Budgeting: do you love it or hate it? In my experience, people tend to fall on one side or the other; very few people are indifferent to budgeting. Regardless of your perspective, I want to propose an approach that invites God into your finances and challenges you to align your budget with your beliefs. No matter what your income level is, this is possible. It will require surrender, humility, and trust.

Give     Save     Spend

Let’s divide your budget into three categories: Give, Save, & Spend. If you think about it, all of your expenses can be divided into these categories.  Before we look at numbers, let’s take a moment to think about percentages: what are your ideal percentages for each of these areas? What percentages is God asking you to put toward each area?

Give: In the Old Testament, the Israelites are asked to tithe: to give the first 10% back to God. I want to challenge you to start giving at least 10%, but maybe God is asking you to give even more. Take this to prayer and make it a priority. “Give” is listed first because it is the most important category. When we give, we are responding to God’s call to serve his kingdom and help those around us. I also would challenge you to expand your view of giving. Yes, giving includes charities, but it could also include giving gifts to friends, buying a family member coffee, or surprising someone with a handwritten card. Think through this and pray about what percent God is asking you to give and how he is asking you to give. Mother Teresa once said, “in the West there is a loneliness, which I call the leprosy of the West. In many ways, it is worse than our poor in Calcutta.” Maybe on top of giving to charities, God is asking you to fight this “leprosy of the West” with intentional gifts to those in your life. These gifts absolutely fit in the Give category of your budget.

Save: Next, you should pay yourself. Saving includes money that goes into retirement plans, saving accounts, investment accounts, and more. It is important to pay yourself because God asks you to care for yourself and others in your care. Having money set aside for emergencies, spontaneous opportunities, and the future alleviates stress and increases confidence. God blesses you with your salary month to month and gives you the responsibility to use these resources responsibly. When you invest, you take saving one step further and are using the money God has given you to make more money, just like the wise servants in the parable of the talents. When you save and invest, it may be easier to say “yes” to the callings he puts on your heart. God provides for these missions in many ways, but he could be providing for them before you even know what they are. Typically, we encourage people to save at least 15-20%. What percentage is on your heart to save per month? What percentage is God asking of you?

Spend: What is left? Around 70%? This is the money you have left to spend each month. This money will hopefully cover your necessary and discretionary expenses. Once you start looking at numbers, you will see whether this is possible or not. You then might have to take your budget to prayer and say “ok, God, where am I wrong or where are you asking me to trust you more? Are going to provide for these things even if I don’t see how right now?” You need to balance prudence with faith. God asks you to foster both virtues.

Now that you have your ideals written down, it is time to crunch some numbers. I know it is often not fun, but knowledge is power, and taking the time to figure out your finances is well worth it, I promise! To make this easy, take a look at the amount of money that comes into your bank account each month. You could make it more complicated and factor in taxes (I’m happy to do this with you if you want), but unless you usually owe taxes, using your monthly take-home will work. Whatever that incoming money totals, take that number and multiply it by your ideal percentages. How does it look? Are those numbers you can work with?

Do you know how much you typically spend in each category?

You may not. Unless you use budgeting software or keep a close eye on your monthly expenses, you probably do not know how much is going to each category. That’s ok. Let’s dive in. Start by adding up or estimating the amount you give each month. Then add up how much you save. Finally, add these two together and subtract them from your monthly take-home total (send me an email if you want an Excel spreadsheet to help you do this). How close are you to your ideals? Do you need to rework your budget? Do you need to reconsider your percentages? What is God asking of you?

Are you far from your ideals?

Now that you have taken the time to really digest where you want to be and where you are at, don’t be too hard on yourself if you are far from your ideals. Now you know: this is a huge step! We cannot change what we do not understand. I encourage you to make a plan and set concrete goals to try to reach your ideals within the next six months or a year. Maybe align these goals with a special feast day to honor God with the new budget you have made with him. It will take time to adjust, but it will be worth it. There are plenty of ways to rework your budget to hit your goals. Maybe it is only eating out when you are together as a family, so you do not spend as much. Maybe you need to find some charities you really love so they motivate you to give more. Maybe you need to understand more about compounding and how your money can make you more money, so you want to save and invest every month. Whatever it is for you, make concrete goals and, as I have said before, find accountability. We are all more successful with someone else helping us along the way.

I know this might be a lot of work, but you are all called to be stewards of what God gives you. You cannot be a good steward if you do not know where your money is going. As you reflect on this exercise, what else might God be calling you to do with your money? How can you align your budget with what he is asking of you? What are the next steps he wants you to take with your finances?