MoneyWalk 16 Utilizing Other People’s Skills

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Have you ever needed carpentry work, but no ability to do it yourself at a level that would be aesthetically pleasing? Have you purchased something only to find out later you paid far more than you had to? Have you needed to set up proper business and personal income recordkeeping and prepare tax returns and realized that much of what you need is beyond your expertise and ability to give much time to figuring out how to be an expert in the accounting field?

Most people experience these types of situations. You do not have to feel as though there is no hope for getting what you need and experiencing the beauty of a great result. Such situations can be remedied by knowing your limitations and finding people who have skills you need to get the job done effectively, efficiently, and sometimes less costly than if you tried to do it. We have sometimes found it beneficial to utilize other people’s skill and give them a chance to hone their skills and earn income even though we could have completed work we needed done. In many instances we paid them more than we could have saved doing it ourselves.

Never become a lazy freeloader or feel as though you are entitled to use other people’s time, expertise, or money at no cost to you. Entitlement is a mental affliction based on pride, arrogance, and covetousness that makes you obnoxious to others. You must do the daily things you need to do to survive, live comfortably, and make a positive impact on others in this world. Slothfulness – the unwillingness to do things you can do within normal daily living parameters and the gifts, calling, and skills the LORD has helped you attain - will make you unable to build the life and financial empire He desires for you.

Now that you’ve decided laziness is off limits, understand that failing to recognize where your skill ends will also cost you a great deal more than it will if you recognize He designed life so other people’s skills can help you and yours help them. There are certain things you know you cannot do effectively (decorating, plumbing, accounting, etc.). Search for someone with requisite expertise who will do a good job and, if necessary, allow you to pay less than normal until you're financially able to pay full price. It is a good practice to get at least three estimates and check each person’s work for former clients to make sure the person you select has a good work history and product. Also, never fail to pay what is due those who help you when it is in the power of your hands to do so. You will experience immense blessing and reward relationally and financially when you engage the practice of using other people’s skills.

Please pray for this ministry, email me with any questions, and contact me to speak at your business or ministry conference or workshop. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Exodus 18:18-20, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Luke 19:13, Luke 5:4-7

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 15 Benefits of Bargaining

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

Your ability to save and invest will grow by successfully bargain shopping for lower prices for items you purchase (houses, cars, furniture, jewelry, household utilities, clothing, beauty products, etc.). This consists of finding legal and ethical ways for getting them for a price well below what most people usually pay. You should not be a respecter of persons with the mindset, "give me Gucci or give me death." Also, you must exhibit patience in the process and recognize, when you do not purchase desired items right away, that similar merchandise and great deals will still be available well into the future.

Your mind must be renewed in Christ to realize there are safe, reliable, and valuable items sold in places other than higher cost neighborhoods, stores, designer labels, and name brand sections you’ve selected in the past. For example, household cleanser at dollar stores may be as good as higher cost cleanser purchased at well-known stores and blue jeans can be the same quality no matter which store you purchase them in. that are safe, reliable, and valuable that can meet your need.

Don't waste money for brand name loyalty when you're in a tight squeeze and do not absolutely believe higher prices equates to better quality, service, or reliability. Though there can be differences in quality and service, in many instances the same materials, workmanship, and reliability can be found in similar merchandise with different labels. In order to receive the wealth-building benefit the LORD desires, you must be willing to make some purchases at lower cost stores in which you did not previously shop to see if they have what you need. This will allow you to have greater cash flow for growth investing.

We engage the bargain shopping by doing what is stated above and by:

6. Continually asking the Lord for His blessing in this area.

7. Knowing He desires to bless His people above what our individual incomes can afford.

8. Trusting we don’t necessarily need to always have money on hand to cover all our needs and desires.

9. Becoming knowledgeable about store inventory and clearance practices.

10. Asking for discounts even when price tags don’t show they are available.

The money you keep in your treasury as a result of bargain shopping will make you wealthy over time when you consistently save and invest it over a 10-year or greater time horizon. My wife window shops about twice per week. This allows her to know the original price on items and the discounted price as time moves forward during retailers’ inventory processes. In one instance, for $27 she purchased a pair of curtains with an original price of $90. Two weeks later she was able to get a refund on the curtains because she purchased identical curtains at another store for $1.68. This has been replicated in our lives many times over and has never caused us to live beneath the privilege the LORD desires for us. You too can receive great financial benefits by engaging bargain shopping.

Please pray for this ministry, email me with any questions, and contact me to speak at your business or ministry conference or workshop. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Deuteronomy 28:12, Proverbs 21:20, Luke 16:11, John 10:10

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 14 Give And It Shall Be Given Unto You!

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

You might think you must now hold on tightly to your money and possessions because times have gotten very tough financially. However, God's financial plan works much different than what your human mind can comprehend. You must accept revelation from the Holy Spirit in order to understand that opening your hands to give to others does not cause a transfer of money that hurts your financial position. Rather, a continual heart of responsible giving from a proportionate share of all income the LORD provides you actually opens up the windows of Heaven to pour out continual blessings and rewards upon you, including financial.

Years ago, I put myself under a tremendous burden of debt by taking out many loans I did not need (student, cars, furniture, etc.) and continuing in that activity for over a decade. I should have saved money and bought things I really needed with cash and did without other things (many of which I cannot even remember) until I was in a position to purchase them debt-free. However, I thought I was very wise by managing my life the same way as many others around me. Thank God I noticed the devastation this was causing in my life. My finances were in shambles and I desperately needed help. I was looking for a way out of bondage and tried to follow most everything to get me out except biblical principles. None of it worked. They gave me false hope and encumbered me with more debt still buying experiences and things I really didn’t need at the time trying to live like people said I deserved while posturing myself to fake it til I make it.

Upon accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and LORD in 1992, I started praying, studying the bible, and attending a local Church to find out the way He instructs people to live to become more like Him. The Holy Spirit spoke to me directly and thru a few sermons about giving to spread the gospel and draw people to Christ as one of the major actions He guides people to engage to show His love and how this also helps them get out of debt because they then open their hands to receive and manage income and assets well in order to get the most out of them for the glory of God.

Prior to salvation, I would have thought it was outrageous to believe giving would help me get out of debt. Yet when I searched the scriptures for answers to relieve my bondage, I was led to passages confirming actions leading to fruitfulness and true success that confound worldly beliefs, which are in essence foolishness leading to greater troubles. So, I began tithing and offering believing God would deliver on His promise to meet all my need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. It absolutely works. We have been giving 11%, 20%, and then upwards of 30% of our gross monthly income since being born again. This along with other principles like controlling our appetite for material things, planning / budgeting, making extra principle payments and other arrangements to eliminate debt, and refusing to cosign other people’s debts have put us in a debt-free possession since 1998 and made us multi-millionaires about a decade and a half later.

When you show yourself and others you are committed to resolving problems using His principles, you'll begin to see increases in your income and net worth through better money management, promotions, gifts from well-wishers, deals at stores, inheritances, and other supernatural provision. It is absolutely true that He is the one who already allows you to get all the money you will ever have. And it is equally true that He will give back to you a far greater measure than what you give, when you give a reasonable proportion of it to gospel ministry for His glory to be displayed in the earth and to help other people.

Please pray for this ministry, email me with any questions, and contact me to speak at your business or ministry conference or workshop. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 11:24-25, Proverbs 19:17, Luke 6:38, 2Corinthians 9:7

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ

MoneyWalk 13 Stop Unnecessary Cosigning

This program will help you undo financial bondage.

You've cosigned on a debt for someone by using your credit card(s) or by signing a note that says you will pay the loan amount if he / she is unable to. It didn’t seem to matter to you that he/she wanted the material thing for a desire and not a need. Also, you never considered that the LORD warns us not to cosign (become surety) for other people’s debts. Further, it didn’t appear to matter that he/she did not save a reasonable amount of money along the way for emergencies and situations he/she knows will occur from time to time.

Continuing to have these types of response to a person's request for you to cover their debt will continue to place you in tight financial situations and will cause you to be irresponsible in taking care of your family and God's business. Your money will soon be gone, no matter how much you have or make. You must watch and pray and observe those that labor among you. Remember, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In so doing, we have created bad habits in many areas of our lives, finances included. We need to be directed to walk the right pathway for handling our lives and finances so mistakes are not repeated and we do not live in continual financial bondage and beneath the privilege the LORD prepared for us.

The best way to help most people and yourself financially is to give them available cash if a true need arises. Definitely, discontinue cosigning and do not loan money to irresponsible people. Now, pray for and encourage them to use biblical principles to manage money and desires, so their true needs can be met. This includes practices like tithing, free-will offering, planning/budgeting income and expenses, building/maintaining a reasonable emergency fund, paying off all loans in order to live debt-free, refusing to cosign, saving, investing, and diversifying investments. In this way, you will not help push them and yourself into greater financial bondage and the pain it produces. Instead you will be leading them down the path of abundant life the LORD prepared for each one of us.

Please pray for this ministry, email me with any questions, and contact me to speak at your business or ministry conference or workshop. May the LORD bless you richly as you follow His plan!

Proverbs 11:15, 17:18, 20:16, Romans 13:8, Ephesians 5:15

Please forward these bondage-breaking articles to other people who can use helpful insight!

You can find books authored by Randy Parlor and Karen Parlor at www.Amazon.com

You can find many other MoneyWalk articles on Facebook by looking at the NOTES created by Randy Parlor at https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000444069041&sk=notes.

You can connect with Randy Parlor on Twitter and Linkedin

You can also view and/or listen to MoneyWalk articles at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXnztOIesOKIrSd_H6c-8mQ