In The Storm

Walked into work one morning, just like every other day. A director comes by the office and asks to speak. The company has eliminated my position. In just a few seconds, life changes. You probably know exactly how this feels. It's a common story today.

I talk quite a lot about budgets. But what does your budget look like when the income screeches to a halt?

Normally, we employ a zero based budget. It's a little different in a storm. We're living off of our savings. So let's start with the expenses instead. List your necessities: groceries, house payment, electricity, phone, water, car insurance, clothes, etc. Don't worry about setting money aside little by little for lump sums. Focus only on what you need this month.

Total all of the expenses. You need that much from your savings. This also gives you an idea of how far those savings can stretch.

Now cut and slash that budget. Can you get by on less? How about more staples (like rice and beans) instead of meat? Eating out stops. Necessities, necessities, necessities. Focus on the four walls. Everything else can wait. The storm should bring out your inner super saver. Let him run wild.

So how many more months did you eke out of those savings? The budget becomes a light house in the storm. Use it. Take charge. And seek God's next chapter in your life.

Do I pay Mastercard?

I honestly can't answer that. Do you have 3 to 6 months of savings? At least keep current - minimums only. Fewer than that in savings? Don't pay Mastercard and go hungry. Mastercard may scream and shout. They'll rant, rave, and threaten you. You'll feel bad. Starvation kills you. Which matters more? Your life or Mastercard's bottom line?

Remember - this is only temporary. The emergency does end. I never encourage anyone to skip out on their financial obligations. You will pay Mastercard every cent. Right now, your family needs you more. And when its all over, Mastercard will still be there.

And keep the house payment current. Let me repeat that... Keep the house payment current. Do not lose your house. Downsize, if the storm lasts more than a few months. Shelter is vital for survival. Let's keep those priorities straight.

You Have Style

Why do I like Perl? On the downside, Perl has 10 ways of doing the same thing. It enforces no particular style - so you'll find all kinds of different styles out there. The code can range from obscure to nigh unreadable. The sheer number of libraries is dizzying. How many duplicate functionality? Why in the world would I use Perl instead of Python, Java, or Ruby?

Our personalities suit us for different working environments. Some people require frequent supervision. They need a list - do step 1, then step 2, etc. Others fly by the seat of their pants, instinctually knowing the right things to do. I fall somewhere in between, leaning towards seat of the pants.

Perl fits comfortably into my personal range on the spectrum. It provides a basic structure with reasonable limits. And then opens up a field of possibilities inside of the fence. Sure, you can get to the tree by three different paths:

1. The scenic route around the hill and through the flower garden.
2. Quick - going directly over the hill.
3. Cut across the hill, overlooking the flowers yet a little more direct.
   

Perl lets outside circumstances influence your decision: performance, maintainability, readability, flexibility, quality, etc. And I like that. Not everyone does.

What's the point? Different artists choose different mediums because the medium expresses a little bit of who they are. Like other artists, a programmer chooses his medium because it expresses a little bit of who he is. You can never persuade a programmer away from their favorite language on technical merit. They didn't choose it for technical merits.

Web apps

Having entered the job market again, web programming is a big thing right now. And I'll be honest, I love online banking. So why do I feel reluctance at embracing web applications?

Remote applications offer many advantages...

• Easy distribution
• Data security
• Data backup
• Easy updates
• Consistent interface

Mission critical data requires administration. It needs backups in case of emergency. It needs security against theft. And every piece of software receives tweaks. Putting the data and application on your server lets you provide the administrative services to smaller customers. Web applications all share these strengths.

Then is the web the right platform for remote access? AJAX relies on hooks in the browser. We keep adding features to text parsers. We have dozens of frameworks built around synchronizing an asynchronous protocol. Why?

X Windows provides remote graphical applications. And these applications behave like all of your other applications. Why aren't we making it more efficient? Why aren't all these advances occurring in a full fledged platform?

Because all of the computers running Microsoft Windows can't support those applications. We have all of these ad hoc answers hacking around Windows' short comings. Because it is not in Microsoft's best interests to play along. This is not innovation.

It is, however, where we are. So I will continue learning more web technologies and writing web applications. I just needed to understand the reason behind it all.

Stealing From the Budget

Our church family experienced explosive growth over the last year. Attendance jumped from 170 to around 300. The sanctuary can't hold that many people. Two services relieve some pressure. Yet the second service continues filling up the building.

The elders and deacons are feverishly trying to accommodate all of these people. Discussion ultimately ends revolves around some type of overflow room. For this, we need to transport video and audio signals. That means equipment purchases - money the church doesn't have.

During one of these discussions, I heard the phrase steal from the computer technology budget. The person who said it was displaying their wit. Unfortunately, a grain of truth lies behind the sarcasm.

A budget is nothing more than a list of priorities. Any church has a finite amount of funds. And they can only accomplish a finite number of things with those finite funds. A budget says which things the church accomplishes that year. So what happens when your priorities change half way through the year? That's right - your budget changes too.

Someone won't be happy. Some ministry or goal will lose out on funds they rightly expected. It is imperative that leadership talk with their congregations about the changes. Call a special meeting with ministry leaders. Give them the problem and ask them for a solution. Guess what? They'll reach the same conclusions you did. And now it's their idea. They'll find money for you.

Your budget is a contract. In personal finances, Dave Ramsey says that couples spit shake and pinky swear. You did just that when instituting the church budget. You made a solemn promise to the ministries and administrators. Show them the same respect you would your spouse. Let them know about new church priorities. And negotiate a new contract - change the budget.

Decently and In Order

Our family visited a new church this weekend. The pastor spoke about giving. What a Sunday for visitors, huh? He did a fine job with the sermon.

The sermon covered three principles in tithing: give sacrificially, give responsibly, and give cheerfully. God's word lays out our priorities in giving:

1. Tithe
   
2. Take care of your family
3. Offerings

Step 2 befuddles me at times. This is where Dave Ramsey's baby steps come into play. They set clear limits on responsible spending. And when you work through those 7 steps, you end in a position to give offerings.

The hardest part is saying no right now. God calls us to give sacrificially. He does not call us to put our families in jeopardy. You must understand the limits of your giving before pushing those limits.

Notice that none of those Baby Steps mention a budget? A budget makes the steps possible. A budget defines the limits. And allows you to stretch those limits. With a budget, you know what to sacrifice, responsibly providing for your family, making all of your giving cheerful.