Love Your Life Not TheirsSample

Day 4
Habit 3: Make a Plan for Your Money

"Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds." (Proverbs 27:23 NIV)

On a recent vacation, my husband, Winston, told me that I didn't have to worry about money. We had budgeted the exact amount we wanted to spend, so I didn't have to think about the budget. I could spend as much as I wanted. If I started getting close to the limit, he'd let me know.

Now, I'm a natural spender, so he was really speaking my love language. But a funny thing happened as I was hanging out by the pool and soaking up the sun.

I looked at a menu.

As I looked at the prices for chips and guacamole, I couldn't help doing the math in my head. And the drinks were even worse!

I had to give myself a pep talk just to place my order. With every bite of a chip or sip of a drink, my mind kept saying, That was a dollar. That was a dollar. That was another dollar.

Even though Winston had given me the freedom to spend, I really couldn't do that without some boundaries. Fortunately, my husband knows me pretty well, so we sat by the pool and budgeted out every meal for the rest of the trip.

Now, I still love spending, so budgeting can be a challenge sometimes. But I've learned that a budget doesn't limit your freedom. A budget gives you freedom. It's actually a plan that gives me the permission to spend wisely!

The Bible talks about knowing the state of your flocks and herds. To get what that means, we have to remember that people in ancient cultures measured their wealth with livestock. So, financial security depended on keeping track of their stuff.

It's no different today. If you want to love your life, you've got to manage what you have. That starts with a zero-based budget at the beginning of every month.

If you want to happen to your money instead of letting your money happen to you, you have to create a plan. You need a budget.