JohnYouell.com

Retire The Fire Fighter In You

One day I was talking with my wife who was bringing up some future planning issues that we need to look at for our family and ministry commitments.  Sometimes she seemed to just come at me with stuff out of the blue sky and I felt like I need to take action on those items right away because they were coming from her.  (BTW, wise husbands should do this).  Then as we were laughing at ourselves one day when we realized how we seem to be running at break-neck speed with very little time for family planning sessions it dawned on us that we were fire fighters.

A fire fighter runs from one fire to another.  When there is no fire, they are making chili at the station (which I hear is amazing!!!!).  Truth is that they are waiting around for the next fire or emergency to spring them into action.  It's not like they can schedule a 3 alarm fire at 11:00, then rescue a cat at 12:30 followed by another 2 alarm fire at 3:00.  The fire or emergency springs them into action.

Have you every thought about your life in this way?  Does it seem like you move from one issue to the next based on it's emergency at the moment?  Do you progress through your day with little fore planning and thus do not have a sense of purpose to your day?  If you are like us then join us in retiring the fire fighter in you.

Take control of your day and your calendar.  Stop letting life happen to you and determine that you are going to happen to life.  Here are some easy action steps you can take to retire the fire fighter in you.

1.  Have a regular 30 minute meeting together.  

Before the meeting, make a list if items you would like to discuss and give them to each other 30 minutes prior to the meeting.  This allows both parties to think through the topics to be discussed.

2.  Look at your calendar 6 weeks in advance. 

Stop letting this pile up.  In our modern day we are all so busy. It's very easy to over lap each other.  Whether it's nail appointments, hair cuts, workout schedules, etc.  Plan a head so that everyone is on the same page.

3.  Determine what the "win" looks like for you then celebrate every time you win. 

That "win" maybe the lack of frustration in the home because of the planning.  That win may be the working together of people to make things work better.  Whatever the win looks like for you, celebrate it every time it works!

4.  Remember you are on the same team.

It is often necessary to remind each other that you are on the same team.  Do so when you feel the stress of the business of life trying to bring you down.  Team mates support each other and lift each other up.  You can not do all you want to do on your own.  You need others to help you along the way.  Make sure that as a couple, you are helping each other.  No one should cheer your partner on more or better than you.

Steps to Stop Financial Bleeding

 
This past weekend at Fellowship Church we talked about some simple steps to help us stop the bleeding of our finances.  Nothing here is rocket science.  It's just plain old common sense - you know that stuff that we never pay any mind too but always seems to work when we need it.  Here is a summary of some steps you can take to put more money in your bank account at the end of the month that doesn't require getting a second job.

1.  CLEAN THE WOUND - TAKE AN ACCOUNT

The first thing you do when you discover a wound that is bleeding is you clean it.  You do this to stop any infection that may be trying to set in.  This action also allows for the wound to heal without any foreign germs or objects that could hamper the healing process.

In the same way, if you are going to stop the bleeding of your finances, you have to start by taking an account of where your money is going.  This means writing down on paper all of you income and all of your expenses.  Begin taking account for every dollar you spend.  Keep your receipts - all of them - and then group them after a month into corresponding piles - Food, Eating Out, Auto, Fuel, Gas, Electric, etc.

For best results, use a program like Quicken or MS Money.  These can link to your bank account via the internet and download your transactions automatically. You then go through the process of assigning categories to all of your expenses. 

This action shows you how much money you are spending in a specific area.  Most people who don't do this have little to no idea where their money is going - thus the bleeding effect is in full swing.

2.  DETERMINE TREATMENT - SET UP A BUDGET

Once a wound is cleaned, treatment begins in order to help the body heal itself.  This is one of the miracles of the human body - it's ability to heal itself.  But that is not the case with our finances.  Since our finances have no mind of their own the finances themselves are not the real problem.  It's those whose spend the money and make decisions about the money that have to be helped.

A budget is the single most effective way of helping a person change their spending habits.  A budget is simply where we get to tell our money where it is going to go before it can tell us where it's going to go.  The idea here is to take the information from the Account step and plug in the totals into a budget.  Several ideas need to come into play here. 

First, you should shoot to bring all your back bills current.  Slash extra spending where you can apply those funds to the bills you are behind in.  Second, don't jump on the credit cards until you are current in all your bills.  Third, create a debt snowball where you list your debts in order from smallest to largest with their assigned minimum monthly statements.  Take some of the funds you used to bring all bills current and add it to the minimum payment on the smallest debt.  Continue paying this until the note is paid off.  Then take the same total amount you were spending and add it to the second bill until it is paid off.  Then add the amounts you used on the second bill to the third.  Continue in this manner till all your credit cards are paid off.

3.  COMMIT TO EXTENDED MAINTENANCE - REGULAR CHECK-UPS

Serious wounds can often require extended maintenance through various different methods.  Some may have  physical therapy involved.   Others may have medications that they have to take on an ongoing basis.

The area of financial bleeding also requires on going maintenance.  Regular check ups on your spending and comparing them to your budget are necessary to insure that you do not again fall into the trap of owing more than you earn.

A good thought from a great mentor in my life is this...

"When your outflow exceeds your inflow you are sure to implode."

Check out the Financial Tools section of the Fellowship Church website for forms that you can use to help stop the bleeding in your finances.