Jim Henry

Have you heard about the guy whose credit card was stolen? He didn’t report it, because the thief was spending less than *he* was.

If over-spending is your problem, it means you’re not controlling your money; your money is controlling *you*.

Of course we know that God is really in control of our finances. In fact, even our ability to earn money comes from God. God created everything and he *owns* everything, but He’s put each of us in charge of just a tiny portion of His holdings. Because of that, He expects us to be faithful stewards of *His* resources and to do that we have to control money, not let it control us.

Fortunately, being the loving and gracious Father that He is, God hasn’t left us in the dark about this. His Word contains over 23-hundred verses about money and possessions that will guide us to faithful stewardship, if we follow the principles they contain.

What a lot of folks don’t realize is that by following those principles, we become financially free. If we *don’t* follow them, we become slaves to money, it controls us. 

So what are some of the steps you can take to get control of the money God gives you?

Over and over the Bible warns us to avoid debt. Proverbs 22:7 reads, *“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”* If you can't avoid debt, not much else is going to work, so let’s focus there.

If you have trouble managing your credit and debit cards, meaning your spending is out of control, stop using them. Once upon a time there were no credit cards. People used cash. There’s no reason you can’t do it today with most of your budget categories.

The advantage in using cash is that it physically limits your spending, but there’s also a strong psychological component in using cash. When you have to hand over actual dollars, it’s much more difficult to part with them. Studies show people spend 10% to 30% less just by using cash. It’s a real help in controlling impulse spending.

If you already have a big balance on your credit card, you’re certainly not alone. According to Lending Tree, [54%](https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/credit-card-debt-statistics/) of  Americans carry a balance on their credit cards, with an average balance of over $6,000. 

The only one way those credit cards will ever be paid off is by paying more than the minimum monthly payment. Paying just the minimum means most of the money goes toward interest only. It will take years to pay it off.

Credit card companies depend on that, because minimum payments *maximize* the money they make off you. Pay as much as you can above the minimum each month to get the card paid off quickly. If you have more than one credit card, use the [snowball method](https://www.moneywise.org/art-rainer/3-reasons-why-research-says-the-debt-snowball-works-801) to pay them off.

Of course, it’s much easier to stay out of debt in the first place. That’s what a lot of folks think they’ll do when they first get a credit card. Maybe they’ve been lured by the promise of big rewards.

But those reward points will be dwarfed by the interest payments they’ll have to make if they don’t pay off the entire balance each month. They don’t plan for that to happen, but then an unexpected expense comes along and the easy way out is to use the credit card.

The only way to avoid that is by having an [emergency fund](https://www.moneywise.org/moneywise/saving-for-emergencies-1939) saved up. We  recommend 3 to 6 months’ living expenses. Then, when an emergency pops up, you use emergency fund money to pay for it.

As you follow these steps to gaining control of the money God has given you, remember that following His financial principles isn’t a hardship; it leads to financial freedom and that’s pure gold.

You can also __listen__ to the related podcast on this topic.

FaithFi

Articles

So what are some of the steps you can take to get control of the money God gives you?

SPENDING | Nov 1, 2021

Get Control of Your Money

By: Jim Henry

Where Faith Meets Finance

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