Rick Warren's Daily DevotionalSample

Nip It in the Budget A budget is simply a plan. It's telling your money where you want it to go, rather than wondering where it went. And the problem many of us have today is that we don't know where our money is going because we don't have a budget. But, if you want to get out of debt, you have to nip it in the budget. Do you remember Barney Fife, from Mayberry? He used to say, "Nip it, nip it, nip it in the bud." We need to nip it in the budget. Notice today's verse says, "Plan carefully." That means budgeting; a budget is simply planned spending. Planning carefully means you say, "This is what we're going to spend next year, next month," and by doing that, the Bible says, "You will have plenty." It's a promise of God. On the other hand, "If you act too quickly you will never have enough." This refers to what advertisers and marketers and retailers call impulse buying. You know what impulse buying is? Have you ever gone into a store and you didn't plan to buy something, but you bought it on an impulse. You didn't think about the purchase; it was totally emotionally-based. You saw it, you wanted it, you bought it. And if you act too quickly -- impulse buying, plus no budget, equals financial disaster. Have you ever bought something without thinking and later regretted it? Most of us have! And that's why you've got to have a plan.