Stress free december

What creates financial stress during Christmas?

UNPLANNED CHRISTMAS SPENDINGS.

- the parties we need to attend and shell out cash for the food
- required exchange gifts
- over budget Christmas gifts for love ones.

Giving should be fun. The Bible says "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Why the stress? Everything unplanned is stressful.

If you did not prepare the budget for this year, let it be a valuable lesson.

Here are some tips for a stress free December:

1. Buy Christmas bargains at the start of the year. January and February are good times to buy crazy sales for Christmas 2009.

2. Stock cheap gift wrappers. Buy wholesale - it is way cheaper.

3. Set aside a monthly budget for the Christmas season.

4. Decide and stick with your budget.

Greenhills or Greenbelt?

Matthew 6:30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

One night my wife asked me, “Honey, how come you don’t bring me to Greenbelt for our dinner dates?” (Greenbelt is known for its expensive restaurants and a place to window shop.) I answered, “Hon… I could bring you at Greenhills! ( Greenhills is known for its cheap food and shopping). Our monthly budget dictates that going to Greenbelt for dinner would cost us 2 dinner dates for the month. So I told my wife, “Next time”. But God has other plans. Later that week my friend invited us to dinner at Greenbelt. We had a very expensive meal and another lesson from GOD. My faith was limited to my budget. My wife’s faith was limitless because she knew that our Heavenly Father was her source of provision and not our budget.

We must never limit God. We can never put him in a box. He is bigger than our budget. He is definitely bigger than Greenbelt!

Rich God, Poor God

Exodus 16:31 ¶ The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

I grew up in a family of business people. From my dad to my little sister, our vision is to become millionaires at the earliest time possible. On my last year in college, I was already dead set in going to full time ministry. When I told my parents about it, they were shocked and furious. “There is no way you are going to be a youth pastor, there is no money in ministry. They told me if I start my own business, I would experience provision way beyond I could imagine. It was a tempting offer – being rich in a short period of time versus going to the ministry not knowing where I would get my funds.

Poor God theology

Poor God was concerned about my soul but not with my finances and my future. Poor God wants me to work and produce and accept the fact that I am not going to be rich.

Rich God theology

That night I prayed to God and search the scriptures. “Is it true Lord that if I become a pastor I’ll be poor?” Then RICH GOD assured me and said, “Dennis, do not worry. You might not receive a salary from your business but you will be paid by the King of Kings and the Creator of the Universe. Rich God taught me that night that my provision is not based on my work, or my boss but my source of provision is God.

As the Israelites were provided with provision that came from heaven, so will God provide for me. No bakery in Egypt could bake manna for at least a million people. Only God could provide that!

John 6:31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

cash is king!!!

4 major influencers in my financial life told me this:
Repeat it with me:

cash is king! cash is king! cash is king! cash is king!

Say it faster:

Cash king Cash king cash king, cash king

Say it a little more faster:

Cashing!!! Cashing! Cashing! Cashing!!!!

Don't you love the sound of that!!!

Build up your cash reserves. Save! Invest! Cut those credit cards! Pay off those debts!

CASH IS KING! CASHING!!!!!

do you really need it or do you just want it?

Let us make an honest assessment. Every time you buy something ask this question:

Do I really need it or do I just want it?

1. The Plasma TV? Need or want?

2. The 2nd car? Need or want?

3. The Iphone? Need or want?

4. The Macbook Pro? Need or want?

5. The bag or the shoe? Need or want?

Inside every person is a child wanting to buy stuff. I remember when I was kid, I saw this GI JOE. I wanted it so badly but my parents won't buy it. They say its not in the budget. I cried, I shouted, I screamed - " I NEED THAT GI JOE!!!!!"

Do you still hear that child in you crying often? Do you drown yourself with stuff that you want but not really need?

Let's face it. Some of us are not Financially Free because we think that we NEED everything when in reality you just WANT it.

giving is getting

GIVING IS GETTING.

When I give, I receive. Sounds weird?

let me give you true to life examples:

1. I was going to Bogota Colombia and I needed P150,000. Days before the flight I was short P50,000. What did I do? I gave away P5000 and trusted the Lord to provide for my trip. The next day I received $200.

2. I am a tither. I give 10% to the church. When i was single I decided to go beyond my tithe. i was earning P10,000 a month. When I started giving beyond my tithes my salary multiplied 4x the next month.

3. When my wife gave birth to our 2nd daughter we decided to lessen our giving. After 3 months we realized our income got smaller as well. We then decided to stretch our faith and start giving more than what is required of us. The day we decided, we got a letter with a cash enclosed in it.

GIVING IS GETTING!

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

The CLUELESS MONEYMAN GIVES TO LIFE.

living and active

When you think money has no life on its own, you are gravely mistaken. Money is ALIVE. It is living and actice. It moves. Interest rates, inflation, risks - money moves. Money never stops.

Try this experiment: Bury your money for 5 years and dig it up after. For sure you that money won't have the same value as it had 5 years ago. Why? because money is living and active.

As what financial expert, Dave Ramsey said, " You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you."

Be pro active with your money. Make it work for you.

stuff

We just finished cleaning house tofay. It took us 3 days to sort out the clutter and categorize what we have to give and what we are going to sell.

Here is what I realized. In life we accumulate a lot of things we really don't need. How many times have I succumb to the temptation of buying stuff. Our boxes of stuff are evidences of how we accumulate things in life that are not really necessary for our survival and living.

The world tells us to accumulate stuff, BUY, COLLECT, splurge. We thought doing so would ensure our happiness. Let me be brutally honest.

Our stuff won't make us happy.

You think the car you are dreaming of would make you happy?
You think the entertainment package you want for your home would make you happy?
You think the gadgets you would accumulate make you happy?
You think the thousands of shoes you buy will make you happy? Ask Imelda...

One way to make extra money is to avoid buying stuff that are not essential. Cut off on expenses that does not really matter. Resist the urge to collect stuff.

Invest in what matters most.

what I did with my money and what you can do with yours

As the dust settled after my very exciting wedding day, we had to decide what to do with the money that we have.

Do we buy the LARGEST HDTV IN THE WORLD?

or let the money work for us?

The problem with most of us clueless people is that we work for money when money should be working for us. In the Philippines, 98% of the people live from paycheck to paycheck. We have become slaves to our paycheck. We let money dictate how we live our lives. It should be the other way around. Dictate what your money should be doing for you.

Where did we put our money?

Step 1: Pay off your debt - since we were debt free, we went to step 2

- pay off your credit card debt, student loan, auto loan. It would be great to start your marriage debt free! It removes the burden for you and your wife.

2. We opened an emergency fund account.

An emergency fund is liquid money that you promise not to touch unless emergency arises like lost of a job, hospitalization and window shopping. Remove the last option! A basic emergency fund would cover your projected 3 months living expenses. So if you have a monthly living expense of P40,000 you must have at least P120,000 in the bank. Some people I know stored upto 6 months of living expense in their emergency fund.

3. We bought essential home appliances.

4. Bought some insurance. - more on this by my guest bloggers next week.

5. Made some investments - low risk and high risk investments. More on this on my next blogs.
I did make some dumb investment decisions again!

6. Building our emergency fund to one year.
still in the process of finishing this one!!

7. Set up a retirement fund.

Would try to get into details on each aspect this week.

my first million part 2

GREED won't get you anywhere. You would always want more!!!

After losing all my money - I went back to work but this time with a different perspective in life. I surrendered my business to the Lord and we became business partners.

I've learned that money could be taken away from me anytime. I wanted God to handle my business from that day on.

In a 2 year's time, God was able to restore all my loss. I knew if I surrender to Him, He will provide.

My job is not my provider.
My business is not my provider.

JESUS is my provider. He will give me my first million.

On the 3rd year, I quit my job and stopped my business and decided to go to full time ministry. I lost a high paying job and secure financial future. It was a test of my faith.

Is Jesus who I claim He is?.... my provider!!!!

On Feb 5, 2005 God gave me a wife.

On Feb 6, 2005 I was a millionaire.


ps: my wife was not the reason I became a millionaire, but she sure did help me achieve it!!!

my first million part 1

I came from a well to do family. My parents were rich.

I WAS NOT!

I had to work for my money. It was a SY FAMILY RULE. Once you graduate - you are on your own financially. If you want to eat out, work for it. You want new clothes - earn it. You want a car - withdraw from your bank account.

I HATED IT!

But it pushed me to work. I became a working student. I work after school. We were in the fashion industry. I was selling garments in downtown Manila.

I WAS EARNING!

I made my first P100,000 when I was in 2nd year college. My friends have P1000 in the bank. I had 100x more.

I WAS GETTING RICHER

When I graduated I had MONEY. I worked hard for it. I love the thought that I can buy things I wanted. I got obsessed with money.

MONEY TOOK A HOLD OF ME

A friend approached me one day and told me I could earn big if I invest in his business. He promised a 2% monthly interest. That was big!!! That was extra income for me. I invested. I was living the life and I was earning.

GREED

For 1 1/2 years I was getting more money than my heart can take. GREED became my bestfriend. I was lazy but I was earning till....

I LOST IT ALL

One day i received a call. I was informed that I lost my investments. After 2 years of putting all my money in my friend's business - it disappeared. GONE! NADA! ZILCH!

I invested in a scam. A BIG MISTAKE! My money gone!

THEN I BECAME RICHER

A costly mistake made me richer. It started my journey to financial literacy and spiritual finance.

This is the CLUELESS MONEY MAN'S VISION

"To equipped people to be financially literate and biblically sound in managing the finances God has entrusted them."

speak to your wallet?

How many have I tried speaking to my wallet. How many times have I declared for MONEY, to come forth. I can't count how many times! Does it really work?

But no matter how hard you profess that you are going to be rich if you don't have a CLUE in handling the blessings that is coming your way, you will confess your way to BANKRUPTCY.

Being in a state of ABUNDANCE requires more than just speaking to your wallet. You have to speak to

a. your heart - pray for contentment, simplicity and frugality
b. your hands - to work hard, to be fruitful and productive
c. your mind - to shun the poverty mindset, to work smart, to study how money works

As what James said " Faith without works is DEAD"

The Clueless Money Man

I am a clueless Money Man. I made my first million by accident. I stumbled upon wealth in an unusual way. I chance upon having friends who are famous financial advisers. I want you to join me and my friends as we journey through some pitfalls, traps and successes of people who made it, lost it, and trying to make it in the crazy world of finance.

This site is dedicated to the people who don't know what to do with their money. This are also for people who knows what to do with the money that they still don't have.

I am excited as you are. This is going to be a fun journey to becoming the billionaires God has called us to be. As what my good friend say, "It's the first billion that is hard to reach."