Monday, November 25, 2013

Steward & Stewardship



Steward & Stewardship

By Keith Bunn Jr.
November 25, 2013

I don't know about your church, but once a year our church has what is called a "Stewardship Series". It is at this time our pastor and other church leaders talk about and teach our congregation about what the bible says about giving and that we should give a Tithe to our church. 
What is a tithe? A tithe (or 10% of our income) is what we Christians are asked to give back to God. "Bring the whole tithe into my house - and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." Malachi 3:10.

The Real Meaning to the Word "Steward"

Unfortunately, when a lot of churches say Stewardship Drives or Campaigns, it normally means that they want your money to do some sort of ministry the church is involved with. So when most people hear the word stewardship, they really hear "Fund Raiser" and that couldn't be further from the truth of what that word means. 
Stewardship or Steward is nothing more than being a Manager for someone else's stuff. That's all. So when the bible talks about being a good steward to God, it really means that you and I, or someone, is to be a good Manager of all God's stuff. "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." Psalms 24:1.

So What Does That Mean?

So, because everything on our planet is God's, and we are all supposed to be good stewards for God, then we should manage God's stuff, God's way. And that also means we should give our tithe or 10% like God tells us to. 
Why, do you ask? Because "... For God made human beings in his own image. ..." Genesis 9:6. So if we are made in God's image and He gave is only Son to die for our sins! "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Romans 8:32. Then in every single one of us is, woven in, a giver.
God also wants us to give because it takes the focus off us and puts it on others. Taking us from being selfish to selfless. Giving also reminds us that the time and/or money we give is not ours, we are just managing it for God.

I hope I explained this well enough that you could understand what a steward really is. I'd also like to take this time and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. If you are traveling, please be safe!

The reason I write this blog, is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make people think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or if you need help learning how to live on less than you make and/or creating a budget, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. I’d be happy to help! 
You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!


Monday, November 18, 2013

Dave Ramsey's Examples May Not be Right



Dave Ramsey's Examples May Not be Right

By Keith Bunn Jr.
November 18, 2013

Is Dave Wrong?

A few weeks ago, at the beginning of an Financial Peace University (FPU) class that my wife and I coordinate at our church, one of the class members told me that after the class on insurance, they looked all over and called a bunch on insurance brokers but none of them quoted them the dollar amount even close to what Dave Ramsey's example was in the video they had watched the week before.

The part of the class they were talking about was about life insurance and in Dave's example, he was talking about a made up 30 year old guy named Joe, who got Term Life insurance anywhere between $13 to $21 per month. The class member's issue was that out of all the insurance brokers they contacted, none of them gave them a quote anywhere near the $13 to $21 Dave had talked about and wondered if Dave was wrong.

Life Insurance is Based on a Few Things

The truth is, the example Dave talks about in class is an average of a healthy 30 year old male. The cost of life insurance is based on a few things...

1) Are you healthy? If you have a medical condition of any kind or are taking medications prescribed by a doctor, chances are, your premiums will be higher.

2) How old are you? If you're middle aged or older, the cost of any kind of insurance will go up the older we get, especially life insurance.

3) Do you smoke or use any kind of tobacco products? We've all heard the studies over the decades that 1 in 3 smokers die of cancer. I don't know the statistics about chewing tobacco, E-cigarettes, etc... but I'm sure you're chances of getting or dying of cancer are greater than if you didn't use those products all. And we are talking about life insurance.

4) How much do you weigh? Again, the more we weigh affects our overall health.

I'm sure there are more things I missed, but I'm sure you get the picture on what effects the cost of life insurance. But if this has got you down and you think there is no way you can afford life insurance, there is hope.

There Are Things You can do to Lower the Cost

The truth is, we're not able to go back in time to change our past. All we have is today to start from. We can't change our age, but there are things we can all do to lower our life insurance cost...

1) Lose weight. Just by losing 5 to 10 pounds could reduce our dependency on prescriptions and improve our overall health.

2) Stop using tobacco products. This is a big one! This will greatly lower the cost of both life and medical insurance.

The thing is, Dave Ramsey's examples may not be right... For You! You have to go out into the market and try to get the best deal you can find that best suits you and your family's situation, but you DO NEED LIFE INSURANCE! And the only one I suggest is Term Life insurance.

The reason I do this, is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make people think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or if you need help learning how to live on less than you make and creating a budget, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. I’d be happy to help! 
You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Chore Money vs Birthday Money



Chore Money vs Birthday Money

By Keith Bunn Jr.
November 11, 2013

You have heard me say plenty of times, that we as parents, have to teach our kids about money. It is not the school's job to do that! 
If you are new to this blog, I have said that we need to teach our kids that money comes from WORK! Not from our pockets, & differently not from the governments. They also need to learn 3 things right from the start. How to Save, Give, and Spend. The sooner we teach them these things, and they get it, the sooner they can become productive, and self reliant adults when they get older. 

Commissions, not Allowance!

We put our kids on commissions when doing chores. Work, get paid. Don't work, don't get paid. This is so very important these days, because there are tons of people today that think they should get money while sitting on their butts watching TV. And then complain when they don't get any money. 
We made up a Commission Pay Sheet where we listed a bunch of chores and put the amount of money we would pay for that chore right next to it. Once the child was done with the chore, they would then put their initials in the box provided. 

Commission Pay Sheet

Now, if we checked to see if the chore(s) were done and done right and they weren't, then they would have them do it or do it again for FREE. At the end of the week, we would tally up the amounts and then pay them whatever they earned. This amount would be split up in the 3 categories mentioned above... save, give, and spend.

Birthdays and Gift Money

Now there is a difference between chore money and birthday or gift money. If your child receives money from a relative or friend for a birthday or just as a gift, that is separate from the chore money. Meaning, give your child the choice of what they want to do with it. If they want to divide it up in the 3 categories  then divide it. But if they want to put it all into just one category  including spending it all, then that is their choice. This however does not mean you have no say in what they do with it. Let's say they want to spend it all on a toy or something that is cheap and will probably break in 2 days, talk to them about it. "Johnny/Susie, I'm not sure that you spending all that money on that thing is such a wise choice because its not made very well and it will probably break quickly." You get the point. The same goes with just doing one of the other categories  If you don't see an issue, then let them do it.

I hope this was helpful and I hope this gives you some ideas on how to teach your kids about money. If you want, I can send you copy of the Commission Pay Sheet we made up and used with our kids. Just send me an e-mail with the word "Commissions" in the subject line and I'll send you a copy of the Word document we have for FREE. With it being in a Word document, you'll be able to make changes to fit your family's needs.

The reason I do this, is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make people think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or if you need help learning how to live on less than you make and creating a budget, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. I’d be happy to help! 
You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Sometimes You Just Have to Replace It


Sometimes You Just Have to Replace It

By Keith Bunn Jr.
November 4, 2013


What to do Before Making a Purchase

As frugal as I am, there even comes a time where I have to say, "Replace It!" And there even comes a time where even buying brand new stuff is except-able, but not always.
Let's come right out and say it... buying something new or just new to you, can be emotional. You get excited about getting the item. Chemicals are naturally released into your system causing both physical and emotional responses, and if we're not careful, those responses can cause us not to make wise decisions about a purchase. Knowing this about ourselves is the first step in protecting ourselves from either being ripped off or just spending too much on the item. With that being said, there are 5 simple rules we all need to follow to have power over our purchases.

1) Wait overnight before making purchases.

2) Carefully consider our buying motives. No amount of stuff equals contentment or fulfillment.

3) Never buy anything you don’t fully understand.

4) Consider the “Opportunity Cost” of our money.

5) Seek counsel of our spouse or accountability partner.


Brand New is Not Always the Answer

Again, we would all like to get brand new stuff when it comes to replacing things that break down in our lives. But buying brand new is not always the answer. Like cars for example: buying a brand new car doesn't make sense unless it is a very small part of your overall net worth,  because they go down in value so quickly. And if you have been following me for 30 seconds, you know I'm not going to tell you to make payments on the purchase or to put it on a credit card. If you have to do something like that to buy it, you can't afford it.
But there are other options out there that are almost like buying brand new without the brand new prices. To give you an example: if you need to replace an appliance of some kind, you might want to check the scratch and dent sections of the store. You can find awesome deals there at times and sometimes you won't even see the scratch or dent after you get it in place at home.
There are even rare times you can get awesome deals on cars after a big storm. Years ago, before I moved down to Georgia, they had a huge hail storm, and all the cars at all the dealers looked more like golf balls than cars. It would have cost the dealerships tons of money to fix them all, so to move the cars quickly, they greatly discounted them. Even back during the recession, while gas prices were through the roof, car dealers greatly discounted all their pick-up trucks to get them off their lots.

Pawn Shops

Pawn shops are also a great place to find great deals. Most of the time, items there have been greatly reduced because they are not brand new, but they can be in new like condition. As an example: you can get awesome, high guilty jewelry there at great prices. Way better prices than at a retail jewelry store, but you have to be careful that you know what you're buying, so do your homework before making a purchase there.

Well, I hope I gave you something to think about. Don't forget about the 5 rules to have power over your purchases, and don't always think that brand new is the way to go when replacing things. Shop around and find the best deals!

The reason I do this, is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make people think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or if you need help learning how to live on less than you make and creating a budget, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. I’d be happy to help! 
You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!