No need to stress about the finer points of money management, just focus on the basics.

Get your head on straight. Adopt these principles

Adopt these principles as your own. I have borrowed and adapted from my friend Matt Miner.

• Money makes people more of who they are. It amplifies their character. Existentially speaking, money changes nothing.
• Who-you-are-in-Christ is the loadstar of your money philosophy.
• Managing our money is part of following Christ.
• Hoarding our money is not part of following Christ.
• Generosity is a key attitude. This world is not our home. Everything is passing away. We journey from suffering to glory.
• We are must care for our own and our neighbor’s outward estate.
• Money is a means, not an end. A tool, not a goal.

Follow the Basic Three

Again, credit to Matt Miner.

1. Live on less than you make. Know exactly how much is coming and how much is going out. Automate, track, communicate.
2. Invest the difference wisely. Invest in others (giving), current self (spending), and future self (saving).
3. Avoid wipeout risk. If you can’t write a check to replace what you lose, then insure it or avoid it.

Plan Your Spending

Conscious Spending Plan: How to Budget by Looking Into the Future

Build an emergency fund

<aside> 👨‍🚒 Emergency savings allow you to pay for something you need when you don’t have the money to pay for it. Think of it light a fire fighter’s turnout gear.

A fire fighter needs protective gear that is sufficient, always ready, and occasionally upgraded. Hopefully he will rarely need to rely on it and most his time is spent working out and pulling cats out of trees. But when he needs it, he won’t want to be without it. Having it gives him confidence and allows him to take smart risks that he wouldn’t otherwise.

An emergency fund is like that. It needs to be sufficient, always ready, and occasionally upgraded. Hopefully you will rarely need it, but when you do—and everybody does sometime—you will be so glad you have it.

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How much should you save?