Family Finances Lesson - Additional Resources

As part of his lesson, my friend had a nice hand out with some additional resources on the subject. I've reprinted the resource list with his permission.

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Recommended Resources

Additional Reading/Research

The book, “Your Money or Your Life” is considered to be a classic read on the subject. It talks about many of the principles I have mentioned in greater detail. The authors have used these principles (and several others) to become what they call “financially independent”. I highly recommend this book, but would caveat that some of their points are a little over zealously made and some of their assumptions are questionable. Still, many of the economic points are sound and good guidelines. Many of the activities they suggest are very effective.

Suzie Orman – For those with AFN, her program is broadcast on Sunday at several times during the day including 11 am Sunday on Channel 5. Susie is a well respected personal finance guru whose expertise comes from personal experience rather than academic training. I have never seen Susie make statements contrary to the core principles I have mentioned in dealing with finance and consider her opinion to be a good check on my own thinking.

The church's Provident Living website has a “family finances” section that covers the basics and provides church guidance concerning some of these topics.

Several other people have pursued similar interest in living frugally. Several of these people have blogs. One such blog is thesimpledollar.com. Another is http://elasticdollar.blogspot.com/

Tools

Recording and Tracking Expenses

Expense calendar – create a table with several columns. Each column is an expense category. Every row is either an individual expense or a time period, depending on what works best for you. In the appropriate cell in the table, record the cost amounts for the expense or the time period in question. For instance, if I were to buy $80 groceries on a particular date, I might make a row for the expenditure and put the “$80” in the column for groceries.

Expense notebook – carry in your pocket a notebook and pen. When you spend money, record the date, amount, location, category of the expense and any other information you might feel you need. At the end of the month, lay out each of these expenses into categories and see where your money is going. This is similar to the General Journal used in standard accounting practices.

Credit Cards – buy everything on your credit card (buy only what you have real money for). When you spend the money, deduct it from your funds as if it was paid on that day. Place the money aside to pay the bill. Use your credit card statement as record of expenses. Pay it off every month.

Budgets

The Envelope Method – Every pay day, withdraw in cash your budgetary items (things you wouldn't pay other ways) and place your budget amounts into envelopes labeled with the budget categories. When the money is gone, so is the budget item.

“Virtual” Accounts – create and track individual “account” balances with each account corresponding to a budget category. Every payday, deposit your budgetary amounts into each of these virtual accounts. Every month or so, verify that the total of your virtual account balances is equivalent to the total of your real bank account balances. If not, find and correct the discrepancy.

Software

To implement many of the activities that I have mentioned, you don't need any fancy software, just pen and paper. That said, software CAN be a benefit to you and make things easier if you do it right.

Spreadsheet programs – MS Excel, OpenOffice Calc, Gnumeric – These present information in a table format and allow you to specify functions in certain cells based on the value of other cells. For instance, if you want to place the sum of cells A1 and A2 in cell A3, you would put the formula “=A1+A2” or “=SUM(A1:A2)” in cell A3 and the program would do the work. Expense Calendars and Virtual account registers can be implemented using spreadsheet programs. MS Excel is perhaps the most functional for this purpose as information can be summarized from different sheets onto one.

Budget Programs – GNUcash, MS Money, Quicken – Can be useful in tracking expenses and implementing budgets. I use GNUcash as my primary tracking mechanism and have adapted it to tracking virtual accounts.

“My” Guidance

Pay Tithing – This is the NUMBER ONE thing I would emphasize. Pay an honest tithe, whatever this means to you (Malachi 3:10). Pay a generous fast offering.

Counsel with your spouse and older children – Make managing your finances a family affair. Your spouse should be an EQUAL partner. Proposals can be worked out individually but decisions should be made together or not at all. Without spousal support YOU WILL FAIL. Older children should be involved so that they can learn the skills themselves. They might also be able to give valuable insight.

Avoid Debt – There are acceptable forms of debt. Mortgages, Student Loans, and other loans to cover vital needs in times of crisis are all acceptable. However, care should be taken to avoid excesses and to pay down or eliminate even these types of debt as soon as possible. Pay off the most costly debts first. Use a debt reduction calendar if necessary.

Manage your money – Track your expenses, take control of your spending, budget you funds as appropriate to meet your needs without over extending yourself. Set up savings goals and track them using methods that work for you. Change them over time as things change and you gain experience in what works for you and what doesn't.

Build a Reserve – Save up enough money to cover your expenses for AT LEAST 6 months. Due to recent challenges in the economy, many experts are suggesting that these reserves be increased to at least 8 months, if not 12 months.

Pay yourself for anticipated large expenses – We own our own car. We don't have a car loan on it. However, we still have a car payment. Why? Eventually the car will wear out and need to be replaced. By paying ourselves a car payment now, we will have the money to replace the car with an equivalent or better vehicle without going into debt when that time comes.

Family Finances Lesson

The following is the outline for a lesson that was given by a friend, at meeting in our church. The lesson was meant to give some guidelines on family finances. While it does contain some advice specific to counsel given by our church leaders, the advice is pertinent to anyone.

The text has been reprinted with his permission.

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Key Principles

Money is Life Energy – Money is one form of resource that we have available to help us meet our needs. It represents “Life Energy”.

Money represents one of a number of resources – Time, physical work, possessions, skills, and talents represent other resources. Work and School are examples of ways to transform resources from one type to another. The resources we have are the means we are given to take care of our stewardship and we will be held accountable for how well we use them to that effect.

Think for yourself, question “necessary” expenses, avoid “keeping up with the Jones's” – Our society emphasizes consumerism and our role as consumers of the product of industry. We are taught to want more. This is the reason that the model year concept for cars was invented. Anyone else see a problem with this?

We do need things in order to have a happy and productive life. For instance, I wrote my notes on a computer. I photocopied my handouts to create copies for everyone. I researched some of this information on the internet and I drove to church. These activities all required things.

However, there comes a point where things become a burden. The cost of owning an item includes acquisition, maintenance, and disposal, not just acquisition. These costs add up. Items also draw away time and other resources. If they are not worth these resources, they are a burden and should be avoided.

Guidance

Pay Tithing – This is the NUMBER ONE thing I would emphasize. Pay an honest tithe, whatever this means to you (Malachi 3:10). Pay a generous fast offering.

That said, “To pay tithes and offerings while ignoring the balance of Heavenly Father’s advice concerning sound judgment in family finances will probably cause the windows of heaven to stick a little bit.” - Robert L. Simpson May 1982

Counsel with your spouse and older children – Make managing your finances a family affair. Your spouse should be an EQUAL partner. Proposals can be worked out individually but decisions should be made together or not at all. Without spousal support YOU WILL FAIL. Older children should be involved so that they can learn the skills themselves. They might also be able to give valuable insight.

Avoid Debt – There are acceptable forms of debt. Mortgages, Student Loans, and other loans to cover vital needs in times of crisis are all acceptable. However, care should be taken to avoid excesses and to pay down or eliminate even these types of debt as soon as possible. Pay off the most costly debts first. Use a debt reduction calendar if necessary.

Manage your money – Track your expenses, take control of your spending, budget you funds as appropriate to meet your needs without over extending yourself. Set up savings goals and track them. Use methods that work for you. Change them over time as things change and you gain experience.

Build a Reserve – Save up enough money to cover your expenses for AT LEAST 6 months. Due to recent challenges in the economy, many are suggesting that these reserves be increased to at least 8 months, if not 12 months.

Pay yourself for anticipated large expenses – We own our own car. We don't have a car loan on it. However, we still have a car payment. Why? Eventually the car will wear out and need to be replaced. By paying ourselves a car payment now, we will have the money to replace the car with an equivalent or better vehicle without going into debt when that time comes.

Implementation

Reconcile with the past

The first step is to determine where your money is going or where it has gone. There are a number of aspects to this, do what works for you.

Expense Calendar – Create a table with several columns. Each column is an expense category. Every row is either an individual expense or a time period, depending on what works best for you. In the appropriate cell in the table, record the cost amounts for the expense or the time period in question. For instance, if I were to buy $80 groceries on a particular date, I might make a row for the expenditure and put the “$80” in the column for groceries.

Expense notebook – carry in your pocket a notebook and pen. When you spend money, record the date, amount, location, category of the expense and any other information you might feel you need. At the end of the month, lay out each of these expenses into categories and see where your money is going.

Credit Cards – buy everything on your credit card (buy only what you have real money for). Use your credit card statement as record of expenses. Pay it off every month.

Know where you want to go

After you have an idea of where you are, think about where you want to go. Following the advice of the General Authorities is a good start:

Pay off your debt – Recognize what debt is costing you and if the costs exceed what you are getting from other investments, work to reduce it. Use of a debt reduction calendar is a good start for determining how you can do this. Set goals for how much you will pay off and when. Target your most expensive debts first.

Build up a 6-12 month reserve – The general authorities recommend a number of protective measures. For instance, a one year supply of food. This is in the same vein. The idea is to provide a means to weather the hardships of job loss, transition or other economic hardship.

Look towards other goals – Other objectives are worth considering, including home ownership or upgrade, education and vehicle replacement. Look at your family needs and estimate what they will cost to achieve.

Determine how you will get there

“Those who have little, if they are good at managing, must be counted among the rich” - Socrates

Now that you know what you are spending, where it is going and where you want to be, you need to determine how to get there. You need to make conscious decisions to act. You must decide where YOU want your money to actually go. You have a couple of alternatives.

Earn more than you spend – Whatever methods you end up using, aim to have a surplus. You will need to have a surplus to work towards where you want to be. There are several ways to create a surplus, many of them are not exclusively financial. For instance, learning to take care of your personal vehicle can help you reduce or eliminate the amount of money you might pay to professional mechanics.

Use a Budget – This is the simplest way forward. The concept is that you determine how much money you have to deal with, then you divide it into different categories of where you want it to go. The total sum of these categories should be the same or less than your available income. At the end of the budget period, you see how well you did by recording your actual expenses. You then adjust your next budget as needed. Any money left over goes to savings.

Provident Living has an example budget that you can use as a starting point. If you are interested in this approach, and it is a good one to start with, download the budget worksheet and see how well it fits your own. Then, build your own with categories appropriate to your needs and goals.

The Envelope Method – Use different envelopes for different budgetary categories. At the beginning of each period, place your budgetary amount into each envelope. When the money is gone, so is your spending in that category.

Virtual Accounts – Use a ledger for each budget category, creating an account. Money not spend during one period is available for the next. This way, you can track deposits towards larger items. For instance, you may pay your home owner's insurance once a year. If this is say, $360/yr, you could budget $30 a month and track it in a ledger.

Example

In the beginning

Nothing at all – When we were married, I had $12k in a bank account to pay for school and Sandra had $12k in student loans. We had no budget and didn't know where our money was going, only that proceeds from our jobs were exceeded by our expenses. At the same time, our diet consisted primarily of $0.25 boxes of Mac & Cheese. Something had to change.

Paper and Pencil

Expense Calendar – My boss, Chad Rucker, took time to council with me on the subject. He introduced me to the Expense Calendar. We used it to find out where the money was going.

Virtual Accounts – We attempted to budget using a worksheet similar to the one provided on provident living. It didn't work. We felt that we were not seeing any reward for doing well in any particular category. It was as if when we managed to stay below expense in one category, we rewarded that effort by budgeting less of it during the next category. Virtual Accounts helped us solve this problem. The concept is that when we put money in a virtual account and DON'T spend it, the money is available next cycle for use in the same category. Over time, if the expense builds up an excess in the category's virtual account, we reduce the amount going in and still feel rewarded.

Other than budgetary categories, virtual accounts exist to hold funds that are obligated. This includes things like money to pay the credit card bill.

Expense Ledgers – Using ledgers allowed us to track expenses in each virtual account, thus making it easier to show where the money is going an analyze our overall cash flow.

The Computer Age

Spreadsheets – By moving to spreadsheets, we take advantage of the computer's math capabilities to reduce the amount of work needed. Each sheet becomes a ledger. One sheet is used to summarize the information and automatically check the calculations against real account balances.

GNUcash – By creating ledgers for each of the bank accounts and then sub accounts for each of the virtual accounts in the physical accounts, it was even easier to keep the balances of the virtual accounts consistent with reality.

Helper Accounts – By adding an “adjustment” account to each of the physical accounts, money could physically reside in one account but be credited in another. This allowed for better tracking of the true balance of virtual accounts. Ever so often, the balance of all “adjustment” accounts need to be added up as a check against errors. The total of all adjustment accounts must equate to zero.

Other Principles

Luxuries can be necessities – Some things that may seem to be luxuries on the surface can actually be great for your health, sanity and well being. Don't judge something as a needless luxury or be too spend thrifty. Be frugal. Have modest and affordable release valves so that the stresses involved in being financially disciplined don't cause you to make big mistakes here and there. I speak from experience.

Be Happy about paying taxes, sad if you get a refund – A refund means you gave the government an interest free loan.

Don't “create” needless deductions – Take advantage of all deductions and credits you have, but don't go out of your way to create new deductions. This is like paying someone $10 to get $1 in return. Don't do it (or if you really want the same effect, I'll give you the same deal.)

Additional Resources

These are some additional resources that might help in developing your solution.

Non Church Resources:

Your Money or Your Life

Suzie Orman

Church Resources

Provident Living Website

One for the Money: Guide to Family Finance by Marvin J. Ashton

“Happily Living within Our Means” - January 2008 Ensign

“Personal and Family Financial Preparedness” - May 1979 Ensign

“Let Him do it with Simplicity” - Nov 2008 Ensign – Discusses some of the basic needs that we have.

“A Lasting Marriage” - May 1982 Ensign – Robert L. Simpson

“Catching the Vision of Self Reliance” May 1986 Ensign

Internet Coupons

I've had several people ask me about coupons for grocery items. Coupons can be a great tool to help you gather items for your Family Home Storage. You can get some coupons from the store (sometimes posted near the items). For those of you who have a major US newspaper in your area, the Sunday edition usually has coupons in it as well.

I also use internet coupons. For most internet coupons sites, you must be using a Windows based OS platform (like XP or Vista). You will have to download a program which monitors your printing, allows you to print, etc.

There are tons of great sites out there for internet coupons. Most of them are related to grocery items, but there are some for other items. I've listed some of my favorites below.

Most sites allow you to print only two copies of each coupon within a certain time period (usually about a month).

Remember to check with your local stores to make sure that they accept these coupons. Many do, but some may require a dot scan barcode beneath the expiration date. You can usually check the store's website (or ask at customer service) for their coupon policies.


Coupons.Com
This site provides a variety of coupons, for a range of products.

Very Best Kids
Sign up for their newsletter, and they will include coupons for several Nestle products (usually totaling about $8) a month.

Betty Crocker
Some great coupons for products we buy often, especially cereal and baking products. Also a great source for recipes.

Pillsbury
This is run by the same company that produces Betty Crocker, so you'll find some duplicate coupons on this one, but they are still good!

Box Tops for Education
This site is also run by General Mills, and duplicates some of the coupons from the Betty Crocker and Pillsbury site. The nice thing about this one, is that by signing up, you can earn Box Tops, which can be given to the school of your choice to provide them with additional income. All the products which have coupons on this site also have boxtops on their packaging, so remember to clip them and give back to your schools!

Smart Source
Like Coupons.com, this is a general grocery coupon site.

I also believe that the commissary's website also carries a few internet coupons.

If you discover any new sites for coupons, let me know!

Monthly Focus: Budgeting and Financial Communication

Our focus for November and December is on budgeting and financial communication.

Keep in mind that the word "BUDGET" means something different to everyone, and that that is okay. They way that you choose to budget may not be the same as your neighbor, or even your spouse.

BUDGET is not a bad word! The goal of a budget is not to restrict you, starve you of fun, or make you miserable. The goal of a budget is to help you be in control of your money, to be responsible with your stewardship.

While the execution may vary, the basic principle of a budget is to help you spend less than you earn. There are a multitude of ways to do that. I have heard ideas ranging from envelopes of cash for expenses, to complicated accounting practices involving electronic tracking of expenditures. No way is going to be the right way for everyone. You have to find a way that fits your finances, your lifestyle, and your knowledge....and keep in mind your way may change as those factors do!

With that said, there are a few things to keep in mind when making a budget:

1. Know what your expenses are. You can't budget for things you don't know about or acknowledge. Keep track of what you spend for a time (most appropriately for a month), holding on to receipts can help. After tracking your expenses for a time you will have a better idea of where your money is going.
2. Be realistic about your expenditures. Make sure your budget realistically reflects your needs. Budgets need to cover not only your bills, but also your expenses. So, if you buy that latte or donut every morning but don't have it as part of your budget, you could get derailed pretty fast. You have to be honest with yourself (and your partner) about what you spend and where you are spending it.
3. Know what your income is. This seems pretty easy, as we all generally get paystubs or some other document telling us how much money we are receiving. Make sure you know how much you are getting, especially keeping in mind things like taxes, fees, retirement, etc that may be automatically removed from your pay before it gets to your bank or your hands.
4. Make sure your budget doesn't exceed your income. When you match your expenditures up to your income, make sure that they are at the very least the same, but preferrably having expenses lower than income. If you find that your expenses exceed your income, it's time to do a financial inventory and see what can be cut or at least cut back.
   
5. Remember budgets are dynamic. What your budget looks like today will likely be different than it will look in a year or two. Make sure to periodically review your budget to make sure it continues to meet your needs. You may find expenses that are new that need to be added, old expenses that no longer exist, or amounts that need to be adjusted. You may start out with a simple budget which may become more complex as you learn more about your money and budgeting. Don't be afraid of the change!
   
6. Share the budget. If you live with other people (like children or a spouse) make sure that they know what the budget is....especially if they spend money from that budget. This can also be a useful teaching tool for your children.
7. Don't be afraid to get help. Budgets don't make themselves, and financial education is not generally prominent. Don't wait to make a budget simply because you think you don't know what to do. There are plenty of resources (many of them free) to help you get started. Look online (see the sidebar for some links to financial resources), you can find free worksheets, budgeting tips, even forums for people to discuss budgeting. Ask friends and family for suggestions or help. Make use of community resources available. Don't be afraid of budgeting, learn, get help, and get started!
   

While budgeting will certainly help with gaining control of your financial help, if you have a partner, financial communication is another vital aspect of your financial health. Your finanical health is a joint venture between you and your partner, and you both are stewards of that financial health, responsible for its condition.

Just as there are a variety of ways to create your budget, there are a variety of ways to divide responsibility and facilitate communication. Regardless of how you choose to budget or divide the financial responsibility, good commuinication is essential.

Here are a few ideas on how to facilitate financial communication, and keep everyone in the loop, that were shared at our monthly meeting, and elsewhere:

1. Hold regular "financial" meetings. This was the most stated suggestion. Frequency varied from weekly to quarterly, but most suggestiosn were for monthly meetings. You and your partner can go over your budget, discuss expenses for the month, discuss future expenses, and share your experiences with your financial responsibilities.
2. Be financially honest. You shouldn't be afraid to share your financial concerns, successes or failures with your partner. It may not be easy, but financial honesty is essential for good financial health and a good partnership.
3. Have some place where financial health is documented. These suggestions ranged from a checkbook ledger to electronic logs (such as money management software). Having this information written down can help to facilitate communication, and help you both keep a handle on your financial health.
4. Be involved. While one might be responsible for paying bills, and the other for buying groceries, you should both be involved. You may choose to divide financial responsibility in different ways, but make sure you both participate in this important aspect of your partnership.
5. Take a money day. We all take sick days, vacation days, even holidays, but how many people think to take a money day? Take a day, sit down with your partner, and talk about your money. Take your monthly meeting to a new level. This can be done as often as you want, but is recommended that you do it at least once a year. Set financial goals, review your budget and make any changes needed, take stock of your financial health. Discuss your financial responsibilities with your partner and make changes in that if needed. Don't want to pay bills this year, well maybe you can trade responsibilties or adjust your range of responsibilities to what suits you now. Give your financial picture a good looking over.
6. Make your plan together. While, on some level, this may be best done before your partnership begins (in fact experts recommend you discuss finances before getting married), sometimes we get started late in the game. You may have missed the pre-marital window, but that is no reason to not have a plan. Discuss with your partner your expectations for your finances and for each other. Very rarely do two people with exactly the same financial ideas get married. You'll likely have to compromise, but if you sit down together to make a plan, it is more likely to work. But dont' forget, even the best laid financial plan needs to be dynamic. Life changes and so will your plan!
   

The process of having a workable budget and good financial communication will take time....nothing that important happens overnight! Don't be discouraged if the process seems to take longer than you would think or like. By taking the first step to create a budget and share financial communication with your partner, you have done the hardest part.

Financial responsibility, living with in our means, and being financially healthy are important aspects of our lives. This is made even more poignant by the recent economic crisis sweeping across the world. Some times it is hard to think of the "lean" times when there is plenty, but the lean times will come, and having a handle on your finances will make those times much less scary and stressful.

Resources and Articles:

Happily Living Within Our Means

Family Finances

Where does the money go?

Five Steps to Financial Well-Being

Know Where your Money goes

Make Marriage a Partnership - Couples Counseled at Fireside

Mini Challenges: Make a Financial "Rainy Day" Plan

It's that time again, a new month has begun and it is time for a new mini-challenge. Keeping in line with our monthly (or in this case bi-monthly) focus of finances, our December 1 challenge will be to create a financial rainy day plan.

While this will take time, experts recommend having at least 6 months, but preferably a year, of your expenses set aside in case of an emergency (such as a job loss, disability, accident, etc). You can start out small (say one pay period) and work up slowly (say the next step being 3 months) toward whatever level you have decided on. A little savings is better than none.

While this doesn't mean that you have to rush out tomorrow and have all your rainy day money set aside and every contingency taken care of, you do have to start somewhere.

Here is what it does entail:

1. Review your income. Determine how much you have coming in.
2. Review your expenses. This ties into our mini-challenge for the last period of making a budget.
3. Determine what your expenses would be for a 6 month period. Assume that for this 6 month period you have no income coming in.
4. Now you know how much you need to save.
5. Determine a goal length for saving your total. Consider saving it over a year, two years, 6 months, whatever you think your income will allow and what fits your needs and wants.
6. Decide on a way to break down the total into manageable chunks, whether that is by week, by pay period, by month, etc. In whatever way fits with your timetable and income.
7. When you have determined how you want to break down the total, make a plan for saving it. There are plenty of ways to find the money.

• Add it as a budgetary item, which is easy if you are breaking the total down by weeks or pay periods.
• Consider assigning "excess" funds, such as tax refunds, pay bonuses, or gifts to meet your total.
• Save your spare change from cash purchases, and after a set time period, deposit the total towards your goal.
• Have 26 pay periods a year instead of 24? Consider budgeting using the 24 and deposit the "extra" 2 pay periods into your rainy day fund.
  

After you've made your plan (and don't forget to include your partner), think of ways to keep yourself on track.

1. Consider making a chart that will allow you to mark off as you contribute to your rainy day fund. Think of those giant thermometers that help us see how much we've contributed to various charities. This can help motivate you as will have a visual reminder of your progress.
2. Think of a reward for when you reach your goal. Maybe a dinner out, a new movie, something to look forward too....just make sure that you have set aside funds for that too :)
3. Keep a "checkbook" ledger to help you track your savings.
4. Consider adding all the dividends and interest from investment and bank accounts.
5. Consider giving up a vice or luxury (such as the morning latte, cigarettes, candy bars, etc) and putting that money toward your goal...it could not only make you richer, but healthier too!

Now, you are on your way to having a rainy day fund! Remember this is meant to relieve some of your financial stress, and give you some security.

As time goes on, your expenses and savings may change. Remember to review your "rainy day" plan and adjust it as is necessary for you.

If you have any easy or cool ideas on how to set aside those pennies, or success stories on how you have saved, please post them! Even if it is just a little at a time, you can do it!

Mini Challenges: Review Your Budget

Our Nov. 15 mini-challenge will be a budget review. Financial preparedness is an important part of Provident Living, especially in these perilous financial times.

One essential step to being financially prepared is having a budget. It doesn't have to be complicated and involve the use of advanced mathematics, it just has to work for you. Budgets often start out simply, as you learn about your finances, and can evolve to be more complicated as life changes and you get a better hold on your financial health.

So the challenge this term is to review your budget. Make sure it is still working for you and your family. Are there new expense streams that you aren't including? Are there old expense streams that you can eliminate? Have you considered adding a "rainy day" fund to your budgetary expenses? Take time with your spouse to review your budget and make any changes that might be necessary.

If you don't have a budget yet, this is a good time to get an idea of what you might need. There are several great resources for starting a budget.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers a basic budget worksheet.

Brigham Young University also offers a series of on-line courses in personal financial management at their new personal finance website.

Other resources are available from MSN Money, ranging from topics such as budgeting to college expenses.

Even the government offers resources for personal financial management through the Federal Reserve.

Talk to your friends, your neighbors, your spouse. Use the resources above, share your ideas, your successes and your failures. Take this time to get a look at your financial health.

Noah's Ark Program

Okay, I know I've talked to people off and on about the "Noah's Ark" program, which is related to Provident Living. After much Googling I finally found a copy of the program.

Noah's Ark Program

You can print it out for your handy binder, and keep track of your progress.

Each month has a small set of goals related to the differet areas of Provident Living.

Family Finances

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

Latter-day Saints have been counseled for many years to prepare for adversity by having a little money set aside. Doing so adds immeasurably to security and well-being. Every family has a responsibility to provide for its own needs to the extent possible.

We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from this bondage. Save a little money regularly to gradually build a financial reserve.

If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts.

May the Lord bless you in your family financial efforts.

—The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances