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"Each week the TBC bulletin includes a money saving tip to help people find creative ways to increase their giving to the church. The following is an archive of these tips. |
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Consider the opportunity cost involved with the purchase. When you buy something, a product or service, that transaction costs you not only the money you spend but also the opportunity that you had to do something else with that money. The moment you spend money, it's gone. If you spend $1000 on a hi-definition television, that's $1000 you cannot put into savings or retirement. If you spend $200 in a month eating out, that's $200 you don't have to put toward clothes, utilities, or your child's college fund. Of course, there is nothing wrong with an HDTV or eating out, both are amoral -- they're neither good nor bad. But a wise person understands that money is finite -- you will only have so much of it and no more, so you simply cannot do with it everything you may want. Prayerfully consider the opportunities you have with the money God has entrusted to you, define your priorities, and then make your spending decisions with purpose and care. |
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"Godliness with contentment is great gain." 1 Timothy 6:6. No amount of stuff is going to equal contentment or fulfillment. Period. Dave Ramsey likes to say, "if you eat enough lobster it tastes like soap." I love that saying. What he means is no matter how great the stuff we want may be, the simple truth is it will never be enough to provide the happiness we crave. People often confuse 'fun' with 'happiness.' Money can buy fun. A new car is fun. A vacation to Disney World is fun. Money cannot, however, by happiness. As believers we know that such joy can only come from the life-changing salvation and personal relationship offered to each of us by our Lord Jesus. Also, don't confuse your 'wants' with 'needs.' Practical needs are food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and utilities. Buying a nicer car when you're in debt and have no emergency fund won't increase the joy in your life -- quite the opposite, in fact. When you're free of debt and have 3-6 months worth of expenses in the bank or a money market account then that nicer car is far more likely to actually be a blessing to you. That's the time to upgrade. So before making a purchase over, say, $300, honestly ask yourself, "am I trying to meet a need that stuff really can't fulfill?" |
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Been to a library lately? Do you like to read, watch movies, or listen to music? Instead of buying books and CD's/MP3 downloads or buying or renting movies, why not check all these things out from a library instead? Our own TBC library has over 7000 books, 700 DVD's, and 500 CD's to choose from. Local city libraries greatly expand your choices, and its all free! Many local libraries include magazines as well, so by reading magazines at the library you can save yourself the subscription fee. Depending on your reading, viewing and listening habits, libraries could save you $5 - $50 a month, perhaps more. For the sake of math let's make the average $25. By designating this to debt retirement the match brings the total contribution to $50. If 50 people do this the monthly gift comes to $2500. If 100 do it, that's $5000 toward eliminating our debt. It all adds up.... If you have a financial tip you'd like to share with the TBC family, please email it to me at r7fm@tx.rr.com.
Press On, Joel Cameron |
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Where is your treasure? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt 6:21 (NET) Jesus made this statement while teaching people about how to handle the resources God had entrusted to them. A practical example of what this means is if I want to see where my heart is, I need to look no further than what I spend my money on. The same is true of all people. Where is your heart? We all know what the ‘right’ answer is, but what, really, is the honest answer? Prayerfully consider the following questions: 1) Where is your heart? What do you really care deeply about? 2) Is this evidenced by how you spend your money? 3) If not, what changes do you need to make be a better manager of God’s resources? Be encouraged, and always remember, God doesn’t scold or brow beat you when you turn to Him. He loves you – He’s crazy about you!! And He absolutely loves it when you, his child, spend time with Him and value His council. If you have any financial tips or ideas that you wish to share with the TBC family, please email them to me at r7fm@tx.rr.com. Press on, Joel Cameron |
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Water please (perhaps with lemon?) One of the largest profit centers for most every restaurant is the sale of soft drinks. A glass of Coke, which costs them pennies in syrup and soda water, sells regularly for $1.50 to $2.00 a glass. While there is nothing wrong with a company selling its products, this is a case where you really aren’t getting much for your money. Instead of ordering a soft drink, why not try, for the next month, getting water instead? Water is free pretty much everywhere you go, so not only will you save on empty calories, but you’ll also save real cash! If you average a savings of $1.50 each time you order water instead of a soft drink, and you do this on average 3 times a week you will save $4.50 per week / $18.00 per month. By designating this amount to TBC's debt retirement it’ll be matched, bringing your total contribution to $36.00. If 100 participated that’d be $3600.00 toward the balance owed on our building. By doing this 4 times a week instead of 3 times a week that total jumps to $4800.00. Food for thought…… If you have any financial tips you’d like to share with the TBC family you can email them to me at r7fm@tx.rr.com. Press on, Joel Cameron “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 |
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Let’s do lunch! When you eat out this month, consider choosing less expensive restaurants. Instead of a decent ‘sit-down’ restaurant like Chili’s, TGI Friday’s or even Denny’s, going instead to Wendy’s, Subway, or Taco Bell can save you $5-$10 per meal. Let’s say you decided to do this 3 times per week for only one month – at an average of just $5 in savings per meal you’d save $60.00. If you give that as a designated gift to TBC’s debt retirement the matching gift will bring the total contribution to $120.00 (that’s just for one person). If 50 folks do this we’d pay our debt down by $6000.00 in one month! If 100 did it, it’d be $12,000.00! In a single month! Remember, in order to get the match you need to mark your gift for ‘debt retirement.’ If you have a money saving tip that you’d like to share with the TBC family, please send it to me at r7fm@tx.rr.com. Press on, Joel Cameron |
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Did you have your Starbucks this morning? Welcome to the first installment of a weekly blurb in the TBC bulletin each week which will discuss simple, money-saving tips, and challenge you to 1) implement tips that apply to your life and habits for a month (we can pretty much do anything for a month), 2) keep track of the money you save by doing so, and 3) give that amount over and above your regular giving as designated funds to the debt retirement campaign. A fundamental part of our vision here at TBC is to have our facility completely paid off by the end of fiscal year 2011, so we will be financially free to move into additional ministries as God leads. As of this week we still owe almost $1.3 million on our building. We, the TBC family, can help dramatically lower that principal by simply altering slightly our daily and weekly spending habits, and here’s where it gets fun: any funds designated to ‘debt retirement’ are matched by an anonymous donor. That means each dollar you give is now worth two! So be sure to mark your gifts for ‘debt retirement.’ So, what does this have to do with Starbucks? I know most people enjoy Starbucks, quite often; in fact, my wife, Carolyn, loves it! I personally don’t drink coffee, but I’ve got more than enough friends who stop for a cup of Starbucks coffee and a $3 muffin every morning! According to company data the average Starbucks drink purchase is $3.80 (man, am I in the wrong business!). By averaging one fewer Starbucks purchase per week, you’d save $15.20 per month. Doesn’t sound like much ~~ does it? Keep reading…. By designating this savings to TBC’s ‘debt retirement,’ this amount will be matched bringing your total contribution to $30.40. If just 100 people do this for one month (and we average around 320 folks in service each week, so this isn’t an unrealistic expectation) the increased giving to our debt retirement in one month would be $3,040. If the number of folks doing this is 150, the total additional Debt Retirement giving for that month jumps to $4560 – in just one month – from just one cup of Starbucks per week! Amazing, no? That’s just from being mildly conservative on coffee purchases. What if you included that $3 muffin in this equation as well? If you have a money saving tip or your own that you’d like to share with the TBC family, please send it to me at r7fm@tx.rr.com, and I’ll include it in future bulletins. Press on, Joel Cameron “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 |
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