In the book, The Life You’ve Always Wanted, the author discusses how morphin’, or transformation is often desired by people.

The desire for transformation lies deep in every human heart.  This is why people enter therapy, join health clubs, get into recovery groups, read self help books, attend motivational seminars and make New Year’s resolutions.

The book points to a road of transformation for a much more spiritual life.  As I read it, I quickly learned how it closely relates to improvement of personal finances.

Perhaps you’re reading this post today because you’re ready to improve or transform the way you’re managing money.  I want to provide a roadmap to help you improve your personal finances, but also discuss some of the benefits of doing so.

What Does A Transformed Person Look Like?

What does it look like when someone has decided that “it’s morphin’ time” and they’re ready to take steps to improve their personal finances?

This person as having the following characteristics:

• A willingness to make sacrifices. We’ve all heard Dave Ramsey say “living off rice and beans and beans and rice.”  While there is some humor in that, there is also some seriousness because you have to shake things up sometimes to initiate change.  Perhaps the entertainment budget gets sliced and diced.
• A true hate for debt. I believe you really have to admit to how bad debt smells.  Paying off debt and then accumulating more is the same as someone throwing a lasso around a runner, who is about to cross the finish line, and pulling him back behind everyone else.
• The person has an eagerness or hunger to learn more. I think we can all admit, even for those who are professionals in the financial arena, we don’t know everything about personal finance.  There are a number of components that require different sets of knowledge.  But we can all learn the basics and we can all learn more about God’s plan for managing money.
• A passion or desire to run through brick walls to accomplish goals! Have you ever had passion for something enough that you’re not going to let anything stop you?  Sure you have.  Even if there are certain factors beyond your control, you don’t let them set you back when they occur.  You get back up and keep going.

The Benefits Of Improving Your Personal Finances

I can think of several important reasons to get serious about morphin’ and improving your personal finances:

• You can have more time and money. It’s true.  The further you go down the Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps, or the Crown Money Map, you’ll find you have more time and money.  This equates to a point in life in which you can be more generous to help others.  I believe it to be true financial freedom (adopted from Crown).
• A closer walk with God. When we’re managing money more wisely and following His principles, we’re simply in deeper fellowship with Him.  God gave us over 2300 scriptures to show us how to manage money.  If we can live by those principles, we’ll find things work a whole lot better.
• You can have stronger relationships. There is a reason why money is one of the leading causes of divorce.  The answer is not having more, or becoming rich.  The answer is managing it wisely.  When it’s managed well and good communication is in place, things just tick a long much better.
• Accomplish goals and establish forward momentum. Ah, the beautiful words of “forward momentum.”  Stagnation on the financial journey isn’t much fun.  It’s boring and no one likes to plateau.  But, transformation, or morphin’, equate to steps forward.  Debt is history, savings provides a safety net and wealth grows.  Doesn’t that sound nice?

How To Improve Your Personal Finances

Beyond establishing the above characteristics, I can think of a number of specific actions to transform.  And I invite you to add to this list in the comments.  But I think there are three actions that are easy, we can all do, yet are often sadly ignored.

• Establish a spending plan. Yes, that’s it.  Establishing a plan is saying “its morphin’ time” and you go to work.  A plan can include your monthly spending goals, or a 5 year plan for your finances.  But in the plan, you’ll find freedom.  With a plan you can help remove anxiety and uncertainty. I consider myself to be a pretty organized person.  I’m self motivated and will work hard to accomplish goals.  But I’m disorganized without a plan and find myself treading water if I don’t have specific steps to follow.
• Live by your spending plan. The next best thing you can do is to follow the plan.  If you establish a monthly budget you must be serious about following it.  I’m a believer in following the monthly plan, because without it, the 5 year plan doesn’t really get fed.  What I mean is the steps you take each month help you accomplish the goals you’ve established in the next 5 years.
• Finally, we need to seek help. But, I’m doing okay you might say.  Really?  We can all have our eyes opened with a good review and establishing some accountability.  Find a trusted source and open your books.  Open your spending to them and show them how and where your money goes.  Ask for an unbiased opinion.  Can you do that?  Dave Ramsey provides free counselors and so does Crown Financial Ministries.  You may just find something in your discussion that helps make the right tweak to take a big step forward.

Are you ready to improve your personal finances?  It’s morphin’ time!

What do you think about these tips?

This is a post I previously published at BibleMoneyMatters.com and that has been modified for posting at OMD.

1. Never spend more than you have; it’s simple arithmetic, but most of us fail miserably at it and this is why we end up in debt.
2. Don’t be so greedy that you lose what you have in the pursuit of something that is not a surety. A bird in the hand is worth more than any number in the bush.
3. Get into the habit of saving some money (even the bare minimum will do) every month.
4. Don’t pay any more interest than you have to; this means you need to pay off your credit card bills in full and before the due date, and that you must pay off your other loans at the earliest.
5. Think more than twice before you buy what you want; focus on your needs first and then, if you have any money left over after fulfilling all your obligations (loan payments and bills), then go ahead and treat yourself.
6. Never spend to keep up appearances – it’s more shameful to be in debt than to tell your friends at the outset that you don’t have money to burn.
7. Beware of hidden fees and loopholes; if any deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. So before you jump at an offer, read the fine print to protect yourself from spending more than you have to.
8. Use financial tools wisely – for example, credit cards are not bad if you pay them off in full and if you don’t use them to withdraw cash; debit cards are better if you don’t risk an overdraft; store card discounts may not be worth the annual fees they charge, and so on.
9. Be prepared – stay on top of your insurance policies, your savings plans and your investments. Put aside what you need to today to safeguard your future.
10. And finally, lead a simple life; the more you desire, the more likely you will fall prey to debt.

This guest post is contributed by Omar Adams, he writes on the topic of online accounting degree . He welcomes your comments below and or send him an email at: omaradams47@gmail.com.

I suppose there are a lot of folks out there who have lost anything from family property to 401(k) plans.  Speaking of 401(k) plans…how does that work?  You leave a company and years later you remember you had a 401(k) plan with your old company worth thousands of dollars?  I suppose it can and does happen!

More likely, you’re not sure if a deceased loved one had a life insurance policy, but you’re not sure where to look because you can’t make sense of all their documents and papers.

Well, worry no more.  There are a number of helpful resources available to track down missing money:

• Property held by states:  www.missingmoney.com.  This site has records from all 50 states.
• Matured savings bonds (bonds dating from1974 or missed payments): www.treasurydirect.gov.  Click on Search for Your Securities.
• Lost 401(k) plan: www.unclaimedretirementbenefits.com.  Plan sponsors, administrators and custodians register missing participants who have unclaimed retirement funds.
• Deceased loved one’s life insurance policy:  www.missingmoney.com.
• Current year tax refund:  www.irs.gov .  Click on Where’s My Refund?

We’re curious to know.  Have you ever had to search for lost money or property?  If so, how did you go about finding it?

Where to find lost loot [Consumer Reports, October 2010]

It’s a post about gaining perspective on money management and financial stewardship. I enjoy finding new ways to gain a wise financial steward’s perspective on money. I hope this particular one will encourage the new financial steward, perhaps be a wake up call for some and a reminder for the more seasoned stewards among us.

I’ve always been a believer it’s not how much money you make, but how you handle or manage the money that you make. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the race of working more to earn more in order to have what many might think is a better way of life. It’s just exhausting to think about for me because I know I could never work hard enough for what would never be enough.

A Million Dollars. Is It Attainable?

For example, a lot of people think about making a million dollars in their lifetime. To be a millionaire has always been the label that says “I’m financially free.” Many in society view the millionaire as a person who can buy almost anything they want. The thought is they drive fancy cars and live in the nicest houses.

The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley gave many people a different view of the millionaire for the first time. All of the sudden a millionaire could be the person next to you driving the Ford F150 pick up and wearing average clothes. We learned the millionaire next door was different than the one seen on TV and movies. This millionaire manages money wisely versus the one fueled by materialistic desires and dreams.

I told myself some time ago to never depend on another pay raise. Having that perspective, I’m only left with managing wisely what I’ve been blessed with today in order to meet our family’s financial objectives. I realize even if I don’t have a million dollars, I can still be financially free and prosperous as long as I have a Biblical perspective on money management.

However, the truth is that most people will make a million dollars in their lifetime, even if they don’t increase their income by another dime! How? Well, let’s think about it for a moment.

If someone were making $20,000 per year at the age of 25, they will have grossed a million dollars by the time they are 75. Many people make more than $20,000 dollars per year. Let’s increase that to $50,000 which would then take someone 20 years to gross a million dollars. A person who is 30 today and making $50,000 per year will have grossed a million dollars by the time they are 50!

According to Mary Hunt in her book, How to Debt Proof Your Marriage, we are all becoming millionaires!

The truth is that you are becoming millionaires right now. You’re receiving your wealth in installments, a portion every payday.

I felt like I had just won the lottery and gained new perspective after reading that comment from her book. Even if I don’t make another dime, I’ll probably gross a million dollars in this lifetime which is all paid to me in installments.

What Will You Do With Your Million Dollars?

So I ask the question; what will you do with your million dollars? Think about if you were to give 10% of your gross income, save 10% of your gross income, and live on the remaining 80%. You would be able to save $100,000 and give $100,000 in your lifetime! I think for most it could be stretched even further, but you get the point.

Most people would never dream of being able to give or save these large amounts of money. But if we look at our situation with new perspective, perhaps the million dollar installment perspective, we just might do it!

Imagine a world in which everyone would save or invest $100,000 in their lifetime? The average net worth of our nation would increase and people would be able to invest more of their time as well as provide gifts to others. Think about the impact to churches, ministries and non-profits; it is indescribable.

Many wonder why they should have a budget or a spending plan to guide them each month. Fundamentally, it’s to help perform wise money management and to achieve financial goals. But, largely, it’s so that meaningful decisions can be made regarding the use of the money which has been entrusted to our care which are our monthly installments.

So again, I think at the end of the day it’s not about making more money or dreaming of a future of more cash than we know what to do with; such as society’s view of the millionaire. Rather, it’s how we plan to manage our monthly million dollar installments and keep them from dwindling away.

What do you think about the monthly million dollar installment perspective? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Photo by Suburban Dollar.

You’ve probably heard at one point or another how important it is to have confidence in yourself, or in your abilities.  Yet we are all faced with times in our life when we are less than confident.  In fact, we can sometimes be quite critical of ourselves (at least I can) which increases the pressure of any situation, can make us more nervous and potentially sets us up to fail.

I’m reading a book right now called Performance Intelligence at Work: The 5 Essentials to Achieving The Mind of a Champion.  Written by Christian authors (one is a friend of mine), it is a book that is geared to helping you perform your best when it matters most.

Specifically, the book is about performing better at work, but you may have guessed by now that I think the guidance from this book can help us perform better at managing our personal finances.  And personal finance matters!

Performance intelligence involves 5 different areas (focus, confidence, self discipline, winning game plan and competitiveness), but I’m going to focus on the area of confidence in this post.

How do we develop more confidence in our ability to manage money wisely?  Isn’t that really what everyone wants who is striving to be a better steward of their finances?  Wouldn’t it be great to have confidence knowing that you’re doing your job in this important area of life?  But how do we get there?

Two mistakes in describing confidence in money management

One of the authors made a profound statement in describing two mistakes people make in regards to people describing their level of confidence.  Here are the mistakes: “being confident in the outcome rather than in the process of creating the outcome and having all-or-nothing confidence.”

I think some of the problems people have with money reside inside of these two common mistakes in defining confidence.  First, if we are less than 100% confident in things we can control, which may include budgeting, tracking expenses, creating a plan to get out of debt and making wise spending decisions, we should strive to improve these skills.

Second, we can’t tie our level of confidence to what are many variables that we simply don’t have control over.  A great example is the fluctuation of the American economy.  Yet another example might be an unexpected expense that may drain our emergency fund dry.  Being overly concerned with external variables impacts peoples’ ability to manage money wisely and can often put them into a state of fear.  Again, you have to be focused and confident in the actions and skills that create the outcome you want.

The responsibility that God has given us

The interesting thing about these points related to confidence is I think God is telling us the same thing through His word.  It’s basic financial stewardship that perhaps we sometimes lose sight of.  God tells us that he is the owner of everything (Psalms 24:1) and the provider. We can certainly have confidence that He will do His part as long as we are pursuing Him first (Matthew 6:33). He also tells us it is our responsibility to manage what he has entrusted to us (1 Corinthians 4: 1-2).

Our responsibility is the management part.  We have to focus on the skills that are essential for performing management and not put our level of confidence in our financial situation on the variables in which we have absolutely no control.

God doesn’t tell us it’s our responsibility to manage the economy or other external factors.  We cannot set our level of confidence in the state of the economy.  Let me repeat.  We cannot set our level of confidence in our personal financial journey and in our ability to get out of debt and manage money based on the state of the economy.

Another thing we can’t control, which we try to do often, is God’s will for our lives.  God’s plan is God’s plan and there is no changing it.  Try as we might to steer our own ships, we are ultimately in the creator’s hands.  When it’s all said and done, it’s up to God to help us overcome external hurdles on our respective financial journeys.

Final thoughts

If your confidence level in any one area of money management is less than 100%, you have to do what is within your ability to change that.  If you don’t have a plan to get out of debt; you must change that today.  If you don’t have a spending plan to guide you each month to your larger goals; you have to change that today.

Do what it takes within your ability to bring your money management confidence level up.  Then, have faith and confidence in God to do His part in handing the rest.

What do do you think about these thoughts on confidence and personal finance?

Once I decided to get my financial act together, one of the first books I read was Women and Money by Suze Orman.
She has managed to balance an “in your face” approach while maintaining compassion.  She often says on her show face it to erase it.  In other words, take responsibility and action.  Don’t let the size of your problem overwhelm you to the point of financial paralysis.  Do something, and start today.  The book is divided into 8 chapters, though the meat is in chapter 6, the Save Yourself Plan.  The chapter is by far the largest and most detailed in the book, it outlines concrete steps women can take to improve and stabilize their financial situation.  Suze realizes that many that read Women & Money are not ready for action right away.  Maybe they’ve read other finance books, but have yet to be provoked to action.  To combat this trend, the first 5 chapters deal with how women feel about themselves.

Chapter 1: For Women Only

This short chapter serves as an introduction for what’s to come in the following chapters.  Orman shares her reasoning for writing this book in an effort to relate to the readers.  Personally, I enjoyed reading her motivation, however it felt more like a prologue or introduction than an actual chapter.  It’s all semantics really, still good information none the less.

 Chapter 2:  Imagine What’s Possible

Imagine owning your home outright.  Imagine knowing you’ll be able to retire comfortably someday.  Suze states that when women develop a comfortable relationship with money scenarios like these and more can become a reality.

Chapter 3: No Shame, No Blame

This chapter is based on the concept that blame renders your powerless and shame holds you back.  It’s a very effective chapter, and Suze even shares her own story which was very interesting.

Chapter 4:  You Are Not on Sale

I was really able to relate to this chapter!  On a personal level, I found myself in many of the scenarios.  Suze shares several  personal stories of women who have sold themselves short through their own businesses and in their professional careers.

Chapter 5:  The 8 Qualities of a Wealthy Woman

The qualities are defined and allow the reader to reflect on whether they posses those qualities and why they are among the qualities of a wealthy woman.  It’s a short chapter, but the information solidifies important characteristics.

Chapter 6: The Save Yourself Plan

This is the “meat and potatoes” and quite possibly could have been a book in itself.  Now that the root problem has been addressed, Suze outlines a plan of action.  The plan is based on core financial principals and assumes no prior financial literacy.  There are 5 sections, the goal is to conquer 1 section per month.  Each section begins with “I will be thrilled if” action steps giving the reader distinct measurements of progress.  For those that want more detail, when you purchase Women & Money there is an access code to the Suze Orman website with further details, resources and information.

The Save Yourself Plan covers checking & savings accounts, credit cards and FICO scores, retirement investing wills, living trusts, insurance and more.  This chapter is key to the entire book.

Chapter 7: Commitments

This chapter is all about moving forward and relationships.  She discusses financial matters involving spouses, children, and aging parents.  She also has a checklist for selecting a financial advisor.

Chapter 8: Say Your Name

Suze discusses humility vs humiliated as women shy away from recognition and their own name.  To be honest, this was my least favorite chapter.

Overall, Women & Money was a great book and provided a lot of insight for me.  However, I had to take the good and leave the parts I didn’t agree with behind.  At some points, there was a “New Age” feel to it.  For example, in the last chapter she talks about owning the power to control your destiny and makes references to unlocking yourself.  Understand that Woman & Money makes no claims to be a Christian finance book, therefore I am not looking for Biblical accuracy, however, I have chosen to dismiss the areas that don’t align with what I believe.  It does not negate the wealth (no pun intended) of financial strategy and advice.

Who should read Women & Money?

Women & Money should be read by any woman that does not feel confident in handling personal finance matters, or those that need a strategy for financial security.  Personally, I have recommended this book to friends and have given away several copies when teaching at conferences.

Gentlemen, I know you’re curiosity is going to compel you to read on and that’s fine.  Will you do me a favor and share with a woman that you love (mother, sister, spouse)?  Thanks!

Ladies, our presence in the workforce has increased from one generation to the next.  In the United States, women now make up about half the total workforce and has seen a sharp rise in income as well.    There are more women in managerial positions, and more women-owned businesses than ever before.  The number of female millionaires is on the rise, and as of a 1995 report, 55% of women were bringing home half or more of the household income, shifting the traditional role of “bread winner”.

Countless women are graduating top of their class, holding positions or power within government, and working upper managerial positions.  We have shown we have the intelligence, charisma, leadership and know how to lead along with our male counterparts.

So then why do a staggering 90% of women feel insecure when it comes to their own finances?!

These are the same women that are bringing home more income.  They dress the part, talk the talk and walk the walk, but on the inside, there is this intimidation caused by money.

There’s a particular woman that was classified as gifted from a child.  While in kindergarten, she was on a 2^nd grade reading level.  She scored a 140 on her IQ test and went to the college preparatory school for the gifted and talented that at one point was ranked 4^th in the nation.  She went on to a predominately male engineering university to continue studying her love for computers.  Like many of her undergraduate counterparts, she graduated with her share of debt.  Minimum and missed payments were the lifestyle.  She had a good job, and no matter how behind she got, another paycheck was always a couple weeks away.

This dangerous cycle continued for a few years until one day she woke up and decided to make some major changes.  Her IQ and education did not factor into basic personal finance principals.  Yet she meticulously handled major projects and programs in the workforce.  Even when she tried to do the right thing by going to a financial advisor, her lack of understanding and fear of looking incompetent caused her to remain silent.  She wasn’t looking to manage her money, she was looking for a financial baby-sitter.  In case you haven’t figured it out by now, that woman was me.

I’ve seen this story all to often!  Women with a commanding presence in a conference room, responsible for leading large teams, successfully overseeing multi-million dollar projects and yet refuse to take control of their own finances.

This anomaly doesn’t just effect women in corporate America.  The same insecurities are voiced from those who choose to work part-time or stay at home.

Suze Orman asked the question in Women & Money: Why is it women who are competent in all other areas of their lives cannot find the same competence when it comes to matters of money?

In fact, her book Women & Money is largely based on this question.  It is a book I plan to provide a review on in the near future.  But for now, let’s reflect on the question above.

Competence in Money Matters

I believe it comes down to at least two issues:

1. Fear / Lack of Confidence
2. Conflicting nurturer and money matters

Fear / Lack of Confidence

Fear can be an immobilizing force!  Fear of failure and even fear of success will prevent women from moving.  Fear of failure is obvious, but fear of success may need a little more explaining.  Because of the defined roles placed by our society, some may choose to stay within a safe zone rather than push the limit.  For a very long time and still to some extent today, there was a negative stigma that followed successful women in the workforce.  Their placement was often questioned and met with hostile accusations of favoritism and quotas.  This same fear of success cause children to intentionally receive average and sub-par grades to be accepted by a group of their peers.  Normal is comfortable, and many choose to stay there even if it means living below their potential.

Conflicting Nurturer & Money Matters

Jay MacDonald from Bankrate.com summed it up nicely with this observation:

Women: trained to nurture and seek acceptance, view money as a means to create a lifestyle. Women spend on things that enhance day-to-day living. Theirs is a now-money orientation.

Men: trained to fix and provide, view money as a means to capture and accumulate value. Men don’t spend, they invest. Men don’t want something, they need it. Theirs is a future-money orientation.

I agree with this in part, but I know too many men that spend on lifestyle enhancement to accept this as 100% fact.  For what it’s worth, here is my conclusion on the matter:

Women being nurturers have a natural ability to care for what they love.  This is most obvious in the care of a mother for a child.  However, we don’t love money, and from a Christian perspective, we should not love money:  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. – 1 Timothy 6:10

Because of this, many have consciously (or unconsciously) shunned any type of money relationship as a topic that is taboo and better left undiscussed. However, this is unhealthy as well. Biblically, we should not love money, however, we are not commanded to ignore it. In fact, effective stewardship means it requires our attention. We need to change our views from money being avoided because it is something we don’t love, to a tool that can be effectively managed to help us take care of the ones we love.

What about you? Have you noticed an difference in the way men and women handle finances?

That’s why this Christmas I’ve identified my top 10 Christmas gift picks for equipping and enabling wise personal money management in 2010. I think these items help the money manager perform his or her responsibilities and are geared to keeping the new focus (frugality and saving) versus shifting back to old habits.

Top 10 personal money management gifts

1.  Start a debt snowball and learn how to makeover your money management habits with The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.  This book is one of the more popular and practical money management books available.  You can find a mini review on my recommended reading list.

2.  Your Money Counts by Howard Dayton is a great resource to learn more about what the the Bible says about money.  I like this resource for helping people learn more about and build a strong foundation for financial stewardship.  You can find a mini review on my recommended reading list.

3.  One of the leading personal finance software packages online today is Mvelopes Personal.  Mvelopes provides the capability to perform electronic envelope budgeting, bill pay from any account and support wise money management practices.  Read my review of Mvelopes to learn more.

4.  For only a few dollars you can get a copy of the Crown Money Map which is a roadmap to achieving personal finance goals.  Each of the seven destinations contain specific goals such as saving for emergencies or paying off debt.

5.  Stay current on personal finance by subscribing to Money Magazine.  I’ve subscribed for several years now and always find interesting articles each month that help me expand my knowledge about areas in personal finance such as investing, saving and frugal spending.

6.  Sound Mind Investing is an organization focused on helping people plan for the future using money management principles from the Bible.  You can stay current on their latest investing advice by subscribing to the Sound Mind Investing Newsletter.

7.  Speaking of Sound Mind Investing, the founder, Austin Prior, has published a well-known book called Sound Mind Investing which teaches investing using Biblical financial principles.  I’m hoping to also add this one to my recommended reading list.  It’s on my personal Christmas wish list this year. 

8.  A one year subscription to Consumer Reports Magazine will help in purchasing products that will last.  Wise spending decisions is an important part of wise personal money management.  For example, we used Consumer Reports to purchase our vacuum cleaner.  We got a good product at a below average price.

9.  Every money manager who is carefully tracking expenses and making sure bills are paid on-time needs some mechanism for doing so.  The Bill Organizer from Crown Financial Ministries is a handy gift.

10.  What would money management be without a calculator to help in calculating spending and tracking against the monthly spending plan?  I like the Texas Instruments calculator (TI-1795SV) because you can program in a sales tax which is then automatically included in your calculation with the punch of a button.  I use my TI calculator to help me split receipts into different budget categories.

What are your Christmas personal finance gift picks?  Let us know in the comments.