Tending the Fields

Two articles ago, we discussed the budget process. At that time, you simply wrote down where the money goes. That is important historical information. Today's article takes the next step — controlling where the money goes. A budget does not just record where your money went. A budget plans where your money is going.

First we take the list of categories. Down the left hand side we'll place numbers, starting with 1. Find the most important thing in your list — food. Trust me, you want to eat. Put a 1 next to food. Now find clothing and put a 2 next to it. The mortgage or rent goes next. Follow that with your savings for a car, insurance, and license fees. What we've done is build four walls.

Imagine raising a house. You build the roof first. Then construct a wall. Lean the roof from that one wall to the ground. Now slip another wall underneath. This isn't going too well, is it? You would never build the roof first. That's just crazy. Put up four walls and the roof goes on quite easily.

Personal finance shares much in common with our imaginary house. We have four walls supporting the rest of the structure:

1. Food


2. Clothing


3. Shelter


4. Transportation

These represent the very basic necessities. You need something of all these elements to live and work. It does you no good paying Visa while going hungry for three days. You can only earn more money staying healthy enough for work.

Proverbs 24:27 puts it this way: Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. Always put necessities first. When examining the remainder of your budget, ask the question What happens if this doesn't get paid? Does it threaten your ability to work? Then that category goes higher on the list. Set your priorities down on paper, on purpose.