This is the second in a series of three posts. In the first post I said discernment has been a key to my financial peace. Dave Ramsey, a popular financial expert, uses the term “Financial peace” extensively. He has helped me tremendously by creating a procedure to obtain financial peace, which he calls baby steps. These are things anyone can do.
I discern what things I should and should not buy according to what my budget allows for and what my financial goals are. For example, I have often thought, over many years, that I would like to have the latest iPhone but never bought one. Why? It didn’t fit in my financial goals. This fall I spent $1,500 on university tuition even though I already have two degrees. Why did I pay the tuition and not the iPhone? For $1500 I could have bought a phone and a year of phone service. However, at the time, I had other financial goals, paying off my house and saving for an auto purchase. So why did I just spend that much on tuition? I have new financial goals since my layoff a few months ago. I need to develop new skills to make myself more marketable. Therefore, I justified spending the $1500 on the tuition not the phone.
My second key to financial peace is faith. Faith means believing in something and acting in that faith even though you may not physically see it. Faith proceeds one step at a time without the entire path laid out. How does this relate to finances? Read my next post to find out.