It IS possible to buy all of your Christmas gifts without incurring any debt. Here is how we roll at the White House:

1. We save money for Christmas throughout the year. This is very simple. Add up how much you think you will need for Christmas (do this for 2012 NOW) and then divide by 12. Put that much in savings each month. Trust me. It is the most refreshing thing to get to the holiday season and already have everything you need in your savings account!
2. In late October, we prepare a Christmas budget that guides how we spend EVERY PENNY of the money we have saved all year. We use Joe Sangl’s free Mini-Budget Tool. We include everything on this budget. It has stuff on it like:
   • food for Christmas parties
   • gas to travel over the holidays
   • gifts for each person we will buy for
   • Christmas cards and postage
   • Money we save for any special opportunities to be generous over the holidays
3. Balance your Christmas budget to EXACTLY ZERO. Spend every penny on paper BEFORE you go out and start buying stuff.
4. Finally, the MOST IMPORTANT way to stay out of holiday debt is to actually USE the budget! Spend according to how you have planned!

Its simple…go for it!

But now I am the master. I can walk through the entire house in the dead of night with my eyes shut and never bump into anything.

The longer you follow Christ, the easier it becomes to “walk from memory.” You tend to do what you are used to doing…after all, its safe, comfortable and easy. But here is the deal…really all you are doing is walking in the dark.

We may not like to admit it, but we are all creatures of habit.

Lately, God has been teaching me to “move the furniture around in the house” and disrupt my routines.

Some examples:

• If you drive the same way to work every stinking day take a different road just because…even if it is a little longer.
• If you study the Bible the same way, try a different approach. This is HUGE for me right now.
• If you listen to the same type of music, tune into something entirely different. I recommend Mariachi. Seriously.
• If you read the same books, stretch yourself. Read out of your comfort zone. Read authors you’ve never read before.
• If you order the same thing off the menu every time venture out and try something you’ve never had.
• Get a different drink at Starbucks…or actually go to a different coffee house! GASP!

By disrupting your ability to walk through the house from memory with your eyes shut you may experience something new that changes your perspective altogether. For me, the result has been hearing new stuff from the word of God.

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: DO SOMETHING DRASTIC

If what you are currently doing with your finances is not working and you want to see your finances flipped around, you may have to do some drastic things.

Real change never comes easy. If it did, we’d all be millionaires!

We all develop bad habits with our money over time. Obviously, I can’t take the time to speak to every bad habit. But I can say this: Your money problems are your fault and it’s only through self-decipline in handling money matters that you can achieve financial peace. It doesn’t matter how great of a system you have or how many steps you take – you can only flip your finances if you change your behavior in regards to money.

Do something drastic. Cancel your cable. Ditch the cell phone or get a cheaper plan. Stop eating out so much. Cut up your credit cards and swear off debt forever! Identify your bad habits and then take them out!

Let me pick on one particular bad habit we have in America as an example: new cars.

Stop buying new cars. How many times have you heard or said, “I’ll always have a car payment”? That’s the normal way of thinking. But normal people today are BROKE. I want to be WEIRD! To get new results, you have to try new things. Several years back, Amber and I decided to sell our cars and buy cheaper, used cars. And that’s what we’ve done ever since. Did you know that if you took the average car payment of $475 that Americans have today and invested it every month over 40 years, you would retire with over 5 million dollars. I LOVE CARS…but I can’t think of any car that I would pay 5 million dollars for.

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: BEGIN EDUCATING YOURSELF

Between annuities, cd’s, single stocks, bonds, mutual funds, roth ira’s, index funds and all of the other financial investments out there, personal finance can be scary. But to flip our finances, we have to get determined and take action!

Putting money into something you don’t understand is the easiest way in the world to lose it all. Personal finance is 80 percent behavior and only 20 percent head knowledge, which is good because that means you don’t have to spend all of your free time learning and re-learning what all of these investment options are.

In reality, the action you take – praying, budgeting and then actually living by your budget – is probably more important than what you learn.

Still, you need to educate yourself to be successful and flip your finances. The BEST education that you can get on personal finances is super easy and super cheap. I’ve already mentioned it this week – Financial Peace University.

If you just want to learn about the different types of investments that exist, here is a great guide to different investment options. Take 20 minutes to read through this and you will come out with a pretty good understanding of personal investing.

In our home, we do the Dave Ramsey system, which is to invest 15% of your household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement plans.

When you reach this step (number 4 in Dave’s seven steps), you’ll have no payments—except the house—and a fully funded emergency fund. Now it’s time to get serious about building wealth.

Why shouldn’t you invest less than 15%?  Some people choose to invest a small amount, if anything, because they want to get a child through school or pay off the home in a hurry. But the kids’ degrees won’t feed you at retirement, and if you throw all your money into your mortgage at this point, you’ll end up having to sell the house and buy the book 72 Ways to Prepare Alpo and Love It. Bad plan.

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: THE “B” WORD – BUDGET.

I used to be scared of the “B” word. But then I learned that a budget is really just a PLAN. When you budget, you’re spending on paper and on purpose, before the month begins. Many people view a budget as a straight jacket that keeps them constrained. But that is just not true. A budget allows you to spend your money intentionally.

And best of all, when you do it and stick with it, you’ll actually experience more freedom than before. My family actually found more money once we got on our budget and stuck with it!

These tools are incredible and come from the man that straightened out my finances: Dave Ramsey.

First, I would encourage anyone out there that feels like they are losing with their money to take Dave’s 13 week “Financial Peace University” course. This guy is the real deal. He has helped hundreds of thousands of people pay off their debt, live generously and invest wisely!

One of the first steps I shared on Sunday that we have to take in order to flip our finances is a seemingly simple task: MAKE A BUDGET. Here are some simple budgeting tools with instructions for you to download in PDF form.

• Here is a sample “quickie budget” you can use. This is a great way to get a quick start! Or if you are a tech geek, you can use Dave’s new online tool here.
• Here is a sample “monthly cash flow” plan. This is the one we run the finances with in our home.
• And last, if you have “irregular income” then this one is for you. If your income varies greatly from month to month, don’t buy into the lie that you can’t budget. YOU CAN.

Here are some pointers once you get cracking on your budget:

• Give it three to four months to start working. It won’t be perfect the first time you do it.
• Spend every dime on paper before the month begins.
• Over-fund your groceries category. Most people underfund that category.
• If married, spouses need to do the budget together. The preacher said “… and you are ONE.”

GO MAKE A BUDGET. GET TO FLIPPIN’!!!

I’ll see ya tomorrow!

Each day this week on the blog, you will find great financial tools, videos, etc to help you kick start the changes that you want to make when it comes to your money.

Today: BABY STEPS.

An emergency fund is for those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for: the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, a faulty car transmission, and the list goes on and on. It’s not a matter of if these events will happen; it’s simply a matter of when they will happen.

STEP TWO: Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball System

This is how my family paid off ALL of our debt. List your debts, excluding the house, in order. The smallest balance should be your number one priority. Don’t worry about interest rates. For a great online debt snowball tool click here. You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped up about getting out of debt! This system provides those wins along the way.

STEP THREE: Save 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings

Once you complete the first two baby steps, you will have built some serious momentum. But don’t start throwing all your “extra” money into investments quite yet. It’s time to build your full emergency fund. Ask yourself, “What would it take for me to live for three to six months if I lost my income?” Your answer to that question is how much you should save.

Use this money for emergencies only: incidents that would have a major impact on you and your family. Keep these savings in a money market account. Remember, this stash of money is not an investment; it is insurance you’re paying to yourself, a buffer between you and life.

This is a good start! Check back the rest of the week for more info on how to FLIP your FINANCES!

EVERNOTE.

Evernote is a collection of software and services that allows users to collect, sort, tag and annotate notes, files and other miscellaneous information. I literally use it to run my entire life right now.

Trying to find a recipe? Evernote.
Doctor report or prescription information? Evernote.
That picture of uncle bob last Christmas in the goofy sweater? Evernote.
The idea I recorded myself talking through that I thought I’d never use? Evernote.
Traveling and need a good place to keep hotel, flight & itinerary info? EVERNOTE!

You get the point…

PDF’s, audio files, pictures, documents, excel sheets, screenshots, text files, design work, task lists, html code…its all in evernote. I even take pictures of or scan in handwritten notes because Evernote has full handwriting recognition. For example, if I wrote out a note that included the words “Revolution Church Vision” Evernote would later find it in any search with those words. Or if I took a picture of a billboard that had the word “Life” on it, Evernote would even recognize that text right out of the picture!

I even use it to catalog all my sermon research, mind maps, outlines, ideas, illustrations, stories and more.

Truly amazing!

AND…ITS…FREE!

And the best part of all…its all in the cloud so I can always access any of my information from my phone, computer, ipad or even any computer connected to the internet.

I know I’m a little nerdy this week, but seriously…if you aren’t using Evernote, you are making your life harder than it should be.

Here are a few Evernote posts, tips, tricks, etc:

• Ron’s Evernote Tips…these are some of THE BEST.
• Getting Started guide
• Organize Evernote for maximum efficiency
• One and a half minute video overview
• How to email docs straight to your Evernote
• Using a traditional paper notebook with Evernote
• Get a free account now
• The Trunk. Other stuff that loves Evernote.
• Evernote Pro high volume and non-profit discounts.

Right after the “great lights Zak” usually comes some comment like “too much work blah blah blah…whine whine whine…I didn’t put lights up.” So, I thought I’d share my Christmas lights hacks to help you out a little. They aren’t much, but they’ve made a BIG difference for me.

BEFORE you buy. When buying Christmas lights for your yard, make sure they are made for outdoor use. Most Christmas lights are indoor / outdoor, which work fine outdoors. You just want to make sure they will be safe to use even in bad weather.

BEFORE you open. When you get new lights, pull them out of the box and plug them in to test them BEFORE you unwrap and unroll them. A strand of lights is IMPOSSIBLE to put back into the box. This way, if the strand is bad, it will go back into the box easily for a fast return at the store.

Storage. After Christmas, roll up each individual strand and put it in a wal-mart sack. Pack them flat on top of each other in a box or rubbermaid tub. Sure you can buy all kinds of special storage tubs for $25 that hold 5 strands…or you can do this for free, get the same result, and store way more lights in a smaller space. Best of all, your lights won’t be a tangled ball.

Hanging lights on the house. Use shingle clips. They are dirt cheap. I ONLY use this kind…they hold tight, even in the wind.

Hanging lights on tall trees. You don’t need a HUGE ladder. Just a stick and screws. This is how I put my lights in the trees. Check out the pic. When it comes time to take the lights down, DO NOT yank on them. I tore up a tree pretty bad one year doing that. Use the same PVC stick to get the lights down.

Get ‘em while they’re cheap! There is no need to pay a lot for lights! Be sure to hit the sales after Christmas day and get lights for 88 cents a strand instead of $8 to $12 each. You will have to store them for the year, but you’re probably storing a bunch of Christmas junk already anyway. 

Buy a timer. The BEST Christmas light display investment I ever made was buying two timers. I got them on sale after Christmas one year dirt cheap. December is such a busy time of the year that often you may not be home to turn the lights on or off manually. Hook them up to a timer and let it do the work for you. I usually set mine to be on from 5:30pm-midnight and then again from 6:00am to 7:30am.

Hope these little tips help you out next year!

It IS possible to buy all of your Christmas gifts without incurring any debt. Here is how we roll at the White House:

1. We save money for Christmas throughout the year. Simple. Add up how much you think you will need for Christmas (do this for 2011 NOW) and then divide by 12. Put that much in savings each month.
2. In late October, we prepare a Christmas budget that guides how we spend EVERY PENNY of the money we have saved all year. We use Joe Sangl’s free Mini-Budget Tool. We include everything on this budget. It has stuff on it like:
   • food for Christmas parties
   • gas to travel over the holidays
   • gifts for each person we will buy for
   • Christmas cards and postage
3. Balance your Christmas budget to EXACTLY ZERO. Spend every penny on paper BEFORE you go out and start buying stuff.
4. Finally, the MOST IMPORTANT way to stay out of holiday debt is to actually USE the budget!

Its simple…

NOT PUMPED that my feet and legs are sore. Worth it!

Listen Revolution Church…a church planter asked me this week how we got 250 people coming in just 8 months. I could only answer by saying “this is a move of God!” Nothing can explain what has happened so far at our church.

And here is the crazy part.

God.

Is.

Just.

Getting.

Started.

BRACE YO SELVES…

I am absolutely astonished at how much The Change Group has helped us at Revolution Church. Casey Graham and his team are incredible. Their goal is to focus on your finances so that you can focus on your church. We haven’t even had our first public worship service yet and I can already see the benefits and fruit from working with The Change Group.

Prior to working with The Change Group, I was spending almost a full day each week just on church finances. And most of it was wasted time since I didn’t know what I was doing. Not anymore…

When Casey was sharing about their services with me he said something that resonated with my heart. He said, “treat us just as if we are another staff member in the office next door.” When you work with The Change Group, you get just that…a full time staff member just a phone call away, plus:

• The same results you would from a full time staff member at a cost LESS than a part-time staff member
• Quarterly coaching focused on increasing giving
• Peace of mind that you are operating well within church tax law
• 24 hour access via online to reports, account ledgers, etc.
• AND MORE! Click here for a full list.

I recommend that any pastor, executive pastor, or church planter call The Change Group now and set up services with them asap. Free up your time so that you can focus on that which has eternal significance – PEOPLE!

If nothing else, be sure to check out the free offer they have going on right now. Incredible coaching for free!

Just thought I’d share the three tools that basically run my life:

GOOGLE - First let me say this. If you are not using google then you are already behind. These guys will rule the world one day…Google provides me with:

• Gmail – the BEST email in the world. Syncs on any computer any where and works on the phone.
• Google Calendar – an amazing calendar with SMS alerts and email reminders. Can also be used as an evite solution. It also syncs with my phone so I always have my calendar and all team members’ calendars with me.
• Google Docs – an online filing cabinet for docs, pdfs, etc. Also works on the phone.
• Google Sites – online project management software (built through Google sites)

And best of all, Google is ALL FREE. Incredible!

EVERNOTE – Evernote is what I use to hold all of my ideas and tasks. I have it set up in a very simple way. I have four notebooks called:

• @tasks – all tasks go in this notebook
• Incubator – all ideas go in here. sometimes its a quick audio clip, a graphic, a pdf or even just a few lines of text that I need to remember
• Resources – This notebook holds files that I might need for any task or project I am working on
• Projects – This notebook holds files and info for current projects

Then, I tag every evernote entry like crazy. I have a small list of contexts I use including: @work, @call, @design, @video, @work, @out, @home, @email, @web, and @na (next action). I also tag projects like this: p:projectname.

By using tags for my contexts, I can view only tasks in any particular context at any given time. It works on my phone too! From my phone, I can save audio, pictures, and text. And again, its ALL FREE!

The thing that makes evernote shine is the tagging features and the fact that it does superb handwriting and text recognition. When someone hands me a business card, I just snap a photo of it with my iphone and save it in evernote. Then, in the future if I type the business name or person’s name, evernote will find it through the text recognition. Incredible!

DROPBOX – Dropbox allows me to always have access to any kind of file on my iPhone or on any desktop anywhere in the world. And, its secure. I use it primarily for PDF’s I need to read, personal finance spreadsheets, and church budgeting. Having access to this important information at all times is AWESOME. Dropbox rises above other solutions in my opinion because it syncs local files and online files at the same time. Awesome!

On July 16, 2007 CNNMoney.com rated Schertz: One of the Best Places to Live in the United States. In Texas, Schertz was ranked #1; Nationwide it came in at #40.

Since the late 1990′s, Schertz has witnessed unprecedented growth. In just over five years, from 2000-2005, the city’s population jumped from 18,694 to 26,463. In 2006 alone, the population rose from 26,463 to 34,000. During that same period, the city platted 1,357 new lots and the growth shows no sign of slowdown.

Oh, and more trivial but still cool:

In 1988, the half-brother of Osama bin Laden and then patriarch of the bin Laden family, Salem bin Laden, perished in a crash of a light plane in Schertz, described as a “freak accident” by Schertz officials.

Wondering why they put “freak accident” in quotations. Schertz conspiracy?

Awesome stuff. Pumping me up EVEN MORE.