

R2 Around the Web

This week I had a post called Can You Afford Retirement up at Christian PF.

Lately I’ve been reflecting on giving and our heart motivation behind it. 

I’ve had the great opportunity to teach a money class the last couple weeks to a Young Marrieds group at church and It’s been a great experienc for me, because I’ve had to spend some time digging in to Scripture to get me prepared to talk about money and theology.

In general, most people know we should give, but what is our motivation behind our giving – in other words, why give?

Here’s a look at a few reasons to the question of:

Why Do People Give Their Money?

We’ll talke a look at a few not-so-good reasons and then a couple really good reasons.

To Earn God’s Favor

One group might settle in on this side of the room.  These folks think that by giving money to the church or giving money to a homeless person that somehow God will smile on them and be pleased. 

On the flip side, they may also think that if they don’t give, then God will be mad at them!  So, to appease a cranky and crotchety old god they need to just give!

To Get a Blessing

They give because they want to get an abundance.  This seems to be prevalent.  I recently received a direct message on Twitter from someone talking about God’s abundance being poured out on me!

I think there is some confusion in this camp and hopefully I can clear it up:

We don’t give to GET a blessing – we give to BE a blessing!

To Get Rid of Guilt

Others give because they want to rid themselves of guilt.  Maybe they feel guilty for being “blessed” while others suffer in need; or they feel guilty because they think that in order to be a “good person” they need to give.  The thought of not being a “good person” kills them.

Don’t miss another post!  Get Redeeming Riches delivered straight to your inbox!

To Garner the Praise of Men

Some of us like to give because we want others to know and think that we are very generous!  Remember the pharisees in the New Testament that would throw their coins in to the offering to make a loud clang so everyone could hear?  That’s some of us.  We give to get noticed or to “be somebody”.

To Get a Good Feeling

There is a good feeling we all get when we give.  We feel like we were part of something bigger or that we made a difference in someone’s life when we give. 

Those are great feelings!  I love feeling that way after I give, but is it our sole motivation in giving?  Is it just to make us feel good?

To Get a Tax Deduction

As a finance guy, I love tax deductions!  Who doesn’t – am I right?  But, there are plenty of folks out there who only give because they can write it off on their taxes. 

Are you one of the one scrambling on December 31st to find a charity and donate money so you can write that off?

To Glean Meaning or Purpose from Life

Oh, meaning and purpose – everyone’s quest in life.  Some say there is none – other’s know exactly why we are here.  Those trying to find meaning and purpose, trying to be a part of something beyond themselves may give just to feel like they are accomplishing a mission.

Again, nothing wrong with finding meaning – but are we grasping at finding purpose through our giving or do we find our purpose in Christ himself?

What Should Our Motivation Be?

Notice that each of those motivations above are self-focused – We get something in return.  It really becomes all about us! 

So why should we give?

Because We Want to Help

I think many of us have a really sincere desire to help people.  That’s great!  We should desire to come alongside others, meet needs and to defend social justice because we value others and truly want to help them!

For some reason, it seems like in America we’ve lost a sense of “being a neighbor” to others.  On the block I grew up on there was always someone watching out for us, conversations between neighbors going on and a willingness to go and help each other.

I think we need (myself included) to get back to being a good neighbor.

Because Jesus Demonstrated It Best

Take a look at 2 Corinthians 8:9:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Jesus had everything in heaven – He was rich.  Yet He gave all that up to come to a lowly stable, to be the son of a poor Jewish couple – why?  So that we who embrace Him as Savior might become rich (all the glorious riches and benefits of spending eternity with God in heaven!)

He did it for you!  He gave up everything, to the point of a scandalous and shamed death on a Roman cross so we might have life!

even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Matthew 20:28

Let’s reorient ourselves back to the great Gospel and realize that because Christ gave up everything for us we are freed to go and serve others for His sake!

It’s been a great week!  My first post as a writer went up on Christian PF (see link below).  I’m excited about the opportunity to write for a great site like that.

The markets have been a little crazy this week and there still a lot of talk about our national debt.  The best thing we can do is focus on changes to our own personal situation. 

Anyways, This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena. 

So give these articles a click!

• NPR takes a look at the decade ahead in jobs - this is an interesting graphic that shows what they project to be the best and worst employement areas.
• The question of giving and tithing is an oft-debated one in Christians circles.  Questions of how much and to whom stir up lots of answers.  Craig from Money Help for Christians looks at a healthy view of Christian giving and tithing.  This is a great, in-depth post on the subject.
• Paul from Fiscal Geek takes a look at 10 Ways to Invest $100 - he covers just about anything you can think of to get you started.
• Miranda at Personal Dividends writes about  6 Things You Should Know About the 2010 Roth Conversion.  This was a very solid post.  For more on Roth Conversions, check out my guest post over at Wise Bread.
• This post from Linsey at Wise Bread was right up my alley – saving money on office supplies! 
• Matt from Debt Free Adventure shares some pretty common ways people get into debt and how to dig out!

Don’t miss out on another post!!  Get Redeeming Riches delivered to your inbox!

R2 on the Web

I’ve recently been “hired on” as a writer over at Christian PF – one of the leading Christian personal finance blogs out there! 

This was a great honor to be asked by Bob Lotich to contribute articles on a regular basis. You can check out my first on called Blueprint to Building Your Financial House!

Also, Tipd.com is a financial news website where users vote up their favorite articles.  My article 6 Ways to Find Free Money received enough votes to be the #1 article on Tipd’s Greatest Hits!  Thank you to everyone who voted for it!

That article was also included at Fiscal Geek’s Perma Friday Round Up and Canadian Finance Blog’s Friday’s Links post.

4 Money Lessons from a Fool was included in One Money Design’s Friday Round Up.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Another week “in the books”.  I can’t believe it’s almost February already. 

This was a fun week on R2 – if you didn’t check out my mom’s guest post on marriage you should!

Anyways, This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena.  Give these articles a click!

Rich Christian Poor Christian gives some insights into the 7 Investments he tackles on his blog.

Craig Ford – a missionary to Papau New Guinea and writer for Money Help for Christians sits down with the poor of PNG and asks them some very direct questions about the differences and perceptions among the rich and poor.  This was an awesome post and worth checking out for some valuable insights into their responses.

Do you like getting a big tax refund?  Bible Money Matters tells us why getting a big tax refund is a horrible idea!

Interesting thoughts from Free Money Finance on how different age groups view their careers.

It’s stinkin’ cold in the Chicago area right now and it’s tempting to blast the heat, but we don’t want the big bill that comes with it – so grab your Snuggie cuz Matt Jabs at Debt Free Adventure looks at a few ways to save money on heat and electricity this winter.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Today’s the big day! We are finally closing on our new house.

We started the building process back in August of ’09, moved into the inlaws basement and recently have been frantically trying to get a bunch of little things done so we can keep our closing date.

We locked in our rate back in November with a 45-day lock and today’s the last day!

But the house is ready, we’re ready and we’re so excited to get back to our normal routine!

Enough about us – let’s talk about some of the interesting discussions going on in the Personal Finance world this week!

This Week in Personal Finance takes a look at interesting articles, posts and news from the past week in the personal finance arena.  Give these articles a click!

• Joe Taxpayer is confused why so many Christians seem to look at all debt with such disdain and asks an interesting question, “Is Debt Anti-God?”
• Free Money Finance is a very popular and simple blog  that offers some very thought-provoking posts.  I like that.  This week he says that Those Who Give More Become Rich Faster.  I don’t think that should be our motivation to give, but he does offer a good look at the relationship between wealth and giving.
• Paul over at Fiscal Geek asks a questions we’ve all asked at some point in our lives, “Should You Save For Retirement While in Debt?”
• Kevin at Out of Your Rut asks another popular question, “Will A Million Dollars Be Enough to Retire On?”
• Free From Broke delves into the dark world of credit card reform to find some answers on how the CARD Act affects us.

R2 On The Web

My post about the 4 Questions You Should Ask Before You Buy Life Insurance was included in:

• Cavalcade of Risk from the Colorado Health Insurance Insider
• Canadian Finance Blog’s Friday Links

If you were really honest with yourself right now, wouldn’t you admit that oftentimes it’s hard to share!? 

C’mon, it’s not easy to give things to others without strings attached or to let people borrow items without being worried about getting it back in one piece or getting it back period.

You know why I know it’s hard for you to share?  Because I look at my two and a half year old daughter and see how she has such a hard time letting her little brother play with anything she has (or even touch things she’s not even playing with at the time).

It’s All Mine!

In our hearts, we all still have that two year old mentality that everything is all “MINE!”

We’re all born selfish to the core and it doesn’t go away the older we get.  We just get better at masking our selfishness!

I write these words for myself as much as anyone, because I know I am desperately selfish – but I don’t want to be. 

I want to live with open hands and loose grips on everything – I want to lay down my life for others and not care, but it’s hard.  How about you?

With the holiday season in mind, this weekend I want to share a verse from 1 Timothy 6 that talks about our readiness to share with others.  I hope it’s as challening to you as it is to me.

1 Timothy 6:17-19:

17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Notice what the Apostle Paul says to Timothy about the rich – they are to do good, be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share!

But I’m not rich!

Now, whether you feel rich or not is besides the point.  If you live in America – you are rich!  Compare yourself to the rest of the world and not your neighbor and you’ll begin to understand how much you really have.

The point here is to be ready to share and be generous.  We are not naturally inclined to share with others so it takes work to get ourselves ready.

How to ready yourself to share

• Remember that God shared His Son with us and Jesus shared His life for us!
• Repent of your selfishness
• Ask God to help you overcome your selfishness
• Make giving a priority in your financial plans
• Keep giving top of mind so you’re always thinking about it
• Pray for and seek opportunities to give in the community
• Become more attuned to others needs by listening more
• Pay down your debts so you free up money to give
• Cut out some of the busyness of your life so you can give of your time
• Work hard so you can be ready to share with those in need (Eph.4:28)
• Be content with what you have!
• Remember that sharing pleases God (Heb. 13:16)
• Stop killing your generosity!

What about you?  What are some ways you’ve readied yourself to share or what other things would you add to this list?

If you haven’t yet, consider staying current with Redeeming Riches by receiving my posts FREE through email or RSS Feeds here.  Also, follow me on Twitter here.

If I knew then what I know now - surely I would’ve done things differently!

Every hear those words before?

Every say them!?

I catch myself saying them every now and then.

We all have various lessons we wished we would’ve learned at an earlier stage in life.

The great news is that it’s never too late to change.  It’s never too late in the game of personal finance to turn the ship around.

Money has a funny way of controlling us doesn’t it?

Our thoughts, our desires, our motivations – they are all impacted by our money.

Learning these lessons early on will help you stay in control of your money rather than letting it control you.

1. Spend Less Than You Make

I spent an entire post talking about this very point – so I won’t hammer it too much here.

At the core of our personal finance is this very thing – you cannot spend more than you make and expect to get ahead.

It’s so simple, so basic that it’s almost insulting to mention it – but time and again I hear from folks who just can’t seem to get this in their minds.

The earlier you “get this”, the better off you’ll be.

2. Pay Your Tithe First

The Bible talks about honoring the Lord with your firstfruits (Proverbs 3:9), which back in an agricultural society meant bringing your best produce and livestock to the Lord first.

In today’s economy, a practical application of this can be: the first check you write when you get paid is your tithe.

Giving back to Him is a natural response we have when we realize how much God gave us.

We don’t do it to earn God’s favor, but rather to show our gratitude for canceling our greatest debt.

Don’t wait til you “have money’ to give, because that day never comes.  Rather give back to the Lord first for He promises to provide for your needs.

3. Pay Yourself Second

After you give back money to the Lord, the next check you should write is to yourself.

This means you should have a set percentage or a set dollar amount that you save before you pay everything else.

Usually, if you don’t do it beforehand, what happens is that you may typically spend all of your money and by months’ end – there’s none left over to put into savings and investments.

Saving before your other bills – even if it’s only a small amount – will help establish a consistent pattern of savings and will also help you realize the importance of putting some money away.

4. Debt is Slavery – Not Leverage

This is something I wished I would’ve learned early on when I was in college.  The first day of school my freshmen year I signed up for a credit card mainly to get a free T-shirt.

Little did I know that a little plastic card would lead to thousands of dollars in credit card debt.  Unfortunately I thought that credit cards were a good source of leverage – and I paid dearly for those mistakes.

Using leverage to buy a home is something many of us have to do, but using leverage to buy everday items or depreciating assets is typically not a wise move.

The Bible illustrates a great point when it says that the “..borrower is slave of the lender” (Proverbs 22:7).

5. Contentment is a Jewel

One of the biggest reasons we take on massive amounts of debt and struggle to get ahead is because we lack contentment.

Contentment is defined according to Merriam Webster as:

feeling or showing satisfaction with one’s possessions, status, or situation

Whether in good times or bad, in excess or in want, when we learn how to be content with what we have, where we live and what kind of car we drive we can start making big strides with our finances.

Contentment is a rare gem in today’s society and an area I hope I can grow in as well.

These posts are designed to offer Biblical insights into money and finances straight from the Word itself.  I like to include the ESV Study Bible notes as well for further reflection.  This weekend’s passage comes from Proverbs 11:24:

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Because there is a God who blesses generosity and withholds blessing from the greedy, this paradoxical proverb makes perfect sense. 

We cannot outgive God.  When we have a loose grip on our money and give it away, God blesses by giving more to us so we can continue to give to others.  When we are selfish and hoard our money, God will oftentimes stop the flow of blessing since we are no longer using it for His glory and others needs.  How about you?  Have you found this to be true in your own life?

This Week’s Links

How Much Do You Need to Retire was picked in the Best of Money Carnival held at Mighty Bargain Hunter

Should You Give Money to a Homeless Person was discussed on the Wise Money Matters Podcast