Join Us!

"The wind and waves will periodically interfere with our chosen course, even in financial matters; but the laws of the gospel can bring us back on course and guide us to peaceful waters."

-Elder Marvin J. Ashton, "One for the Money."


Come learn new skills that will help you eliminate the financial stress in your life, at our stake financial workshop:

"Making Cents of Your Finances"

7th Ward will be hosting this workshop at the Stake Center Thurs. June 13, 2013, at 7:00 pm. See you there!

Join Us!

"Learn to manage money before it manages you! Financial peace of mind is not determined by how much we make, but is dependent upoon how much we spend."

 

Come learn new skills that will help you eliminate the financial stress in your life, at our stake financial workshop:

 

"Making Cents of Your Finances"

 

4th Ward will be hosting this workshop at the Stake Center Wed. May 15, 2013, at 7:00 pm. See you there!



Economic Self-Discipline

"Self-reliance is a product of provident living and exercising economic self-discipline. From the beginning the Church has taught that families—to the extent they can—need to assume responsibility for their own temporal welfare. Each generation is required to learn anew the foundational principles of self-reliance: avoid debt, implement principles of thrift, prepare for times of distress, listen to and follow the words of the living oracles, develop the discipline to distinguish between needs and wants and then live accordingly."

 

-Bishop H. David Burton, "The Sanctifying Work of Welfare," April 2011, General Conference

 

To read this talk go to:

www.lds.org/ensign/2011/05/the-sanctifying-work-of-welfare

Higher Ground

"In addition to ... spiritual self-reliance ..., there is temporal self-reliance, which includes getting a postsecondary education or vocational training, learning to work, and living within our means. By avoiding debt and saving money now, we are prepared for full-time Church service in the years to come. The purpose of both temporal and spiritual self-reliance is to get ourselves on higher ground so that we can lift others in need."

 

- Elder Robert D. Hales, "Coming to Ourselves", April 2012, General Conference

Making Cents of Your Finances

Today is the 1st Stake Workshop called, "Making Cents of Your Finances"! It will be taught at the Stake Center at 7 pm. by Drew Quinn- a law judge who has worked with collections and bankruptcy, Bishop Gary Ellis- a CPA who has worked with a credit card servicing company, Pres. Rick Jensen-a CPA and auditor, as well as on many state accounting advisory boards, and Bishop Rick Wagner- a CPA who owns a tax and retirement planning firm. Take advantage of this great opportunity to learn how to reduce the stress in your life by increasing your financial skills and knowlege.

See the side bar to see the list of scheduled dates this great workshop will be taught. If you miss the workshop held in your ward feel free to join with another ward on a date that works for you!

See you there!

FHE Idea- Just One Coin

Use this great story from the Friend and make a tithing jar for Family Home Evening.

 

Here is the link:

www.lds.org/friend/2011/08/for-little-friends

The Blessings of Tithing

"I know that the temporal blessings we enjoy in our family come from paying tithing. But the greatest blessings are the incomparable feelings we have when we obey our Heavenly Father: satisfaction from being obedient, confidence that our Heavenly Father will not abandon us, and feelings of peace and happiness."

-Ol’ga Nikolayevna Khripko, Ukraine

 

This quote is from "The Blessings of Tithing," Ensign, March 2013. Here is the link:

www.lds.org/ensign/2013/03/the-blessings-of-tithing

Sweet Tip- "One for the Money"

“We are right in the middle of the latter days. Get your financial house in order and store some food and water. Work on debt elimination using the church’s ‘One for the Money’ pamphlet.”

–Pres. Scott T. Buie

Here is the link to the .pdf file for "One for the Money":

www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content

FHE Idea- Making Sense of Dollars and Cents

"We must not allow our yearnings to exceed our earnings."

 -Pres. Thomas S. Monson, "Peace, Be Still," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 54.

"Avoid the philosophy that yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities. They aren't necessities unless we make them so ....I urge you to live within your means."

-Pres. Thomas S. Monson, "True to the Faith," Ensign, May 2006, 19.

These quotes and 9 great tips on earning, saving and managing money are from the January 2012 New Era article, "Making Sense of Dollars and Cents". It would be great to use for a discussion starter for Family Home Evening, for youth and older children.

Here is the link to the entire article:

www.lds.org/new-era/2012/01/making-sense-of-dollars-and-cents

Sweet Tip- Spiritual Guidance

"Take the Holy Spirit as your guide and invite him into your daily lives; not just your spiritual lives, but also into your financial lives."

- Pres. Scott T. Buie

Case Lot Sales

 Now is a great time to buy grocery staples for your food storage while prices are low. It will enable you to enjoy having a small stock of items that your family uses often without paying higher prices later in the year. This year due to the droughts in the mid-west grocery prices are projected to be high so think ahead and help your budget this winter!

Here are some tips for buying in bulk:

1- Only buy items your family uses often. (A sale is not a sale if you waste or do not use what you buy!)

2- Know everyday prices and buy items only if the case lot price is less than the price you usually pay for the item. (buying in bulk at a higher price is just paying more for more food.)

3- Buy cases that have been stored inside rather than out in the heat of a parking lot sale to preserve food quality.

4-  Rain Checks-  if the store is out of the item you need get a Rain Check to purchase the item when it is back in stock at the sale price. Make sure to get back to the store quickly before your rain check expires or you will have to pay full price.

5- Stay within your budget- if you can't afford it, don't buy it. (If you haven't already, start budgeting a little extra for some food storage in the fall when all the grocery sales are on.) Only spend money on sales that you have budgeted for food storage or use your grocery money for the week to buy at case lot sales.  Beware: If you use all your grocery budget on one or two items at a case lot sale, you may be eating the same thing for a week or two, so think ahead an budget for this time of year!

Here is a link to Harmon's Case Lot Sale for this week. 

It runs from Sept. 3-16, 2012.

http://www.harmonsgrocery.com/images/pdfs/buythecaseS12.pdf

Here is a link to Smith's Case Lot Sale:
http://smithsfoodanddrug.mywebgrocer.com/Circular/SMITHS-MARKETPLACE-475/004753334/Weekly/0/7 

*If you love to bake, budget a little money for October and November when the baking sales are on before the holidays. The prices on spices, chocolate chips, pie fillings, and baking supplies are usually the best of the year!

FHE- Teaching Financial Management

Use any of the posts and links published in this blog under Financial Management  to teach principles of budgeting.  Set up a method that works for your family and the individuals in your family, to encourage the principles of paying tithing and saving for the future.

Complete any of the following activities for the appropriate ages of your children:

Primary Age Children:

Faith in God,"Developing Talents," 1st activity on pg. 10:

• Learn how to budget and save money. Discuss why it is important to faithfully pay our tithing and how Heavenly Father blesses us when we do (see 3 Nephi 24:10–11). Pay your tithing and begin saving for an education.

Young Women:

Personal Progress, Knowlege Value Experience #2

• "In your journal list talents you have and others you would like to develop. Read Matthew 25:14–30. Learn a new skill or talent that will help you care for your own future family or home (for example, playing the piano, singing, budgeting, time management, cooking, sewing, or child care). Share with your family, class, or Young Women leader what you have learned"

lds.org/young-women/personal-progress/knowledge

Young Men:

Boy Scouts of America: Personal Management Merit Badge.Here is the link to the requirements:

 BSA: Personal Management Merit Badge Requirements

Financial Management

 Here is some great counsel from our latter-day prophets on financial management:

President Ezra Taft Benson said,

“Do not leave yourself or your family unprotected against financial storms.

… Build up savings.”

President Harold B. Lee taught,

“Not only should we teach men to get out of debt

but we should teach them likewise to stay out of debt.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley declared: 

“Many of our people are living on the very edge of their incomes. 

In fact, some are living on borrowings. …I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible.  

Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.” 

^{To read more great financial advice here is a link to Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's 2004 General Conference Address:}

^{Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts}

Constancy Amid Change

Here are the main points and quotes from an excellent Ensign article by a former apostle, Elder N. Eldon Tanner, entitled "Constancy Amid Change". Although the article was published 20 years ago the principles he teaches are timeless.

1. Pay an honest tithing- "The payment of tithing is a commandment, a commandment with a promise. If we obey this commandment, we are promised that we will “prosper in the land.”
2. Live on less than you earn- 'The key to spending less than we earn is simple—it is called discipline. Whether early in life or late, we must all eventually learn to discipline ourselves, our appetites, and our economic desires. How blessed is he who learns to spend less than he earns and puts something away for a rainy day."
3. Learn to distinguish between needs and wants- "I know of no situation where happiness and peace of mind have increased with the amassing of property beyond the reasonable wants and needs of the family"
4. Develop and live within a budget- "Budgeting and financial management need not be overly complicated or time-consuming." 
5. Be honest in all your financial affairs- "The ideal of integrity will never go out of style. It applies to all we do. As leaders and members of the Church, we should be the epitome of integrity."

To read the article in its entirety go to this link:

Constancy Amid Change

Financial Reserve

Here is a great New Year's resolution from "All is Safely Gathered In":

"Establish a financial reserve by saving a little money each 

week and gradually increasing it to a reasonable amount."

For more simple and easy to implement budgeting ideas 

try printing this guide to use for your financial goals this year!

All is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances guide

A New Years Resolution - Debt Elimination

A great New Years Resolution is to eliminate your families debt! 

Here is a great way to do it:

"A debt-elimination calendar can help you reduce or eliminate debt. Mark off several
columns on a piece of paper. In the first column on the left, write the names
of the months, beginning with the upcoming month. At the top of the next column,
write the name of the creditor you want to pay off first. It may be the debt with the
highest interest rate, or the earliest pay-off date. List the monthly payment for that
creditor until the loan is repaid as shown in the illustration above. At the top of the
next column, record the name of the second creditor you want to repay, and list
payments due each month. After you have repaid the first creditor, add the amount
of that monthly payment to your payment to the second creditor. (In the example
above, notice that the family finished making monthly payments on their credit
card. They then added $110 to the $70 furniture payment, creating a new monthly
payment of $180.) Continue the process until all loans are repaid."

-"One for the Money: Guide to Family Finance," Elder Marvin J. Ashton

Here is the link to the pamphlet and the debt elimination graph:

One For the Money: Guide to Family Finance

Pay All Your Debts

"Verily I say unto you, concerning your debts - 

behold it is my will that you shall pay all your debts." 

-Doctrine and Covenants 104:78

Live Within Your Means

"My brothers and sisters, avoid the philosophy that yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities. They aren't necessities unless we make them so. Many enter into long-term debt only to find that changes occur: people become ill or incapacitated, companies fail or downsize, jobs are lost, natural disasters befall us. For many reasons, payments on large amounts of debt can no longer be made...I urge you to live within your means. One cannot spend more than one earns and remain solvent. I promise you that you will then be happier than you would be if you were constantly worrying about how to make the next payment on nonessential debt."

-Pres. Thomas S. Monson

Church News, Week ending June 11, 2011, p. 16

Avoid Unnecessary Debt

"Perhaps no counsel has been repeated more often than how to manage wisely our income. 

Consumer debt in some nations of the world is at staggering levels. Too many in the Church 

have failed to avoid unnecessary debt. They have little, if any,  financial reserve. 

The solution is to budget, to live within our means, and to save some for the future."

-President Thomas S. Monson, 

Deseret News, Week ending June 11, 2011, p.16

Stay at Home Spring Break

If money is tight or you just can't get away for Spring Break even though your family would love to, try a stay at home vacation. It is a great money saving idea and a lot of fun!

• Choose some fun field trips that your family has not done that are free or inexpensive and see our own Wasatch Front. Such as Temple Square' spring flowers, any Temple Square exhibit or movie, the new exhibits at the Church Museum, the scavenger hunt at the Family Hisstory Library, Kenecott Copper Mine, BYU's Carl Bloch Exhibit, BYU's Bean Museum, Hill Airforce Base Museum, Red Butte Gardens or any other fun activity that is available along the Wasatch Front.
• Another great idea that is relatively inexpensive is the Salt Lake Connects Pass. It can be purchased for 1-3 days for a relatively low price (much cheaper that going out of town and paying for hotels, meals and attractions). It includes 13 Wasatch Front attractions (Hogle Zoo, Discovery Gateway, This is the Place State Park and many more)  for one pass price. Most admissions to these parks and museums are $7-15 so the prices of the pass are great! It also includes a $10 lunch at the Lion House Pantry. For more info. go to visitsaltlake.com/visit/connectpass

If you are going out of state for Spring Break many cities also have some sort of city pass. Just Google the city name and city pass. Such as Dallas city pass. It is a great way to save a little money. That always makes your spring break less stressful and more enjoyable.