Is It Balanced?

It was a simple question that I asked the head of an organization where I sit on the board.

The director called me and wanted to schedule time to go over the new budget for the next year. The association has faced some tough economic issues recently. Tough economic issues are a big fancy way of saying the association had more bills than money.

Do you have tough economic issues?

No matter what the big accountants said; I asked one question."Is it balanced?" That meant, did we plan to spend NO MORE money than we took in or did we plan to spend more money than we took in.

If we spend the same or less than we made, then it was a balanced budget. If we spend MORE than we made, the budget was unbalanced and we would sooner or later run into trouble.

My father put it this way:

"When your outgo exceeds your income
then your upkeep becomes your downfall."

He repeated it to me often so it sunk in.

"Is it balanced?"

I recently had to go over the church's budget and trim it.

The income of the church was up, but expenses were up more.

Cutting expenditures is always painful. It's easy to spend; it's hard to cut back.

Statistics were given at a recent church conference: Over 3,000 churches in America close their doors EACH WEEK mainly because of shortage of money.

"Is it balanced?"

Businesses, churches, governments, and yes YOU have to askyourself, "Is it balanced?"

Am I spending more than I am bringing home? The vast majority really don't know. They have never done a budget. They can't tell you where ALL of their money goes. They can only tell you THAT it goes.

If you answer "Don't Know" or "NO" to "Is it balanced?" then you need a budget that works.

Inspirational? Trust me, you'll feel better if you aren't mired in debt and can pay your bills.

Don't know how to make a budget? There is an excellent budget planning section and worksheets in the book, BedroomTALK at Hit Books

Why is it in "BedroomTALK"? Because money is the number one reason given for divorce and if the money isn't right, the bedroom won't be right.

"Is it balanced?"Make it so.

~A MountainWings Original~

Good advice for us all as we start out a new year!
C~B~N

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