Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

Today I am continuing with some practical advice on surviving an Economic Meltdown.  Before I do, as an FYI, I did get some feedback from some anti-tithing kooks (and not everyone who doesn’t believe that tithing is a discipline for New Testament believers is a kook, but those who make a profession fighting tithing are, in my book.)  I have not posted their rants, links and so on as that isn’t what these articles are about nor is this the place/time for the debate.  Their stuff is all over the internet so those interested can hit the google site and knock themselves out.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post….

6. Get a job — a second one.

Again…we have two options when we are in financial trouble.  Decrease the expenditure or Increase the income.  Getting a second job is not the end of the world.  One leadership guru said, “You earn your living from 8-5; you get ahead from 5-8.”  Being in the ministry with a personal commitment to having my wife be able to stay home with our children has generally required me to look for alternative income streams over the years and that has been very effective for us in being able to take care of emergency needs, prepare for retirement, minimize debt and take the occasional vacation.  Over the years, I’ve taught piano lessons, tutored, written, spoken, served as a consultant, been an adjunct professor, etc…  I once made nearly $1,000 a month reselling old postcards on Ebay and did so for several years.  With today’s access to the world via the internet, there are loads of ways to gain a second stream of income.

7. Save, Save, Save

People who live at the edge of their income rarely have the foresight and discipline to save.  Experts tell us that every one should have 3-6 months (or more) squirreled away for savings.  Saving for the future is not unbiblical as some have suggested.  Indeed, we are challenged to provide an inheritance for our children and grandchildren in the Proverbs.  We are counseled to avoid debt in Scripture which requires us to save in advance.  We aren’t to be enslaved to savings or even confident in our savings, but life happens and we lose jobs, face illnesses and have emergencies.  That’s why we are to save.

The wise person saves second after his or her tithe.  I’ve always recommended an instant payroll deduction into a difficult-to-access account.  (If you put it in an account connected to your ATM, you are likely to frequently “dip” into it.)  10% is a good goal for savings.  If you can tithe and save and then live on the remaining 80%, you will have acquired a level of discipline that will serve you well in the future.

Invariable, folks who don’t save will face an emergency and what do they have to do?  Go into debt and then they are in bondage.  If you can’t save right now, wait until the next time you get a raise and then immediately assign 50% of the raise to savings and keep doing that until you hit the 10% threshold.

8. Don’t overbuy your house.

Silly me — I recently did this and now I’m paying a price for it.  Seriously, do we need a living room and a family room?  How about one great room?  (We NEVER use our formal living room.  It’s a waste of space.)  Kids won’t die if they don’t have their own bedroom their entire lives.  Yes, it can get “tense” at times, but hey — when they get married they aren’t going to have separate bedrooms are they (let’s hope not) and they can learn some pretty important life skills now if they have to share a room.  Besides, bedrooms are for sleeping, not living.  The living room is for “living” — so don’t let your kids spend all their time in the bedrooms.  Are garages nice?  Sure!  But remember this, the vast majority of Americans use their garages to store $200 worth of future garage sale items and park $50,000 worth of cars out in the elements.  Not real smart, eh?  Try to keep your total housing cost (mortgage, taxes and insurance) to no more than 30% of your gross monthly income.

9. Do it yourself

You can save hundreds of dollars a year by doing things that you might otherwise pay others to do.  Car wash at home? 10 cents worth of dishwashing soap; car wash down the road $5-10 bucks.  Fingernails getting painted? A couple of bucks at the Wal-Mart fingernail paint aisle; I-have-no-idea-but-I’m-guessing-it-ain’t-2-bucks at the professional manicurist.  Mowing your grass? $200 for the mower and $2 for the gas; paying the landscape company $25-50 a cut.  Nice dinner?  At home — $10-15; at fast food $20; at middle class restaurant — $40; at a high end restaurant — $80-100.  This doesn’t mean that you will never get to enjoy these niceties again — it just means we put them on hold until things get better.  Tell yourself “no” for right now and “maybe” for later.  It’s good for us to wait until the time is right — it’s builds discipline and character.  Instant gratification has paved many the road to insolvency.

10. Do something NOW.

Don’t wait to see how things are going.  Do it now.  If you don’t have a job right now because you’ve been laid-off, you DO have a job.  Your job is to find a job.  Spend as many hours a week trying to find a job as you would normally work at a job and I guarantee you that you’ll find a job sooner than you will sitting at home stewing in juices of bitterness and frustration.  Slash — SLASH — your budget today.  This isn’t going to be a 3-month downturn.  I truly believe we are talking 3-5 YEARS.  And when we come out of it, we’re going to see stunning inflation (we are pumping WAY too much cash into the economy for there to be anything but inflation in our future) which is why if I have any extra cash in the future, I’ll be looking at precious metals as a hedge against the future inflation and loss of money value that is bound to come.  Start saving NOW even if you are doing OK.  Cut back on expenses even if you can’t afford to sell your house.  Look for extra income TODAY.  Start tithing THIS week.  Tell yourself “no” IMMEDIATELY.  Procrastination will make your position shakier in the future.  Acting now will help you weather the storm better.

That’s all the time for today, but no…I’ve got some more I’ll share with you soon.

Everywhere I go, folks are talking about the global economic crisis that engulfs the planet.  I’m asked virtually every day where I think this is headed, what I’m doing in the midst of it, etc…  I’m certainly no expert on finances and while I’ve experienced some personal fallout due to the current economy and have to make some adjustments in our current lifestyle and future plans, I’m not nearly as bad off as many are who were less prepared or are having to deal with poor financial choices that are no coming home to roost.

What follows is just some “home-spun” thoughts on what I think folks should be doing during a time such as this.  Quite frankly, I think that most of this should be done whether it is the best of times or the worst of times.  Biblical principles of stewardship are always in play and as with every other aspect of my life, a Biblical worldview impacts the counsel I give to folks on financial matters.  For me personally, the extent to which I am personally struggling financially is directly related to the extent I have willfully chosen to ignorethose Biblical principles.  Simply put — Scripture always works and that’s the best place to look for guidance in any crisis.

So here’s “Part 1″ of my counsel on surviving an economic meltdown…

1. Tithe — Always.

I know, I know….people are going to hit me on their thoughts that tithing is an Old Testament practice, etc., etc….  I think I can make a pretty sound case that not only is tithing Biblical in these days, but giving even more than the tithe is the way it should be under grace, but that’s not what I’ll try to do today.

Bottom line is this…if you have enough financial discipline to tithe, you’ll live better on the remaining 90%.  Tithing forces you to set Biblical priorities (just how important IS it to have cable TV, but not give to the Lord’s work).  Tithing forces us to be thoughtful (which is why the tithe check is the first thing that comes from my income — including taxes.)  Tithing acknowledges our dependence on God and requires that we live by faith (there’s no faith or gain in tithing when we have more than enough…it’s when it hurts that God shows Himself able and we trust in Him.)  I’ve never, not one time, in 26+ years of ministry, ever had someone come to me for financial counsel who was in trouble financially because they tithed.  For those who say they can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work and in doing so help others who need help, I say that you can’t afford NOT to tithe.

2. Live below your means.  

You have two ways to get to this point.  Spend less or make more.  It’s very simple.  Too many of us use credit cards, second mortgages and delayed payments to give us permission for buying things that should wait until we have the money for them.  As a result, we may extra in interest, buy things we really didn’t need and develop a pattern of materialism that is neither healthy or Biblical.  If you are routinely carrying a balance on your credit card, spending more than you can take in in a month, are paying your bills late, the time is NOW to cut back on your expenses or find a way to increase your income.  Doing nothing is not an option unless you want a disaster.

3. There is no shame in seconds.

Buying a new house will always cost more than a pre-owned house (you have to put up window treatments, landscape more, add things that are missing, etc…).  A new car loses 10-15 percent of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot.  The best-seller you buy at the Barnes and Nobles store for full-price can be purchased off EBay for as little as a buck and it will take you about 3 extra days to take possession of it.  Consignment shops are filled with decent clothes — some nicer than you might be able to afford if you bought them new.  Garage sales, Craig’s List and Ebay are filled with items from people who are moving, estate sales and people who are down-sizing and you can save LOADS by buying second hand.

4. Practice a Financial Fast

Go six months without buying any new clothes and insist on wearing only what you have.  You won’t die, I promise.   Only shop once a week.  Everytime you go to the store, you are likely to impulse buy stuff you really don’t need.  Decide to drive your car one extra year than you had planned on driving it.  Don’t go out to eat even one time for an entire month.  Pack your lunch, clean out your pantry, be creative — but no eating out.  Don’t spend money on movies and ball games for 3 months — play table games, go to free community activities, watch old movies on TV, read a book, invite friends over.  Not only will you save money during the “fast”, but you’ll find that you’ll be “leaner” and more disciplined about spending in the future.  A family of 4 will routinely spend 40-60 bucks at a movie.  Do that only once a month for a year and you are looking at $500 or more.

5.  Shop with a list.

Strategically plan how you will spend your money when you must go shopping.  Put a rule in place….if it’s not on the list, I will wait for at least one week until I do my shopping again.  This will help develop a personal discipline and strategy for spending and planning and buying that will serve you well in the long-term.  Keep a shopping list on your fridge to assist you all week long, but then stick to it once you head to the store.

I’m out of time for now….but I will continue this list later on this week.  Until then…feel free to add your own ideas in the comment section!

A couple of weeks ago, I put a link here to the first part of an important essay by John Stonestreet on why today’s student doesn’t seem to be “getting it” when it comes to a Biblical Worldview.  If you missed it, click HERE to go back and read it.

John has now posted the second part of his essay and there is some powerful truth in it that I think is worthy of the few minutes it will require of you to read it.  You find it HERE.

I continue to have problems with our host which has caused us to be off-line for 4 of the last 8 days.  I apologize for the inconvenience.  It also means that some comments that were sent may not have made it onto the site.  I apologize if your comment wasn’t posted.

I plan on posting a couple of articles this week with some practical advice on “How to Survive the Economic Meltdown”.  I’ve had quite a few folks ask me in recent for some advice in that area recently.  I’m by no means an expert, but I have some ideas that I use and will share them shortly.

Hopefully, the host server issues have been resolved and we should have regular service from here on out.  Thanks for your patience.

This one is going to surprise some of my friends, but here goes….

Today’s headlines are reporting that President Obama is going to “strengthen” the Faith-Based Office and programs that funnel government funds to religious organizations for social and humanitarian projects.  Story HERE.

I have a suggestion…Close the whole program down.  Defund it.  Shutter the doors.  End it.

What?  “But you are in the ministry!”  How could this be?

There are two big lies in the world.  (Well, not just two, but these are big ones.)  “The check is in the mail” and “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you.”

The government has no business being involved in faith-based initiatives or in partnerships with churches and religious organizations.  I opposed this when Bush was in office and I feel no less strongly about it with Obama.  It’s a bad, BAD idea.

With the power to tax comes the power to control.  That’s why I’m against taxing religious charities and churches.

Conversely, when religious charities and churches take government money, they become entangled with the government.  Not smart.  They will become dependent upon it.  Strings will come.  Independence will be ceded in exchange for resources.  It’s just not a good idea.

You know the ol’ cliche’ about the “Golden Rule”?  “He who has the gold gets to make the rules.”  Well, (and I don’t blame them for trying) when the government give money away, they almost always try to get some control with it.  (Wouldn’t you?)  Already, there are those who want to require certain hiring practices among those who are faith-based and take federal money.  In California, that means not being able to discriminate in hiring Gay/Lesbian/Bi-sexual/Transgender folks even if your faith considers that wrong.  The policy is now under review at the federal level.  (See the article above.)

Churches and the government can work in tandem.  On some things like humanitarian crises, they can even work in partnership.  But if we don’t want government intrusion on our religious faith, we need to stay out of the money.  I don’t want my tax dollars supporting Islamic charities or Mormon building projects.  My liberal non-religious friends don’t want their tax dollars building evangelical day schools and supporting Baptist rescue missions either.  That’s fine.

What about my article from yesterday decrying the effort to stop funding for schools that have religious organizations using their facilities?  Different issue.  There is rent involved.  If the Muslims want to rent a school auditorium, I don’t have a problem with that as long as they have to pay the same rate as the Athiests, the Baptists and the Cub Scouts.  You shouldn’t be excluded or given a different rate simply because you are religious.

But we need to be consistent.  The government needs to keep their money and smart faith-based organizations should refuse it.  Our Father owns it all anyway — or so we say.  If we really believe that, then He’ll meet our needs.  We don’t need a Sugar Daddy in Washington helping us out.  Maybe we need to be a lot more like George Mueller and simply pray it in.  Better yet, when the offering plate comes by, put something in it.  What was it James told us about “True Religion”?  We should put our money where our mouth is and where we say our heart is.

Every week, thousands of churches of all kinds meet in the cafeterias, gymnasiums and auditoriums of public schools that are built with the tax dollars of American citizens.  Not only churches, but scout groups, community activist associations, neighborhood programs and other community organizations.  But Nancy Pelosi and her band of liberal extremists have an agenda and that is to punish anyone who would practice their faith in a public school by cutting off federal funding to those schools who RENT their facilities to religious organizations.  (As in, they pay for the privilege of using buildings that are already vacant on that day of the week.)

With all the myriad problems in this country, Nancy, Barney and the libs took the time to specifically threaten and intimidate public schools who would need access to federal bucks and still want to rent their facilities to start-up religious groups.  Read this news report HERE.

This is the bill that Barak Obama wants the Democrat-controlled houses of Congress to pass hurriedly to avoid “catastrophe”.  Or is it because every day of study further reveals what a ridiculous boondoggle this “Stimulus” bill really is?  Either way, leftists everywhere should sleep better tonight knowing that prayers are now excluded from public schools SEVEN days a week if Nancy and Barak and Harry get their way.

Elections have consequences.  Here’s one more example.