Heart Talk: October 2015

ANG PERA NA HINDI BITIN

Book Review: Ang Pera na Hindi Bitin by Ardy Roberto

Good day!

I bought this pocket size book at National Bookstore for only Php50, it is worth reading that will surely enlighten many the way it did to me. It is a practical financial freedom book that provides guidance on how to manage money based on Bible scriptures. With the book title itself, it will surely caught your attention to grab one copy for yourself or family and friends.

Bitin ba lagi ang pera mo? Lagi bang kulang ang sweldo o allowance mo?

Grabe ang tanong na yan, sapul na sapul ako dyan, paano nya kaya nalaman?
Nakakapagod mag-isip ng sagot sa mga tanong ko na “possible ba magkaroon ng perang hindi bitin ang ordinaryong tao katulad ko” at “paano nga ba hindi mabibitin ang pera sa katulad ko na walang regular na trabaho?”. Dahil sa mahabang taon ang takot ko ay kung “paano nga kaya makakapagtapos ng pag-aaral ang mga anak ko” at “paano nga kaya ako sa pagtanda ko?”; wala naman ako pera nakatabi o retirement plan na puede ko makuha. hay! naku ang buhay nga naman…

This book shared the 7 ways to manage your money so God will entrust us with more, its so amazing to know that all of the guidelines specified here are all written in the Bible. It will surely open your mind what the Bible tells about keys on successful money management.

Sabay-sabay natin subukan at gawin para di mabitin ang pera natin.

1. GIVE

Honor the Lord and give back with a joyful heart. Tithing is the voluntary giving of 10% of your income to the Lord through a church that you belong or are blessed by. Bringing back to the Lord and honoring Him is a hard thing to do if you haven’t heard about and don’t believe in God’s promises in the Bible.

I just learned that before you "pay yourself first" you should "pay" or honor the Lord by giving Him the "first fruits" or a portion of your earnings.

I had watched numerous testimonies shared by ordinary people of how God works His promises on their lives through CCF service videos. I also read a dozen of financial freedom books and had found out that these successful and rich men authors are all faithful stewards.

God cares about how we manage money, we need to be a faithful steward to what Lord had entrusted to us. Otherwise, He will take away them until we prove trustworthy with the money, talent, time and opportunities that remain with us. We are only stewards or managers of the money – big or small – that He has given to us.

Alam ko na mahirap ang buhay, sobrang hirap kumita ng pera. Naisip ko na yun mga regular na trabaho ay kinakapos pa, paano pa kaya kung walang regular na trabaho? Paano magagawa ang responsibilidad bilang magulang? Siguro nga makakaya ko magtiis pero paano nga ba sasabihin sa mga anak na “Magtiis muna kayo kasi wala tayong ganito at wala din ganoon”?.

I knew that my effort wouldn't be enough, no matter how I work hard. I may earn much but my pocket seems had a hole where its contents are easily passed through. Alam mo yun kung minsan meron ka inaasahan pera padating bago bigla naman nagkaroon ang aberya - biglang naubos na lang na parang dumaan lang. Nakakapagod mag-isip kung paano nga ba hindi magiging bitin ang pera hawak ko.

It's always been my daily struggles, managing an online shop was not easy as 1-2-3, I have encountered lot of bogus buyers both online and offline - so silly to know how they spend their time doing unkind deeds towards others - may God touch their hearts and minds so they will stop doing so. But despite the challenges, I am so much thankful and grateful for everything He has given to me and my family. Truly, everything is under His control, for with Him all things are possible.

Through reading I found out that one secrets of rich and successful people is by faithfully and obediently bringing back the tenth or more of their earnings to His ministry. We cannot deny the fact that we all want to be like them. For with all their proudest means they shared that in FAITH through God's grace they receive and continuously enjoying abundant life that includes financial peace of mind by Honoring God first.

I want to try applying same approach. I decided to live by faith, praying for God's grace that He will bless me through My Little Angels Online Shop. As soon as I receive the payment from our buyers, I set aside the 10% as my tithes then send it to CBN ASIA through MLHULLIER on a weekly basis. I knew I need to learn more before I can become one of His steward - but little by little I am moving forward to be one. Never try to spend your tithes for anything else - I had read and listen to its effect - we can learn from other's mistakes

Hindi ko namamalayan, matagal-tagal na din pala, pero mula noon, hindi Siya nagkulang, biyaya Nya ay laging sapat. Subukan mo din, huwag ka matakot, sigurado ako walang mawawala sa iyo. Magbigay ka man ng 10%, meron ka pa natirang 90%, dahil ang lahat-lahat ay nagmula sa Kanya, kayang-kaya Nya tayo bigyan ng higit sa inaakala natin.

SHARE

The reason of our existence is definitely our families. We work hard not for ourselves to enjoy life and explore the world. Our personal objectives is to give our children a better future they deserves and to honor our parents as well. Many times we spend less for ourselves, it’s difficult to release extra cash for our own wants, yet we can give much to our family.

Above from our family, we have the responsibility to share our blessings to others. Meeting needs beyond our own

As God give His promises to generous givers

God has also message to takers

As I ready this passage, I just realized that we have a CHOICE of how to live our life - to be a GIVER or a TAKER?

As we face the journey of FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP, we will understand why we spend less for ourselves but we can easily share more to others, for God use us as an instrument to be a blessings to others.

2 SAVE
As we learn the scriptural principles of using money, we need to demonstrate the value of making and following a budget. To identify what are the needs of our family before our wants. Discipline in following the budget plan and regular review of actual spending is a must. Admittedly, application of this principle is truly difficult, saving is much easier said than done. It requires so much effort and discipline to manage wisely.

After paying the tithes and necessary living expenses, we need to decide on how to properly keep the remaining money we have. Financial advisers share the steps to financial success, make each step fully done before go on to the next step...

Build Emergency fund - it should be continuously done - do not spend it unless its for emergency
Pay off all debt - if u cannot fully settle them all, work it out gradually, little by little debt re-payment will do until its becomes fully settled
Finish saving an Emergency Fund that will cover the 3-6 months expenses
Invest 15% of household income to Retirement Plan
Save money for children to attend college
Built wealth through investing and give like you never did before

As parents we have the responsibility to teach our children about finances. At the early age of my children, I am strongly forcing them to separate 10% for tithes, save 20% and spend only 70% of their received allowances on a weekly basis. I keep on praying that they will understand my eagerness to teach them the value of saving (which I never knew before). I keep on telling them my personal mistakes and failures in handling money and how I want their lives be different to mine. I remember the difficulty when we started it last June 2015, but I'm glad that they can now do it on their own.

Financial experts recommend the 20-20 saving retirement formula: Save 20% of your income 20 years before you retire. Next year I will be turning 40, it's a number I cannot deny but I need to face the challenge to start saving for my retirement.

The Bible teaches us the value of saving, to be ready for the coming days. These are lessons that I never learned while I was working, but thanks be to God for He allows me to understand what REAL LIFE is. It doesn’t matter how much is our earnings today, what valuable most is how much we can save out of our earnings.

It is always my prayers that our Lord bless me with works to do to sustain the needs of my children - to give them foods to eat, shelter to live, good education for their future and leave them something to start their own. I know it will be one step at a time work to do, hopefully achieve them all - just before my time ends.

3. GET OUT OF DEBT AND STOP BORROWING

Going into debt is generally not a good idea due to its accumulating interests. I had read it many times in financial freedoms book I purchased and blog post online. Honestly, I myself are still on my way working out towards settling my debts – little by little. God knows the desire of my heart and I keep on praying that in His perfect time, everything will be fully settled –to attain a debt-free life.

4. LIVE SIMPLY

Keep on living a simple life to control our spending. Many people including me are fallen easily into the trap of increasing our purchases if we have some extra cash on hand. We get tempted to increase our spending knowing what tomorrow may bring is not a promise.

5. MAGSIPAG, MAG-NEGOSYO

Many times I asked myself, why should I need to work hard for my family? I am a wife and a mother, my husband is responsible to work hard and provide for the needs of our family. But as I read this book, I found out what the Bible says about “A Wife of Noble Character” written at Proverbs 31:10-31.

Now I knew the answer to my sentiments, for being a wife is not limited to being a submissive homebody whose sole purpose in life is to raise children and do all the house chores, we can do much for our family.

Noble wife is a shrewd and profiting businesswoman.
A woman profits from her skills (19), selective buying of imported raw materials (13), wise trading (24), hard work (15, 17, 27), managing of servants (15, 26) and money sense (18). As an effective businesswoman, this wife has a successful business plan. She creates her own wealth, not by taking advantage of the poor, but out of her smart choices and hard work.

Her noble use of money.
Part of what makes this virtuous wife so praiseworthy is what she does with her wealth. She provides for her family and servants, but then she helps the poor and needy out of her excess. Her wise use of time and money enables her to be charitable and generous.

Let’s us all work hard for God expects us to work so we can provide for our own needs and not unnecessarily burden others.

Naalala ko lang ang laging sinasabi ng Nanay ko noon, "kung gusto mo kumain ng masarap, kailangan mo mag-trabaho" - dahil ang lahat ng bagay ay pinagta-trabahuhan. Ngayon na magulang na ako, pinipilit ko din ipaunawa ito sa mga anak ko. Sana maintindihan nila na walang mabubuhay sa maghapon pagiging tambay, panonood ng tv at paglalaro ng cellphone or gadgets - dahil ang lahat ay may bayad - walang libre.... Lord please help me to make them understand....

Do not be lazy...

But don’t overdo things. Enjoy the presence of our family, over than money, they are much valuable. After all, God will provides everything that we need.

Do things the right way and you’ll be blessed

6. MAG-INVEST

Do not invest with scams scheme that promise 5% interest per month. The lesson is “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is” Don’t let greed or the desire for fast money cloud your judgment.

There's a lot of financial freedom books available online and offline that will teach us how to invest on real estates, mutual funds, stocks market, franchising or direct selling distributorship. Invest to what is appropriate to your time, capital and skills. For these will bring us to a different kinds of investment that will enrich not just our pocket but our life in general.

7. EDUCATE YOURSELF

“Rich people educates themselves more than they entertain themselves. Poor people entertain themselves more than they educate themselves” by Mr. Chinkee Tan.

Invest in increasing your intellectual capital –your knowledge and skills to widen your potentials. Keep on reading good educational materials, attend live training and/or watch videos online about money management. Wise men never loose works to do and/or earning opportunities to survive.

As we face our day to day struggles, let's make our life choices based on the Word of God and not merely from our best thinking. Through the ages, the wisdom found in God's Word has been tested, true and timeless. We need to obey His word and watch to see how God confirm His wisdom in our life - for in time, it will validate the wisdom of our choices.

As the author said, applying all the principles and strategies given by this book will be easy once they become a habit. The hardest step is to get started, we have fear that shortage of money will never be possible

But more than money we can gain, let's count our blessings - we have so much to be grateful and remain humble.

After all, God will supply all our needs - not our wants. Live a simple life as possible

Thank you and May God bless us all much more than we ask for

Book Review for: Ang Buhay na Hindi Bitin

How to live a Life Content, Blessed and Worry-free

by Ardy Alberto

Good Day!

I bought a copy of this book at National Bookstore for only Php10. This book was mentioned in REAL MEN ARE POGI book by the same author, that talks about how to live a life with God; very simple print, easy to understand and the content are truly heart touching. It has only few pages, you can finish reading it in less than 30 minutes.

As I write this post, I can’t help myself thinking about the past, what was my life before, my dreams and my present.

I had the experienced to work full time in number of companies. From rank and file to management position level, my work experiences had trained me to become competent on my assigned job. I had the privileged to earned money from minimum salary and above what usual employees are paid off. In years, I found out that the higher salary we are compensated, the more works and responsibilities we have to our employer. The higher the position we get, the more working time it requires from us, the more ideas and solution we need to contribute, not unless we are a demanding boss whose "utos dito - utos doon".

It also made me realized that the higher money we received, the higher amount we spent. As they say, human desires are unlimited - in all aspect of life. As we achieved one, we want to achieve the next and so on and so forth. But sad to say, we end up knowing "kulang at kulang pa din ang buhay". I am honestly on soul searching when I found it, one of the books who lead me to find the missing piece.

At work, whenever we received customer complaints, we used to apply different problem solving techniques to identify the root cause in order to set appropriate corrective and preventive actions. Some requires technical and behavioral actions while some are Management decision. At start it may be challenging, but repetitive situation doesn't mean the analysis are insufficient, most likely its the resistant to change. It was a never-ending cycle, having doing the same things - again and again - it will make you feel exhausted, tired, stressed and discouraged. Same with our personal life, we always look for solution to our many why's, feeling left alone, empty and weak.

I knew something is missing that no matter how I worked hard, meron pa din kulang, para bang kulang ang 24 hours para sa buong araw, kulang ang dalawang kamay para magawa lahat, there are always things left undone. Despite the learning experience, salary and career opportunities, I knew I am looking for something. It's no longer healthy, naalala ko lang noon minsan nasabi sa kasamahan ko na “sana tulungan ako ni Lord na ayusin ang sariling buhay ko, kulang kasi ang sarili ko para isipin ang solusyon sa lahat ng problema” . Deep within me, I simply want to be a mother to my children and earn an income that will sustain the needs of my family.

By May 2013, the Lord answered my prayer, He allowed me to work full time at home and became a small time entrepreneur through My Little Angels Online Shop. Every deals we closed and sales we got are really such a blessings. But just the same, the higher sales we got, the higher the problems we have – just like any businesses, every day is a journey of struggles and success. There’s no such perfect in this world. I still work harder than before, much more than 16 hours a day - online and offline. There are so many online sellers around, competition are really high, there's a shortage of stocks, delayed deliveries, price increase, customer demands and other unavoidable circumtances - these are common business problems that may lead you to give-up and quit. But God can provides answers to all our unlimited questions, little by little we must learn to live a life by FAITH.

My Little Angels Online Shop leads me to different phase of life, personal development that improves decision making and business relationship with both our customers and suppliers. Everyday, I am seeking God's grace to become His steward - to continuously discover what are my potentials and limitations.

Managing a business requires a lot of efforts, patience, courage and perseverance to survive the day to day struggles, Its always mixed emotions, sometime you smile but sometime you cry but its all part of growing up. We can all be a better person today than yesterday.

The Lord change me in a very special way, be it on my personal point of view, priorities, difference of needs and wants, abstinence to material things to save for the future, pay out debts and to rely on His provision. Thanks be to God for everything for I am not personally rich but He makes me feel I am one.

This book made me realized that all people have problems – there’s no exemption. There are so much problems around us, too many to mention, they can be in our personal life, country or in the world in general. Sadly, solutions are out of our control, we are only humans with limited resources and to solve them are beyond our capabilities - much as we want to settle them all.

As Sir Ardy wrote in this book, people without problems are those were lay down at six feet underground; those were grave in cemetery or memorial park. No matter what we are going through, God is with us in every way, seek Him and we will find Him with an open arms.

In my life now, I just realized, everything are beyond our control. People, events, wealth or achievements – they all come and go. God loves me and my family and He wants us to live a fulfilling, joyful and contented life despite the problems we have. I am not rich, but this quote speaks well.... finding out how to live a life contented, blessed and grateful

Honestly, it is easier said and done, but it’s a learning process. God will provide for everything we need, not our wants. Every day is a new day, He knows what best for us, in His perfect time.

I highlighted this article in the book that says "Being Christian does not mean that you're joining a religion or you're going to be religious. Rather, it is a personal commitment to trust, love and follow Christ". What a wonderful opportunity to know the GOOD NEWS.

Life may not be easy, we cannot manage all things by ourselves but with God all things are possible. A life with our Lord cannot be compared to any material possessions we might have, dahil kahit kailan, hindi Siya nagkulang