My sister is about to publish her book about her experiences in raising my niece, a special child. With her permission, I have an excerpt of her book about financial challenges. In reality, she is the better ‘financial planner’…  Read on!

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THE FINANCIAL CHALLENGE
(Excerpts from the book, “Embracing God’s Purpose
for My Special Child” by Malu Tiongson-Ortiz)

When God gave us our special child, He knew that it
will entail a lot of medical expenses and personal sacrifices.
The Bible has 2,350 verses relating to money, for the Lord
knows that money matters. I believe God allows difficult
financial circumstances for us parents with special children
for three basic reasons:

1.  To accomplish His Purpose for our lives and the
lives of our special child;
2.  To develop and mold our character, that we may
become the parents we were meant to be; and
3.  To discipline us and to build our faith.

God has promised to provide our needs but He wants
us to “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.” Note
that He adds, “and all these things shall be given to you as
well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of
its own,” Matthew 6:33–34.

When the Israelites lived in the desert for forty years,
they lived in tents and traveled by foot, but their clothes
and sandals did not wear out. God provided manna and
quail for them to eat. And God gave them clouds to protect
them from the heat of the sun and fire to keep them warm
in the cold night.

Jesus too fed the 5000 people with five small barley loaves
and two small fish, John 6:5–14. He also had compassion for
the people and did not want to send them away hungry.
With seven loaves of bread and a few fish, He fed 4000
people in another incident, Matthew 15:32–38. God takes
care of His people even in the midst of crisis. When we
sincerely trust and obey Him, we can be assured that His
provisions will come at the exact time we need them. He is
seldom early, but He is never late. God’s timing is perfect.
When I felt the need to give up my work for Clarissa, I
sought God’s wisdom from the leader of our family – my
husband. Claro advised me to close my store and be a stay-at-
home mom. He had grown up seeing his mom at home,
cooking and looking after all her six children. It was exactly
what Claro wanted me to do. And so I took a leap of faith
and gave up my business. I was sad but excited at the same
time for it meant that I would be spending more time with
my family. A few months after, my husband was promoted
at work and we also received some financial help from his
father. It was amazing! I realized that whatever income I
had lost, God had given back, channeling it through my
husband. My trust in God was growing. We sometimes speak
lightly of God’s timing, but He truly gives help at the exact
time when we need it.

There is hope. You can trust that the Lord will meet the
needs of your special child. Although to quit working because
of a special child may not be appropriate in your situation,
you can be assured that as you place your life in God’s
hands, He will put you right where He wants you to be.
Because I was a workaholic, He took me out of my business
in order for me to have order in my priorities. I realized that
my family should be at the top of my list, over my work. I
realized too that being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t mean I
will stop working. Since then, I’ve found ways to earn a
living and yet be at home with my children. I continued to
make bead jewelry and consigned these items to other stores
instead of running my own store. God is good. He gave me
the wisdom to manage my time and spend quality time with
my family.

… to be continued.

from abs-cbnNEWS.com | 07/01/2009 4:18 PM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/07/01/09/money-tips-be-less-personal-managing-household-finances

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MANILA – Money is not a topic that families usually talk about, especially since it is a common cause for fights and squabbles. However, practical sense points to openly discussing money matters to prevent debt or running family finances down.

“Families always fight about money. So if they are educated, I think they wouldn’t fight as much. Just like disease, debt prevention is better than cure,” said Randell Tiongson, president of the Personal Finance Advisers Philippines Corporation, in a recent interview on ABS-CBN’s “Shoptalk.”

Tiongson, a personal finances coach, describes the household as having the same principles as that of a business, where families have to match revenues (household income and savings) with expenses. He said this is exactly why handling family finances should be handled in a less personal, but more business-like manner.

One business trick that can be incorporated into the home is proper asset allocation. In a household setting, this means spending for those that are necessary for the household’s goals.

“You have to identify your budget, you have to identify your expenses, and then you manage it from there. Of course, if you don’t stick to your budget, be prepared that you won’t reach your goals,” Tiongson said.

In fact, setting goals is a great way to determine how much a household should save, both for immediate and future expenses. A simple business rule to follow is that your cash flow output should never be bigger than your input.

In other words, never spend beyond your means and always have money saved up, just in case life throws you surprises like an unexpected illness or a drastic rise in school tuition.

“Money is always good to have on hand for the different cycles of life. When you’re younger, you want to raise your family. And then your kids go to college. And then later on, there’s healthcare, retirement, and all of these things that require a lot of money. The cost always surprises a lot of people. Make sure those goals are achieved,” he explained.

Important decisions

Another way to ensure that the household, like a business, is working properly is to determine clear tasks among members, such as who is in charge of monitoring expenses and who is in charge of keeping the money.

Tiongson said that the decision-making process, as much as possible, should involve all stakeholders or members of the household, especially the husband and wife.

“Everyone in the family should be in on it. Personally, when I coach people about personal finances, I always like talking to couples because money decisions are a couple thing. Like, I never make a decision without my wife’s approval,” he said.

Setting routine spending plans like deciding what to and what not to put in grocery shopping lists could help a family’s finances in the long run. Tiongson personally sets a spending limit for every trip to the market, with a small allowance of plus or minus 10 percent.

Tiongson added that objectives, plans, and projects should always be practical and feasible. He said it is good to save money, but not by extreme measures like completely scrimping on the family’s leisure or pleasure activities.

“There should always be a balance. Like, I always hear people who say, ‘okay, I want to go to Europe at 50. So the family won’t eat out and can’t go out.’ That’s too extreme. There is always a price to pay. But the question is, are you willing to pay that price,” he added.

Keep in mind that the goal of financial planning is to maximize a quality lifestyle (as much as you can afford) without breaking your back.

“At the end of the day, I always tell people, when you die, you don’t take your money with you. So financial planning is a tool to help you enjoy your life without going into too much trouble,” he said. — by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak

For more money tips from Randell Tiongson, visit his blog https://www.randelltiongson.com.

… continuation

Be careful of what you read and listen to so you will not be mislead into thinking there are short-cuts to achieving wealth and accomplishing your dreams.  Many are made to believe that to be a millionaire, one must think like a millionaire.  No, if you want to be a millionaire, do what the millionaires do and that is hard work and discipline. Instead of reading books like Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by Harv Ecker, read books like Total Money Make Over by Dave Ramsey. These two books are presenting opposite views; obviously one is truthful and the other is not.

Can you really attract wealth? Nope – you need to work for it, change your lifestyle, get out of debt and save and invest properly. We all know the formula and yet many of us feel that there is a secret. I like how Dave Ramsey said that the secret to being rich is a ‘no-secret’.

There are two dangers in believing in all these attraction garbage.

Firstly, you waste precious time and money. Seminars and books costs money and some of them do not come cheap. I am all for education – just make sure that you get the right education, not something that will only make you feel good and give you false hopes. Programs like these are also being used for sales opportunities like Multi-Level Marketing so be very wary.

Secondly, and more importantly, believing in these attraction non-sense damages your faith in the Lord. I notice that this ‘attraction’ mindset makes you believe that you have limitless power, that you are almighty and that the universe is the all-knowing deity.  Through deception and in the guise of becoming prosperous, we are being lead away from relying on God. Assuming that ‘attraction’ does work (it doesn’t), is it worth the price? “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?…” (Matthew 16:26, NIV).

Do not fret, we are destined to be prosperous because the Lord says so –”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “ ” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). Remember,  the only way to prosperity is through hard work, discipline and with the Lord’s grace. Further, “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4).

“… seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV).