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Published : April 29, 2009 |
Author : momofsix
Category : N. Household Management | Total Views
: 430 | Rating :  
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 momofsix
I am a homeschool mom with six children.
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God showed my husband and I a financial system that works great for us. I only wish we knew how to do this years ago. So, I will share with others in hopes that it will help another family.
First, get a small three bin plastic drawer set from Wal-mart and stick it on your counter or somewhere. Write "Bills" for the first drawer, "Attention" for the second drawer, and "Filing" for the third drawer.
As you attend to the mail each day, throw all junk mail away and put only bills in the first drawer, and other things needing your attention in the second drawer. The third drawer is where the bills will go after they get imputed onto your "Bill Book" (which I share below). Then you can file them later in any filing system that you have (you should save bills for about six months to a year). Then choose one day each week to work on each of those drawers (one drawer in the afternoon on designated day).
Next, get a green "columnar pad of 50 sheets" to create a Bill Book from Walmart or Office Max. In this you will write your monthly bills.
Put the pay check dates at the top. Then put the bills listed down the side, in order of importance. "Bills" are in one grouping, "Living Expenses" are in a separate grouping, and "Past Debts" in a third grouping, down the left horizontal lines. The "Bills" were for the obvious (mortgage, electricity, water, etc.); the "Living Expenses" for gas, groceries, misc, savings (read The Storehouse Principle for this), emergency fund, God's portion, etc. The "Past Due Debts" grouping always seem to be past medical bills to pay off or other bills that are needing payment.
After all the grouping or spending, I put the amount next to each item with the due date in the first column. The second column has his pay check amount and the date under it. The third column has his pay check amount and the date under it. Under these columns are blank so that he can put a check mark under which bill is being paid.
For instance, on the left horizontal line is Electricity. Beside it I write the amount due and due date under the first column which is $203, 6/13 . As he continues across the page he can check off the first paycheck column or the second paycheck column. I then set up a paylink to our bank. I entered all the bills and past bill debt account numbers and addresses. After he checked off which paycheck the bill will be paid with (he only has to do this once a month), he goes over the computer and clicks on which bills to pay. He can easily cancel a payment, before it is paid if he wants. He can also set it up a week before to pay on his paycheck day if he wants. He has full control of the process, with no automatic bill pays from other people's end (a rule he made which I like).
We both spend about ten minutes a night checking the finances to see where we are, to avoid any surprises. This really helps.
When he gets paid, I pull out the certain amount of money from the bank which we set aside for the groceries, gas, and misc. He takes a certain amount for his gas or misc. amount, and I get the grocery money and misc. I keep mine in envelopes so I can always be aware of what I spend.
When the children and I are tempted to eat out at McDonald's, I sometimes ask the children if they want to sacrifice some of that money to give to God instead, and some of it for our vacation envelope. This gives us a visual reference to see our savings.
My goal for my amount is to always have money left over. Then I can feel like I have the "extra" money to do something special, without condemnation from having over spent.
This is really working well for us. Our bills are getting paid off so quickly that it won't be long before we are completely out of debt.
By the way, we also have an extra container for God, besides tithes. This container we use for whatever God tells us to use it for, such as clothing the orphans or such. If we decide not to buy that special thing we want, we "sacrifice" the money and put it in our God container. Then we seek God for where or who He would like it to go to. That way we don't give out of only an emotional response, but also out of prayer, as we prayerfully consider what we put in the envelope. This system also frees me up emotionally, and I am not stressed about our funds any more.
Getting organized in this way has really helped my peace of mind. Our old system was too cumbersome and time consuming. I am so glad that my husband has taken the finances over for me. My husband said he needed me as a secretary. I know that and I don't mind. It doesn't take much time to update the bill amount and dates on his green columnar. My husband now makes all the financial decisions, and I try to obey (letting him lead). I am soooo excited that God helped me by providing these ideas.
Okay, this is a bit personal but God has really set us free financially with this method. I just hope that it helps someone else. Perhaps you can share what works for your family. P.S. A MUST read is The Storehouse Principle. It is a small book, an easy read, and it can be found on www.amazon.com second hand. I can't stress it enough, this is a must read if you want to really be blessed in your finances. I really wish I had read this book years ago. It revolutionized the way we handle our finances. The above inspiration came after reading the book and praying for God's help and mercy in this area. |
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