Why am I a financial coach?
I grew up in a house where various utilities were shut off a couple times a year due to a failure to pay the bill. This was largely due to my mother, who was a terrible manager of money, and a father who was uninvolved in family money management. I worked as a teenager just to be able to afford clothes for school, a class ring and to go to my prom. I entered adulthood wanting to be nothing like my family as it related to money management.
As an adult, my eyes were opened to how difficult managing money could be. I married at the age of 30 by which time I had a significant amount of credit card debt. While I never had my utilities shut off, I felt like a failure at money management, and now I was getting married. She, it turned out, was not in much better shape financially creating instant stress for both.
The book, Financial Self Defense, by Charles Givens was recommended to me by a friend and it would save my financial future and very likely our marriage. It became my bible on how to get financially “right”. The book explained the importance of having a budget; provided a plan for getting out of debt (and it worked!), how to cut spending and save money.
I have used every tool in that book for the last 30 years. As a result, my wife and I are credit card debt free; we have enough in savings to pay for most any emergency and we own our home outright. Along the way, we both committed our lives to Christ. That commitment brought an understanding about stewardship of God’s money; not just 10% but 100% of our income. We simply wove tithing into the budget and have never looked back.
I have a desire to help others become good stewards of God’s money. Maybe along the way, I might even plant a seed or two that moves a customer to a profession of faith. Whether or not that happens, I believe in my abilities to move others to a level of financial security that my wife and I enjoy today. Are you ready for the move?