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what we call "discretionary" funds
avai lable for a limited variety of
personal expenses. Sending the
children to summer camp, buying a
new television set or increasing the
children's allowance are all nice if
we can afford them. But if they
cannot be afforded , these kind of
expenses can be foolish expenses
and plunge families into deep
financia! debt.
So don' t let anything deter you
from your goal of successful family
budgeting.
Findl ng Yo ur Finan c ia! Wo rth
As the years go by, it 's surprising
how much value can be built up in
an average fami ly.
If
you've pur–
chased a home, furniture, an auto–
mobile, jewelry and other items of
permanent value, you will find you
have established a net worth con–
siderably more than you might at
first think. Perhaps you have a sav–
ings account , value in a retirement
or annuity plan, stocks investments
or cash value that is built in lifc
insurancc. While you may be strug–
gling to make ends meet, you may
also find you have been accruing a
personal worth in excess of you r
own expectations.
In order to establish future
financia! goals, you should know
where you presently stand . You
must get control of your budget. A
majar rcason to get control of your
budget now is to be able to control
expenses and to establish future
financia! goals.
So how much are you worth?
Another chart we have produced
will help you determine your net
wort h. Ga ther your records to–
gether and fill out the chart. It may
surprise you how much-or how
little- value you have. In a rder to
properly fill in the blanks, you may
have to have an updated appraisal
made on your home or properties
you own. You can estímate the val–
ue of your automobile by looking in
the classified pages of your newspa–
per to see what similar cars are sell–
ing for. By visiting a furniture store
you can see how much you r furni–
ture may be wor th or what it would
cost to replace at today's value.
You should have easy access to
the balance in your savings account
and other financia! investments you
may have made. You r insurance
30
agent can let you know the casb
value you may have bu ilt in an
insurance plan.
To figure your net worth, add up
your assets and subtract from them
all the liabil it ies. The bottom line is
how much you are worth financial–
ly.
Planning Your Fi nanc lal Futur e
Where do we go from here?
That depends on where you find
yourself now. The three-month
analysis accompanied by your state–
ment of net worth will help you see
where you must now place your
fina ncia! priorities.
If
you have
found you rself deep in debt, your
goal will be, obviously, to get out of
debt.
H, on the other hand, you have
found yourself in fairly secure
financia! position, you wi ll want to
establ ish sorne priority goals for the
future.
Depending on your ci r cum–
stances, those goals migbt include
any of the following: the purchase
of a home, college education for the
children, planning for retirement,
care for aged parents or for future
add it ions to your own family.
Those goals obviously will vary
from family to family .
But the most successful way to
plan for your future is to establish
sound budgeting principies here
and now. You must get yourself out
of debt if you are in debt. Then,
you must establish sorne realistic
goals for the futu re.
T be best goal of all wi ll be to
establ ish your partnersh ip wit h
God and the self-determination to
know how to budget your
income.
o
Caughtln
ADeBt:Trap?
Our free booklet
Ending Your Flf1af1Cial Worries
offers sound.
practica! adv1ce on end1ng personal
financia!
woes. For your copy, use
the card '" this issue or write our
oflice
nearest you