Canadian Personal Finance Blog

“Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (II Corinthians 9:7)

Why would anyone give their money away in a cheerful way? We work hard for our money, and we have many bills to pay, so why would you give it away cheerfully?

Here are a couple of reasons I can give:

• It’s going to do some good for my community, my family or my friends. Pretty selfish reason, but a good reason to be cheerful giving money to a local charity or local community group.
• It’s going to help someone I love, like say paying for my kids’ University Education (yes, I complain about the price of it, but the money is given happily).
• It’s going to help someone, I give to the United Way for that reason. I know the United Way has a high overhead, but some of the money is going to do someone some good (I really hope).
• It’s going to help someone get better, like when I give blood (#14 two weeks ago, which is not much, but it is a start).
• It’s going to make me feel good too. That is the usual reason I give to charity is the selfish happy feeling I get (maybe it’s smugness, I don’t know) that I am helping in some small way.

Give Cheerfully, and enjoy the feeling

This is sort of an off shoot of a discussion I read in my paper about whether Obesity is a Moral issue.

Is debt a moral issue?

Let’s go over a few points here:

• I am not saying anyone who is in debt is of questionable morality (since that would include me), or imply a “sinful living” of some kind.
• Remember Greed is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and thus trying to gain wealth and reduce debt might actually be viewed as immoral in some ways (if you want to think of the converse of this question, which would be, “Is Debt Reduction immoral, as it is a type of Greed”).
• Let’s stick with Morality as your “code of conduct” as it were.

If the way you live is what is getting you into debt (and most of the time, that is the cause of debt), then I think yes, Debt is a Moral issue. If you cannot control your spending that is a Moral issue for you and you need to change that pattern in your life (I won’t use the trite term Lifestyle Change for this).

If you don’t view your debt as being a problem, yet it is affecting how you live then most definitely debt is a Moral Issue, and it must be dealt with in that way, as well.

In some ways debt build up can be a sign of Greed, in that you don’t worry about whether you can pay for something, you simply want it, and that is a moral issue as well (depending on what you are going into debt for). If you are building up debt to better yourself (i.e. education) then that is not a moral issue, but if you must buy a new car every year, simply to keep up appearances, that is a moral issue.

Opinions from my good readers would be appreciated for this Sunday, as well.

“When you pray, say: `Father…give us each day our daily bread.’” —Lk 11:2-3

How folks interpret this part of the Lord’s prayer are many and varied, but to me it is more of a reassurance that as long as I keep working hard in my life, in all aspects of life then I don’t need to worry about where my next meal is coming from. There have been many days when I have worried about my family’s finances (OK most days) but if I remember these words, I feel more assured.

Should I assume that I don’t need to do anything to get my Daily Bread? I don’t make that assumption, because Heaven helps those who help themselves (another phrase to live by for a Sunday).

Don’t remember this in the bible, but it is a very good thought. Our society seems bent on quick gain tactics to wealth and assuming that it is the only tactic, to gain wealth. The people I know who are wealthy (I think rich has negative connotations) in the monetary sense all worked hard to get this money and it did not happen over night (although some larger gains for them may well have).

I get “Get Rich on the Internet” schemes in my inboxes every single day, and I have read most of them (without paying for them, I don’t pay for this stuff) and it all entails either “trickery” or methodologies that make little or no sense. People get rich on the Internet by working hard and doing something FIRST or BEST, not by doing “me too” stuff.

If I am to ever “Get Wealthy” I know that there are a few simple rules to follow:

1. Spend less than I make
2. Pay off all my debts
3. Invest carefully
4. See rule #1

Simple, and the bible tells us to also be patient, it will take time, keep that in mind.