Financial Health | Faith For Real Life Podcast
Finances can often feel overwhelming, but the Bible has plenty of practical wisdom to guide us toward freedom and peace.
This past Sunday, Pastor Phil shared a powerful message on financial health—and today, we’re continuing the conversation by exploring the role finances play in our overall well-being. In this episode, Pastor Ken sits down with Austin Staub, a longtime banking professional, to talk about financial health—from budgeting basics and tackling debt, to embracing a generous heart and planning for the future. You’ll hear why money is often so emotional, how biblical principles can transform the way you handle finances, and how a simple mindset shift can bring renewed hope. Whether you’re drowning in debt or just wanting to steward your resources better, this conversation will encourage you to take a next step toward true financial well-being.
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Transcript
- All right, well, welcome to the
Speaker:podcast, faith for Real Life.
Speaker:Uh, we are in a series
called New Year New You,
Speaker:where we're looking at
five elements of health.
Speaker:And today we're talking about
financial health and finances.
Speaker:And money is something that
people generally don't really
Speaker:love talking about, at
least with other people.
Speaker:There's a lot of, you know, privacy about
Speaker:that, and that's understandable.
Speaker:But God loves talking about money.
Speaker:You know, in the Bible there
is about 500 verses on prayer,
Speaker:about 500 verses on
faith, but: Speaker:And so the reason why the
Bible talks much about money
Speaker:is because it's important to us.
Speaker:And so, because it's
important to us, God wants us
Speaker:to understand what it looks
like to flourish in that area
Speaker:and to be healthy in that area.
Speaker:And so we wanna help you do
that through a conversation
Speaker:with, uh, our guest today.
Speaker:And so we have Austin with us.
Speaker:And so Austin, tell us a
little bit about yourself
Speaker:and, uh, where you work
and why you're here.
Speaker:- Absolutely. Uh, so I've
been in Hope City for about,
Speaker:uh, 15 years.
Speaker:Um, and I work at a bank.
Speaker:Uh, so talking about money,
I've been at, uh, TD Bank
Speaker:for about, uh, 12 years now.
Speaker:Been a bank manager for about eight.
Speaker:Um, and you know, like my
favorite thing is just being able
Speaker:to learn about people's
lives and their situations
Speaker:and, uh, truly be able to digest that
Speaker:so I can live out my best life as well.
Speaker:Um, and then share those stories, be able
Speaker:to help other people
through different situations
Speaker:and struggles, um,
Speaker:and truly just authentically give advice,
Speaker:um, which is really neat. Yeah.
Speaker:- So we'll be talking about
financial health today,
Speaker:and as we go along, you know,
Speaker:that definition will
become clear and clear
Speaker:and what we mean exactly
when we say that, you know,
Speaker:this isn't gonna be,
uh, investment advice.
Speaker:So if you're looking, you know, for a way
Speaker:to two times your money in the next 30
Speaker:days, this is not that.
Speaker:Okay? Uh, this isn't gonna
be, you know, in competition
Speaker:with Grant Cardone or Robert Kazaki
Speaker:or the Rich Dad, poor Dad
or anything like that.
Speaker:You know, we're not pumping
Speaker:a meme coin or anything like that.
Speaker:You know, we're talking
about financial health,
Speaker:and really what we're
doing is we're looking at
Speaker:how does the Bible talk about money
Speaker:and how does that play
out in the flourishing
Speaker:of people's finances as you see
it in the real world, right?
Speaker:Because you work with people who may
Speaker:or may not be Christians,
but let's just assume
Speaker:that they have no understanding of
Speaker:what the Bible says about money.
Speaker:And you would see on a
day-to-day, uh, basis
Speaker:where you're like, oh, man, if
you just, if you just listen
Speaker:to what the Bible said about this
Speaker:would actually solve
a lot of your problem.
Speaker:So we're gonna talk about
how the Bible is so practical
Speaker:and so useful about money, um,
Speaker:but also how you see that kind
Speaker:of play out in the real world.
Speaker:But before we kinda get to
that, I'd love to just kind
Speaker:of hear some personal reflections from you
Speaker:and your own story about
money and financial health.
Speaker:And so how has your experience with, um,
Speaker:money shaped your view on
what it looks like to be,
Speaker:you know, financially healthy
Speaker:and, and flourished in that area? Yeah,
Speaker:- I think it's changed over the years.
Speaker:Growing up, I was never
really given a, you know,
Speaker:weekly allowance or anything
like that. You never
Speaker:- Given an allowance.
Speaker:I know, you know, how'd
you buy them chips at
Speaker:the store? Man? You know, I'm
Speaker:- Just,
- Did you steal them?
Speaker:- I'll tell you later, . Um, right.
Speaker:But I, but something like
that where it's like,
Speaker:when I got money, it was
like you tried to hoard it
Speaker:and then you'd spend it
on something really big.
Speaker:Right? Um, because it was so scarce to me.
Speaker:And, um, I think when I
think about my relationship
Speaker:with money over the years,
it's become a lot more, um,
Speaker:uh, a lot less scary.
Speaker:Hmm. Um, because I've just tried
Speaker:to understand it a lot
more, um, prior. I love
Speaker:- That.
Speaker:I love that because money
is so scary to people. It
Speaker:- Can be, well, and I
say this all the time,
Speaker:that money's very emotional, right?
Speaker:And so when, um, you know, when you talk
Speaker:to your friend about money, um,
Speaker:or like if you're saying
like, oh, can I pay back
Speaker:for something like, it, it almost hurts
Speaker:to even say those words.
Speaker:I can't pay back for that. Um, but
Speaker:whenever I tell somebody I'm a banker,
Speaker:it's like the floodgates open up
Speaker:and then they're telling
me their life story.
Speaker:They're telling me how much debt they have
Speaker:or like, what's more, what,
Speaker:what are the mortgage rates right now?
Speaker:Um, and it's, it's a safe space
that I love creating. Yeah.
Speaker:And so over the years,
it's gone from, I used
Speaker:to hoard my money because I
didn't know when I would see my
Speaker:next dollar as a kid to,
I got my first job at,
Speaker:when I was at 14, I worked at Arby's,
Speaker:literally down the street
from the church. Really?
Speaker:- Yeah. It was great. Oh man.
I won't tell you it's Arby's,
Speaker:- But Oh, oh.
Speaker:- But it's, I can't,
- Once a year I'll treat
Speaker:myself now. Um,
Speaker:- They just opened one up by my house.
Speaker:Oh, don't tell me that.
And I was like, the,
Speaker:those things still exist,
nothing against Arby's.
Speaker:Okay. I actually have a friend
who is sponsored by Arby's.
Speaker:Okay. And, uh, she's like this
TikTok star, she's awesome.
Speaker:And they gave her this Arby's, uh,
Speaker:smelling tracksuit . It's like,
Speaker:- Did they soak it in the meat?
Speaker:- I don't know what they did. I don't
Speaker:know. Okay. But anyway, that's a thing.
Speaker:- Don't go near a dog park.
Speaker:- Okay. . Um, so working at Arby's,
Speaker:- So I worked at Arby's, um, you know,
Speaker:and I first saw my first
paychecks, you know,
Speaker:and I, like, I was, you know,
nothing against my parents,
Speaker:but like, I was just
never taught about money.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. I was never
really like told like,
Speaker:put your 10% away or do
this with your money.
Speaker:Um, so all I saw was money coming in,
Speaker:and I'm like, well, now I have money.
Speaker:So I just blew it all.
Yeah. Every single paycheck.
Speaker:And, you know, when I,
uh, I think right now
Speaker:where I'm at in my life
is really props to my wife
Speaker:because she really helped me say
Speaker:like, we need to save money.
Speaker:Yeah. You know, if we're
gonna get married one day,
Speaker:if we're gonna like, have
a down payment for a condo
Speaker:or a house, um, you know, you
need to learn how to save.
Speaker:And so then I started working at the bank,
Speaker:seeing people's stories, um,
Speaker:and really putting that
into practice. Yeah.
Speaker:- Did she have some sort of financial
Speaker:background or Not at all.
Speaker:- It was just like her parents
instilled that in her. Okay.
Speaker:Uh, right. And so like, they came
Speaker:to this church, uh, their whole lives.
Speaker:And so they were like,
this is how you tithe.
Speaker:This is how you save. Um,
you don't buy something
Speaker:unless you have all the money for it.
Speaker:Yeah. And so where my, my, my
story was a little opposite
Speaker:where it's my parents' financial
health was if you could
Speaker:afford the monthly payment on something
Speaker:that was healthy Right.
Speaker:And Right. Yeah. And both
perspectives in a way are right.
Speaker:You know, and there was nothing
being taught that was wrong.
Speaker:Um, but one of those gets
you a little bit farther
Speaker:ahead than the other.
Speaker:- Yeah. Right. I bet you there's
a lot of people listening
Speaker:who would say something similar.
Speaker:Maybe it was their parents, I don't know.
Speaker:The psychology of, you know, our, our,
Speaker:our behavior with money.
Speaker:It's, you know, in childhood experience,
Speaker:but the reality that so many
people don't have really any
Speaker:sort, not even just formal education,
Speaker:but any, you know, principles of money
Speaker:that have been passed down to them.
Speaker:Um, whether it's from their parents,
Speaker:but even school, I always
thought that was so strange
Speaker:that they never taught
the stuff in school.
Speaker:Totally. You know, they teach you about,
Speaker:you know, many different things.
Speaker:You know, character stuff,
which is obviously important.
Speaker:How to play nice with others, right? Yeah.
Speaker:How to have grit and get things done.
Speaker:And they prepare you to go
Speaker:to college or prepare to get a job.
Speaker:But then typically people
work to get money. Yeah.
Speaker:That's usually why
people work, right? Yeah.
Speaker:Work is a blessing in of itself.
Speaker:And we're actually be
talking on this podcast
Speaker:what professional health
is, and it is a blessing,
Speaker:but we work to pay the bills.
Speaker:Totally. So, but no one
ever really teaches us
Speaker:what to do with that end product.
Speaker:Right. With that money. Where does it go?
Speaker:- Even like you were
saying, like in school
Speaker:you have calm, right.
Speaker:Career life management. Yeah.
Speaker:Which I'm like, however long ago I took
Speaker:that and it was kinda a joke.
Speaker:- Mine was a couple years ago. Yeah.
Speaker:- It was kind of a joke, right? Like it's,
Speaker:they don't actually teach
you practical things on
Speaker:how do you, what do you do with your money
Speaker:that are actually, um,
applicable in the real world?
Speaker:Yeah. They give you surface level
Speaker:information about all these topics.
Speaker:Um, and it's frustrating
Speaker:because when I see people
coming in to the bank
Speaker:or just having conversations
like friends of mine,
Speaker:they are starting at the
ground level every single time.
Speaker:And it's frustrating.
'cause I'm like, I wish
Speaker:our education system, I wish
there was just better things
Speaker:to give common sense
finances to everybody.
Speaker:Yeah. And, and there's not really, and
Speaker:- I actually think the church
can really play a wonderful
Speaker:role in that, um, in society.
Speaker:Yes. But let's say more
particularly within families
Speaker:and within kids youth
ministries, even kids ministries,
Speaker:to be able to teach some of the things
Speaker:that the Bible has to say.
Speaker:'cause you know, as I mentioned
earlier, the Bible has a lot
Speaker:to say about money.
Speaker:And my conviction of a pastor
is that money is one of the,
Speaker:if not the most reliable
indicator of the condition
Speaker:of somebody's heart a lot of times.
Speaker:Oh, it's totally true. Yeah. A lot
Speaker:of times we don't put those
two together, but it really is,
Speaker:Jesus says that Matthew six,
right where your treasure is,
Speaker:your heart is totally right.
Speaker:So don't store up your,
your wealth here on earth.
Speaker:- Absolutely. And like, it's
funny 'cause it's like if you
Speaker:show me your account statement, I know you
Speaker:what priorities you have.
Speaker:Yeah. Right? And so it's
like, I'll go through
Speaker:and like, somebody's trying to be like,
Speaker:oh, I wanna buy a house.
Speaker:I'm like, well, you went
to McDonald's every day
Speaker:for the last 30 days.
Speaker:Yeah. If you didn't,
Speaker:you'd have enough for
a down payment. Do you
Speaker:- Think McDonald's is more expensive
Speaker:or less expensive than regular
Speaker:groceries right now? Off topic? Well,
Speaker:- The CEO just came out and said that
Speaker:we're gonna try to make
food more affordable.
Speaker:So they actually lowered
their prices for who?
Speaker:The first for McDonald's. Oh, really?
Speaker:Yeah, just a little bit. Oh, interesting.
Speaker:Um, which was actually
very impressive. Yeah.
Speaker:- Plugs for McDonald's and
Arby's already. There you go,
Speaker:- Man. Yeah.
Speaker:- Although our plug plug
for Arby's wasn't really for
Speaker:them's
- , but I think,
Speaker:um, it, it's very true.
Speaker:When you look at
somebody's account history
Speaker:or if you look at their statements
and like, I just do that
Speaker:whenever we're doing an
application for a mortgage
Speaker:or something like that,
you, you really see
Speaker:where people's priorities lie, right.
Speaker:Like are is, I can tell if
somebody's tithing or not. Yeah.
Speaker:I, and not that I'm judging them,
Speaker:but you can just, you, you're able to see
Speaker:where are you actually
spending your money.
Speaker:Yeah. Do you have some kind
of savings plan in place?
Speaker:Are you, um, you know,
Speaker:thinking about where your money's going?
Speaker:Or is it just kind of coming in,
Speaker:going out without a thought?
Speaker:Yeah. Because nowadays it's so easy for us
Speaker:to just tap our cards, tap our phones,
Speaker:and it's not physical cash.
Speaker:Right. Like, it's not like I'm,
Speaker:I'm not sacrificing this money.
Speaker:Like when I was a kid and
I got a dollar, I'm like,
Speaker:I physically have this
loony in my head. Yeah.
Speaker:- My kids love money.
Speaker:- Yes, I know. And, and
now it's just different
Speaker:because it's not like you
see your money anymore.
Speaker:You're like, oh, I got a email
saying my paycheck came in,
Speaker:or a notification and you
just see the dollar amount.
Speaker:Right? Right. And then
you just kind of go along
Speaker:with your day where before
like, you know, even 15,
Speaker:20 years ago, like people
would get their physical check,
Speaker:they'd have to go into the bank,
Speaker:they would either take out cash
Speaker:and you know, like we
still see a lot of checks,
Speaker:but like, it was just different mm-hmm .
Speaker:Right. And so whenever we were
telling people, even nowadays
Speaker:to budget or to think about
those things like take out cash,
Speaker:it's harder to give it away.
Speaker:Mm-hmm . Even to Starbucks, if you're used
Speaker:to gonna Starbucks, it's harder
to give your $10 bill over
Speaker:to the barista than it is
Speaker:to just tap your phone or load your app.
Speaker:- I learned that when I was 25, 26
Speaker:and I read, uh, Dave Ramsey's
Total Money Makeover.
Speaker:That really was my first dip into any sort
Speaker:of financial education that
actually revolutionized my life.
Speaker:And I still adhere to those
principles in a lot of ways.
Speaker:Um, but it's just Bible.
That's kind of all it is. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Uh, that's fascinating.
Speaker:Okay, so let's get a little
bit into the nitty gritty.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing
kinda your personal stuff.
Speaker:I'd love to hear from your
perspective, what are some
Speaker:of the financial habits
Speaker:or behavior patterns of people
Speaker:that you would consider
financially healthy?
Speaker:Right. You see all these
different statements
Speaker:and what I like about it is, is that
Speaker:for you, it's not a judgment thing.
Speaker:When you look at this,
it's not an emotional
Speaker:thing, it's data.
Speaker:Right. It actually kind
of tells you Right.
Speaker:What's the priorities to you? I
Speaker:- Appreciate you saying
that, that it's data.
Speaker:Because if you ask my wife,
like I'm a total Excel nerd,
Speaker:I love looking at reports and
charting and stuff like that.
Speaker:And so it's like, that's good time.
Speaker:If I, if I see a friend or something
Speaker:and they're like, oh, here's my personal
Speaker:information, I'll forget it.
Speaker:The moment we start
having that conversation.
Speaker:And so there's like zero judgment.
Speaker:I just love digging into
those numbers. I would be,
Speaker:- I would be so nervous.
Speaker:I don't know why. Yeah.
Like, I have nothing to hide,
Speaker:but if I printed out my bank
Speaker:and gave it to you, that would actually
Speaker:be super fun to do that.
Speaker:Like live. Yeah. Like, ooh,
Speaker:- Let's go
- .
Speaker:- Excellent. Um,
Speaker:- Maybe we can like superimpose
it on the screen right here.
Speaker:And you can see my, my
January. It's like ai. Yeah.
Speaker:I actually don't want you to
see my Christmas spending.
Speaker:This was an expensive
Christmas. We didn't even try.
Speaker:And it just, man, it's
hard. It is expensive.
Speaker:Anyway, let's talk about .
Speaker:What are some of those financial habits
Speaker:that you see people have or behaviors
Speaker:or patterns that you would consider
Speaker:financially healthy? Yeah,
Speaker:- I think if I were to break
it down to something really
Speaker:simple, it would be people
that are financially healthy,
Speaker:whether they're in the church or not,
Speaker:have a really strong budget.
Speaker:They have goals that
they've set for themselves
Speaker:and they just have a
regular check-in process
Speaker:with their spouse or with a,
Speaker:with some like their
Speaker:financial advisor or something like that.
Speaker:Okay. And so essentially,
you know, where your,
Speaker:your money is coming in
and going out, you know,
Speaker:what you're trying to save for
Speaker:or what your priorities
are for your money, um,
Speaker:or what you want God
to do with your money.
Speaker:And you have a regular process for you
Speaker:to check in with yourself mm-hmm .
Speaker:Because it's funny how like
New Year's, for example,
Speaker:if somebody sets like, I wanna
lose this amount of weight,
Speaker:if you don't check in with
yourself daily, weekly, monthly,
Speaker:you'll probably forget about that goal.
Speaker:Sure. Right. And so you
need to make sure that
Speaker:with your finances, which are so critical,
Speaker:every single person in the
world deals with money.
Speaker:You have money coming in, it's in your
Speaker:pocket, it's in your bank account.
Speaker:And we don't spend enough time
working out that muscle. Why
Speaker:- Do you think that is?
Speaker:Do you think it's fear? Is
it shame? Is it, it's back
Speaker:- To emotions, right?
Speaker:Yeah. Like it's, um,
you're trying to, living
Speaker:with the Jones is you're
trying to, you know,
Speaker:it's a consumerist society
Speaker:where all you see on social media,
Speaker:all you see everywhere
is, I don't have enough.
Speaker:And it's frustrating when you
don't need everything. Mm.
Speaker:Right? Mm-hmm . We we're
in a pretty blessed
Speaker:society right now.
Speaker:Um, and I think, you know, you
don't need the latest iPhone.
Speaker:You don't need the, the latest
Lululemon Mickey Mouse shirt.
Speaker:Right. Um, with that you're
gonna wear once mm-hmm .
Speaker:That I did at Disney. I know. Oh,
Speaker:- Personal.
Speaker:- I know. Um, but you
don't need all that stuff.
Speaker:Right, right. It's nice to splurge,
Speaker:but like set aside a certain amount
Speaker:of money every month to splurge.
Speaker:- So this is interesting
as you're saying this,
Speaker:because this ties in again, pastorally on
Speaker:that contentment piece that,
you know, when, when Paul says,
Speaker:I've learned to be content
in all circumstances,
Speaker:I've learned to, you know,
be content in plenty.
Speaker:Right. And I've learned
Speaker:to be content in want and in scarcity.
Speaker:And I think that, I imagine
as I hear you talking, that
Speaker:that has a huge part
Speaker:to play in people's finances versus
Speaker:I'm actually just not content.
Speaker:I would just be happier
if I had this thing. Yeah.
Speaker:And I don't have this thing, so I'm going
Speaker:to maybe fudge some,
um, common sense things
Speaker:or logical ideas, because
money's emotional in order
Speaker:to reach happiness.
Speaker:Right. And then you get that
new Mickey Mouse movement.
Speaker:Absolutely. Absolutely.
Or for me, a Tacoma,
Speaker:I imagine if I got a Tacoma, a new Tacoma,
Speaker:that my life would be perfect.
Speaker:You know, we all have those things.
Speaker:We just kind of, but we
realize we get those things.
Speaker:You're like, ah, it didn't do
it. Right. And it's a cycle.
Speaker:- 'cause 'cause you're trying
to fill something. Yeah.
Speaker:Right. But I actually
see some of the happiest
Speaker:and most financially healthy people, um,
Speaker:are the most frugal in giving.
Speaker:Hmm. Which is really cool.
Speaker:And so one of my peers, uh,
Speaker:he's a branch manager in Vancouver.
Speaker:He drives, I think it's a
: Speaker:And it's worth like $2,000.
Speaker:And he's like, you know, he's well off.
Speaker:Like he could definitely afford any car.
Speaker:- Have you ever seen a souped
up neon before? Oh yeah.
Speaker:It's a, those are
awesome. It's pretty fun.
Speaker:- Yeah. Um, it's not his by the way. Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, but yeah, it's crappy.
It's rusted, it's dark green.
Speaker:It's gross. Um, he sent
me a photo of it. Yeah.
Speaker:- Like,
- Why are you still driving this thing?
Speaker:He's like, 'cause it works. He's like,
Speaker:I just need to get to work and back.
Speaker:Yeah. I'm not driving my little ones.
Speaker:I'm not like, it's just me. It works.
Speaker:I don't need a new car. And,
you know, he's like, like it's,
Speaker:I'm content with the image.
Speaker:It, uh, it poses. He's like,
he wears a nice suit to work.
Speaker:You know, like he looks
all well put together.
Speaker:He just drives a crappy car. Yeah.
Speaker:Because he doesn't need a new car.
Speaker:He doesn't need to impress anybody.
Speaker:And I think, uh, when you
start comparing yourself
Speaker:is when you lose, I
Speaker:- Think that's the principle here.
Speaker:It's not drive a bad car. Right.
Speaker:The principle is I don't need
Speaker:to prove myself to anybody Right.
Speaker:Where my worth is. Yep. Right.
Speaker:And again, as a believer,
it's like to know
Speaker:where your worth is, which
is not in your bank account,
Speaker:which is not in your material,
Speaker:but in being, you know, made
in the image of God being loved
Speaker:by him, if you can kind
of get that in your bones,
Speaker:that would change your
money habits. Totally.
Speaker:- And you, you change how you see, uh,
Speaker:your actual money and
what it does for you.
Speaker:Right. Yeah. Um, you know, I see a lot
Speaker:of my non-Christian clients,
Speaker:or my Christian clients
have the same mentality,
Speaker:which I'm like, ah, I just
want you to become a Christian
Speaker:because you would be
such a good Christian,
Speaker:um, with how you spend
your money . But, um,
Speaker:- But this is a problem for Christians
Speaker:too. Absolutely. Absolutely. A
Speaker:- Hundred percent Right.
Speaker:Because like we see a lot of
people that are, um, because
Speaker:- We live in this world.
Speaker:Right. Totally. Live here.
Speaker:And it's, you cannot be affected
by the 24 7 messaging all
Speaker:around you in what you see. Right.
Speaker:- Unless you fully unplug
Speaker:and go live as a hobby farmer out
Speaker:in Saskatchewan. Yeah. But
Speaker:- Even then you'd still have greed
Speaker:because I mean, Jesus is talking to people
Speaker:who didn't have social media or Amazon.
Speaker:Right. And it was still an issue. Greed.
Speaker:- Isn't Amazon's a bad one?
- greed isn't one click buy.
Speaker:Yeah. It's true. I did that
this morning for deodorant.
Speaker:I needed it. Um, anyway,
Speaker:it's like the nons
sweat sometimes when I'm
Speaker:preaching, yo, I sweat.
Speaker:So I found this clinical deodorant.
Speaker:It's a little bit more expensive,
but it's worth it. . Okay.
Speaker:- Lemme know because I mean,
Speaker:- I'll send you a picture
after links in the show notes
Speaker:below to , to Arby's, to
McDonald's and to deodorant
Speaker:- Amazon. Yeah.
Speaker:- Yeah. Okay. So maybe on the
flip side, talk about some
Speaker:of those healthy patterns that you said.
Speaker:Yeah. You, you talked about,
Hey, just talking about it,
Speaker:checking in some of the basic stuff.
Speaker:You mentioned budgeting, which maybe
Speaker:we'll we'll talk about a little bit.
Speaker:Um, you know, budgeting is
telling your money where to go.
Speaker:Absolutely. Wondering where it went. Yeah.
Speaker:- Literally having like
whether it's sticky notes Yeah.
Speaker:And you're like, I took
this sticky note, moved it
Speaker:to this side of the page,
or it's an fancy excel.
Speaker:Yeah. It's whatever works for you.
Speaker:And so, um, like for
myself, I have an Excel
Speaker:where it's like I have all
of my income sources Yeah.
Speaker:Uh, which is one. Yeah. Um,
and I have all of my expenses.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Which are many.
Speaker:And so then you're like,
where am I landing? Right.
Speaker:Or what does my budget
look like when it, I get
Speaker:to next month and I'm checking in
Speaker:with myself to make sure it
got there. Yeah. Next month.
Speaker:- And if you see at the end of the month,
Speaker:there's not enough Yeah.
Speaker:Right. To meet my bills.
Speaker:There's not enough to meet my goals.
Speaker:It allows you to shift things up.
Speaker:Now there's, there's a plan
for it. There is periods
Speaker:of people's lives and
there's people watching.
Speaker:It's like, you know what? I, I don't
Speaker:know how to generate any more.
Speaker:Because the way to fix that
is to generate more income.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Or reduce expenses.
Speaker:Those are the two things that you can do.
Speaker:And I do want to be sensitive
Speaker:because there are, um, people listening
Speaker:and watching who they're
in a period right now
Speaker:where they're trying to find work
Speaker:and that income thing is
tough or they're in a job
Speaker:but they just dunno
how to make more money.
Speaker:They don't have the time for
it. Or there's an extraneous
Speaker:circumstance or there's a really big
Speaker:bill that they can't get around.
Speaker:Um, there, there's those scenarios
Speaker:and so we're not necessarily
talking about that.
Speaker:Right. We're talking
about, you know, just that,
Speaker:that scenario where
people just aren't aware
Speaker:of what's coming in and what's going out.
Speaker:And so they kind of just keep on spending.
Speaker:I was reading that, uh, for every dollar
Speaker:that a Canadian makes,
they owe a dollar 80.
Speaker:- Yeah. And it's actually
just gone up to about two 10.
Speaker:Okay. Yeah. Which is over double.
Speaker:- So that's scary. Yeah. Right.
Speaker:And I imagine for some people,
if they saw that on paper,
Speaker:they'd be like, I got, I gotta change.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And so budgeting Yeah.
Speaker:Is, is a key one. Yeah. It's
Speaker:- Massive.
Speaker:And I think like when you're
able to budget, you know,
Speaker:biblically you're able to feel like
Speaker:you actually have more control mm-hmm .
Speaker:Because you can relax a
little bit more. Right.
Speaker:Um, you know, as a Christian,
Speaker:like I don't feel like I
am living by God's rules.
Speaker:I don't feel like he's controlling me.
Speaker:I feel like he's, um, set up
a parameter for me to have,
Speaker:you know, the, the most successful
Speaker:life I possibly can mm-hmm .
Speaker:And I just have to like listen to him.
Speaker:I have to have a relationship with him.
Speaker:If you're able to think about
that with your money as well,
Speaker:where it's like, if you're
able to set up parameters
Speaker:for your money so that
you can be as successful
Speaker:as you can within your finances,
Speaker:you're actually gonna be more free.
Speaker:- Which is cool. Not less
free. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:Budget actually creates freedom. Yeah.
Speaker:Some people think kind of the
more restriction in that area,
Speaker:but it's just, it's just not true.
Speaker:Totally. Um, maybe just an aside,
Speaker:I have a, I have a story about that.
Speaker:Um, , I remember I moved into
my home about four years ago
Speaker:and there's this big old
ugly house that, um, we got
Speaker:for cheap because he
was big, old and ugly.
Speaker:Right. . And it had a really
dilapidated fence. Okay.
Speaker:And we had a dog at the time,
Speaker:and we actually still have a dog.
Speaker:What happened to it didn't die. Sorry. .
Speaker:I got really sad quick. Um,
Speaker:and we had three, three daughters.
Speaker:We still have three daughters
as well. . Okay. Good.
Speaker:And you know, when we didn't
have that fence up, it was,
Speaker:it was sort of miserable
because it's wintertime
Speaker:and the kids are stuck inside,
Speaker:but they couldn't really go
play outside in the backyard
Speaker:because they didn't have
have a fence because we had a
Speaker:little bit of a coyote infestation
Speaker:and we were living kind of
closer now with Tee Lion.
Speaker:So there were some people kind of moving
Speaker:behind our hosts that mm-hmm.
Speaker:You know, we didn't exactly
trust around our kids.
Speaker:And so that was less free
when we didn't have a fence.
Speaker:But as soon as we put
that boundary up, uh,
Speaker:we can send our kids outside
to have snowball fights
Speaker:or we can make forts with them
Speaker:or let the dogs out, whatever.
Speaker:It actually created freedom,
the restriction and,
Speaker:and the boundaries created freedom.
Speaker:And I'd say that that a budget,
Speaker:but also the kind of biblical
guidelines I'm giving, that's
Speaker:that fence that allows us to
actually enjoy the backyard.
Speaker:Yeah. That's that fence that gives us the
Speaker:freedom. Yeah. Right.
Speaker:- But you couldn't keep the old
one up either. Right. Right.
Speaker:Like sometimes you need
to update things. Yeah.
Speaker:You need to make sure that it's
Speaker:relevant, that's actually
gonna be working.
Speaker:Um, and so, you know, a
lot of people just don't
Speaker:continuously look at their budget.
Speaker:They don't continuously
check in with themselves.
Speaker:So you might set a budget at
the beginning of the year.
Speaker:It might not last all year. Right.
Speaker:Things change. Yeah. You
know, you need to make sure
Speaker:- Netflix prices go up.
Speaker:- Oh, right. Subscriptions
you might like, oh,
Speaker:I didn't realize I'm 18
subscriptions in Yeah. Right. Like,
Speaker:- It's actually crazy.
Speaker:Oh, that's a whole nother
podcast subscription creep.
Speaker:Absolutely. Anyway, we'll talk about that
Speaker:- Whole, you save money
on subscriptions. That's
Speaker:- Crazy.
Speaker:So we talked about checking in
Speaker:and just being familiar with
what's coming in, coming out,
Speaker:and then actually creating
a, a physical budget, right.
Speaker:So you can know where your money's going
Speaker:and, um, how much is coming in.
Speaker:So that's vital. Uh, I'd like
to kind of broach a topic
Speaker:of generosity because
when it comes to faith,
Speaker:Christian faith and money, um, tithing
Speaker:and giving, that's always a topic.
Speaker:And that actually, you know,
, when I preach on that
Speaker:or when I see Pastor Phil preach on that,
Speaker:you always see people kind of
get up and leave. Right. It's
Speaker:- No way. Oh, it
Speaker:- Is the sermon that people's like,
Speaker:oh my God, I don't wanna be
Speaker:here. . And, and there's a variety.
Speaker:- I can see people tensing a
Speaker:little bit like, oh no, they're talking
Speaker:- About me.
Speaker:Oh, you could feel it in
the room. And I love it.
Speaker:Oh, I love it so much.
Speaker:When I just know that I'm hitting a nerve.
Speaker:There's something about it, I don't know.
Speaker:Anyways, something that the Lord needs to
Speaker:work on my heart message is hitting hard.
Speaker:Well, you just know that
you're dealing with something
Speaker:that really matters to people.
Speaker:Yeah. And they just don't
want to go there often
Speaker:because there is shame Totally.
Speaker:When it comes to money. Right.
Speaker:There's disappointment in there
Speaker:and people don't want to face that.
Speaker:Right. And so the same thing
can happen when we're talking
Speaker:about, you know, a sexual sin
Speaker:or something that someone's going through.
Speaker:You can feel it in the room
Speaker:when it's connecting with people.
Speaker:And so whenever you're
preaching on, on money,
Speaker:particularly on the giving
Speaker:and tithing aspect of things,
Speaker:you can just feel the
room, just be like, mm.
Speaker:Don't tell me where to put my money.
Speaker:Right. And there, there's
something about that.
Speaker:- So I remember a couple years ago, uh,
Speaker:pastor Phil did a sermon
Speaker:and he's like, here's, here's
a couple different examples on
Speaker:how to break down your budget.
Speaker:Yeah. And, uh,
Speaker:after out in the lobby, I'm like,
Speaker:all I heard was complaints. .
Speaker:People were like talking
to each other, like,
Speaker:who's gonna spend 10% on clothing?
Speaker:Who's gonna do this? I'm like, guys,
Speaker:it's like, it's a format.
Speaker:Like Yeah. Yeah. All they wanted
Speaker:to do was complain when he's
trying to give you tools on how
Speaker:to be better or not how to be better,
Speaker:but how to like help yourself.
Speaker:Right, right. Just think
about it a little bit.
Speaker:- Yeah. He preached
one a couple years ago.
Speaker:I wonder if I could
pull up. It was so good
Speaker:and so helpful on it.
Speaker:One of the best when Phil,
man, he can teach sometimes,
Speaker:and he does a really good talks on money.
Speaker:Forget what series it is.
Anyway, maybe I'll pull it up.
Speaker:Okay. But I do wanna
talk about generosity.
Speaker:I have seen personally,
generosity has been, I'm not,
Speaker:I'm not over exaggerating when
I say that it has been the
Speaker:catalyst for my faith
over the last 10 years.
Speaker:Really. Um, it has been. Yeah.
Speaker:I would say that if there's one
thing that I could link back
Speaker:to, to becoming financially healthy,
Speaker:it has been generosity,
which is counterintuitive.
Speaker:I know, I know.
Speaker:Because, you know, when you give
Speaker:and it's a, you know, a
large chunk of your money,
Speaker:it feels like the opposite of that.
Speaker:It feels, again, restrictive
and like, oh, what am I doing?
Speaker:But God has done something in my heart,
Speaker:and my story is, you
know, when I became, uh,
Speaker:a pastor when I was young, 21, I,
Speaker:I started my first ministry appointment
Speaker:and the church at the time,
Speaker:which I had a wonderful experience there.
Speaker:Um, but what they did financially
was they required all the,
Speaker:the pastors to tithe.
Speaker:And the way that they
did that was they took
Speaker:it right off the paycheck.
Speaker:Gotcha. So it was, you know,
Speaker:when I got good chance
when I get my pay stub.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Um, pastors
do get pay stubs. Okay.
Speaker:, we still are subject
to CRA and, um, auditing.
Speaker:Um, anyway, when I got that
paycheck, I just had my,
Speaker:my tithe taken off right
underneath the federal income tax.
Speaker:Right. Love that. It was
like a God tax. Yeah.
Speaker:And so I was there for
10 years. Totally was.
Speaker:And I just sort of paid the God tax. Yeah.
Speaker:And there was no, and
that, and that's fine.
Speaker:I checked the box. Right.
And I, I was okay with that.
Speaker:I allowed it. Yeah. Yeah. But my heart
Speaker:wasn't connected to it at all.
Speaker:It just was, was, was
something that I, I just did.
Speaker:And then when I, when I moved to Edmonton
Speaker:and I got a different ministry appointment
Speaker:and I had to actually be
confronted with the, am I going
Speaker:to give, it was hard, you know,
Speaker:even though I'd just been
doing it for 10 years,
Speaker:technically, when I actually
was forced with this idea of,
Speaker:of sending my mind, there was something
Speaker:that was new that was happening.
Speaker:There's this new questions of trust
Speaker:and who, you know, who was gonna provide?
Speaker:Was it gonna be all on me? Was it gonna,
Speaker:and I've gotten into the habit.
Speaker:I really take, you know, the first
Speaker:fruits idea very literally.
Speaker:I'm not saying that
everyone should, but I do.
Speaker:And the reason why is, is I found
Speaker:that the more I'm confronted
with the question,
Speaker:who am I gonna trust with
my money, the more I realize
Speaker:that I can trust God with my money
Speaker:and your, the greed that is, um,
Speaker:wrapped in your heart just becomes free
Speaker:because I trust God, he's
gonna provide for me.
Speaker:And so anytime I get a little
notification, you know,
Speaker:on my banking app that I got,
you know, income come in,
Speaker:whether that's through my
wife's paycheck or mine
Speaker:or something else, you know,
Facebook marketplace, you know,
Speaker:$50 toaster sale, uh, I stop and I tithe.
Speaker:There you go. I give on, I give on that.
Speaker:I don't wait till the end
of the year. Some people do.
Speaker:That's totally fine. Uh,
or monthly or whatever.
Speaker:I do it every single
time. And it was funny
Speaker:'cause my, my mom is
a bookkeeper here. Oh,
Speaker:- She must hate
- That.
Speaker:Oh man.
Speaker:- Sold you 50.
- It's just like 10 times a month.
Speaker:You know, you're, you're
getting in as etransfer.
Speaker:But I have found that I'm
just confronted with that.
Speaker:I'm constantly saying, no,
God, I trust you with this.
Speaker:And so that has been my story, that,
Speaker:that generosity has been
such a catalyst for my faith.
Speaker:And my biggest regret as a
youth pastor, my first 10 years
Speaker:of, of appointed ministry was
that I actually didn't teach
Speaker:that to, to kids.
Speaker:Right. Yeah. I didn't
teach that to students
Speaker:that they will never, you
know, someone else has
Speaker:to pick it up, but they, I
never taught them the blessing
Speaker:of generosity and God's
plan for it in their life.
Speaker:So my question is, for you,
Speaker:you're in a different world, right?
Speaker:Um, have you seen generosity
Speaker:impact people's, um, behaviors
Speaker:with money, uh, their financial health?
Speaker:Have you seen that in, in your world,
Speaker:in the banking world? Yeah,
Speaker:- Absolutely.
Speaker:And I think, um, you know,
Speaker:like the United Way is a big contributor
Speaker:even for bankers, right?
Speaker:Like internally, we have like a really
Speaker:big campaign around that.
Speaker:And they try to really amplify
Speaker:what does your generosity
go towards as a Christian?
Speaker:And you're looking at like,
what does your money go towards?
Speaker:Right? You're kind of,
you know, some people like
Speaker:to think about it like, not as a God tax,
Speaker:but like you're buying
into the church, right.
Speaker:When the church has successes,
um, when they are able
Speaker:to say like, Hey, we, we took
our youth kids to this event.
Speaker:Right. And they only
had to pay half Right.
Speaker:Because of the generosity of the church,
Speaker:or, um, we're able
Speaker:to build this building
in, you know, Uganda.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And because of
the generosity of the church,
Speaker:when people connect that to, well,
Speaker:my $10 a month helped contribute to that,
Speaker:they look at it a lot differently.
Speaker:Hmm. Right. Where I think a
lot of people are, um, blinded
Speaker:by, you know, the automatic, uh,
Speaker:withdrawal from their account
to, to the church as a tithe,
Speaker:which is great, by the way,
Speaker:because then sticking to your budget
Speaker:or you're just blindly giving
Speaker:or, um, you know, you're not,
Speaker:your heart's not in it,
like you said before.
Speaker:I think that's where it loses its luster
Speaker:because, you know, when you
are constantly surrounded
Speaker:by something special,
it becomes less special.
Speaker:Hmm. And so when we think
about tithing, yeah.
Speaker:It's really important. Or giving,
Speaker:or being generous, it's really important
Speaker:to constantly remind
Speaker:yourself of like cool stories like that.
Speaker:And so, like, even with my team at Work,
Speaker:every day we have what's
called a DSU, super cheesy,
Speaker:but it's like a daily, daily standup
Speaker:where we talk about stories
that get us excited, you know?
Speaker:And so yesterday, let's
say we had an appointment
Speaker:with a client and we're able
to help consolidate their debt
Speaker:and, you know, their
monthly payments now going
Speaker:to making them save and tithe more or save
Speaker:and be more generous.
Speaker:That's so cool to see. Yeah.
Speaker:It's, I'd much rather help,
Speaker:it's rewarding somebody completely fix all
Speaker:of their money problems
and then still be able
Speaker:to get a chunk of change out of it.
Speaker:And then to see them say like, oh,
Speaker:we actually wanna make sure
that we're like giving gift
Speaker:cards to a homeless
person when we see them
Speaker:and having them stacked in our car.
Speaker:Or like, I want to help with
this organization. Right.
Speaker:Like, that's just amazing for us to see.
Speaker:And like, I love being able
to be part of those stories,
Speaker:but the catalyst
Speaker:of this whole thing is reminding
yourself of those stories.
Speaker:Yeah. And so too
Speaker:- Often, which we try to
do sometimes now, Hey,
Speaker:this is what we're doing as a church.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And you gotta
be a part of, and so I, but
Speaker:- Too often we're just
in our own little bubble.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Where you just see the world
Speaker:through your own land,
your own perspective,
Speaker:your own your own set of glasses.
Speaker:And it's hard for you to
change that perspective
Speaker:and hear those stories of generosity
Speaker:because we're not constantly
being reminded of them.
Speaker:Right. Yeah. And so,
um, you know, if I were
Speaker:to even ask you the question of why,
Speaker:what generosity did you see come out of
Speaker:what you gave? Yeah.
Speaker:- Like in what's the, the
impact of that, right? Yeah. So
Speaker:- 'cause it's, it's one
thing to do it, it's another
Speaker:to see the repercussions of it.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. Right. Where I
think like you're connecting the
Speaker:dollars that you gave my,
Speaker:my daughter would say
dollar bucks from blue E
Speaker:but dollar bucks, the
dollar bucks that you gave.
Speaker:Um, you know, what did
that actually impact?
Speaker:- Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Speaker:And, and we see that and
people wanna see that.
Speaker:You know, I come from the
other angle where, um,
Speaker:I am motivated.
Speaker:I don't wanna say this is, I
don't wanna say it like this,
Speaker:like it's altruistic, but
I, I just love the idea
Speaker:of trusting the Lord with my money.
Speaker:I'm actually not as interested as
Speaker:what happens with it afterwards.
Speaker:Okay. You know? Yeah.
Speaker:There's just, there's just sort of a trust
Speaker:where I'm actually not,
you know, I'm giving this
Speaker:to the Lord through the local
church and I just trust that.
Speaker:And I mean, I'm part of those teams.
Speaker:So I mean, that's a
little bit, um, you know,
Speaker:I guess there's a conflict
of interest in some ways
Speaker:there, but I just trust.
Speaker:Right, right. I'm just
like, I just, I just,
Speaker:but then if someone comes to my door,
Speaker:which they have regularly,
especially with,
Speaker:you know, um, new Year.
Speaker:Yeah. You know, about fundraising,
Speaker:I'm kinda like, I'm a
little bit more suspicious.
Speaker:Right. I'm like, well, I I don't
wanna give to you right now
Speaker:'cause I actually don't
know anything about
Speaker:this organization, .
Speaker:Right. But I trust the church. Do I wanna
Speaker:- Give you my bottles? Yeah. I don't
Speaker:know,
- .
Speaker:And so for me, I'm
actually not as concerned
Speaker:and I have seen the dark side
Speaker:of people being overly concerned,
like, I'm not gonna give,
Speaker:because the bathrooms are
really nice at this church.
Speaker:So, and you're not giving to, you know,
Speaker:poor people in the way that I would.
Speaker:Right, right. And so and so,
Speaker:because the, the charitable
reaches of the church and the,
Speaker:and the social components
of the church don't align
Speaker:with their preferences.
Speaker:They're saying, well, I'm
not gonna withhold my tithe.
Speaker:Then it almost becomes a
justification of a lack
Speaker:of generosity because there's
a preferential disagreement
Speaker:with how that's spended.
Speaker:Where if you can kind of
just, if you're not part
Speaker:of local church and you
don't trust the leadership,
Speaker:it's like, okay, that
there's a problem there.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And so I
think the stories are fun
Speaker:and they're motivating, but
they're secondary Right.
Speaker:In, in, in why we give.
Speaker:- Yeah. I think too, like,
um, the happiest people
Speaker:that I see, whether they're Christian
Speaker:or not, are the most
generous people in the world.
Speaker:- A
- Hundred percent. And so, you know,
Speaker:whenever I see clients that
have a lot of money Yeah.
Speaker:Again, going back to like
looking at their account history,
Speaker:they're constantly giving
Speaker:or they're constantly
spending time with people.
Speaker:Yeah. Because even those, uh,
people that can't spend a lot
Speaker:of money on things, they
Speaker:can still spend a lot of time with people.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Or they
can give in other ways.
Speaker:Um, but when you're able to
Speaker:allot saying like, this money is not mine.
Speaker:I might've worked hard for it,
Speaker:but at the end of the day,
it's still the Lord's.
Speaker:Right. And so how do I
make sure I'm giving him
Speaker:his right amount?
Speaker:Right. Whatever that sacrifice looks
Speaker:for you is gonna be different.
Speaker:And so, you know, if we think
about the parable of like, um,
Speaker:you know, the giver
that or the beggar, um,
Speaker:and she gave as much as she could mm-hmm .
Speaker:And then the rich guy that came up
Speaker:and he just gave his his little
stipend. Right. Right. Um,
Speaker:- Even though it was
more than, even though
Speaker:- It was more, it was a
bigger sacrifice to her.
Speaker:- Right. It's not the
dollar amount. It's not the
Speaker:- Dollar amount.
Speaker:And so, like, you know, so
Speaker:- People could be embarrassed,
oh, I only gave $5.
Speaker:Well wait, hold on. Absolutely. Right.
Speaker:And so God can take that
Speaker:and do, I mean, he created
the world of nothing.
Speaker:Right. . Right.
Speaker:- He doesn't need your
- Money. Yeah.
Speaker:He's not sitting up there
like, oh, I'd really like
Speaker:to do this for the world, but oh man,
Speaker:person X only gave me $7. . Yeah.
Speaker:- Yeah. But Right. So it's
a hard issue. Right. Yeah.
Speaker:And so, but the happiest
people in the world
Speaker:that I've seen are those
that are able to say,
Speaker:I'm sacrificing this for my church
Speaker:because they can do
more with it than I can.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And I don't need it as much
Speaker:as I know that they can do with it.
Speaker:Yeah. Um, and so it's really
cool to see people go out
Speaker:of their way to say, you
know, I don't need Starbucks.
Speaker:Like every single day May I'll
get it once a week. Mm-hmm .
Speaker:Right. And I'm gonna try
to give Starbucks gift
Speaker:cards to people that I see.
Speaker:Right. Just out of random
Speaker:generosity, which is
super amazing. Yeah. Um,
Speaker:- If you're gonna do that, I'd probably go
Speaker:with like McDonald's or Tim Horton's.
Speaker:Right. 'cause you give a $10
Speaker:gift card that's like half a drink.
Speaker:There you go. Starbucks. That's fair.
Speaker:- Or like one their little donuts or
Speaker:- Something.
Speaker:Yeah. So, uh, in short, biblical pattern
Speaker:for giving is quite simple.
Speaker:It's gift first, save
second spend third, uh,
Speaker:which is upside down for our society.
Speaker:Totally. Yeah. Our
society would be make your
Speaker:- Budget give at the top.
Speaker:- Yeah. So give, that's the first thing
Speaker:in my expense line, right.
Speaker:Is give. Yeah. Um, so biblical,
Speaker:biblical prescription is
gi is give, save, spend.
Speaker:Right. Spending last. Yeah.
Speaker:And so you're spending according
to what comes out of giving
Speaker:and what you wanna save
for long term, our,
Speaker:our world, our society.
Speaker:Right. Would be very different. Right.
Speaker:It'd be spend and if there's
anything left over save
Speaker:and there's not gonna
be anything left over.
Speaker:So, you know, you don't give this kind of,
Speaker:so, so it is flipped around.
Speaker:Um, Proverbs is a big part
of our culture when it comes
Speaker:to money is credit.
Speaker:Right. And so, as we mentioned,
uh, you, you said that
Speaker:for every dollar owed
it's $2 and 10 cents,
Speaker:or sorry, for every dollar
in income made. Yeah.
Speaker:- It's $2 and 10 cents owing, which is
Speaker:- Insane.
Speaker:Oh. So Proverbs 22 says
Speaker:that the borrower is slave to the lender.
Speaker:And it's not saying that that
debt necessarily is a sin,
Speaker:but it can cross a line where
there's a lack of stewardship
Speaker:and there's a lack of financial health
Speaker:and a lack of responsibility, um,
Speaker:that can come with with debt.
Speaker:And so I wanna talk a
little bit about debt.
Speaker:There's people listening today
Speaker:who are overwhelmed with that.
Speaker:They're looking at their future,
Speaker:they're looking at their statements.
Speaker:The banks are calling, they're
getting the notices in.
Speaker:And it's just like fear.
It's just straight up fear.
Speaker:Uh, there's no hope. Mm.
Speaker:What would you say to that person
Speaker:to start working their way out of
Speaker:that scenario towards financial health?
Speaker:Financial health just feels like it's
Speaker:a, it's a, it's not for them.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. You know,
it's not gonna happen.
Speaker:What would you say to that person?
Speaker:Because I know that you see people
Speaker:who every day who move forward.
Speaker:- Yeah, absolutely. So
- What would you say,
Speaker:- Uh, the biggest success
Speaker:stories are those that
just come in and talk.
Speaker:Right. Uh, I would say a high,
high majority of the people
Speaker:that just come in and say
like, I have questions.
Speaker:I have no idea where to start.
Speaker:Um, are those the people that
start to get ahead? Mm-hmm .
Speaker:As long as you're in the mindset
Speaker:that you need to have a behavior change.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. It's one
thing to say like, oh,
Speaker:before this podcast,
you know, I never tithe
Speaker:and now I'm just gonna tithe.
Speaker:But you need to have a purpose behind it.
Speaker:There needs to be a heart
change, there needs to be a, um,
Speaker:a reason why you're doing it,
Speaker:otherwise you're not gonna stick to it.
Speaker:And so when you think about
somebody that has a whole lot
Speaker:of debt, it's because
naturally it's okay for you
Speaker:to look at a line of credit
or look at a credit card
Speaker:and not think about the consequences.
Speaker:And so it's, it's really teaching people
Speaker:what happens when you max
out your credit card, look at
Speaker:how much more money you
actually have to spend on it.
Speaker:Where are you gonna be in 10
Speaker:or 15 years if you had
that taken care of or not.
Speaker:Right. And so, uh, we do a lot
of goal planning, a lot of,
Speaker:uh, like life adjustments to make sure
Speaker:that we can either take all their debt,
Speaker:make it into one simple
consolidated loan payment mm-hmm .
Speaker:Maybe close out some other products.
Speaker:Um, but at the end of the
day, we need to help make sure
Speaker:that the behavior is different.
Speaker:And so is it wise to leave a bunch
Speaker:of these credit cards open
even after they're paid off?
Speaker:Yeah, probably not.
Speaker:- So what I hear you, is this Right.
Speaker:That you're suggesting the first
step to getting out of the,
Speaker:the, the hole, right.
Speaker:That we can get in financially
with debt is like humility.
Speaker:Absolutely. Like to be
able to say, okay, well,
Speaker:- Because, you know, money's emotional.
Speaker:It's, it's, you know, shameful.
Speaker:Like, it's hard, especially
when you have debt.
Speaker:Um, people don't wanna talk about it,
Speaker:but the most healthy thing
Speaker:that you can do is just open it all up.
Speaker:Here's my wounds. Mm-hmm . Right.
Speaker:Who can help me heal them up.
Speaker:- Okay. So I've come in, okay.
Speaker:I've said, Hey, Austin, I'm in trouble.
Speaker:Look at my stuff and I want
to get, I want to, I need
Speaker:to tackle this, this debt.
Speaker:What would you say to me?
Where do I start? Good luck.
Speaker:Yeah. , good luck. I'm outta here.
Speaker:Gimme my feed. See you later.
Speaker:- No, um, really, I mean, you
know, what's funny is that,
Speaker:uh, Dave Ramsey has the
idea of the snowball effect.
Speaker:Yeah. Right? Yeah. And so, like,
uh, from a simple approach,
Speaker:uh, that's typically what we like to do
Speaker:to build up your confidence
around a behavior. Okay. And
Speaker:- So explain what that is. So
Speaker:- The simple approach would be,
Speaker:let's say you had three different debts.
Speaker:Okay? Let's say it's a thousand
dollars, $5,000, $10,000.
Speaker:Okay. Regardless of the interest rates
Speaker:and regardless of the payments,
Speaker:you're always gonna tackle the
smallest balance owing first.
Speaker:Okay? So let's say you paid
off that thousand dollars,
Speaker:that monthly payment
Speaker:that you had going towards
the thousand is gonna be added
Speaker:to whatever you had excess
of to pay that down quickly.
Speaker:Okay? So let's say it was
an extra 50 bucks, okay?
Speaker:That $50 is gonna be added
Speaker:to whatever you're
paying towards the 5,000.
Speaker:- Okay. So I got a thousand
dollars loan. Yeah.
Speaker:I'm paying a hundred
dollars. Let's say my,
Speaker:my interest is $50 on that, you're saying?
Speaker:- So no. Like let's say you
have a thousand dollars loan.
Speaker:Yeah. A $5,000 loan and a
$10,000 credit card. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:So your a thousand dollars loan,
Speaker:you have a hundred
dollars payment on Yeah.
Speaker:Once that's paid down,
your a hundred dollars
Speaker:that you're used to already paying Yeah.
Speaker:Is gonna be added to
the $5,000 one. Right?
Speaker:So let's say on their $5,000, you're used
Speaker:to paying $200 a month.
Speaker:Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. Now
you're paying $300 a month
Speaker:to try to tackle that down. Okay.
Speaker:- So it snowball a lot of
- People, it's a snowball. Right?
Speaker:But it's uphill. If you try to
tackle the biggest one first,
Speaker:it's gonna take you the longest
Speaker:and you're gonna get discouraged.
Speaker:It's gonna be the hardest. Um,
Speaker:and so people are like, oh,
Speaker:I'm just gonna give up halfway through.
Speaker:And then you still have three
debts if you tackle the tiny
Speaker:guy first, it's rewarding.
Speaker:You're able to see, like,
I'm able to do this,
Speaker:and you're able to actually move faster.
Speaker:Right? Which is really cool.
Speaker:At the end of the day,
from start to finish,
Speaker:you're gonna spend the same
amount of time paying it off.
Speaker:If we did the math roughly
about the same amount of time,
Speaker:mentally, you're gonna be
on your own track a lot
Speaker:faster, which is really cool.
Speaker:And so being able to either
set up the behaviors like
Speaker:that help you realize what's
actually important to you, um,
Speaker:and then setting yourself
up for success, right?
Speaker:Like, if we think about,
if you're not responsible
Speaker:and you wanna be able
to know yourself, right?
Speaker:Like if we, if you did the
analogy of like, if you want
Speaker:to be on a new diet, but you're
gonna keep all the same food
Speaker:in the fridge, it's gonna be
really hard when you open up
Speaker:that fridge and you see like, you know,
Speaker:a bunch of stuff that you are
Speaker:- You that Christmas
person that sees all the
Speaker:sweetss and just throws 'em out? Yes. Like
Speaker:- Absolutely.
Speaker:Well, like all,
Speaker:all the ladies in my family like
Speaker:to get together and make
cookies. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:- So many cookies, so
Speaker:- Many cookies.
Speaker:And like, I'm like, I can't
even look at these things. Yeah.
Speaker:Like, I need to like
get rid of them. Right.
Speaker:And I'm like, oh, honey,
there's stale. Yeah.
Speaker:Like, they're in the garbage, right? Um,
Speaker:she's not watching this, but, uh, ,
Speaker:- She's probably too
known a long time ago.
Speaker:- It's true. Yeah. She knows.
Speaker:Um, but the same thing is true.
Speaker:You need to clear out the things
Speaker:and the behaviors that are
not making you successful.
Speaker:Right. And so, whether
that's closing those products
Speaker:or whether that's, um, you know,
Speaker:changing your behavior in
a different method in order
Speaker:for you to find success,
Speaker:taking out cash instead
of using your debit cards.
Speaker:Like those things are just so
important for you to Right.
Speaker:Change your mindset. Yeah.
Speaker:Even like on your phone, like
if you reorganize your apps
Speaker:because it's so easy for you
to just open up your phone,
Speaker:click on Instagram, click on whatever,
Speaker:and mindlessly scroll.
Speaker:If you make, even if you keep Instagram,
Speaker:but you make it harder to find the app,
Speaker:you'll think twice sometimes about
Speaker:- I don't have the apps on my phone.
Speaker:- Well, just in general,
like any apps that are
Speaker:- Distracting.
Speaker:Yeah. No, but I'm saying for
That's true. Right? Yeah.
Speaker:Because when I get rid of
them, it's like I don't,
Speaker:I don't spend time on my phone.
Speaker:Right. Right. Yeah. And so I actually,
Speaker:by making those behavior changes,
Speaker:I change my behavior totally. Right.
Speaker:- Weird to where that, where
Speaker:- I actually want to be and
how I wanna spend my time.
Speaker:Yep. Okay. I wanna move maybe
Speaker:to the opposite end of, uh, the spectrum.
Speaker:When we talk about
finances, we talk about,
Speaker:I wouldn't say the opposite
end of the spectrum, but,
Speaker:but let's talk about long-term planning.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay. We talk about debt.
Speaker:Um, the long-term idea,
it's a biblical idea.
Speaker:Like, like Proverbs 13 says
Speaker:that a righteous person
leaves an inheritance
Speaker:for his children's children.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Grandchildren.
So that's like, that's deep.
Speaker:Right? That is providing a legacy that is,
Speaker:that is financial health, right?
Speaker:That's flourishing, that's freedom.
Speaker:And so, um, a lot of people
either don't know how to plan
Speaker:for that, or they're
not even thinking that
Speaker:because they're just thinking
of the end of the month.
Speaker:And, and I understand that
there's a lot of pressure
Speaker:that people are facing right now.
Speaker:And so, um,
Speaker:however time, uh, is
Speaker:the key factor when it
comes to long-term planning.
Speaker:Yeah. So it is something that
you do have to think about.
Speaker:Right. And the best time to
do it was yesterday. Right.
Speaker:The second best time to start
thinking about that is today.
Speaker:Right? Yep. Taking action on that.
Speaker:I'm interested to hear your
perspective on the tension
Speaker:or the balance between
planning for the future
Speaker:and enjoying the moment.
Speaker:Right. You, you never know, uh, life
Speaker:and death are in the hands of the Lord.
Speaker:Right? And there are common graces
Speaker:that God has given everybody to enjoy.
Speaker:Whether that is a vacation
Speaker:or whether it is something for your home,
Speaker:or, you know, whether it is a nice meal,
Speaker:these aren't bad things, right?
Speaker:These are good things that
God has given us to enjoy.
Speaker:The problem, of course, is excess
Speaker:and doing these things right when
Speaker:you don't have the funds for 'em.
Speaker:Yeah. Um, so what would you
say to somebody who's trying
Speaker:to balance these two worlds?
Speaker:I, I, I'm a saver.
Speaker:I would prefer to negate the pleasures
Speaker:of the moment for the future.
Speaker:Or my wife's actually a little
bit more balanced than me.
Speaker:I would say. She's not the opposite of me,
Speaker:but she's a little bit
more balanced than me,
Speaker:where she would say,
can we should do this.
Speaker:Right. Not that we deserve it.
Speaker:We don't deserve a nice
vacation. I don't feel like that.
Speaker:Right. Did Jesus deserve a
nice vacation? I don't know.
Speaker:Anyway, but it's more like,
um, Hey, we should do this.
Speaker:Let's enjoy what God
has given us. Totally.
Speaker:Why wouldn't you? That almost feels wrong
Speaker:to not, you know, so there's
this balance. It's a double
Speaker:- Set edge Yeah.
Speaker:Of the sword. And so,
like a lot of people,
Speaker:what's frustrating is they
don't even know how to dream.
Speaker:They don't know how to,
um, set a goal long term.
Speaker:Like even think about
retirement, if anybody listening
Speaker:to this right now is like,
Speaker:what do you wanna do in retirement?
Speaker:If you actually have a
structured idea about
Speaker:what day-to-day life would
look like in retirement? I
Speaker:- Have no idea. Right?
Speaker:- Yeah. And so, I mean, that's a,
Speaker:- I'm just saving everybody
- Typically retires.
Speaker:Yeah. You know, like, if
you're able to live that long,
Speaker:what age do you wanna retire?
What are your hobbies?
Speaker:- Well, unless they don't think about it.
Speaker:Right. They can't retire if
they don't think about it.
Speaker:- Right. And they don't think
about it. But then people
Speaker:don't, in general,
think about their goals.
Speaker:Yeah. Right? And so people get
discouraged about even saving
Speaker:if they're not not saving for something.
Speaker:Right. And so whether it's a vehicle,
Speaker:whether it's a vacation,
retirement, being able
Speaker:to send your kids to
school, uh, give your,
Speaker:uh, kids like a wedding gift.
Speaker:Yeah. Uh, stuff like that, you
need to be really specific.
Speaker:So if I were to say, like,
start there, be really specific.
Speaker:Make a dream board if you want
to mm-hmm . About your goals.
Speaker:Doesn't matter the dollar amount.
Speaker:Just be very specific about
what goals would you wanna do
Speaker:with your money, and then work backwards.
Speaker:Mm-hmm . Right? So
like, I wanna retire by,
Speaker:let's say I'm 65 years old,
average retirement age.
Speaker:Um, you know, how do I make
sure I get there? Right?
Speaker:You gotta just work backwards.
Speaker:I wanna be able to give
my kids a wedding gift.
Speaker:My, my son is four months
old, so I have a lot
Speaker:of time to say, which is great.
Speaker:Um, or send them to school, right?
Speaker:And so, um, you, you just wanna make sure
Speaker:that you're very specific with that goal.
Speaker:So it, same thing if I said I
wanna send my kid to school,
Speaker:um, when he's 18 years old.
Speaker:Um, if I'm like, oh, he's
just gonna, he needs,
Speaker:he's gonna be a doctor one day.
Speaker:I need to save a lot more than,
Speaker:than if I'm just gonna
give him 10 grand mm-hmm .
Speaker:Right? In 18 years, I need
Speaker:to start saving like over a hundred grand.
Speaker:Right? And so being very
specific with your goals
Speaker:actually gives you a lot more
power to say what's workable,
Speaker:what's feasible, and
what are you able to do?
Speaker:And then humble yourself and
say, I'm not making enough,
Speaker:or I need to cut my expenses here
Speaker:to make that budget kind of work.
Speaker:Mm-hmm . Right? And so it
all kind of comes down to
Speaker:not being afraid to have that conversation
Speaker:with somebody at the
bank with your spouse.
Speaker:Um, as I say that too, the
other thing that I would say
Speaker:that people trip up on
Speaker:is the nu you'd be surprised
the number of people
Speaker:that don't have joint
accounts with their spouse.
Speaker:Mm. That everything's still
separate. Right? Right.
Speaker:Like, my wife pays this bill,
my husband pays that bill
Speaker:and my wife, the mortgage
comes out of her account.
Speaker:I just e transfer her
every two weeks. Yeah.
Speaker:Like, that's exhausting. Yeah. I agree.
Speaker:And you know, especially
as a Christian couple,
Speaker:if you're one flesh,
why isn't your account
Speaker:at least Yeah. One
Speaker:- Account, you're gonna have people who
Speaker:vehemently disagree with
that. But I'm on your side.
Speaker:- Absolutely. And so,
and that's my opinion.
Speaker:If you're truly as a
married couple trying to get
Speaker:to the same place financially
Speaker:and you're ashamed of
your financial history
Speaker:or you're ashamed about
your spending habits,
Speaker:there's nothing better
that you can do than just
Speaker:be on the same page
with your spouse. Right.
Speaker:- Transparent.
- And so even if those are baby steps
Speaker:where it's like, let's have
a joint savings account.
Speaker:Um, you want to get to a place
Speaker:where it's an open book to each other.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And so I know for myself
Speaker:that made a huge difference
on my responsibility
Speaker:of second guessing should
I buy something? Right?
Speaker:- 'cause it's ours, not
just mine because it's ours.
Speaker:- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's
not the money I made. Right.
Speaker:It's the money that's ours. Right.
Speaker:My income is now my wife's income. Right.
Speaker:And so, but even, even if
Speaker:that's already true, it's
a different mindset. Yeah.
Speaker:- Well I'd say, you know,
when it comes again pastorally
Speaker:and challenges in relationships,
Speaker:there are the usual suspects that, um,
Speaker:that cause problems among spouses.
Speaker:Right. Um, one is sex,
one is communication,
Speaker:but one big one often is money.
Speaker:Money. Yeah. It's hard. It's money. Yeah.
Speaker:- Thanks for inviting me here
to talk about it, . Great.
Speaker:- Okay. So thanks for your time. Yeah.
Speaker:I want you to say one more thing. Okay.
Speaker:There's people again watching
listening who, um, have fear
Speaker:and no hope about tomorrow
and the end of the month
Speaker:and next year, let alone 65
or what retirement looks like.
Speaker:What would you say to them,
how would you encourage them
Speaker:as a Christian man who also,
um, understands kind of
Speaker:what financial health looks like?
Speaker:What's, what's one or two
things that you just say just
Speaker:to encourage them today
Speaker:- With anything?
Speaker:Like even when you become
a new Christian, you,
Speaker:you wanna learn as much as you can about
Speaker:God and about the Bible.
Speaker:So what do you do? You start
reading about the Bible,
Speaker:you start reading about the Lord,
Speaker:and you put yourself in a situation
Speaker:where you're surrounded
by Christian people.
Speaker:Why isn't that true with money? Hmm.
Speaker:Why don't you want to
surround yourself with people
Speaker:that are financially successful?
Speaker:Go to the bank, talk to people, um,
Speaker:- And we're talking about success.
Speaker:You're not talking about
Speaker:billionaires and millions, you're what
Speaker:- You're talking about.
Speaker:No, but it's just people that are
Speaker:comfortable talking about money.
Speaker:Right? Yeah. Um, you
want to educate yourself.
Speaker:You want to truly be able
Speaker:to look up free financial
literacy courses.
Speaker:Mm-hmm. Whether that's
YouTube, hopefully not. Yeah.
Speaker:Um, but,
Speaker:but there's actual courses
that are offered at like the
Speaker:libraries set up by United Way
Speaker:or other things that are free
financial literacy courses
Speaker:that you can actually just say like,
Speaker:I'm now smarter on this topic. Right. Um,
Speaker:- That changed things for me. It's huge.
Speaker:- Yeah. And you know, like if
you're truly passionate about
Speaker:wanting to be more financially
free, set up parameters,
Speaker:have a strong budget, you
can't just walk away from this
Speaker:and say, I'm just gonna do it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm . Right?
Speaker:That's like saying, you don't know how
Speaker:to ride a bike now I'm just gonna do it.
Speaker:I'm just gonna hop on the bike. Right.
Speaker:Where why wouldn't you want somebody
Speaker:to hold those handlebars with you
Speaker:and make sure that you're taking
those pedals the right way?
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Yeah. And
you're going down the
Speaker:street at a right speed.
Speaker:Um, because if you just
try to jump into something,
Speaker:you're either going to your sink or swim.
Speaker:Right. And so I would say the
best thing you can do is try
Speaker:to educate yourself on financial literacy,
Speaker:Google financial literacy courses. Um,
Speaker:- Our church actually
has one coming up, right.
Speaker:Um, financial Peace University.
Speaker:I dunno if we call it that,
but it's based off that
Speaker:and it is great.
Speaker:- It's awesome. Great. I
hosted that for four years.
Speaker:Oh, did you hear? Yeah.
Oh, cool. It's great.
Speaker:- And, uh, we have one
coming up like right away.
Speaker:- I don't think I'm hosting
it. I wasn't invited to.
Speaker:You probably don't. Um Right.
But yeah, educate yourself.
Speaker:Right. Get comfortable with it.
Speaker:The more you talk about
money in a safe environment,
Speaker:the less scary it becomes.
Speaker:Right. The more aware
you are about your own
Speaker:money and how it comes in and out.
Speaker:Yeah. The less intimidating and
less shameful it's gonna be.
Speaker:- And it becomes fun. Right. Right.
Speaker:When you start saying,
oh, okay, this is what,
Speaker:what greater health looks
like, I can do this.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. And when you
apply some discipline,
Speaker:when you apply a prayerful
heart towards this area of,
Speaker:of your life, it actually becomes fun.
Speaker:Yeah. To see, just like
when you're in the gym
Speaker:and all of a sudden you're
like, Ooh, I have an ab.
Speaker:Right. I never thought I
had an AB before. Right.
Speaker:When you start to see
a little bit of that,
Speaker:you're just kinda like, I can do
Speaker:this. Yeah. And it actually don't
Speaker:- Be the person taking
selfies in the band mirror.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:- And that speaking of
snowball, that snowballs. Right.
Speaker:Totally. Where you're like, I can do this.
Speaker:Oh, what's my next goal? Right.
Speaker:But just that, that first
step can be so, so tough
Speaker:- And like, you know, I grew up
Speaker:as a kid ho hoarding my loonies.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. Because I didn't
Speaker:know what was happening with them.
Speaker:And now I'm really confident
with where I'm at today,
Speaker:what money's coming in and going out
Speaker:and you know, like right
now I'm pat leave, I've,
Speaker:I've been off with my
newborn four month old.
Speaker:Yeah. Um, and, uh, we haven't really had
Speaker:to worry at all, right.
Speaker:Like, because we had everything
in place for me to be off so
Speaker:that we could spend time with family.
Speaker:- So that to me looks like
financial health. Yeah.
Speaker:Right, right. Not millionaire, you know,
Speaker:not driving around enough.
Speaker:No, not at all. Right. But,
Speaker:but there's financial health there, right.
Speaker:Where there's, there's
some freedom. Yeah. Right.
Speaker:You're not a slave to, to that
number in your bank account
Speaker:or to that bill coming up.
Speaker:And so, yeah.
Speaker:Well, my hope is that, you know,
Speaker:as you're watching this today, uh,
Speaker:that you can move from a
place of fear with your money
Speaker:to a place of hope.
Speaker:Um, really God does want
you to move forward.
Speaker:He's with you in this, your
church is with you in this.
Speaker:So I would encourage you
take that next step, whatever
Speaker:that looks like, whether
that is talking to somebody,
Speaker:whether that's creating a budget, whether
Speaker:that's just coming in and receiving prayer
Speaker:with your small group
leader, or maybe a pastor
Speaker:or just talking to someone with some help.
Speaker:We'd love to be able to help
you take that next step.
Speaker:But we believe in you. We
think that you can do this.
Speaker:And, uh, thank you so much for watching.
