W11 - Money, Money, Money

My attitude toward money is still evolving in many respects. While I tend to agree with the author, I also sympathize with the authors sister. It would be wonderful to not need to think about money, or care about money! I just don’t believe that is a responsible or mature approach to take.

Money, for me, is very much a tool. No more and no less. The issue is that everything requires money. It’s not like having a full set of screwdrivers in your garage. I have a nice professional set of tools in my garage that I use about 6 times a year. Money is a tool that must be managed and accounted for daily and in all our business decisions.

I liken much more to my cell phone. With my cell phone I can do many good things like conduct business, check in with my family, call ministering families, read scriptures, etc. But, if I lack discipline, I can also do many evil things with my phone like abuse pornography, spread rumors or lies, or cultivate relationships with people I shouldn’t.

I think we, as gospel centered business people, need to do better than to “understand money”. We need to understand economics and the proper management of resources. Then we can apply those principle to money, and many other aspects of our lives like people, time, food storage, etc.

Like the author, I love the parable of the talents. I love that the master treats the two servants that doubled their talents the same, even though one ended up with ten and the other ended up with four. The master valued the effort and progress. I honestly believe that even if the master had returned to a servant that had tried but have some failures, he would have blessed him for trying. But the servant that ignored the talent and buried so as not to lose it was the guilty of the greater sin.

The church’s self-reliance program does teach us to save but not to just bury our money in the ground, or to ignore it because it’s more convenient. The self-reliance program teaches us that we must manage our funds in alignment with gospel principles. It doesn’t matter if you make thirty thousand or three hundred thousand dollars a year. What matters is that we mange what we have wisely. That requires effort and understanding economics and management of resources.

My views on money have affected the way I live. I married a saver and I like to have a nice financial reserve for emergencies and an occasional luxury. We don’t count pennies, but we do know where every dollar goes.

I think that is one of the rules for our financial success. Granted, we haven’t “won” yet! But my wife and I agree on several things. We avoid debt at all costs. For example, I’m paying for school out of pocket. My cars are paid for and we have no debt but our home. We also pay a full tithing every month. Finally, while both of us are savers, we do enjoy the things we have and try to keep the importance of possessions in check.

For example, both of my boy’s bedrooms are furnished from IKEA. Now, many people would say that I’m just throwing money away because I’m buying disposable furniture. However, we know that after a lifetime of use the furniture will be outdated and without value when they grow out of it anyway. So, while some might say I’m being wasteful, I reject that and say I’m being frugal.

Ultimately, the furniture will end up donated or discarded, no matter how much I paid for it. But I don’t want that to be a difficult decision 15 years from now, based solely on how much the purchase price was. That’s a hoarder’s mentality in my opinion.

Money is a tool that should be managed responsibly and carefully. But it shouldn’t take over your life. It’s only money…