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percent, what
1
have left will go as
far or even farther than the whole
100 percent would have?"
That's right!
But you' ll never know till you
step out in faith and try it.
Tlthing Teaches Budgeting
The word
budget
implies propor–
tioning your income into a series of
categories. Think of each portion as
a percentage of the money you have
avai Jable. The first lO percent of
your increase is God's. The remain–
ing 90 percent can now be allo–
cated.
Tithing gives us the principie of
percentage allocation.
There are two categories into
which you must divide your
budget. The first area we will call
fixed expenses.
Fixed expenses are
those that will come every month
and will be about the same each
month. Second, there are
variable
expenses.
You can also call these
funds
discretíonary moneys.
These
are expenses we will all have, but
the amount we spend from month
to month might vary considerably.
A fixed expense such as your
monthly mortgage payment or rent
will usually not s ignificantl y
change. Other such fixed expenses
will be cost of utilities-especially
heating costs in winter- telephone,
food, household expenses and
transportation .
After your tithes and offerings,
there is a part of the budget over
which you have little control–
laxes.
The government has to func–
tion and in most nat ions derives a
portion of its funds from a percent–
age of each person's income. These
taxes are usually withheld from
wage earners before receiving pay.
In addition to taxes, there are
other funds that are withheld from
salaries. These include payment
into a social welfare or social secu–
rity fund, pension plans, required
insurance, sometimes union dues
and other smaller amounts. Since
they are withheld, you have practi–
cally no control over them. But
they must be calculated into your
budget.
The three largest expenses most
families incur are the cost of hous–
ing, the cost of food and in north–
ern climates the cost of home heat–
ing. In sorne cases, there will be
little left after these major items.
Most famil ies will find that food
and housing will consume more
than half their budgetary alloca–
tion.
In our modero industrial world,
a majority of families purchase and
operate at least one automobile as a
principal means of transportation.
Sorne families may be able to rely
on public transportation such as a
bus or subway system to provide a
portion of their transportation
needs. These costs will also be a
fairly fixed expense. A budget must
be established for fue! and mainte–
nance cost of an automobile or for
transportation fares.
Another fixed expense is insur–
ance. Most families carry sorne
form of life insurance, homeown–
ers' or renters' insurance and auto-
mobile insurance. In sorne nations
many of these insurance needs are
provided by the state and are part
of the system of taxat ion one is
charged in that nation . In other
nations, insurance is a prívate mat–
ter and must be paid for separately.
Many employers will provide insur–
ance programs to employees and
wi ll at least cover a portion of these
needs as a fringe benefit.
The remaining variab le ex–
penses are simply what the name
implies: a variety of budget areas
determined by a family's needs
and based on the amount of mon–
ey available for such expenses
once fixed expenses have been
budgeted. Variable expenses in–
elude the cost of clothing--cer–
tainly a necessity- but usually not
allocated on a monthly basis. In
addition there are expenses for
entertainment, recreation, vaca–
tion and travel, savings, gifts and
personal allowances.
Your budget percentages will
vary, but the important thing is to
know where your money should be
going based on a sound plan.
Art of Sticking to a Budget
All this family meeting and plan–
ning may sound good. But making
a budget work requires diligent
effort.
And budgeting should be fun .
That's right, fun . Jesus said, " I
have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full " (John
10:10). To add to that which brings
about a full, rewarding and fun life,
each famil y's financia! resources
should be allocated to obtaining the
maximum benefit.
Sorne in the professing
financially
means
earning more
than you spend and
saving
For an
emergency
more than you
borrow.
fund, it is advisable
to have the equivalent of two
months'
income in a savings
account.