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Religious Contributions – Pay it Fully
Your money, your beliefs, well-being from the inside out
Tunabudget believes paying religious contributions is important, if applicable, regardless of what religion one practices. If you have, or desire to have, religious beliefs as many people do, you may want to stop your train for a few minutes and do a self-inventory check on what’s most important to you. What’s really in your spiritual bank account, if you have one, or desire one? Do you want one? Maybe you’re super successful in this life, have “all the money in the world”, and nothing else, including religious worship is all that important to you. Or, maybe you’re living, or just trying to live, pay-check to pay-check. Somewhere in between, most people seem to fit, and their belief in a Creator, or not, is somewhere in that spread too. With religious observation, there generally comes along some form of sacrifice on the part of the believer. Tunabudget also believes that having to make a financial sacrifice in the form of a tithe, or other contribution, is important to one’s overall well-being, and therefore impacts the budget. You may disagree, and think that less money to spend by paying contributions is only going to hurt the budget, not improve it. It’s true there will be less spending for more stuff and such. But what about your own overall well-being? Are you totally well? Is something missing? Is it time for a change from the inside, out?
What do you actually believe and want, anyway?
Tunabudget affirms that the world is a fragile place. Everything you have can be taken away over a short time or instantly. To whom will you implore for help? So, who are you anyway? What do you believe in? Is there a Creator? How do you know if there is, or is not? Can it be actually proved one way or another? Do you need physical proof? Do you want ‘heaven’s help’? Will you need it some day? Is there a ‘Father’ in heaven, and if so, does that make you his son or daughter? Do you even want to know about Him? Assuming you believe in deity, in God, what has He asked of you? You, like your neighbor, may have certain, similar or differing beliefs, but it is still possible different religions teach the payment of a tithe, and that you sacrifice your resources. What does your specific religion teach in terms of paying a title or other contributions? Would you like to pay it, but the budget and everything else going on right now just won’t let that happen? How does this apply to you? What does you spouse want to do? Do you know whether your spouse wants to pay religious contributions? What do you want to teach your children? What is being taught to them? Do you want to pay these contributions but see no practical way to do so?
Test religious contributions on the Tunabudget worksheet plan
The Tunabudget worksheet plan is ideal for addressing your potential desire to pay religious contributions. It is on your personal worksheet that you can list such contributions and ‘see how everything else’ works out. It’s harmless. It’s just an exercise. It’s designed to enable you to privately see your options, like what if an actual full tithe and other contributions were paid – how would it all work, and what changes would need to be made? Because your Tunabudget worksheet plan is always in draft form and is never ‘set in stone’, you can see what your life would be like ‘as if’ you were fully paying your religious contributions, or anything else for that matter. So, go ahead, plug the new amounts into your worksheet, and let it show there’s a deficiency at the bottom – oh darn, there’s not enough money there to ‘do it all’, so it can’t be paid at this time you say. But something else will have to give, or more income will be needed to make this work, right? If you ‘go into the red’ with the payment of your religious contributions, you have to find a way to make the worksheet still reconcile; you will need to work the numbers around until the income and the outgo come out even. Yes, that means that you may have to downsize a few things, like your transportation, your golfing, your vacations, your home, or even your other toys. It really depends on what you want, because you will get the worksheet plan you want. It usually takes about three to six months to get the budget straightened out if material changes are needed. It may not be as long and difficult as you might think. Once decisive decisions are made, you will likely get what you desire pretty quickly – especially if you are married and there are two people working on it. But you say on the ‘outside’ you don’t want to change any of your lifestyle and possessions – or stuff. Maybe you really do have a desire to pay your contributions as part of your religious worship, too.
Stuff? Or something better?
Listen carefully to this part. The lifestyle you have and the possessions you enjoy is really about your ‘stuff’. Stuff means things that are made out of metal, wood, plastic, rubber, glass, sheetrock, carpet, paint, vinyl, leather, cloth, silk, and so on. In the end, it is all junk. Junk, are you serious? Yes. Have you ever gone to a landfill when the super large bull-dozer is pushing around and picking up piles of ‘everything’? Note that all that stuff was new and someone’s possessions not too long ago. Now, all that stuff is nothing but a pile of yucky and sick junk. It’s so gross it even stinks. That’s where nearly everything you have today, almost all your possessions will eventually end up - in the dump. Your stuff today is not garbage yet, but it certainly will be some day, and you have to ask yourself if there is more to life than what this world has to offer with all its materiality and stuff. You could end up paying a great portion of your income just to satisfy yourself with ‘stuff’, and not have established a faithful relationship with your Creator whom you may worship and meet someday. If your God asks you to make a sacrifice and your head wants more stuff, who will win?
Finding peace is well-being – what’s standing in your way?
To recap, for example, if your religion asks for regular contributions, then plug those amounts in your Tunabudget worksheet plan. Realize you may need to re-work your expense profile and even get rid of certain assets and debt load. It shouldn’t take long before you see what changes need to be made and the excitement builds to get your budget where you want it to go. Downsizing or changing things up until you have the right mix between your income and expenses so you can easily pay your religious contributions can be considered. Most such contributions are an expression of faith, or to build your faith in your Creator. You may ask yourself what is of a greater value, such a relationship, or stuff? You live in a world where you need to find peace, and for your family too. So, imagine your stuff, buried in the landfill one day, and what you will really have to show for it when your life is over? That day will surely come so you may want to make your days and your budget really count. Being faithful to your God and religion is where much peace of mind can come – and it should be there for you during hard times especially. Pre-spending your life, including religious contributions, on your Tunabudget worksheet plan will help you understand how easy it is to make necessary changes – if you really want to make such changes. In the end, you will end up with what you really wanted all along anyway. If you want to change things up, there’s only one person standing in your way – you.
CANDID QUESTIONS
How long has it been since you sat down and took a good look at things?
Are you willing to sit down and complete a Tunabudget worksheet plan and consider including religious contributions?