Today on MoneyLife with Chuck Bentley

Sharon Epps is back with us today. She's the VP of Content and Media at Crown Financial Ministries.

She serves at Crown because of her passion to help people who are experiencing financial challenges. Sharon spent 10 years in corporate banking teaching people man’s way of handling money. God showed her that His ways were better.

Sharon learned from the teaching of Larry and Howard. She joined a large church where she had the opportunity to serve as a full-time financial counselor. Her church's counseling ministry helped over 500 families each year, some facing very difficult financial situations such as unemployment, large medical debt, and foreclosures.

Sharon says the families she helped had incomes ranging from $18,000 - $250,000. No one is exempt from financial challenges. We're going to talk about the job forecast for 2010 and how to make financial adjustments if you’re unemployed.

Sharon says 20% of employers surveyed expect to hire people this year, up from 14% last year. We seem to be headed in the right direction but no job growth is expected until later in the year.

According to a CareerBuilder survey of employers, Hiring is expected to increase in these industries: information, technology, manufacturing, financial services, professional and business services, sales, and heath care.

Almost 24% of employers in the West plan to hire full-time employees this year; 21% in the Northeast; 20% in the South; and 16% in the Midwest. Meanwhile, 10% of employers in the Northeast plan to trim staff. Only 8% plan to cut in the other regions.

The survey also gives us indications on what to expect regarding salaries this year: 57% plan to give existing employees a raise, down from 65% last year. Meanwhile, 36% of those expect the raise to be at least 3%, 11% of employers anticipate it to be 5% or more and 29% plan to increase how much they offer new employees.

Here’s how employers expect to make up this year for what they loss in the recession:

• Replacing lower-performing employees
• Rehiring laid-off workers
• Flexible work arrangements which include alternate schedules, telecommuting, compressed workweeks, summer hours, job sharing, sabbaticals
• Freelance or contract hiring
• Bilingual recruitment

It takes about six months to become re-employed right now. Most people don’t have six months of emergency savings. Normal budgeting can be difficult in an unemployment situation. We've developed a Crisis Budget.

The Crisis Budget is based on the same Biblical principles of budgeting. It focuses on the essential decisions for survival when your income has been significantly reduced. Even if you’ve been living on a budget, you should reset when you lose your job and use a crisis budget. A crisis budget is a temporary, normally used for only 1-6 months, or until your income is restored.

Here are the steps for Starting a Crisis Budget:

1. Determine what your family’s current income level is by subtracting the income that has been lost and adding any monthly amount from your savings that you may need to use during this period of unemployment, count all sources of income including:  severance, Social Security, disability, alimony, child support.
   
   
2. Make two written commitments to:
   • Live on your current income alone
   • Create no new debt


3. Prioritize the essential needs of housing, transportation, food, medical expenses; stop discretionary spending on things like entertainment, manicures, pedicures; don’t stop giving first fruits to the Lord.
   
   
4. Delay variable expenses, things you don’t have to do now, buying clothes is an example.
   
   
5. Analyze your monthly subscriptions such as gym, phone, and TV.

The crisis budget helps you keep things simple when you really need them to be. You don’t want to take your focus away from finding a new job. Using a crisis budget will relieve the daily stress of paying your bills and surviving. Please let us know if you use the crisis budget. Email ChuckBentley@Crown.org.

You also want to involve your children in the process; work with them to develop alternatives to the entertainment expenses you’ve had to suspend during this crisis such as a family game night. Go to the library and check out books and movies. Barter services with family, friends, and neighbors. If you need further help setting up your budget, Crown offers free coaching through volunteer Money Map Coaches.

Steps to Making a Budget

In making a budget, there are several steps, each requiring individual effort.
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Need for a Spending Plan

Without a spending plan, it is impossible to know where your money goes each month and whether you will have available funds for the things you need.

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Budget Busters

Budget busters are areas that can result in financial disaster if not accounted for properly.

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Finding Financial Freedom

The Lord owns everything and we are merely stewards of what is His. He has clear ideas on how He wants His people to function as His stewards.

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Other Resources:

• ABCs of Money Package
• Career Direct
• God's Principles for Operating a Business
• Business By the Book
• Crown Mvelopes