What Is Tithing And Why Does Giving Money Away Bring More?

Many years ago, I came across the books of Catherine Ponder, a minister of the non-denominational Unity faith. She wrote many wonderful books about the positive relationship that people can have with money. I bought as many of her books that I could find. They were hard to find, but I collected several, and now she has a section on the Prosperity Network where her books are available. Her books have helped me in the past, to get out of credit card debt, and to general solve many financial problems. But like many books of this sort, it's easy to forget what you learn in them, and easy to stop practicing. Re-reading such books always helps.

One of the concepts she discusses is an ancient practice called tithing, where a person willingly gives up, usually, 10% of their income for a good cause. The money has to be released willingly, and without any expectation of return. What is believed, in many cultures, is that tithing results in a ten-fold return. It has to be 10%, for each tithe you give - some cultures expect their adherents to give up to three separate tithes of 10% to three different purposes. There's something magic about the number ten. While this may seem rather metaphysical and "Eastern", tithing is also written about in the Christian bible and many other holy books all over the world.

Consumers With Mortgages Better At Managing Finances?

According to an American study by Experian Consumer Direct, the average credit score of someone with a mortgage is better than that of someone without. People with second mortgages have an even higher score. [via Payments News]

I don't see this as suprising information. My parents managed multiple mortgages - including second mortgages - over a period of time and it's simply necessity to be disciplined. If you take on so much debt that you need a second mortgage in the first place, then if you're not disciplined with your finances, you're going to lose your property.

What would be interesting to study is how many people who have gone through bankruptcy had second mortgages. I think such information would show that not everyone can handle either a mortgage or a second mortgage. Sad but true. So only the most disciplined people keep their property long enough to be part of a study in the first place.

10 Money Saving Tips

This post is an aggregate of money-saving tips that I've written at this website and elsewhere over time. For reading convenience, I'm summarizing tips that have worked for me in the past.

The amount of money you can save can be life-changing. If you're in debt, and want to erase it, then you either have to earn more money or spend less of what you make. Here are some suggestions for how to spend less/ save more.

Saving Advice: Save 10% In Hard Cash?

Bryan Fleming has an interesting suggestion for disciplining yourself to save money. I was a bit taken a back at first, but after he gave his rationale, it actually made a lot of sense, and I realized I've done it in the past without realizing its effectiveness.

Basically, he says - this is my interpretation of his post, plus my own interwoven commentary - that the key to learning to save money is actually saving money. Hard currency. And somewhere you can see it.

He's not saying that you should keep all of your money in a sock. Rather, he's saying that if start keeping, say, 10% of what you earn in actual currency, in a place where you can see it each day, it'll have a positive effect on you. When the money starts to build up to a sizeable amount, you can move it to a bank account.

Saving Money While Treating Yourself

People in a saving-money mode often think they cannot treat themselves to a nice meal in a restaurant once in a while. Someone once told me that if you're on a diet, it's less stress on your body to eat, in moderation, something you're craving, rather than force yourself to resist. The same thing goes for budgets.

Don't stress yourself out. A little treat once in a while is a good idea and less stressful than the alternative. In fact, it's a great reward for having the discipline to save in the first place, and motivation to continue the practice.

In that regard, might I suggest Vietnamese cuisine? When I've queried culinarily adventurous friends in the past, they didn't know much about Vietnamese food. Of those who had tried it, most fell in love with it, although a few said they found it boring - which I find incredibly surprising, having worked at a Vietnamese restaurant and sampled many different dishes. Of course, many who like the cuisine also love the inexpensive meals.

Finance Tips: Saving Through Carpooling

Personality clashes, smokers, stinkers, halitosis, catching colds, and getting up at ridiculous hours are the things you can look forward to if you carpool. On the positive side, you can also look forward to the occasional worry-free commute, getting to work faster through carpool lanes, meeting new friends, and best of all, saving a lot of money. How about you? Do you carpool?

I've only ever carpooled for one period in my life, but the amount of money I saved was amazing. I was fortunate, too, because my ride was a heck of a nice guy (and never smelled bad). In fact, he was a pleasure to commute with.

This was back when gas was less than half of what it is now. If I remember correctly, he only charged me a couple of dollars a day, at the end of each week. I didn't have a car until a bit later, and the increased cost of the car was pronounced, compared to car pooling.

Finance Tips: Investing A Windfall

Lately, I've been exploring all the great pfbloggers (personal finance bloggers) that are out there on the Internet. When I come across one I like, I add it immediately to my Bloglines subscription list. I have 40 pfblog sites in my list, and it's hard to keep up with all of them on a regular basis.

But since I make the attempt to read them all regularly anyway, I thought I'd spend a few days linking to a variety of articles by other pfbloggers. These should give you some different perspectives on finance, wealth and opportunities. I'll of course be adding in my own comments and advice.

By "pfblogs" I'm also including websites that talk about wealth and business opportunities, not just saving or investing or personal finances in general. They're all kind of loosely tied with the same end goal: increasing your net worth. So without further adieu....

Teach Your Children Well... About Money and Savings

On a CNBC TV video segment tonight, they profiled about Paul Rodrigues. Senior and Junior. PR Sr is a comedian. PR Jr is a skateboarder who barely looks 16 or 17. Yet he has endorsement deals with Nike and others that bring him over a million per year - more than dad makes. While that's great for Paul Jr and other talented youngsters like him, it's not realistic for his young fans to think that this WILL happen to them, too. (But it's certainly good if they're motivated.)

Money is such a difficult topic for some couples to discuss, let alone an entire family, but it should be done. An episode of the comedy Reba tonight, in its own humorous way, talked about some of the conflicts that arise from not discussing money.

How To Save For Your Own House - A Few Tips

Buying a house should be considered a project, if not a "family business" investment. It's undoubtedly one of the most important investments you will ever make in your life, and if you don't plan every aspect of your life that surrounds this purchase, it could turn out to be the worst investment of your life. Or it could be your best investment, becoming your sanctum sanctorum.

Your decision will affect every member of the family, whether you realize it now or not. Plan loosely long before buying, or the financial stress afterwards can cause family rifts. I've seen it happen. Take some time beforehand to do some relatively easy planning, and every member of your family could eventually learn something valuable about personal finance. (Once they're old enough to appreciate what you teach them.)

Secrets To Spending Money

My last post was about some secrets to saving money. This one is about spending money wisely, so that you either save, or make an investment that pays off later. Here's an example, albeit an extreme one.

One secret about acquiring wealth is to not think linearly. Just because you make "this much" does not mean that you cannot enjoy luxuries. It's question of whether you can learn to wait on your purchases. It's not a matter of frugality per se, but of figuring out ways to "multiply your talents" and your money.