Archive for 2011
Margin – Part 4 – Fill Up The Tank
Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – Margin. This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin. As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin. Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues. Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.
Part 4 – Fill up the tank.
There are so many benefits to having financial margin, but one of the greatest is the ability to just “fill up the tank.” Let me explain.
When there is no financial margin, it may not be possible to drive to the gas pump and fill up the gas tank. Lack of margin means that one has to put $20 in one time and $37 the next. Whatever money is available goes into the gas tank. This can be very costly – especially in time costs!
When you are not filling up the tank every time, you lose time because:
- You have to fill up more often
- You have to waste time figuring out how much can be spent this time
For many people, it also costs more money because more visits to the gas station means more trips into the convenience store to buy super-overpriced soda and snacks!
When you have margin, you can just “fill up the tank.”
Here are other ways this applies to having financial margin:
- You can buy the proven name-brand appliance instead of the el-cheapo model
- You are in the position of power so you are not subject to obtaining financing and buying the junk they are trying to sell you
- Pawning, short-term financing, and other highly expensive ways to obtain money become completely unnecessary
To me, the sacrifices to obtain financial margin are worth it just to “fill up the tank” every time!
Margin – Part 3
Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – Margin. This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin. As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin. Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues. Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.
Part 3 – Improved Relationships
Individuals who are against the wall financially for extended periods of time can many times hurt people in ways that they never would do if they had financial margin. I’ve seen business owners (with no margin) who completely lose their minds on a customer who owed them $1,000 even though they are late on $10,000 of bills to their own suppliers. They are agitated, angry, and threatening. But a third party could easily say that the business owner is completely out of line. What is causing this issue? No financial margin!
I’ve seen countless relationships injured or destroyed because of no financial margin. Children continue to borrow money from Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad demanding money from their children. Friendships. Business relationships. Working relationships. My bet is that you’ve seen it too and many of you have experienced it! It is incredibly hurtful and can cause enormous stress and heartache.
Here is the question of the day:
What would these situations look like if each person had financial margin?
Wouldn’t there be a lot less borrowing? Wouldn’t there be less heartache, pain, and agony?
Make the greatest investment into your peace and state of mind – establish financial margin!
Margin – Part 2
Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – Margin. This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin. As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin. Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues. Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.
Part 2 – Freedom
When financial margin is established, it provides a sense of freedom! I know that when we finally established some beginner margin in February 2003, it was like scales fell from our eyes. We saw life in an entirely new light! Instead of wasting tons of energy determining how each bill was going to be paid (anyone who has lived paycheck-to-paycheck KNOWS the energy this takes!), we began looking forward. It allowed us to start asking new questions like:
- How much should we save each month for our children’s college?
- Any question that starts with “I wonder what would happen if … ?”
- Who can we bless this month?
- Is this the life that allows us to use our gifts and talents in the most impactful way?
Here’s a weird emotional effect that I felt. I discovered the freedom of knowing that I could pursue a dream! It did not matter as much if I really did pursue the dream – what mattered most was the fact that I could pursue the dream! I’m not sure this really makes much sense, but knowing that fact was incredible. Let me share a few examples to better explain this. I am entrepreneurial by nature. This means I love starting things. When I was broke and living paycheck-to-paycheck, the option to start a business or new venture was out of the question. Financial margin gave me the freedom to consider the options without being overcome by the fear of living in a cardboard box.
Here’s another example. When I took the leap of faith to go on staff at NewSpring Church, a church Jenn and I were a part of starting and LOVE being a part of, I took a massive paycut. Jenn was able to make the decision to work or continue to be a stay-at-home mother without really having to worry about the financial aspects. This was possible only because we had financial margin. How many people can take a 50% paycut and still have this option available to them? Not many, but I will tell you with 100-percent confidence that those who have established financial margin CAN – and that FREEDOM to choose is incredible!
If you have no financial margin, make a decision to start building it today! If you do have financial margin, celebrate the fact that you have made the necessary choices to establish it and then use that freedom to pursue a dream!
Margin – Part 1
Welcome to the latest series of JosephSangl.com – “Margin”. This is a series where we will focus on the real and emotional effects of living life WITH and WITHOUT financial margin. As part of this crusade to help people accomplish far more than they ever thought possible with their money, I see so many people living life on the edge with no financial margin. Lack of financial margin leads to lots of issues. Through this series, we will be discussing the benefits of establishing and keeping financial margin.
Part 1 – Less Stress
I remember the day that my family first established financial margin. It was in February 2003 when we received our tax refund. Instead of applying this money toward the tax refund, we put it into our savings account. This meant that we were not able to attack debt with this money, but our eyes had been opened to the absolute need to establish financial margin. Depositing the check into our savings account was incredible, but it was the emotional feeling that surprised me! We were able to breathe in a way we had never breathed before. I’m talking about literally being able to breathe differently. With that one key decision, we eliminated a load of stress that we did not even realize was there.
Gone were the days of fearing the question, “What will happen next?” Over were the days of stating, “How in the world will we pay for THAT? Instead of dreading the clunking sound coming out of the dryer, we could simply say, “Appliances break. Let’s purchase a new one – with our financial margin money.”
As part of this crusade, we are privileged and honored to help people 1-on-1 in developing their financial plan. STRESS is the #1 reason most people say that they wanted to meet with a financial coach. The stress of living with no financial margin can lead to a lot of effects:
- Fear
- Depression
- Feelings of dread
- Marital discord (or even divorce)
- Anger
- Combativeness
- Snappy responses
- Impatience
- Frustration
- Feelings of scarcity/lack
- Craving
- Unfulfilled
Having money is certainly not the answer to all of life’s issues, but the establishment of some financial margin certainly goes a long way toward easing many of the struggles of daily life! I definitely know that is true in my own life.
With all of the negative consequences related to living life this way, is it not worth the effort it will take to establish some financial margin? We recommend $2,500 as the first financial margin goal with the ultimate goal of having saved a year’s worth of expenses. It won’t happen overnight, but it can happen faster than you ever thought!
Hey! You’re Robbing My Inheritance!
I meet people all of the time who “have this brother” or “have this sister” who is a complete and utter financial failure – and their parents continually bail them out. I’m grateful that this has not been a problem in my family, but it is amazing how many families HAVE experienced this situation!
Here are some statements I have heard:
- My sister has run up her credit cards at least three times, but my parents keep bailing her out. It is so frustrating!
- My brother refuses to get a job and constantly hits up our parents for money. It is annoying!
- My brother never buys clothing for his kids because he knows that our parents will take care of it. Unbelievable!
While it is indeed annoying and frustrating, it could also be called something else – THEFT.
Let’s think about this in a step-by-step logical order.
- Parents usually leave all or most of their assets as an inheritance for their children (Prov 13:22)
- If a sibling has been continually tapping mom and dad for money, there is less inheritance to distribute
- Parents usually divide the assets equally among each of their children
- This means that the financially-misbehaving sibling receives the same amount of inheritance as the siblings who did not continually tap mom and dad for money
NET EFFECT: The children who behaved well financially are robbed of some of their inheritance by their financially-misbehaving sibling.
Have you ever looked at it this way? Have you experienced this in your own family?