1. Find Unnecessary Things To Cut Out Of Your Monthly Budget
‘Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.’ Hebrews 12:1
Many people struggle financially because they waste money on unnecessary things. I met with a Pastor that was struggling to meet the church’s financial responsibilities. It was a fairly large church with great attendance and at first glance, one would wonder why it was so hard for them to pay their bills without struggling. I mean, when I went to the parking lot during their busiest service, I noticed quite a few cars that are nicer than mine.
But when I peeled back the layers of their financial onion, I noticed what was actually making their finances cry. The church was dripping money into so many unnecessary monthly and yearly expenses that it would need to almost double their membership in order to keep up with these expenses. After working through some of these and cutting waste, the church gained a 24% monthly budgeting surplus that quickly turned things around for them.
We don’t only encounter this with large entities like a church or business. Having consulted some major CEO’s who made a lot of money yearly, I realized that many of them run into money problems as well because of unnecessary spending. One of my favorite things to do for my clients is to find them unexpected money. This is where I find it.
2. Add To Your Emergency Fund For G.O.K. Moments
‘There is desirable treasure, And oil in the dwelling of the wise, But a foolish man squanders it.’ Proverbs 21:20
Do you have an emergency fund for those G.O.K. (God Only Knows) moments? This is the type of piggy bank fund that grandma used to call your “rainy day” fund. This is not your savings, or your children’s college fund, or your 401K (if you have one of those), or your retirement fund. This is the extra money you put aside just in case something unexpected pops up.
I’ve been helping clients set this up as part of their budget for years. It doesn’t have to be a lot. One of my clients just puts $20 a week into his. I’ve been helping him budget his income for 8 years. He did this from day one. He puts it into a separate bank account he calls his “Just In Case” fund. I sat with him in November of 2020 and he told me it became habit and he hasn’t touched the money ever. That’s just his “Just in Case” account. Obviously he has other accounts and funds (college for the kids, retirement, savings, vacation, etc.)
3. Don’t Jump On The Next Get-Rich-Quick Scheme Bandwagon
‘A faithful man will abound with blessings, But he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.’ Proverbs 28:20
I am pitched weekly and on some months, daily on the next big thing. I get bombarded on social media by Bitcoin Miners, Forex Traders, MLM IBOs, Investment Brokers, etc. I get calls from wannabe Wolf of Wall Street guys who sound as if they are reading from the movie script when they are trying to sell me the next amazing opportunity that has just come across their desk. They all promise they can make you a millionaire as early as yesterday. Meanwhile, they are all still pitching you on the phone on a cold call. Be very careful with these “opportunities.” If they seem too good to be true, they probably are.
4. Get A Part Time Job or Side Hustle As a Supplement Income
‘He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.’ Proverbs 10:4
Not making enough at your job but you can’t afford to quit. Get a second job to add to your savings or get a side hustle. I can’t tell you how many of my clients started a side hustle and ended up replacing their job with it. Many millionaires started out with a side hustle.
One of my clients, an entrepreneur who proudly tells everyone his successful business is a Christian Owned Business, wasn’t always this happy and successful. A few years back he was struggling to pay his bills on a job he absolutely hated. So he started creating artwork in people’s homes as a side hustle. All his artwork revolved around Bible scripture and he would advertise in churches all over Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. In 2020, as New York City went on lockdown, he dedicated all his home time to his art. When the city started coming out of lockdown, he started selling his art. Today there are people all over the world buying his scripture art. He no longer works that awful job he once had.
5. Do NOT Rely On The Government To Get You Our Of Debt
‘For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”’ 2 Thessalonians 3:10
Listen up everyone. The Democrats are not going to pay your bills. Wait my liberal friends, don’t attack me yet. Listen up everyone. The Republicans aren’t going to pay your bills either. Stop waiting for the government to come save you. That’s foolish.
If you borrowed money for college, get a job, or two, or three and pay it back! If you got into debt because of ignorant spending, educate yourself so you’ll make better choices and get a job, or two, or three and pay your debts. If you bought a house that you knew you could not afford and now you want the government to bail you out, don’t hold your breath. Most politicians on both sides of the government isle are only looking out for themselves and their buddies.
The government is not your mommy, your daddy, your sugar momma or your sugar daddy. Paying your debt is not free of charge. The government will only charge those who made smarter choices more taxes to cover your debt. That’s a form of stealing! Printing more money is not a smart option. So put on your big boy or big girl pants and go earn your keep!
6. Talk To Your Spouse About Money, Two Work Better Than One
‘Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.’ Ecclesiastes 4:9
My friends, money problems is one of the biggest causes of divorce in today’s society, right up there on the list with infidelity. If you are having money problems, talk to your husband or your wife about it. If you are heading to a financial crash in your household, sit down with your Kingdom spouse and talk about it. Make a plan together. Do not allow money issues and poor communication end your marriage.
The day you said I do, you stopped being two separate people and you became one. This means that all the money, or the lack of money falls on both your shoulders. This means that a real Kingdom marriage will figure the struggle out together and come out stronger on the other side of it.
7. Be Smart When Shopping. Stop Using Credit for Everything
‘Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled With all precious and pleasant riches.’ Proverbs 24:3–4
Credit card debt is choking the life of people’s future. Credit card debt is creating generational burdens that your children, and their children, and their children’s children will be working through long after you’re gone. If you have a credit card spending problem, but them up. Learn to only buy things you can actually afford.
Every Christmas, millions of Americans add mountains to their debt in their attempt to buy their way into their family, friends and loved ones’ hearts. Then they spend the next year trying to pay off that debt, only to find themselves repeating the pattern on Valentines Day, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, graduations, etc. By the time the next December rolls up, these credit card spenders have no choice but charge the next set of gifts on their cards.
The banks will continue raising your limit if you continue making the minimum monthly payment on your card. Before you know it, you’re on the hook for more money than you’ll ever be able to pay back and you have just cursed your future generations’ chances at financial freedom. How do you end this vicious, predatory cycle? You stop charging more than what you make monthly. You budget!
8. Make a Budget. It’s Your Vehicle to Financial Freedom
‘For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it?’ Luke 14:28
People don’t just live beyond their means knowingly. Many enter financial ruin by simply not planning correctly. When we budget our money, we set a clear plan of action for spending that we don’t easily deviate from. It takes financial wisdom, knowledge, and sometimes it takes an outsider to help us do this. If you are having trouble preparing a budget for your business, your church or your home, contact us at GC Rosario Group. We can help.
My family was poor when I was a kid in Brooklyn NY. As a young boy, one of my favorite books was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith because not only was it set in my hometown of Williamsburg Brooklyn, but it was based on a poor Brooklyn family. I was in the 7th grade in I.S. 318 when I read the book for the first time and I immediately felt connected to Francie Nolan (the main character). I could relate to that book so intimately that I can tell you my own Christmas tree story. We’ll leave that for a later time.
My father struggled for years to figure out how to raise a family in New York City on a very humble salary. Then his boss gave him an amazing Christmas gift. His boss set him up with a financial consultant who helped him budget correctly. My father didn’t know his boss was setting him up for a big blessing, a promotion the very next month. Once my father learned to budget his money correctly, he started shifting his relationship with money from a lack mentality to a prosperity mentality. He learned to budget what he was making, put a little aside and eventually was able to move us out of the tiny one bedroom apartment we were living in, into a much larger home on the corner of Graham Avenue and Johnson Avenue (still in Williamsburg, Brooklyn).
Proper budgeting made all the difference in the world for us and it can do the same for you. Don’t waste another minute letting your finances get the better of you. Book your FREE 30 minute consultation with GC Rosario Group today.
9. Stop Coveting What Others Have. Appreciate What You Have
‘You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.’ James 4:2
You know what gets people in trouble? Many people who get into financial problems do so because they are used to keeping up with the Joneses, or in today’s case, keeping up with the Kardashians.
When you try to live other people’s lives, you often end up miserable and broke. You have to be very careful who you model your life after, and what motivates you to model your life after them. If you are trying to flex the way celebrities do, and you are not making celebrity money, you will fail.
I’ve always said it. If I didn’t have a family to make comfortable, I would be comfortable sleeping on a hammock on the beach. I am a minimalist by nature. I love to get rid of stuff and clutter. I don’t need fancy cars and toys. I don’t need to wear $2,000 Dolce & Gabbana sneakers to the gym to do the same workout that I do in my $50 Adidas. I’ve had the toys and I’ve learned they do not bring you happiness. So stop chasing the flashy lifestyle of those who have sold their souls for it.
10. Live On Less Than You Make. Do Not Live Beyond Your Means
‘Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender.’ Proverbs 22:7
This goes hand in hand with number 7 and 8, but it takes it a bit further. There are people who don’t just max out their credit cards, but they also take out unnecessary bank loans, and some even hit family members up for personal loans. Some will lie on loan applications at banks, getting a family member to cosign with them, which now puts themselves and their loved ones in a financial bind.
If you want to be financially free, learn to live on what you make. There is no need for a kid who’s parents barely make the rent each month, to walk into the first day of school with $300 sneakers and a $1,200 iPhone! Parents need to stop teaching their children this entitlement ideology because this is only creating the next generation of poverty minded people.
George L. Rosario is a Brooklyn NY born & raised businessman & entrepreneur turned consultant. He started GC Rosario Group with his lovely wife Claudia. With over 30 years of service to the marketplace in NYC, George has relocated and been graciously adopted by the business community of South Florida. He now travels the country helping businesses and organizations thrive in today’s noisy environment. The post-Covid era forced many to close their doors, but also opened new doors of opportunity, growth and prosperity for innovative thinkers. George & Claudia Rosario help companies, businesses, organizations and teams develop the necessary skillset and plan of action to not just survive, but thrive in this new world. GC Rosario Group helps both secular and Christian based institutions meet their goals.
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