Making Sense Of Saving

Discipline yourself through the PAIN (Hebrew 12:11)

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening - it's painful! But afterward, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

When a seed is buried in the grown, it first has to die before it can germinate, then it has to grow, for it to grow, it has to be cared for, fertilized, pruned and given the best care, so that after so many weeks, days, months or years, its purpose for planting is eventually realized, is it electricity poles, furniture, etc that you want, it will take patience and courage to wait, while you take care of it. Your faith and desire to cut will be tested, but if you wait a little longer, you end up appreciating because you are looking more at the END result (Future) than at the satisfaction of the moment.

I have had time to listen to people especially when we start talking about money, money touches everyone's heart. Personally, I have had to go through and continue to learn about money, I wish I learned somethings earlier but you can never have it all. The conversation normally stems from how money is not enough, how the economy is biting and prices of things are high, people keep talking about how they are paid little and that they aren't able to save since most of it is expended - we all are victims in one way or the other but there is a way around these things, they say it's not possible to budget with small money, even those who have a lot don't budget because they believe they have an endless flow, yet such money can be put to develop and transform the society, economy, people, etc.

You know our actual wealth isn't in money only, there is much more to that, we know very well money can't make us rich, we know that we have to provide goods and services to attain wealth and I also know from what the bible teaches me, its God who makes me rich and he has given me the tools that pertain to life and godliness. Other conversations I listen to as well stem from those who talk about investing money, and in such stories you hear about their failures, bad investment decisions and how careful people are, you also hear of how people have won with money and are making the right decisions in different ventures. It is important to humble yourself to learn, indeed those who are humble are exonerated.

I want to focus on SAVING, I believe many times when people hear of this, they just give up before they even start or try, you know what, I was like that before I started appreciating what this simple tool can do, its hard, takes a lot of discipline, sacrifice, delaying gratification and the willingness to come out of debt and be financially free and have peace at that. People have created a notion around them that this can't be done but the amazing thing is that there are people doing it and there is a lot of success in this area.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "If you will be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting it". This basically tells me that we have to work at it. You know you can choose to ignore such a message but if you put your mind to the truth and power behind such a topic, then liberation has already started in your mind. Remember as a man thinks so is he, if we think of saving then we shall save, if we don't think of saving then we shall not save. Dave Ramsey, Americas trusted voice on Financial matters said this,

"Successful folks don’t win at life because they have a magic pill or top-secret information. They win at life because they work at it for years."

Let us look at some of these reasons why people don't save. In light of some of the reasons, I want you to have this scripture in mind

Proverbs 21:20 (NLT) The WISE have WEALTH and LUXURY but FOOLS spend whatever they get (Each time I have read this, it puts me back to the drawing board)

let's see the reasons

I can't afford to Save
I can always save later
It's too complicated
I just need to get 'this' out of the way
I am waiting for less market volatility
It's impossible to get ahead
I'm afraid to face my financial fears
I'm too busy
It's too late
I'm too OLD
I just can't do it and many more excuses

There are many more reasons, but if you see all this, it really gets down to attitude, we need to change our attitude towards this concept of saving, I have come to realize it is very biblical

See what is written in Proverbs 6:6 (NLT) Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise. And let's see further what Ants do Proverbs 6:7 Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, 8 they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter 9 But you, lazybones how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?

Now to me, sleep means a state of inactivity, a state of no awareness or to be spiritually dead or suspended from something. If you haven't woken up, maybe this is the time, God told Joseph about the famine that would last 7 years and also about the 7 years of abundance, what he did in the year of abundance enabled him to serve not only Egypt but other nations and his own family. There is a serious lesson in this story, what do we do when we are making money? we all need to take advantage and do the right thing in such periods because its true seasons come and go, they do change but if someone is prepared they can be able to manage the changing seasons. Read Genesis 47:13-27 and look at the action he took in verse

26 Joseph then issued a decree still in effect in the land of Egypt, that Pharaoh should receive one-fifth of all the crops grown on his land. Only the land belonging to the priests was not given to Pharaoh.

Here are a few things you can do to get you going and started on the saving journey.

From a personal point of view, I believe if you can learn the art of saving, then learning the art of investments becomes interesting because you get to appreciate that hard-earned money that has been saved for a goal should not just be squandered, you make calculated steps, even Jesus said that before you build a house, you must calculate the cost, so it is wise to know how to put money aside.

As a Christian, you know very well that everything we own is for God, even the money in our hands, so give to God first (10% or more), then pay yourself, then invest and budget for other things.

I have learned that the first thing to do with money is to save it first and not spend then save later, after saving it makes you appreciate the importance of budgeting (telling your money where to go, this is how Dave Ramsey puts it, "You have got to tell your money what to do or it will leave you").

First of all, start by changing your mindset and this means feeding yourself with literature about saving, the bible has wonderful scriptures and we all know the bible talks a lot about money,
Buy books of renowned men and women who have talked about money extensively, the total money makeover by Dave Ramsey, Thou shall prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Money won't make you rich by Pr Sunday Adelaja, Make sense of money by James Abola to mention but a few.
Research online there people who are blogging a lot about how to win with money and read those articles. listen to success stories like this one see video below

There are many stories out there and in Uganda as well. I encourage you to buy the book Make Sense Of Your Money by James Abola, it's simple, precise, and clear on what to do.
This story could get you going or started as well, see link http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2013/05/09/how-my-mom-inspired-me-during-a-savings-slump/
While still young and energetic, I encourage you to start early, have a goal in mind, be visionary and take advantage of one the best words in financial literacy that is called COMPOUND INTEREST (Interest upon interest). On a personal note, I have seen that work and having started not so early, my wife and I are already seeing the benefits, you can't believe it until you start seeing your dividends.

However know what to do with the money, make it work for you, make more of it by investing in what you know, is clear and you understand. You can also invest in UNIT TRUST FUNDS like UAP Financial Services, ICEA, StanLib, you can start with as low as 100,000 UGX see this link for more information about UNIT TRUST FUNDS http://www.monitor.co.ug/Business/Prosper/Grow-your-savings-using-unit-trust-funds/688616-3929192-57g2qyz/index.html take advantage.

If you feel like you can't take that money to your savings account, then talk with your bank so that a standing order of a particular amount is created, and on a particular date that money is deducted into your savings account. Don't have excuses that you can't save, because you need the savings to enable you to invest that is if you going to build your own capital base.

If you manage to start self governing yourself, it pushes you to start planning for your children whether you have or don't have and Insurance has come in with good packages to help many people out there. This also puts you in a place to be able to give back to the work of God, family, community, church etc

To find out more about COMPOUND INTEREST check out this article on the Dave Ramsey blog https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/how-teens-can-become-millionaires.

We shall continue talking about this, I believe in financial freedom, financial peace, financial independence, God who owns everything. He given has the wisdom to create wealth, the question is Can we put that wisdom to Task, all the answers are found in the bible and I am on a journey of discovery as I read from it and see stories of day to day successful people.