ABC's of Financial Success

We completed our series at Shepherd of the Hills church on Financial Stewardship from the curriculum by Barry Cameron. This year we are spending the whole year on stewardship -Stewardship of our Time, of our Talent, of our Treasure, and of the Gospel that has been Entrusted to us as believers.

I have been through the Crown Financial Ministries ten week course, and have taught it many times, and this was a very similar, though shorter book. All the basics of sound financial principles are in there. The biggest one is that you need to adjust your Attitude to understand that everything belongs to God. Once you have your priorities aligned correctly, you lay the foundation for how you think about spending your resources.

This leads into the main thesis of this book... Don't Spend Money You Don't Have! Don't get into debt. Live below your means. Spend less than you earn. However you say it, it is good solid advice. When you do some simple calculations of how much money you will owe by paying interest on credit cards versus how much money you will have by earning interest in your savings, your eyes will be opened.

A short read, and a good one. It reminds me of the first book on this subject that my father gave me, called The Richest Man in Babylon. I am still incorporating the lessons I learned from that book in my daily life. I would recommend giving that book to anyone in their teens or early twenties. If only kids that age could learn the valuable lessons before they get themselves into overwhelming debt caused by irresponsible spending on credit cards.