As many of you know, Calvary Community Church hosted a Crown Financial Seminar this past Saturday. The seminar was called "Journey To True Financial Freedom." It was from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM, so I have lots of notes to share with you! I took the best notes I could with you in mind :) I wrote down the best "stuff." So the notes may seem a little choppy. So bare with me here. My words are in green. Words from Dave's talk are in blue. And those copied directly from the Money Map are in purple. All links that will lead you to other sites are in red.
So here it goes.....
The speaker was David Warren, who is the Crown Financial Ministries Area Director for Eastern PA and Greater NJ. He had loads of very useful information and was also very funny. A winning combination!
Here is some of what he shared.....
Crown is a ministry God uses to transform lives, reduce stress, improve marriages and draw people closer to Christ. Their Vision Statement is to see the followers of Christ in every nation faithfully live by God's financial principles in every area of their lives. And their Mission Statement is to equip people worldwide to learn, apply and teach God's principals so they may know Christ more intimately. So that people can be free to serve Him and help fund the great commission.
The average household debt is up 20% in 5 years. Personal savings is less than ever, even less than the Great Depression. The average household debt is $3,200. 31% owe 3K- 7K and 9% owe over 7K.
Martin Luther once said, "I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."
A steward is not an owner. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with someone else's property. (God's property :) A steward is accountable to someone else. (God)
It is okay to have the money, just make sure that the money doesn't have you.
There are not too many times that people are called "wicked." But it does say that about people who borrow and do not repay. Co-signers will pay the debt 50% of the time.
Ask yourself this question,"How is my managing of money different from the unsaved." And, "Do we trust God, or do we just say that we trust God?"
In a marriage, seek to compliment one another instead of trying to compete with one another. Complete, not compete. The three rules of marriage are communicate, communicate and communicate. Make all major decisions together. Whoever is the best at doing the paper work, should be the one doing the work. It is good to have a set amount of spending money for each spouse that he/she doesn't have to "answer to." (Tommy and I have done this for years, and it is a great idea!)
You can obtain a free copy of your credit report annually at annualcreditreport.com
Crown has a resource called a "Money Map." There are 7 Destinations on the road to financial freedom. They are....
1.) Emergency Savings
Steps: * Download a free Crown Spending Plan at CrownMoneyMap.org
* Save $1,000 for Emergencies
2.) Credit Cards Paid Off
Steps: * Pay off credit cards
* Increase savings to one month's living expenses
3.) Consumer Debt Paid Off
Steps: * Pay off all consumer debt (auto, furniture, student loans, etc. -everything except home mortgage.)
* Increase savings to three month's living expenses.
4.) Save for Major Purchases
Steps: * Begin saving for major purchases (home, auto, etc.)
* Begin saving for retirement
* Begin saving for children's education
* If you want to start your own business, begin saving for it.
5.) Buy Home and Begin Investing
Steps * Buy affordable home
* Begin prepaying home mortgage
* Begin investing wisely
6.) Home Mortgage Paid Off
Steps * Home mortgage paid off
* Children's education funded
* Confirm estate plan is in order
7.) Final Destination
Steps: * My retirement is funded! Yay!!!
* I am free to be more generous with my time and money.
Time to get busy! Oh, and how could I forget? My biggest laugh of the day was from a cartoon which said, "Why does a waitress get 15% and God only gets 10%?" :) |
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