4. Develop Healthy Habits

more than you bring in each month, you’re going to be in trouble if you don’t make some adjustments. If you don’t have a detailed list of your expenses, you are flying blind. Typically, housing and automobiles are the two biggest areas where people tend to overspend and get into trouble. Take another look at your budget and identify if there are any areas you need to adjust.

Evaluate and Adjust Make it a priority to set aside time each month to work on your budget (with your spouse if you’re married). Start by reviewing the previous month. Then look to the coming month so you can account for any upcoming expenses or make changes in areas that need adjustment. If your bottom line is in the negative, redo your budget until you have a plan that works.

Remember Proverbs 21:5: “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty” (NLT). Planning and preparation are parts of being a good manager. They won’t necessarily change our financial picture immediately, but they will help us assess where we are now, get a vision for the future, and establish some action steps to achieve it.

Good Stewards

Becoming a good steward of the money God is trusting you with may not happen overnight, but hopefully, after reading this chapter, you know what you need to do to get on the right track. Remember, planning for financial success can be boiled down into these two simple steps: define your financial goals and design your working budget.

These basic principles may be simple, but actually taking action is the challenging part. A plan can be powerful, but even the best plan is powerless if we don’t work it. That’s where hard work comes in. Financial freedom requires something on our part. It may not always be easy, but it will pay off!

Having a plan is an excellent antidote for worry. When we pair our planning with hard work, they will bring a significant sense of order and peace to this area of our lives.

DEVELOP HEALTHY HABITS

When Leslie and I were first married, we had a lot of debt. I didn’t know much at all about how to manage finances. The concept of budgeting was the furthest thing from my mind. The way I grew up, if you wanted something, you bought it. If you couldn’t afford to pay for it with cash, you just put it on a credit card. To me, a credit card gave me the “freedom” I wanted in my finances. But no one told me how quickly those charges add up and how deadly the interest rates are. My finances were a mess.

Finally, I got fed up with being in debt. We asked God to help us get out of debt, and we worked hard to pay it off. And we did, which was pretty incredible, considering how much debt we had. But then I slipped

back into my old habits. Before I knew it, we were right back in debt again, this time worse than before.

The only thing worse than getting into debt is going right back into debt after working so hard to break free.

I knew something had to change, so I prayed that God would help us get out of debt again. But much to my disappointment, nothing changed overnight as I had hoped. Then I started looking at our situation from God’s perspective, learning what He had to say about money in His Word. As I did, my way of thinking about money began to change. I wanted God to change the problem, but He wanted to change me. That was what I really needed to live in sustained freedom for the long-term.

Remember the two types of freedom we talked about in the introduction? Instant and progressive? I wanted instant freedom, but God was more interested in taking us on a journey out of debt. Looking back, I can see why. If God had given us instant freedom, we wouldn’t have changed any of the bad habits that got us into trouble in the first place. We would’ve fallen right back into debt.

Instead, Leslie and I got rid of our unhealthy habits and got to work replacing them with some healthy ones. Our journey out of debt was a gradual transition that started the day we began making different and better choices, and it picked up serious momentum the day those decisions turned into healthy habits. I want to help you do the same thing.

Once you’ve defined your goals and designed your budget, the next step to managing your finances responsibly is developing good habits. You can tithe and even set up a budget, but if you don’t develop good habits and strong character to keep you on the right track, you will not have long-term success.

This chapter is about recognizing the role our inner life plays in our journey to living worry-free with our finances. Remember, personal finance is mostly personal—it has a little to do with our money and a lot to do with the decisions we make when it comes to handling it. Many people in debt are making enough money; it’s just that their habits or character keep them from making any progress. If we want to be good stewards of our money, we need to take an honest look at our habits, tendencies, mindsets, and character.

Where Are You Going?

Did you know that we are always moving? We are constantly heading in the direction of our habits. Every decision we make either moves us forward or pulls us back. This is good news when we have good habits—repeating healthy habits yields powerful results. Unfortunately, this is bad news if we have bad habits. Repeating unhealthy habits can keep us from moving forward, producing destructive results.

You are moving. The question is: Do you know where you are going? In this chapter, I’m going to challenge you to look at anything in your life that may be hindering you from heading toward becoming a responsible manager. I know that’s not the easiest thing to do, but if it were easy, everyone would do it, and no one would have any debt. If you want to live worry-free with your finances, you have to choose to deal with the unhealthy habits and develop some new and healthier ones.

Have you ever noticed that bad habits are really easy to develop, but healthy habits are really hard? I know this all too well. When I find something I enjoy, whether it’s a hobby, a gadget, or a certain coffee, it can be easy for me to slip into a bad habit of overindulgence. But when it comes to developing new,

positive habits, such as working out and changing my eating habits, it takes a lot more work and discipline.

Implementing healthy habits may not be easy, but it isn’t impossible. It just takes a lot more work. The more we do them, the easier they become. Whether it’s working out or eating healthy, we just have to stick with them until they become part of our new normal.

It can be the same way with our finances. Building good financial habits requires time, patience, consistency, accountability, and lots of effort (aka hard work!). But it’s worth it. When you change a habit, your hard work pays off significantly in the long run. You don’t have to continue fighting the same battle over and over.

So let’s get started. The first step is to identify the poor habits and figure out the underlying mindsets that cause them. Once we’ve done that, we’ll be ready to implement some new and healthier financial practices.

Identify Poor Habits and Underlying Mindsets

When it comes to finances, what are your bad habits? Do you ever use your “emergency credit card” for things you don’t really need? Do you tend to shop

as a way of coping with your pain when things get difficult? Do you care more about what people think of your home, car, or clothes than you care about your bank account? Do you eat out too much? Do you go to restaurants you can’t really afford?

Everyone’s list is different. But whether yours is short or long, it’s important to be honest with yourself and name your unhealthy habits.

Think back to Proverbs 21:5: “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty” (NLT). In the last chapter, we talked about the importance of planning out our budget. The problem is, nothing sabotages a good plan faster than bad habits. We can put together a great strategy for budgeting and debt reduction, but one single bad habit can sneak in and ruin all of your positive momentum.

Lasting change comes when we adjust the way we think. Our actions are a result of our thoughts, which reflect our values, perspectives, and mentalities. If we want to have lasting change in our behavior, we can’t just try to adjust our actions. We have to press deeper and address the underlying thinking patterns and mentalities that cause that behavior.

The next question is, what is the underlying mindset causing that bad habit?

We are constantly bombarded with messages about money and spending that aren’t going to steer us toward God’s best. Unless we take a step back and get honest about the impact it’s had on us, we won’t move forward. Some people approach money with a poverty mentality because that’s what they learned from their family. Others have an entitlement mentality that says, “I deserve this, so I’m buying it, even if I can’t afford it.” The media tells us we deserve nice things, so we justify spending more than we should on things we want. What about you? What is the underlying mindset keeping you stuck? Where did it come from? Where did you learn that bad habit?

Instead of basing our foundational principles for money management on what everyone else is doing, we have to base them on the principles of wisdom and truth in God’s Word.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” If we want our financial picture to change, we have to change the way we think about money. Training our minds to have a healthy, Bible-based

mentality about money is one of the most important things we can do on our journey to walking in financial freedom.

Lasting change in our habits comes when we change not only our actions but also our thinking patterns. As our thoughts and habits change, we can achieve and maintain long-term health and strength in our finances.

Implement Healthy Habits

Once we identify our unhealthy financial habits, we are ready to implement healthy ones. God’s principles always work together to fulfill His promises in our lives, so we must work to make sure our lives align with God’s Word. The Bible talks a lot about the character qualities we should develop. If we want to manage our money wisely, we should make the pursuit of these qualities a priority. Strong and godly character never goes unrewarded by God.

Here are three healthy habits that will help us create the strong character qualities we need to manage our finances well: learn to love discipline, do your due diligence, and befriend faithfulness. If you can implement all of these into your life, your financial situation will significantly improve.

We are responsible for developing these qualities in our lives. They won’t develop on their own, and no one else can develop them for us. They are essential qualities we must understand and practice if we want freedom and success in our finances.

Healthy Habit 1: Learn to Love Discipline Have you ever known someone who had a lot of potential but just couldn’t seem to get it together? I see this all the time. I’ve known many people who had so much going for them, but they never lived up to their potential because they lacked discipline. They didn’t have enough self-control to do what they needed to do rather than what they wanted to do.

This is one of the biggest challenges we face when handling our finances and being responsible managers. Think about how inundated we are with messages urging us to give in and indulge ourselves in whatever we want. It’s no wonder our urges are so strong—the temptation is real. Discipline is the strength to rein in our desires and live with wisdom and a vision for the future.

Check out these two Proverbs. The first one talks about the road that leads to life, and the second about the road that leads to death.

“The road to life is a disciplined life” (Proverbs 10:17 MSG).

“Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end” (Proverbs 5:23, MSG).

What’s the difference between life and death? According to these two Proverbs, the answer is discipline. Discipline leads to life but being undisciplined leads to death. That may sound harsh, but it’s true. Discipline leads us to good things—being in shape, good health, strong relationships, and of course, a secure financial picture. However, a lack of discipline produces the opposite.

Discipline, or self-control, is one of the most foundational character traits that affects our finances. The best budget in the world won’t do you any good if you can’t find the self-control to stick to it. You may have heard the saying, “Don’t give up what you want most for what you want now.” If you want God’s best, you can’t be ruled by your impulses, feelings, or desires. We’ve got to keep the big picture in mind, take responsibility for our actions, and do what it takes to keep ourselves on track. Learn to love discipline!

Healthy Habit 2: Do Your Due Diligence The next quality we need to get in the habit of implementing into our life is diligence. That may not be the word you were expecting next—we don’t use it often anymore. But I believe it is one of the greatest character traits we can possess, which is why it is such a common quality among highly successful people.

I love this definition of diligence: “Giving the degree of care required in a given situation.”²³ Here’s what God’s Word says about diligence: “Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds” (Proverbs 27:23 NKJV). Diligence is knowing what is going on with our finances. It’s being aware of how much is coming in, how much is going out, and where it is all going.

Another way to think about the importance of diligence is to think about the opposite. The opposite of diligence is negligence. These days there are so many different subscriptions to sign up for and memberships to buy, it can be really easy to let those stack up and then forget all about them. Meanwhile, no matter how hard we try to get our finances in order, we don’t have any luck because unneeded expenses are draining us. Negligence is like having a hole in the bottom of our boat and ignoring it. It

doesn’t matter how many other things we do to keep the boat afloat. Until we address the reason we are taking on water, we are going to keep sinking. On the other hand, diligence is one of the fastest ways to make sure we aren’t making our journey to worry-free finances any more complicated than it needs to be.

If you want to implement diligence into your life, get in the habit of finding out where your money is going. Take 90 days and document absolutely everything you spend—from the biggest purchases down to the smallest. This will help you understand where your money is really going. Diligence takes a little bit of work, but it pays off. You may think you don’t have time to do this, but if you have time to worry about money, you have time to keep a simple log.

There are many ways you can do this—use a program on your computer, an app on your phone, or just an old-fashioned pencil and paper list. It doesn’t matter how you do it. It only matters that you do it. Find whatever system works best for you and stick with it.

This process may be a little painful at first. When you see how much money you are spending on things (a lot of which you probably don’t need), it can sting— but a little conviction can be a good thing. Diligence is

not just hard work, it’s heart work, and although heart work doesn’t always feel great at the moment, the long-term benefits are well worth it.

Your diligence will pay off, and in order to hit your goals from the previous chapter, you are going to need it. It will help you manage your money better and force you to be way more mindful about how you decide to spend your money. You may need to cut out a few luxuries in your life, like taking your daily Starbucks down to once a week. I’m not saying it’s easy, but the rewards of living within your means far outweigh the pain of a little self-denial.

Healthy Habit 3: Befriend Faithfulness The final habit is to befriend faithfulness. When it comes to our finances, people always want more. We dream about what we would do if we just had a little more money, but God’s Word gives us an invitation to learn to be faithful with what we have. Psalm 37:3 tells us to, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness” (ESV). If we want God to bless us with more, we’ve got to get used to being faithful with what we already have. We need to prove that God can trust us with what He’s given us.

First Corinthians 4:2 says, “Now it is required that

those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Notice it says “must.” This isn’t an option or a suggestion. God requires us to be faithful with the things He’s given us. Remember, everything we have is God’s anyway—we are simply managers. How much or how little we have isn’t nearly as important as being faithful with what we have.

You may think you don’t have much to be faithful with or manage, but that’s the wrong way to think about it. Let me ask you this: What are you doing with what you do have? Are you managing it well? Are you making wise decisions concerning it? Are you taking care of the money, the car, or the job God has blessed you with?

If you aren’t doing a good job managing what you do have, God probably isn’t going to give you more to mismanage.

Faithfulness is a key to increase, advancement, and promotion. When we are faithful with what is in our hands, we position ourselves for God to bless us with more. Matthew 25:23 says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” (NLT).

God passionately loves us and wants to take care of us. To be worry-free, we must fully release our hearts to believe that we can trust God. His principles are true. Even if we are in the middle of difficult circumstances, His plans for us are good (Jeremiah 29:11–13).

There’s no better plan for success than following the principles found in the Bible. When we develop good habits, keep our thinking in line with God’s Word, and build our character, we position ourselves to experience the fullness of God’s promises in our lives and finances. So learn to love discipline, do your due diligence, and befriend faithfulness.

The Details Matter

If you’ve ever typed a word on your phone and had autocorrect change it, you know how much just one word—or even one letter for that matter—can change the meaning of your message. One “insignificant” detail can get you into a lot of trouble!

UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was known for being a stickler about details. At the beginning of each season, he would show his players a very specific way to put their socks on so there were no wrinkles in them. His reason was twofold. First, wrinkles

resulted in blisters, and blisters impaired performance. Impaired performance cost games. Second, he wanted his players to understand that even the smallest, seemingly unimportant detail could impact their ultimate success. He firmly believed that “details create success.”²⁴ Wooden drove into his players the importance of “the little things” because, as he said, “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”²⁵

Developing these healthy financial habits may feel like a small detail to add to this book, but there is a reason John Wooden has won more NCAA men’s basketball championships than any other coach in the history of the sport.

The details matter. If you take the time to pay attention to all of your financial habits (even the little ones), you will quickly begin to notice a massive difference in your bank account. Colossians 3:23–24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Work hard, put your whole heart into tasks, and be willing to go the extra mile. Do a great job at whatever

you do, and you’ll be rewarded—not just by men but by God. If you want to manage your finances responsibly, put in the time to develop healthy habits and watch what happens.

TAKE A STEP: Turn an Unhealthy Habit into a Healthy One

We just covered an awful lot of ground, but don’t let all this information overwhelm you. Becoming a wise financial manager is a long journey that we have to take one day at a time. Let’s take a step today by identifying and being honest about one unhealthy financial habit you have. You may have several, but most of us have at least one. Start by transforming one unhealthy habit into a healthy one by answering these questions:

• What is one unhealthy financial habit you have? • Where do you think that unhealthy habit came from? • Why do you think it is a part of your life? • How is that unhealthy habit holding you back from accomplishing the goals you set in Chapter 3? • What is one way you can flip that unhealthy habit into a healthy one? (For example, if your unhealthy habit is buying a coffee every day, what would it look like to save that money or be generous with it?) • Take another look at your budget. If you changed this unhealthy habit into a healthy one, how would that transform your budget? How would it free you up to pursue the things you really want to do?