Personal Finance 101 for the Christian Home RESOURCES AND BUDGETING

Suggested Resources for the Christian Home Personal Finances Christian books Secular books The Bible

Resources: Christian Books

Resources: Secular Books + Opdyke’s Cardinal Rule of Love and Money: Never join your finances outside of marriage. Opdyke’s Cardinal Rule of Love and Money: Never join your finances outside of marriage.

Debt Facts according to Opdyke Conflicts over spending inflict the most damage on a marriage during the first year Debt - one of the most difficult hurdles Root of money fights

Six Questions Every Prospective Married Couple Must Ask Each Other Q1: Do you have a basic understanding of money? Bankrupt couples only understand spending Evidence of “understanding money”

Q2: What Is Your Money History? Q5: What Are Your Financial Assets and Debts? Q6: How Do You Use Debt? How much debt do you each have? What type of debt? Q7: Will we operate from 1 checkbook or 3? Six Questions Every Prospective Married Couple Must Ask Each Other

Opdyke’s Suggestion for a Debt Philosophy “We agree together to purposefully live below our means, not to pursue material wants without the money to afford them, never to use emergency savings for consumer purchases, and to take on debt only when it benefits the family’s long-term goals or needs.”

Resources: The BIBLE

Psalm 128.2—For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. I Tim. 5.8—But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Labor is Good: We work to provide for our families and shun get-rich-quick schemes

Proverb 22.7—The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Ecclesiastes 5.4b-5—[P]ay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Debt is Servitude: We pay our debts and carefully weigh the costs of incurring more

Acts 20.35b—[R]emember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Ecclesiastes 5.13—There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. Life is a Stewardship: We give in response to God’s generosity and choose to live simply

Three Critical Ingredients in Any Successful Family Budget A monthly budget IN—net payroll checks, average draws OUT—every pay period, every month, Budget Busters A payday method Staying on track between paydays

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