Talks
Quotes
Two can live as cheap as one but only half as long. – Kurt Johnson
If Walmart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet?
Wanting less is easier than having more.
You can never get enough of what you don’t need because what you don’t need will never satisfy you – Mary Ellen Edmunds
Anonymous:
Money will buy a bed but not sleep; books but not brains; food but not appetite; finery but not beauty; a house but not a home; medicine but not health; luxuries but not culture; amusements but not happiness; religion but not salvation; a passport to everywhere but heaven. – The Voice in the Wilderness
The reason most of us don’t live within our income is because we don’t consider that living.
The secret of financial success is to spend what you have left after saving, instead of saving what is left after spending.
Dave Ramsey’s seven baby steps
1. Put $1,000 in an emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt with a debt snowball
3. Establish a 3-6 months living expenses account
4. Invest 15% of income into Roth IRA and Pretax Retirement plans
5. College funding
6. Pay off your home early
7. Build wealth and give
BUDGET – The purpose of a budget is not necessarily to spend less money. It is simply switching from unconscious spending on things we don’t really want, to conscious spending on things we do. – Shannon Williams
We have been told to have a year supply of food and no debt. Most of us have a year supply of debt and no food. If you want to know if you are living within your means, Ask yourself “Can I pay cash for the things I buy?” – (Perry Hawker Sacrament Mtg. November 2010)
A man was very attached to his money. He didn’t believe that you “couldn’t take it with you.” He asked that when he died, he would be lying on the bottom bunk and all of his money placed on the top bunk so that when his spirit ascended to heaven, he could take the money with him. After he died, the money remained and his wife said, “I told him he should put it under the bed!”
(Perry Hawker Sacrament Mtg. November 2010)
Very simple advice regarding finances
1. Buy only what you need
2. Buy it at the lowest price possible
3. Take good care of it so you don’t have to repair or replace it.
Ideas to save money:
Don’t carry cash – you’ll be tempted to spend it.
Don’t go to the store any more than you absolutely have to.
Plan menus in advance – eat more inexpensively.
Use credit cards with the best incentives (if you can pay it off each month.)
Collect coupons
Trade babysitting/barter
Talk to financial consultant
Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money. – Anonymous
Morris Mandel:
Four magic words, we can’t afford it, should be a part of every child’s education. A child who has never heard those words – or also has never been forced to abide by their meaning – has surely been cheated by his parents. As exercise strengthens the body, frugality strengthens the spirit. Without its occasional discipline, character suffers. – The Jewish Press
True affluence is not needing anything – Gary Snyder, Turtle Island (New Direction)
One source states that 89% of all divorces are somehow involved in financial problems at home.
Running into debt doesn’t bother me; it’s running into my creditors that’s so upsetting. – Gus Edson
Money is a blessing from heaven or a ticket to hell. Money itself is neutral; we make it either positive or negative.
Materialism – It’s not how much money you have but how you feel about the money you have that determines happiness
Thou shalt have no other God’s before me.
A man got permission to bring a suitcase to heaven. Saint Peter asked, “Can I see what’s in it?” Inside he found gold bars. Peter asked. “Why would you bring pavement?
Enjoy what you have, give gratitude for blessings, and share with others.
How attached are you to your things? God doesn’t care how much you have – that is absolutely irrelevant. But are you willing to give it up at the drop of a hat for the law of consecration? Tithing and fast offerings are a good indication.
What does God care about?
1. Tithing – because it’s a commandment. Can’t be exalted without it.
2. Fast offerings, humanitarian aid – willingness to give.
3. Priorities – did you neglect your family to earn the money?
4. Did you earn it honestly?
5. Do you have pride or envy because of being rich or poor?
The following quotes are from First Comes Love by Brinely/Ogletree:
[Debt] never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; …it is never laid off work; …it buys no food; it wears no clothes; it is unhoused; …it has neither weddings nor births nor deaths; it has no love, no sympathy; it is as hard and soulless as a granite cliff. Once in debt, [it] is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it. ..and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you {J. Rueben Clark, in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103).
[W]e encourage, if necessary, plastic surgery for both husband and wife. This is a very painless operation, and it may give you more self-esteem than a new nose job or a tummy tuck. Just cut up your credit cards. Unless you are prepared to use those cards under the strictest of conditions and restraints, you should not use them at all-at least not at 18 percent or 21 percent or 24 percent interest. No convenience known to modern man has so jeopardized the financial stability of a family–especially young struggling families-as has the ubiquitous credit card {Jeffrey R. Holland, However Long and Hard the Road [1985], 106).
You shouldn’t expect, nor do you need to begin your life together with all of the amenities your parents enjoyed. You can wait for the entertainment center and a nice car. Men, don’t mortgage the farm to buy an engagement and wedding ring. Be simple but elegant in your choice of wedding rings and first living arrangements.
Home Storage Temporal preparation for marriage includes knowing how to produce and prepare food, and food storage basics. Although you may think that such an idea is absurd at this point in your lives, consider the following example. A young couple who was engaged to be married made a frugal decision. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on expensive dates, they decided to keep their dates rather inexpensive. Then, they took the money they had saved each week and bought food items to store. By the time they married they had an entire year’s supply of food, which was stored in their extra bedroom. All they really had to buy was milk and produce. The use of their food storage allowed them to continue their schooling without getting into debt or taking on extra jobs. (See Yorgason, Baker, & Burr, From Two to One [1981],26) First Comes Love – Brinely pg 174-176
Prophets have warned us that the acquisition of wealth could become a hindrance to our spiritual growth. Specifically, Brigham Young declared: “The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear………is that they cannot stand wealth (in James S. Brown, Life of a Pioneer (1900), 122-23).
As Latter-day Saints, we have unique expenditures that demand good management practices. After you pay the Lord, pay yourself. Besides the primary contributions to the Church, such as tithing and fast offerings, our lifestyle requires additional income. You may be blessed with a few more children than your neighbors, which will necessitate a slightly larger home, a larger vehicle perhaps, and more funds for music lessons, athletics, and college. You need to anticipate future expenses to prepare for emergencies. We also have things like missions and food storage that take much of our income.
Exercise self-control. One of the most common mistakes young couples make is overspending. Often, newly married couples want to furnish their apartments with all of the “gadgets” their parents have-computers, big screen TVs, Palm Pilots, DVDs, CD players, new cars and appliances. As instructors of college-age students, we are always amazed at what kinds of cars our students drive. Some wheel around in vehicles costing $30,000 or more. Perhaps parents are providing these vehicles for their college-age children (which could be another book altogether). If these students are in debt for these vehicles, it could become a financial albatross around their necks. Young couples should recognize that it would be unwise to think that they can maintain the same spending patterns and lifestyles to which they were accustomed as part of their parent’s family. Married couples manifest a level of maturity when they consider the needs of their spouse and family members before their own. (First Comes Love – Brinley/Ogletree pg 176-180)
Avoid debt. It is rather easy to get into debt these days. A multitude of credit card applications arrive in the mailbox almost daily. Everywhere you go, whether an appliance store or lumber yard, institutions are anxious to lend you money–especially at 19 to 21 percent interest (What this means is that if you only pay the minimum amount due on your bill, it would take you thirty to forty years to complete the pay-off schedule. That is exactly what the credit company wants!) Avoid using credit cards for purchasing consumer items such as groceries and clothing. We know that you may not be able to avoid debt to purchase a home, a car, or education. But, aside from those essential expenses, avoid debt when you can. (First Comes Love – Brinley/Ogletree pg 176-180)
Boy: “Darling, if we get married will you be able to live on my income?” Girl: “Of course I will, Darling. But what will you live on?”
IRS: We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got
Son overspent his money at college. Texted home “No mon. No fun. Your son.” Father texted back, “So sad. Too bad. Your dad.”
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