John Wesley was an 18th century English preacher who focused on the justification by faith as well as social issues like prison reform and slavery abolition.  He began small groups of believers throughout England that focused not only on gaining scriptural knowledge, but also personal holiness and discipleship.

He and his brother Charles were instrumental in beginning the Methodist denomination. But John Wesley also gives us an insight into how we should handle our money.

Here are three things John Wesley teaches us about money from his sermon, The Use of Money:

1. Gain All You Can

I love that Wesley doesn’t condemn making money.  In fact, he suggests we gain all we can.  But, he does provide some caveats, which are very useful in determining how we should go about making money:

1. Don’t gain money at the expense of your health.  Essentially Wesley says we shouldn’t work til we drop just to make more money. We need to learn when to rest.
2. Don’t gain money at the expense of your soul.  In other words, don’t engage in activities that are not pleasing to God and may cause damage to your soul. For example, a sales job where the company requires you to lie about a product or competitor to get ahead.
3. Don’t gain money at the expense of your neighbor. Don’t take advantage of others in order to get ahead.  In today’s society, it’s customary to view others as stepping stones to our fortune. Wesley warns against such thoughts.

Wesley goes on to say that we should always seek to improve upon the ways we make our money – to get better at it.

Gain all you can, by common sense, by using in your business all the understanding which God has given you. It is amazing to observe, how few do this; how men run on in the same dull track with their forefathers. You should be continually learning, from the experience of others, or from your own experience, reading, and reflection, to do everything you have to do better to-day than you did yesterday.

2. Save All You Can

After having gained all we can, we should save. Wesley warns against throwing it away toward frivolous niceties and fanciful pleasures. He suggests avoiding excessive spending so we can save money not to hoard, but so we can put it to good use.

Do not throw it away in idle expenses, which is just the same as throwing it into the sea. Expend no part of it merely to gratify the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life.

3. Give All You Can

Wesley says,

But let not any man imagine that he has done anything, barely by going thus far, by “gaining and saving all he can,” if he were to stop here. All this is nothing, if a man go not forward, if he does not point all this at a farther end.

Nor, indeed, can a man properly be said to save anything, if he only lays it up. You may as well throw your money into the sea, as bury it in the earth. And you may as well bury it in the earth, as in your chest, or in the Bank of England.

Not to use, is effectually to throw it away. If, therefore, you would indeed “make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,” add the Third rule to the two preceding. Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then “give all you can.”

What a challenge! If you don’t give, you are essentially throwing your money into the sea!  Those are strong and challenging words from Wesley.

How Are You Doing With Gaining, Saving, & Giving?

Here are some resources to help you:

Gain All You Can

• How to make money with a blog
• 20 Income Generating Ideas
• 24 Home-Based Business Ideas

Save All You Can

• 10 Money Saving Tips to Help You Stash $10,000
• 3 Simple Steps to Build Wealth
• 4 Ways to Trick Yourself into Saving Money

Give All You Can

• How to Build Generosity into Your Budget
• Radical Generosity in a Sea of Stinginess
• The Great Paradox of Generosity (And Why It’s So Hard to Believe)
• 5 Ways You Can Become More Generous
• How Much Should a Christian Give?

Let’s get the conversation going, how are you doing with these three things? Which one is most difficult for you?

There seems to be a lot of talk about becoming a millionaire. It’s kind of that magic number people always dream of reaching one day. 

I think it’s a great goal to have so long as you don’t hoard, aren’t greedy, and you give generously.

I read a good article on MarketWatch the other day called Start With $10,000 and Retire a Millionaire.

The premise of the article was that if you started with $10,000, assuming a 7% inflation-adjusted return (not always an easy feat), and saved consistently (the amount needed varied based on your age) you could retire at age 65 with $1,000,000.

Becoming a millionaire is not rocket science.  At the core, you could break down becoming a millionaire into 2 simple steps:

1. Spend less than you make

Intrinsic to saving consistently is the fact that you must have money to save.  The biggest factor noted in the book The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthyby Stanley & Danko is that wealth accumulators do not spend above – or even up to- what they earn.

In fact, they spend much, much less. Surprisingly, the folks that are wealthy (not just earning a good income) do not get into status objects and luxury items – they actually spend frugally.

2. Save aggressively & consistently for a long period of time

Here’s the other key. You need to save. I don’t mean throwing your loose change in a jar.  I’m talking about saving a good amount for a long time, and doing it consistently.

Wealth accumulators save. It’s simple, but not easy. It’s easier to spend money on food, clothes, cars, homes, gadgets, and other fun things.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying you should never spend money on fun items. 

My point is this: If you want to accumulate wealth, you need to get a savings plan in place TODAY!

What should you do?  If you’re in debt, get out now!  Then start saving 10% of your income and try to get up to 20% as quickly as possible.  Even if you don’t reach “millionaire status”, you will have saved a nice chunk of change, and you’ll be happy you did!

Usually, working abroad in foreign countries brings great rewards for both your career and your finances. However, extravagant, extraneous spending can nullify the financial gains stemming from earning an expatriate salary.

Furthermore, due to the worldwide recession, salaries for working abroad are declining. More companies are starting to structure compensation packages to resemble the pay rates of host countries. For example, if you are sent to Shanghai, you may be asked to accept a host country package, which bases salary on the market rate of your services within Shanghai.

This makes it increasingly important for those living and working abroad to tap their inner frugal nature. In order to increase your savings, you can easily cut down on daily expenditures, but here are some other tips on how to live and work abroad frugally:

Hang out with the Locals When Working Abroad

If you are working for a European or American company in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, or Africa, it is easy to become a little too comfortable within your expat compound.

The downside of only associating with other foreigners: you may be paying expat prices for most of your goods and services! You can become better acquainted with the local hang outs by involving yourself within the broader community.

Usually, actual citizens in the host country know about great deals for dining, music, and shopping. In addition to saving money, you will learn more about the culture and traditions of a new place. You may even learn some new recipes, which will save you from the expenses of dining out on a regular basis.

Look for Deals Before You Work Abroad

Groupon has already invaded Europe, but you don’t necessarily need a specific website to provide you with deals in another country.

Frequent visits to cultural events and museums can rack up a long list of expenses. If there is an exhibit you are interested in viewing, check online to find discount rates or even free admission days.

Also look for discounts on government websites. You may be able to find tourist deals for certain events, especially if they take place during tourism off seasons.

Get Comfortable With Skype When Working Abroad

Personal long distance calls, usually not covered by your employer, can be expensive and unnecessary. Embrace modern technology and the increasingly efficient communications industry! In addition to great social networking sites, you find great deals to keep in touch with your family via telephone.

Try using Skype’s calling plans. You can use it from your phone or laptop from any Wi-Fi location. Plus, the calling rates are much cheaper than calling directly abroad from your phone. If you don’t want to pay, you can Skype with your friends/family for free when you are both online. If Skype doesn’t float your boat, find calling cards from gas stations or markets in your host country. A little bit of exploration can save you a lot of money!

Learn to Bargain Like A Local

Just because you may stick out like a sore thumb in your new place of residence doesn’t mean you should be the target of high-priced goods and services.

Explore local markets during your down time.  Before buying anything, see if others are bargaining for grocery items or other goods.

Assuming all items sell at fixed prices can lead to trouble. You may be paying much more for an item than market prices would suggest. Bargaining is an acquired skill, but you can learn to do so pretty easily after practice. Plus, it can be tons of fun!

This has been a guest post by Lauren Bailey, a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs aboutonline colleges. She especially loves hearing back from her readers. Questions or comments can be sent to: blauren99 @gmail.com.

You may think that purchasing a new mobile phone worth several hundred dollars in order to become more frugal with your money is tough to justify, but often frugality is tough to implement because you need to be vigilant in every aspect of your life.

With a host of frugal tools at your fingertips on your iPhone, you can help frugality permeate every one of your habits and actions, and be on your way to saving money and being more financially responsible:

1 – Coupon apps

If you are diligent with your coupon cutting you can make affordable bulk purchases and save off your everyday items to cut your shopping bills. However, to make use of your coupons you have to remember to take them with you wherever you go, and you have to remember to present them when you pay.

With these three apps, you will never miss out on a coupon bargain again:

• Coupon Sherpa. This app is linked with a wide range of stores and allows you to access coupons from Bath & body Works or Books A Million for example, on your iPhone.
• Cellfire.  Cellfire allows you to add your shopper cards and then load coupons, which can then be automatically deducted when you use the card at the register. When new coupons are available they can be loaded onto your card, and ready for for use in ten minutes.
• Coupons.com.  The Coupons.com app allows you to access the same coupons you would find on the full Coupons.com website and you can then print them wirelessly from your iPhone. You can also load electronic coupons to your shopper cards.

2 – Shop online

Most people have discovered the benefits of shopping online for the convenience, the time saving and the ease of comparing prices and offers to find the best deal. Now there are a range of apps you can use on your frugal iPhone to make online shopping even more affordable:

• Compare Me. The Compare Me app allows you to compare different products using your iPhone to determine which size or packaging is the best value. Compare Me also gives you an outline of the savings you can make in percentages, across the different stores.
• Better Buy.  This app helps you compare unit pricing and allows you to enter weights and volumes with the price and the quantity to see which item is the better buy – whether it is really better value to buy bulk, or if the small packets on special are the way to go.
• Frugal.  The Frugal app will help you shop more frugally by helping you convert product quantities in either imperial or metric, to find out which product has the best price.

3 – Discounts and rewards

A lot of stores and businesses will offer you discounts and rewards if you sign up as a member – they get your mailing details and you get another card for your wallet.

While collecting membership cards and discounts can be a great way to shop smarter and be more frugal, you have to remember to take the cards with you in your already overfilled wallet, and you have to remember to present the, however, with the CardBank app you can store all of your membership cards and customised cards such as your gym membership and you no longer have to miss out on shopping benefits.

If you want to reap even more rewards you can download the WeReward app which pays you when you visit certain locations, or complete certain tasks.

For example, you visit a participating business, follow the instructions on the app and earn points. Each point is worth a penny and you can cash in your points using PayPal.

4 – Save on fuel

Fuel is right up there with your groceries as one of the biggest expenses your family has, so you are probably aiming to drive less, and drive more fuel efficiently to be more frugal.

You can also be frugal when you fill up by shopping around for the best fuel prices, but if you actually have to drive around to all the service stations to find the best price, you will have made your savings moot.

Instead, use the GasBuddy app which locates the cheapest fuel in your vicinity anywhere in the US or Canada. When you search you can compare distance by price and see all grade prices displayed so you never miss a bargain.

5 – Budgeting

It is also very important when trying to live frugally, to know exactly where all of your money is at any time, and how much you have available to spend in the week.

Therefore, a detailed working budget is a frugal family’s most important tool, and with the Budget app you can have all of that information and more at your fingertips.

The Budget app can be a good investment for just $1.99 as there are a wide range of features you won’t usually find with other personal finance apps. The Budget app features:

• Easy to enter transactions. The most effective budgets are the ones which are kept updated regularly, but it can be time consuming to stop and enter a transaction each time you spend money. With the Budget app you can choose from a list of predefined items, which you can add to your budget by tapping the column next to it. You can also set a specific item in your budget by tapping the budget icon, or you can enter recurring transactions for each month. Plus, since you’re probably not the only one spending money from the budget, you can also share transactions between iPhones so everyone stays updated.
• Export the data. You can also export all of your budget information in a CSV file so you can view and compare it later in Excel.
• Graphs. You can also see an expenses vs budget graph if you prefer a visual representation of your progress and position for the month.
• Over budget. The Budget app will highlight any expenses which push you over budget to help keep your spending in check.

This is a guest post by Alban, a personal finance writer at Home Loan Finder, a home loan comparisonwebsite.

Clipping coupons is no longer just the domain of your grandparents!

There are serious savings to be made by maximizing your coupon use, and you may not even have to get out your scissors for this money savings tip!

With cash still tight for many families it makes sense to get all the money savings you can by collecting coupons and earning discounts.

However, with traditional coupons you usually only save a small percentage on each item, unless you know how to maximize those savings.

Coupons have also surged into the 21st century [sites likes Groupon have become all the rage!] and you can maximize your savings when shopping online by using coupon codes and discounts.

Money Savings Tip: Maximize Your Coupon Cuts

When you are clipping coupons you want to make the minimum amount of cuts for the maximum benefits and you can do this by focusing your search.

Start by stocking up on coupons for large department stores because these stores are always going to have something you need, so you’re not clipping in the hopes you’ll come across a need for an item before the coupon expires.

Once you have your coupons in order, wait for the sales.

While a coupon may give you a few cents off of an item, if you wait until that item is on sale, you can enjoy the sale price, less the discounted coupon price and save even more.

At the same time if the item is not perishable you can stock up at your great low price and keep saving.

Money Savings Tip: Maximize Online Coupon Discounts

You probably already know it can be cheaper to buy online than in store, but many stores are making online shopping even cheaper by running coupon code discounts. There are three main ways you can maximize your savings when shopping online:

• Collecting coupon codes. Most online stores will have a field for a promotional code which qualifies you for a discount on your purchase. You simply enter a code you have received or found on a coupon site, to redeem your savings.
• Links to coupon discounts. Just like a coupon code you are rewarded with a discount when you purchase online but you don’t need to collect and enter a code, you simply follow a promotional link and the discount is automatically applied when you reach the online checkout.
• Online promotions. A promotional link will take you to an exclusive webpage with a discounted offer and you don’t need to enter a code, but can take advantage of discounts and deals such as free shipping.

To maximize the savings you can make using online coupons you need to make sure to get in before someone else does. There are a number of free coupons websites where companies and other users trade and share their offers and you can make significant savings if you search for discounts on items you need or want.

[Jason: Check out Groupon for instance.  They have a limited number of coupons, but they offer incredible deals in your area!  We recently got a $50 Gap coupon for $25!].

Usually you can only use one online coupon per transaction, so don’t stock up thinking you can buy an item for virtually nothing.

Also keep in mind that online coupons are not usually redeemable in store, even if the online store has a ‘real world’ counterpart. You can further maximize the savings you can make using online coupons by coupling the discounts with rebates which are often available on electrical items and can mean additional savings of several hundreds of dollars when you register with the manufacturer.

Shopping online can save you time and money when you can make purchases at any time of the day or night, and you can avoid crowds, parking and the temptation of impulse buys.

It is also in the interests of the retailers and manufacturers to have you purchase online as they save on overhead and staffing costs, so take the time to learn more about how to maximize the savings you can make by shopping wisely and understanding online discounts.

[Check out Wise Bread's 50 Best Deals and Coupon Sites for more savings!]

Alban is a personal finance writer at Home Loans Finder, which helps to find the best mortgage broker.

Eat.  Drink.  Save Money.

Sounds good right?  This is the tagline of the increasingly popular Restaurant.com.

Perhaps you’ve heard people talking about this site or have seen some advertisements on the web and wondered – what exactly is this and is it really a good deal?

I decided to take a look at this site for myself and offer my two cents on whether it’s worth signing up for.

The premise

Restaurant.com has two basic premises.

• It’s a way for local restaurants to offer some deals to build a customer base and get their name out in the community and
• It gives customers an opportunity to save money at these restaurants.

As much as I love marketing and small business, I’ll focus on the savings aspect for the customer.

How does it work?

You can search for restaurants in your zip code, by state or by popular cities.  If you’re going on vacation to Chicago, you can type the zip code where your hotel is located and search a few mile radius for some deals.

Once the restaurants come up you can scroll through to find out which restaurants are offering the best deals or scroll to find your favorites restaurants.

What kind of deals are there?

Deals on the site range depending on the restaurant, but the most common deals are usually around 60% off ($25 gift certificate for $10 or a $10 gift certificate for $4).

If you subscribe to their mailing list, you’ll get emailed even more promotional offers and savings.

They recently ran a 90% off campaign, which I took advantage of to buy a $25 gift certificate to a newer local restaurant for $2.50!

What’s the catch?

The only catch that I see is that they have minimum purchase rules.   So for example, on my certificate I bought for $2.50, it can only be used with a minimum purchase of $35.

So you spend $37.50 ($2.50 for certificate plus $35 for dinner) and you get $25 off the price leaving you with a net of $12.50 out of pocket.  Throw in tax and gratuity and you’re looking walking out of there for about $20 out of pocket.

Not a bad deal, but certainly not the deal you thought you were getting.

The last time we used this we were short of our $35 limit by about $9, so we had to order 2 desserts, which we normally don’t order just to make the limit!

Other features

• “Give a Gift” - This section allows you to buy a gift card for others.
• Online reservations/Delivery orders - This allows you to secure reservations or order take-out.
• Dinner of the Month Club - For a monthly fee you can sign up for or give a gift of this club, which gives you a $25 gift certificate each month redeemable on restaurant.com.

Final Thoughts

Restaurant.com is a great way to eat, drink and save some money at your favorite restaurants.  It makes even more sense if you get emailed great offers like the one I received above.

Give it a shot, I think you’ll be pleased.  But be careful.  Read the fine print and realize that you’re still generally going to drop a 20 spot for dinner.

Other Reviews

• A Real Review of Restaurant.com by Mom Advice
• Restaurant.com – How we Get a lot of Food for a Little Money by Clever Dude

Reader Reviews

Tell us in the comments below:

1. Have you used restaurant.com?
2. What’s been your experience?

I can’t believe it’s been a week since my trip to Knoxville, TN! 

God is doing some amazing things down there with a group of churches that are working across denomination, cultural and racial lines for the good of the kingdom and the good of the city!

I’ve got hope that some good things like that can happen here in my community as well!

I also can’t believe May is half over – seriously, where is this year going?  It’s amazing how quickly time speeds up when you have a couple of rugrats runnin’ around to keep you occupied.

At any rate, it’s another week in the books and it’s time for a fly by of the week. 

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!

• Debt Free Adventure asks what you should do with car repairs – scrap it, park it or fix it?
• Bible Money Matters has a post on getting by with one income before you need to!
• Christian PF asks why gather money little by little – also check out my post over there called 4 Things the Apostle Paul Teaches Us About Money.
• Len Penzo dot com brings out the 5 Crazy Ideas That Resulted in Million Dollar Paydays
• Cash Money Life offers 8 Tips to Help You Make a Major Financial Decision
• Provident Planning brings it home with Preaching Christ Crucified!
• Fiscal Geek takes a look at money buying happiness!
• Out of Your Rut gives his take on why leasing a car is a bad deal!
• Frugal Dad has some ways to save on the summer electric bill
• Free Money Finance shows how to get rich on an average salary
• Deliver Away Debt says to stop using a credit card and write a budget!!

Carnivals

• Christian Finance Carnival #2 over at Personal Finance Journey
• Christian Family Information Exchange Carnival at OLine Publishing

Another week in the books. 

It’s hard to believe that we are heading into the last week of April and May is sneaking up quickly!

I got my grill set up last weekend and had my first meal of the season – Smothered Grilled Chicken with Asparugus and Sweet Potato Wedges!

It was de-lish!

Maybe I’ll share the recipe some time.

One of the reasons I do these posts is to highlight other great articles from the week from other bloggers.

Any blog likes to receive links back to their own content and so I like to do that for others – like paying it forward!

This week’s TWIPF is going to be a quick one since it was a busy week and I just didn’t have time to make it around the web.

At any rate, 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 a click!

• Christian PF writes about How to Help a Financially-Troubled Person.  Also, don’t forget to check out my post at Christian PF this week called 7 Reasons to Review Your Life Insurance Policy!
• Bible Money Matters discusses 7 Lies That Can Kill Your Financial Future.  Also, check out my post on BMM this week called Should You Use a Roth IRA for College Savings?
• Great post by Joe @ Personal Finance by the Book – 5 Wrong Reasons to Build Wealth and One Right One - we need to hear stuff like this more!
• Fickle Finance is new to the block, but writes some good stuff!  Here’s his 21 Ways to Save Money post that includes some great ideas!

I’m included with a lot of other great articles at the Yakezie Carnival hosted at My Money Minute

By the way, if you haven’t signed up yet – please don’t miss another post! 

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If your family’s growing and you need extra space, get it without buying a new home or building an expensive addition onto your house. Here’s how.

Clear the clutter in every cupboard, closet, drawer and storage area. Evaluate your keepsakes. Scan photos to revive the memory later. Do you really need nine things to remember Aunt Lucy by?

When it comes to furnishings and décor, think vertical. Get as much off the floor as possible to create more space. Reduce the amount of furniture you have. Instead of using plant stands, hang them on hooks.

Simplify and Sell

Get rid of some of your seating, especially if kids enjoy plopping on the floor instead. Remove clutter catchers like extra tables. Minimize the scale of your furniture, too. Sectional sofas and giant coffee tables gobble up more space than separated seating and diminutive end tables.

A friend sold her oak entertainment center/curio cabinets, her children’s outgrown movies, and standard television. She then used that money to buy a wall-mountable flat screen TV with a built-in DVD player and two slim storage towers for her DVDs and found extra floor space without blowing the budget.

My family started keeping electronic records, which eliminated two filing cabinets in the home office. Downsizing from a sprawling desk to a taller, slimmer desk also created space.

On eBay, Craigslist or on a community bulletin board, list items that you wish to sell.  Hosting a garage sale is a perfect way to create some extra space.Search Ebay’s Want it Now section to see if anyone’s looking for your items.

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

Maximize Space and Decorate Effectively

Now that you have more room and cash, you can really make strides in expanding your space. Select lighter colors to make your rooms open up visually when painting. Certain things can visually shrink rooms, such as heavy drapes, dim lighting, dark woodwork, busy patterns, and an abundance of knickknacks.

Efficiently use your storage areas. This will make your rooms seem bigger because you have fewer items in sight. Also, as an added benefit, you may be able to thin out more furniture per room.

By adding shelves in large cupboards, hanging shoe holders in closets and using over-the-door hooks, I’m given more closet space and the need for a coat tree is eliminated. I also like cascading closet hooks so shirts, skirts and folded pants use much less space.

Stow more with tables and ottomans that have built-in storage space. For example, using small, freestanding cabinets for nightstands lends us more storage than many tables would. Bunk beds with built-in drawers spared us from crowding the kids’ room with two beds and dressers.

I maximize the space under beds, couches and under the rod in closets. Plastic storage containers provide storage for whatever you want to stow nearby, such as throw blankets, board games, extra sheets, and toys.

Strategic Functionality of Your Rooms

Get more value from each room by multiplying its functions. This strategy may even garner an additional room. To merge his family room and home office and get an extra bedroom, Rich, a Pennsylvania dad, installed a tuner chip in his computer.

It functions as their television and DVD player, which eliminated the need for an additional screen and piece of furniture to house it. They aren’t big TV viewers, so this solution worked well for them.

Tuck a computer armoire in a kitchen or den because when the armoire doors are closed, it blends seamlessly with the room and nixes the need for a separate office.

Dale, a New York dad, gained two new bedrooms and a bathroom for his growing family by finishing off half his basement (check the building codes of your city before making structural changes). By completing most of the work himself with the help of knowledgeable friends, Dale saved quite a bit.

Compared with the cost of buying a larger home or building an addition, selling furniture and things you don’t need to “buy” more functional pieces and dividing large, open spaces to gain rooms still makes plenty of sense.

This has been a guest post by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant.  Deborah writes from her home in Wolcott, N.Y.

You can also find more room in your home by selling unwanted items. Hosting a garage sale is a perfect way to create some extra space.