Testimonies
Inspiring stories of Financial Freedom
I was listening to the [MoneyLife] show today and was inspired to take a look at our budget and see if it was at all possible to get completely out of debt, including our mortage, in five years. To my amazement, even with my recent reduction in salary and my husband on disability retirement, we can! Praise God. And, it will not affect our tithing. And the kids can stay in Karate and music lessons. It was a whole new way to budget - budgeting by a goal, a Godly goal. Paying off our mortage early will save us almost $25,000 in interest. We have been looking to buy a used SUV for $25,000. If we wait, we can pay cash. By paying cash, we avoid about $4,700 in interest. Also, we will put away $1,000 per month. If we can earn 5%, in 5 years we'll have $9,100 in accrued interest. Between saving $25,000 in interest paid out, and earning $9,100, it's a difference of almost $39,000! For our family, that is A LOT of money. If you divide $39,000 by 5 years, it's like a $7,800 bonus each year. God is so good! Believe me when I say that God CAN and WILL work miracles in your situation if you follow the finanical principles taught by Crown. Thanks for all you do.
Dear Chuck, We have listened to the program since Larry was the host and have tried to implement many of the principles which you have taught. We’d like to tell you a little about our family and where we were, where we are now, and where (Lord willing) we are going. When my wife and I got married, we had no money. She had a three year old son from a previous marriage, and we wanted a house to live in rather than an apartment. We found a house for rent that we loved; however, it needed a LOT of work. The owners told us they’d rather sell the house than rent it, but we didn’t have any money. SO, we entered into a “contract for deed” in which we signed a 12-year “lease.” The terms of the lease were that if we stayed there for 12 years, all rent payments would be applied to the purchase price of the house. This was the first of a series of direct answers to prayer. When my wife became pregnant with our second child, we were both working, neither making very much money at all. She came home to have the baby and was home for a while. We had to make some adjustments, but not as many as we thought. We learned that even though our income went down by about half, our expenses decreased dramatically as well. She didn’t eat out for lunch any more, and because she was home, I came home for lunch every day. She also didn’t use the gas she used to consume, the clothing, or makeup, and related professional expenses diminished, etc. When she considered returning to work, I did an analysis of the financial situation and learned that after all the expenses of her work, taxes, etc., we would net about $3 per hour for her work. I told her I’d pay her $3 per hour to stay home (figuratively speaking). So, we decided she’d stay home for good. We also decided she would homeschool our children. The Lord has blessed us financially, but more importantly, I believe, He has blessed us with contentment, surely the greater blessing. The Lord allowed me to change careers to one that I always wanted to do, and my salary has increased. The home that we bought was paid for in entirety and is now ours free and clear. We live on a budget, tithe, give above our tithe, and don’t drive new vehicles. A few years ago, we had the opportunity to buy some rental property, and then buy some more. We have made all of our purchases with no money down, owner financed, at reasonable interest rates. Two of our eleven properties will be paid for in two years. We do not consider the mortgages as debt really (Larry called this kind “permissible debt”) because the property generates cash flow. Adding our rental property income to my salary, this means that in about 15 years, the Lord has graciously increased our income about 3 times! We are now the blessed parents of 6 children, and our house that seemed so big once upon a time became extremely crowded. We saw the need to add on to the house, but we did not want to mortgage the house or borrow money to do it. My wife felt the Lord saying to us to “look for a house to be moved.” She found a 1,300 square foot house built in the 1940s about an hour away to be moved for $1,000. However, after talking to the owner of the house she said, “The church originally gave us this house for free, so if you want it, you can have it for free, too.” We were speechless. We still had the problem of moving the house, which was going to cost $11,000. The Lord reminded me that we had been investing about $100 per month in some stocks and mutual funds. How much do you suppose the value of those investments was at that time? $11,000! The value of those same investments, if I still had them, would be about $4,000 today. Talk about heavenly timing! We paid for all the materials as we went, and over 18 months, we have finished the inside and moved in, all without borrowing a dime. We are now completing the siding on the outside. My family has learned to roof, drywall, texture, frame walls, insulate, wire electricity, hang doors, and install windows, trim, and paint during the process. It was a lot of very hard work and a lot of fun, and it drew us closer together as a family. I hope this letter is an encouragement to you since it is because of the work of your ministry that we have adopted many of the attitudes and behaviors that have allowed the Lord to bless us. Yours in Christ,
Many thanks for your wonderful radio programs and financial tools. I listened to both How to Manage Your Money and Money Matters often while doing our family finances. They have been a great blessing. We are building our emergency fund while paying down credit card debt. Recently, we refinanced our house to take advantage of a lower interest rate and to bring the mortgage payment in better alignment with our monthly budget. We recommend Larry Burkett's book Debt-Free Living. We also often recommend your programs to neighbors and family.
Thank you Crown Financial Ministries. I have read many of the books you provide, I have listened to the radio programs (not often enough), and I have used the resources on your Web site. Two years ago I hit the highest credit card debt I had ever reached in part due to projects in an old home I bought and needed to fix up. My debt was at a staggering $37,484 when I decided enough was enough. Now, with your help and coaching and other's life stories, I am down to just over $14,000, less than half of where I was. I have not used credit cards in the past year unless I already put a payment in for the amount to be automatically deducted from my checking account. Otherwise, I am using cash, debit, what is available only. Sometimes it is hard, but the phrase "nothing I buy will feel as good as being debt free" comes to mind from the teachings. This has helped many times. Thank you and your staff for all you do regarding debt management. I can see a day very soon where I will be able to start prepaying my mortgage and live debt free entirely. Leah, CA
I am a retired veteran from the U.S. Military with 20 plus years. I got married in 1974 to a wonderful young lady whom I loved very much. We had two children together. In July 1994, she passed on and that's when my world got dark. I prayed for help in the area of finances. I ended up going to the bookstore and found books on finances by Larry Burkett. The books that I bought were Family Financial Workbook, How to Manage Your Money, Using Your Money Wisely, and How Much Is Enough. I also bought the complete course on How Much Is Enough and ended up teaching it at our church during Bible Study. I never got to thank Larry Burkett for saving me in the area of finances. I believe that Larry was an angel sent from God to save His children in the arena of money. I lost everytning that my wife and I had worked for, but thanks to Larry, I gained that back and more following his teaching. I tell this story everywhere I go when someone is having trouble in finances, and they seem to brighten up as I tell it. Thankfully,
|
