My training in budgeting started as
a child.
My father always handled our
budget very diligently and taught all five of his children about how to be very
careful with money.
As an immigrant from
the Netherlands to Canada, having survived the Second World War, he
knew how to scrimp and save.
He
purchased his first car with a loan and was so horrified at the interest he
would have to pay, that he made one payment to the bank, and one payment to
himself.
Unfortunately, he could only
afford to eat peanut butter sandwiches while he did this, but by the time a
second car was needed, he could purchase it with cash.
He continued to make payments to himself and
never borrowed money again for a car.
He
also never ate peanut butter again, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to
make
When I became a
social worker, I began working with people struggling in poverty and began to
see the need for financial freedom classes to help people get out of debt and
stay out of debt.
This grew into a
ministry that was no longer just for those in poverty, and as I began to coach
people who made much more money than me, I saw that usually the more money we
make, the more trouble we are in, because there are so many more options and
temptations, and much of the world teaches us to be consumers.
When I moved to Africa as a
missionary in 2005, I began to see that the poor do quite a good job at saving,
and there was a real advantage to living in a cash system without all the
challenges of credit.
However, as I
lived and worked in both West and East Africa, I saw more and more options
being made available, such as mobile money, table banking, and the like.
And consequently, I saw more and more debt
being created by individuals and families for consumption loans that would only
cause more challenges than blessings.
God has given us the blessing of resources but they do need to be managed in a way that will allow for freedom. This is a need for all God’s
people, regardless of their age.
All
parents spend money and need to save.
All children can and will learn about financial matters.
Therefore, parents need to learn how to
manage money well to help their family be successful, as well as to be able to
teach their children in the way they should go.
This is true regardless of income level.
Children are watching and will emulate behaviors.
Unfortunately, the cost of an unlearned
lesson always increases with time:
a
child who has a tantrum may get a five-minute time out; a teenager who acts out
in school may get a fifty-minute detention; an adult who gets angry and starts
a fight may get a criminal record and 500 hours of community service.
We need to teach these lessons early to
minimize the cost and hardship to our children.
Unfortunately, this does not happen in many families. In many parts of Africa, this is especially difficult. I have often joked in West and East Africa that when people get married, the two become one in all ways except financial. Too often, the wife has no idea what the husband's income is, and there are no joint discussions as a family as to how to achieve financial goals. For this reason, while I am Stateside, I am writing some resources that can be disseminated to churches and pastors where we are doing Discipling Marketplace Leaders and teaching Integrity and Finance.
Recently, in Ghana, while flying from Accra to Tamale, I read an inspiring story in the flight magazine about a young woman who had a VERY different experience in her family relating to budgeting:
A young lady called Charity went through a socialization process
which was one of the most important parts of her upbringing. Her earliest recollection of this process as
a little girl still brings a smile to her face and tears in her eyes.
“The entire family (mom, dad, brothers and sisters) would
sit down the first Sunday afternoon of each month at the table after church and
after Sunday dinner. We didn’t have much
money…we would always take a look at daddy’s monthly paycheck and then start
doing our homework (i.e. financial planning and income allocation).” Both parent’s pay cheques were earmarked for
all current bills.
After that, the upcoming expenses for the month were
estimated. Her father’s income was also
allocated for certain key categories such as groceries and she says they ate
lots of beans at certain months when they had to make it for less. Despite having to eat a lot of beans, they
never failed to give generously to noble causes. Living for less enabled her parents to fund
their education, because of the hard work and financial prudence on the part of
her parents.
Charity is very successful today because of the nurturing
environment that her parents provided.
Her parents demonstrated respect for each other and for their
children. They were frugal, and they planned
and accounted for every penny of their income.
The children were treated as adults rather than infants, and were always
involved in the Sunday family planning meetings. Each child would make his or her request and
proposals to the planning board.
She says that if she needed a new textbook or shoes, she
would have to explain to the family the reason and the rationale behind the
request. Each child had to plan for the
meeting and conceptualize a logical theme for the funding. And if one could not, then no money would be
earmarked for that item. Charity
wondered, “Imagine if all children grew up in such an environment. They would have leadership skills in knowing
how to run business meetings, disbursements, how to budget, and empathy for the
needy before the age of ten.”
The regular meetings were not for finance issues only, but
for discussion about household chores and also time to inquire about everyone’s
vision and goals concerning school work.
Her parents made chores fun because they took part.
Charity is much more successful and financially better off
than her parents but she trains her children in the same principles and manner,
and her kids also appreciate them a lot.
She began planning for her kids before they were born.
The fact that Charity and her siblings knew about family obligations
made them better planners and investors.
The question is what if Charity’s parents had different standards? For example, what if they had a six-figure income,
did little to no budgeting and planning, and were hyper-consumers? They would have communicated a very different
message to their children. The kids
would be spoiled. They would expect
things to be done for them no matter the cost.
All income would be spent on consumer goods and the kids won’t be
appreciative of their parents because they didn’t teach their kids, let alone
to think about a noble cause. Parents
must take time to share these values. It
is not difficult to do. They can be creative
about explaining what money is and it’s alternative uses. After all, there is magic in compounding of
interest and dividends over a lifetime of investment.
(Fly Afrika Magazine, October-December 2016 issue, page 50-51)
What a great testimony! Oh for parents today to role model careful budget planning and financial stewardship!
Our goal is financially free people of God who can enjoy the resources with which God has blessed them, while also living the life that God has called them to live. Proverbs 30:8-9 is a great text that the majority of us should strive for - having enough to live in peace but not so much to forget our God.
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give
me neither poverty nor riches,
but
give me only my daily bread.
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown
you
and
say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and
so dishonor the name of my God.
DML Story: Kenya
He plants maize,
beans and horticultural crops that have a shorter growing season. He does so
well that his plot has drawn attraction from the County Agricultural offices and
has often used his farm as a demonstration farm for the community.
Pastor
David never ceases to pursue opportunities as he is currently handling a
Government tender to restore culverts in his community and in the county. This
he is doing in partnership with a constructor with whom they registered a firm
recently. Indeed, he has proved that the sky is not the limit; self is! With the use of irrigation canals he manages
to have a crop all year round. 
