Financial Freedom Workshop - Session 1

Find the full series including Powerpoint, worksheets, and answers key at www.LisbonWC.org/free.htm

Welcome!

FINANCIAL FREEDOM WORKSHOP

Session 1

Developed using the books: Your Money Map: A Proven 7 Step Guide to True Financial Freedom and The Total Money Makeover

PURPOSE FOR THIS WORKSHOP

- Financial struggles are common in the majority of the homes in America.

~ This workshop is not just for the down and out.

~ Some are up and out. They may have a larger income and lots of stuff but in debt up to their ears.

- There is a trend for increased debt and decreased savings.

~ Debt is not the root issue.

~ “Debt is the symptom of overspending and under saving” (Ramsey).

- Debt makes you a slave to the lender.

Proverbs 22:7

The borrower is servant to the lender.

- “Debt is a means to obtain the ‘I want its’ before we can afford them” (Ramsey).

- Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can’t even envision a car without a payment, a house without a mortgage, a student without a loan, and credit without a card” (Ramsey).

FOUNDATION

- God is the creator of everything.

- Everything belongs to Him.

- He wants the best for us and offers abundant life!

- The Bible is full of financial wisdom.

MONEY MAP

DESTINATION 1

- Begin using a spending plan

- Save $1,000 for emergencies

Key verse: Proverbs 21:20

“The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.”

- Most people today have no idea how much they are spending and run out of money before they run out of month

- Many getting on a budget may realize for the first time how much they are overspending

- Some will need to downsize their lifestyle to bring their finances in balance.

- Dave Ramsey says, “Act your wage”

- You have to get serious about stopping the financial free fall

- You have to get mad at debt!!!

- If you are in a financial mess, are you ready to finally do something about it?

SAVING FOR EMERGENCIES

Emergencies are inevitable!

- Tires go flat, refrigerators go on the fritz - the list is endless.

- Having no emergency fund will force you to use credit cards and debt.

- “Money magazine says that 78% of us will have a major negative event in a given ten-year period of time” (Ramsey).

- Starting with a $1,000 starter emergency fund “isn’t going to catch all these big things, but it will catch the little ones until the emergency fund is fully funded” (Ramsey).

The average person in America is three weeks away from bankruptcy.

- Most are living pay check to pay check.

- PERSONAL SAVING RATES (Percent of Income)

~ 1984: 10.8%

~ 1989: 7.1%

~ 1993: 5.8%

~ 1997: 3.6%

~ 2001: 1.8%

~ 2005: -0.5%

- The loss of a job is devastating especially with no savings.

- 82% of middle income Americans say there is not much money left over to save after they have paid their bills.

- The primary reason is overspending

Saving is simply: Putting the brakes on spending today so that you will have something to spend tomorrow.

- God told Joseph to save up in the 7 years of abundance so he could make it through the 7 years of famine.

Proverbs 30:24-25

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer.”

SAVING ADVICE

Limit exposure to spending opportunities.

- Advertisers are pros at getting you to want stuff.

- The more television you watch, the more you spend.

- The more you surf the web, the more you spend.

- The more you look at catalogues and magazines, the more you spend.

- The more you shop, the more you spend.

Cultivate contentment.

- Our consumption-oriented society operates on the assumption that happiness comes from things, and more is always better.

Philippians 4:11-13

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

- Remember, “this emergency fund is not for buying things or for vacation, it is for emergencies only. No cheating” (Ramsey).

- Christmas is not an emergency!

- “Saving money for emergencies is Murphy-repellent” (Ramsey)!

Pray for God to provide.

- We often rush to buy things.

- How often do we pray and wait for the Lord to provide?