Essential Tools

Affordability Index  |   Capital Fund  |   GPS Envelope Budgeting System   |   Financial Planning

Money Management is lifestyle management--our choices decide how much we spend. Where we live, cars we drive, clothes we wear, are decisions that affect how much we spend. Trying to manage money without total focus on me is like trying to steer a stationary vehicle to an unspecified destination. With the right attitude to money, these essential tools: Affordability Index, Capital Fund, GPS Envelope Budgeting System, Financial Calculators, will help you choose wisely, and money stress will evaporate. They will help you live a debt free lifestyle, and if in debt, help you get out of debt. Try them; they will help you handle your debt. They will provide a solid foundation to handle God's money for His glory, as you prepare goals, plans, spending plans, replace credit card reliance, and more.

To use these essential tools effectively, you do not need special gifts, skills, or aptitudes, merely a willing heart to listen to Jesus' tender voice. These essential tools do not replace reliance on God, rather, they will help you to focus your prayers on Him. In everything, Jesus must be your guide, not us, or other humans.

Let's look quickly at each essential tool.

Today, before spending, folks do not think about affordability. Merchants discourage us from thinking about affordability by disguising products' prices and terms so you think of today's payment's only. The Affordability Index is an essential tool to help decide, as the name implies, if you can afford a specific item. Use it before committing to buying goods or services.

The Capital Fund is the credit card alternative; it is your capital budget that allows you to save to buy big ticket items. Use diligently, it will allow you to plan non routine purchases and steer you away from debt.

The GPS Envelope Budgeting System is your main navigational aid. The system allows you to spend cash available in envelopes and, or track spending on each category, manually on a worksheet. Alternatively, you could choose to transfer worksheet data to a spreadsheet by clicking the "Save to Spreadsheet File" button at the foot of the worksheet form. Your budget shows your best estimate of resources - time, talents and money - you will need during a specific future period to achieve specific goals. It includes your spending plan during a specific period, which, like a Global Positioning System, is your guide to prevent you from getting lost.

The Financial Calculators and FAQ will help you answer specific questions such as: When will I repay my debt? How much do I need to save today to reach my savings goal? How might my finances look in a few years? As well, this section includes several frequently asked questions.

Perhaps the most underestimated financial tool is a Financial Plan. This final section is invaluable in your tool kit to look at your financial position and examine alternatives to reach specific goals. It contains worksheets to assist your review of goals, plans, and spending plans. It aids your calculations of Material Worth, and Cash Flow up to five years ahead. You provide inputs to these statements, the worksheet merely adds these inputs.

If you have difficulty using these tools, you will bless us if you contact us for clarification. We do this for God's glory, not for money! As well, if you need to look at them in greater details, or if you would like more tools, tips and techniques, Michel's latest book, The New Managing God's Money-The Basics is a useful reference book with this information and more. Meantime, if you are in debt, feel free to contact us to encourage and walk with you through the challenging get-out-of-debt process. Grace and peace to you, in Jesus' Name!