In a world often dominated by materialism, redefining our relationship with money can be both challenging and liberating. Adopting a biblical perspective on finances encourages us to break free from societal norms and embrace a mindset that aligns with deeper values and long-term fulfillment.

Breaking Free from Worldly Customs

One of the first steps in transforming our money mindset is to challenge and break free from the customs and patterns of the world. Society often promotes a materialistic view, where wealth and possessions are seen as the ultimate goals. However, a biblical approach encourages us to seek wisdom beyond conventional beliefs. This shift begins with introspection and a willingness to question what we’ve been conditioned to believe about money. By doing so, we can start to align our financial decisions with values that lead to true peace and contentment.

Changing the Way We Think About Money

Changing our perspective on money is crucial for personal growth....

The turning of the calendar often marks a season of fresh starts and renewed commitments. For many, this includes the tradition of setting New Year's resolutions—a ritual that, unfortunately, tends to lose its luster as the days of January unfold. In a recent thought-provoking episode of The New Money Habits Podcast, hosts Sarah and Nino explore a paradigm shift from the conventional resolutions approach to a more intentional and effective strategy—crafting well-defined goals.

Why Resolutions Often Fall Short:

The hosts kick off the discussion by addressing the inherent limitations of resolutions. The broad, often nebulous nature of these promises can leave individuals feeling overwhelmed and disheartened when faced with the challenges of implementation. The initial surge of motivation fades, and resolutions become distant memories.

The Magic of Well-Defined Goals:

Enter the transformative power of well-defined goals. Sarah and Nino delve into the art and magic that...

Introduction

The numbers in your financial life are the building blocks for all of your financial decisions. They're essential to having a good credit score, buying a home, and saving for retirement — but most people don't know what those numbers mean. If you're like many, you probably have no idea how much money is in your bank account or what it means when someone talks about their "credit score". That's why I'm going to explain six key numbers that will change the way you look at finances forever:

#1 Monthly Living Expenses

You should know how much it costs you to operate your home and all of the other monthly living expenses.

Monthly living expenses are what you spend on rent or mortgage payments, utilities, transportation, and insurance. These expenses are fixed and variable depending on their nature. Fixed expenses are those that come up every month like your rent or mortgage payment while variable ones fluctuate with the season or economic conditions such as food...

Tired of paying what feels like way too much for your utilities? Use these money-saving tips to lower your bills today.

Your utility bills can be more unpredictable than almost any other bill. You might not think that you’re doing anything different month to month, but your utility bills tell a different story. If you’re looking for ways to save money you’ll be happy to know that you don’t have to make radical changes to your habits. Here’s a list of ideas and tips so you can learn some easy ways to lower your bills.

1. Install a Smart Thermostat: Install a smart programmable thermostat that allows you to automatically regulate your home heating and cooling. Programmable thermostats can save numerous temperature settings for each day and allow you to create recurring schedules for what and at what temperature your heating and cooling system runs. Smart thermostats can be adjusted from almost anywhere with the use of an app, so if it’s hotter...

Introduction

There are a lot of things we’d like to do with our money: save for retirement, pay down debt, reduce taxes and build up an emergency fund. But there are only so many dollars in the pot, and unfortunately, not everything can get equal attention. That means we have to prioritize our spending in order to make sure we’re doing what’s most important to us — whether it’s buying a new car or saving for retirement.

Here’s a strategy.

When it comes to money, it's easy to get caught up in the cycle of spending and worry about what you can’t do. But if you want to break free from that mindset and make progress toward your goals, it helps to focus on what you can do. Here’s a strategy for working toward your priorities without sacrificing too much in the process.

• Prioritize your goals: This may seem obvious, but writing down what matters most is an important first step. If there is more than one goal at play here, make sure...

Household debt in the U.S. was a record $14.6 trillion for the first quarter of 2021, which seems like a lot of debt and it is. If you stacked that amount of debt in one-dollar bills, it would reach all the way to the moon.

And back.

Twice!

The easiest way is to cut expenses and use the money to pay off debt. That’s also the hardest way.

We believe that reducing expenses and paying off debt to achieve your financial goals shouldn't seem like a sacrifice. It's about taking control of the controllable and creating new money habits. 

Let's look at some practical ways to reduce your monthly expenses. 

1. Start by tracking your spending. The first step in reducing expenses is to figure out where the money is going. Tracking spending over a month or two will probably be an eye-opener. You might be surprised by how much you're spending on certain items, but this gives you a good chance to see just where adjustments are needed going forward.   
2. Create...