Matthew 25:14-30 Parable of the Talents.
Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
Earn more of Save more, isn’t this always the question that comes up during all personal finance courses? We have so many people in the finance world that call themselves gurus, advisers, planners, and specialist out there that it is hard to come to a wise decision of our own. The funny thing about the world of finance is that there are many ways to create wealth. The worst thing about it is that everyone thinks that their way is the best way. What do we do with our money? What is the best options for creating wealth? Does the bible give a clear answer for it? Is the only way for me to make my money grow by getting promoted or finding a higher paying job? All these questions I will take shots at below. Following the questions I go in depth with a
Question 1
What do we do with our money, what is the best options for creating wealth, and
Answer 1
Money is an equivalent of your times worth. Money depreciates (value goes down) overtime. This means that you either need to spend (expense) it, invest (wealth build) it, tithe/offer (donate for a cause) it. Below I have numbered and broken down my interpretations of each method of giving out your resourses.
1. Spend – Food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, education
2. Invest – your businesses and others businesses
3. Tithe & Offerings – YOUR church tithes & offers, not-for-profit causes, community development, special events, strangers.
“Savers are losers, Spenders are winners” – Robert Kiyosaki
Question 2
Does the bible give clues to creating wealth?
Answer 2
Throughout the bible it’s, teachings, stories, and Jesus always seemed to speak very general about money. Now we must understand that wealth has changed vastly over time, but the idea of investing and “spending” your money wisely has been answer.
Question 3
Is the only way for you to make your money grow by getting promoted or finding a higher paying job?
Answer 3
Absolutely not. Although these two options speed up the process of wealth building the only true way to make more money is by spending less and investing more.
Now that I have answered the frequently asked questions, aka. FAQ’s. I want to get to something that I am passionate about. It is the mindset of wealth. Mostly people in poverty or those that have climbed their way out get caught up in the 9-5 rat race. When the pain sets in they ask the question if they need to earn more or save more. The risk tolerant people will say you need to take shots and earn more and the people that are risk adverse will say that you need to save money for the hard days that will come. The real answer is that you need to do both. You must earn more to become wealth, but you must also learn how not to spend more while earning more. Now the better question is which comes first? First is learning to save and second is learning to take risk. Although neither saving more or earning more are more important than each other they do have have order. Saving comes first and once you have saved to a certain amount you can take shots at earning more. Earning more is the only true route to a life of abundance.
Saving more
Most people fail at this miserably and there are good reasons behind it. If I were making $25k/year and spending $24.5K/year. The first thing that most people would say is that I need to get a better job that way I can have more money so that when something bad happens or trouble comes my way, I can make it without recourse. I get a great opportunity to make $25k/year but I now have to work 5 more hours a week which now I need a car, because the bus routes cause me to sit for another hour and I cant car pool with my buddy. I now get into a $250/month car note. Oooowee, now I got me a nice new 2015 Ford Fusion that I can show off and stunt in, but truly all I did was add another $3k/year expense. What if I just decided that I would AirBnB my living room on the weekends, invite a friend to live with me and pay half the bills, or refrain for the normal 4 vacations, 3 weddings, 7 birthday parties, 15 weekend beer and pizzas. With these few examples I am looking at cutting off $7-10k/year of unnecessary spending which is actually a raise that I didn’t have to work an extra 5 hours over 52 weeks saving me 260 hours of my life. I’m not saying that any of these events are something that you should always say no too, but I think if you really sat down for 20 mins and thought to yourself how much money you spent over the year on events like these that tapped you out and made you cringe when the rent was due. You would at the least think twice before accepting every event invitation that came your way.
Earning more
When you find out your number (The amount of money that you would need to have saved up that makes you feel secure and worry free). You are able to take shots at opportunities that most people are unable to make because they simply do not have any money available. Lets say again that you are making $25k a year and you had expenses like the rest of us. All numbers are perceived as annual as a single person. Rent $6600, College Loans $2400, Food $3000, Car $1800, Phone $1200, Utilities+Internet $3200, Entertainment $2000, Travel $2000, Maintenance $700. Total $19.5k. Now at the end of the year I have $500 in the bank when I see an opportunity come up that I can purchase a duplex for 4K down that will relieve me of rent payments and collect rent from someone else. My friend invites me to partner with him on a restaurant, but we only make what the business profits which is risky at first since we are new. Taking chances like this to increase my wealth are impossible when I only save $500 a year. It would take me 4 years to purchase that house which most likely will have gone up in price.
Earning + Saving more
Now lets say I used all the tricks I learned while saving more and the opportunities that came along when trying to earn more. If my rent goes down by 1/2 because I find a roommate, I sell my car and find something used that I can purchase outright, I leave Verizon and Sprint to go to straight talk, I decide that having 400 HD channels only to watch 2 shows during the week isn’t worth me not becoming wealthy, and maybe I only go to 2 weddings, party 8 weekends, and only 1 vacation. I instantly turned my expenses to the following. Rent $3300, Food $2800, Car $0-500, Phone $540, Utilities+Internet $1200, Entertainment $750, Travel $750, Maintenance $500. Total $10.5K. I now have the money for a down payment for that duplex that will earn me money as I live in one side and rent out the other. I can join with my friend to get into a business that when it grows so does my income. I’m able to start my own venture that instead of working 5 extra hours a week, I can spend it in my own business to create more than the measly 5K more per year working a job that I probably do not even enjoy.
As you can see when you put together savings and earnings you start to create something magical in your life. You will find that when you have prepared and saved up that more and more opportunities will come. These are only there because you were ready. So remember savings first then earn more. If a job comes around that offers more money. Make sure that you are not spending the same amount of money to be successful with the job. It isn’t worth your time and energy to make more money if you wont be able to save more.
My wife and I purchased a four unit apartment in STL. Purchase price $85000. The market rent in the area is $500, but we knew that we could place value in the apartments by cleaning up, installing electric appliances, new cabinets, and some tile work. I, myself, only did the appliance work. The rest was done by a handy man. Due to FHA loan we are only able 
Life of Abundance 