(Excerpt taken from Money Radiance)
By Jon Kho
Since money is used to help one achieve his or her life’s goals, then one must learn how to set those goals. It is my personal conviction that my life should have a vertical and a horizontal component. This is why, for my life’s goal, I limit the importance of allocating my funds to two important aspects of my life, namely, God and Family.
1. God
God should be at the forefront of how I think of money. Since He alone is the Giver of all things, in His Sovereignty, He alone can give blessing in what He deems important to me. And since God is the Giver of all things, my perspective changes in how I view money. I am now not blinded by or dependent on what money can do. Rather, I am comforted that God is the great Provider and that He knows what I need even before I ask for it.
2. Family
Family is one of life’s goals that can help us move forward or pull us backward depending on how we handle the money related to it. Regardless of what financial condition one’s family is in, good things may always come out of it if one learns how to deal with it. If your family can understand the value of allocating funds, you will find more support there.
Money is essential for a family’s well-being. Money is a tool for family needs, security, leisure, etc. We hear it a lot of times that blood is thicker than water. But it is also the case that money is thicker than blood, which is sad but nevertheless usually true.
Goal Setting and Tracking
So how should we manage our household’s money? Set specific goals on each of your life’s major goals so that it would be easier for you to achieve them. Use a bucket list to track what you need for setting goals. After listing your goals down, ask yourself how much you need for each goal and make a timeline for each. The amounts should be specific so that they would have different particular uses and not just be one big bunch that you would not know what to do with.
