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| The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself. |
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| We want to use this space to advise you on money and finance matters. We pray that the words given here will be helpful in making your and your family's lives here on Earth more secure and blessed. When you don't have to worry about money, you will be more inclined to praise and serve God as He wants you to. |
Money Matters It Is the Love of Money That Is Sinful NOT Its Possession Our first advise is severalfold: 1. If you don't already have one, get a bank account immediately. A bank account is so easy to open. With it comes an instantly increased credit rating. We will expand on this subject in a full article in the future. 2. Stay away from check cashing, title loan, and other seemingly "legal, easy, and convenient" money lending schemes. Their only purpose is to make huge sums of money while at the same time making it more probable that you will end up deeper in debt and much worse off (broker) than you started. Stay away from them! Whatever their name, if they are not an established money lending facility charging reasonable rates of interest (5-10%), you can count on ending up in trouble. These "money lenders" typically grin at you, throw money your way, and charge exorbitant interest rates (300% is not unusual - that's 3 dollars for every 1 borrowed!). If you miss one payment by even a few hours - not days - you can end up in deep kimchi. Check this site out for some more information. 4. If possible, rip up any credit cards you have. It is so easy to get one (they practically give them away to anyone, especially young innocent usually broke young adults. "You'll get yours (maybe) when I get mine" just won't work with creditors. "It's only plastic money!" Right! You'll have to pay those mounting debts. 5. Avoid casual credit as much as possible. It is impossible to avoid all debt (utilities, cars, telephone, etc.) But if you can, do like your grandmamma told you: save for those "gotta have" purchases. You're less likely to "gotta have" that new thingamabob if you have to pay cash for it right now. 6. SAVE. Open up a savings account and make regular deposits to it. Or keep on putting your money under the mattress - but on a regular basis. Don't touch that money unless the roof gets blown off by a tornado! 7. Avoid family arguments about money. Establish at least three bank accounts or piles of cash. No matter where the money is, never let it run out. Have "our money" for paying bills, "my money" for your stuff, and an equal amount of "your money". 8. If you have children, start saving now for their future education past public school. Those prospects will come around faster than you think. Even annual tuition at a church supported school like Allen University runs can run as much as $15,000 with scholarships, grants, and loans. Unfortunately, we typically don't set up college savings funds for our kids. Click here to learn about one South Carolina program. There's more to come! |
| How Much Does A Waitress Make? (Why Should I Tip?) Minimum wage (see table below) plus tips. Right? Depends! Food and beverage serving and related workers derive their earnings from a combination of hourly wages and customer tips. On average a waitress or waiter, whether in a "greasy spoon" or a fine restaurant, makes a base wage just at or above the federal minimum wage! That's why tips ("to insure prompot/polite service") are so important to them. They are usually struggling single mothers or young men working at more than one low-paying job so they can feed, house, and clothe their kids and themselves. How much they get is a complicated calculation, with many variable. But it is far below what we normally think of as a "decent living". That's where you and your tips come in. How much should you tip? Well the customary minimum for reasonably good service is a minimum of 15% of your bill. Unfortunately, too many of our people are lump together as "lousy tippers".. Many of us just leave a dollar on the table on the way out, figuring "that ought to do it:. How do you figure 15%? Let's take an example. Say your food bill comes to $22.50 for you and your companion, 15% of that bill if figured by looking at that $22.50 and simply mentally moving the decimal point one place to the left.. That gives you 10% ($2.50) Then you divide that amount in half ($1.25), and finally add the two results together to get the 15% tip. You tip? $3.75 For more, look here for overall federal guidelines and here for South Carolina and others' information. |
How To Calculate Tithes
How much do you make all together in a
year? The Bible says that you should give
10 percent of that amount to the God and
His church. Just how much is 10% and
how does one figure it?
Say you make $22,000 a year. Now 10%
of that is arrived at simply by putting a
decimal point to the left of the last
number, making your annual tithing
amount $2,200.
Few of us, however, pay our tithes in a
lump sum once a year. Most of us break
that down into a weekly amount that we
put into an offering envelope and drop in
the tithes and general offering plate every
Sunday. So how do you caculate that
amount?
As you know, there are 52 Sundays in a
year. That means that we have to split
that $2,200 up into 52 batches, one for
each Sunday. So let's divide that $2,200
into 52 more manageable pieces.
2200 divided by 52 = 42.30769231. Be
generous to the needs of the church and
round that up to $43 a week. Or better yet,
make it $45 a week.
Ev'ry llttle bit helps!
We sometimes forget that the church has
recurring bills just like you do at home.
The electricity, gas, mortgage, pastor's
salary, staff salaries, and other obligations
have to be met. And that's all before and
in addition to any connectional and other
assessments ("budget") and missionary
work. The only place the church gets its
money is from you!
It's generally considered that the Benevolent
Offering goes towards satisfying the church's
outside obligations and that our Tithes and
General Offering are solely committed to the
General Fund for the local church's upkeep.
That's not necessarily so these days. The
budget (assessment) must be met, regardless of
where the money comes from.
How much do you make all together in a
year? The Bible says that you should give
10 percent of that amount to the God and
His church. Just how much is 10% and
how does one figure it?
Say you make $22,000 a year. Now 10%
of that is arrived at simply by putting a
decimal point to the left of the last
number, making your annual tithing
amount $2,200.
Few of us, however, pay our tithes in a
lump sum once a year. Most of us break
that down into a weekly amount that we
put into an offering envelope and drop in
the tithes and general offering plate every
Sunday. So how do you caculate that
amount?
As you know, there are 52 Sundays in a
year. That means that we have to split
that $2,200 up into 52 batches, one for
each Sunday. So let's divide that $2,200
into 52 more manageable pieces.
2200 divided by 52 = 42.30769231. Be
generous to the needs of the church and
round that up to $43 a week. Or better yet,
make it $45 a week.
Ev'ry llttle bit helps!
We sometimes forget that the church has
recurring bills just like you do at home.
The electricity, gas, mortgage, pastor's
salary, staff salaries, and other obligations
have to be met. And that's all before and
in addition to any connectional and other
assessments ("budget") and missionary
work. The only place the church gets its
money is from you!
It's generally considered that the Benevolent
Offering goes towards satisfying the church's
outside obligations and that our Tithes and
General Offering are solely committed to the
General Fund for the local church's upkeep.
That's not necessarily so these days. The
budget (assessment) must be met, regardless of
where the money comes from.
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Last updated 1/22/2008
