Eight Important MONEY
Decisions for Every Couple,
by Russ Crosson
Workshop led by
Corey A. Pfaffe, CPA, PhD
Crosson: “New research indicates
conflict over money matters
predicts divorce better than other
types of disagreement” (p. 16)
Reasons for Conflicts About Money
• Incorrect thinking (Ecclesiastes 5.10; Philippians 4.11;
I Thessalonians 3.2-3)
• Lack of communication
• No game plan
Introduction
The Purpose of Money
• Money is not a necessary component of our self-worth.
• Be careful not to believe your ability is generating your
income (Deuteronomy 8.16-18).
• A successful person may or may not have money. A
person with money may or may not be a success.
Chapter 1
The Purpose of Marriage
• One of the chief ways we can bring glory to Christ is by
having harmonious, God-honoring, loving marriages.
• People define prosperity incorrectly and then pursue it
with all they’ve got, all the while worrying little about
the only asset that will last—their posterity (Ecclesiastes
5.15).
Chapter 2
Reasons for Marriage Conflict
• In what ways are our financial backgrounds different?
• How do our different temperaments increase the
likelihood of conflicts over finances?
Chapter 3
Work: Blessing or Curse?
• Your responsibility is to work hard and excellently at
what God has called and equipped you to do, realizing
that the income you generate is determined by Him
(Colossians 3.23-24).
• Wife (future wife), relative to your
husband’s work, be content with the
above reality (I Peter 3.1).
Chapter 4
How Much Should We Work?
• Your income level is a function of your vocation(s) and
isn’t necessarily dependent on working a greater number
of hours.
• Crosson has observed that in most cases a man tends to
work too much rather than too little.
Chapter 5
Should Mom Work Outside the Home?
• Crosson has found that when child care costs are
factored in Mom must make $20,000 of annual pay (in
2012 dollars) before her income is contributing to the
family’s discretionary funds.
Chapter 6
Who Pays the Bills?
Crosson: There’s no greater
way to disrupt harmony and
promote disunity in a marriage
than to have ‘his’ money and
‘her’ money. I interpret having
separate accounts as their way
of avoiding the communication
that should and must take
place for maximum harmony
in the marriage.
Questions that both husband
and wife should be able to
answer at all times:
How do we pay the bills?
What bills are currently unpaid?
When should they be paid?
Where are our wills?
What insurance policies to we
have in force?
How many bank accounts do we
have and where are they?
Chapter 7
How Do We Set Up Budget Amounts?
• You’re only on a budget system if, at any point in time,
you can answer this question: “How much do we have
left to spend on [name a specific expense]?”
• You must have a cash cushion.
Three Steps to a Successful Budgeting Plan
1. Develop a monthly budget—expenses fall in three categories:
a.Every pay period
b.Every month
c. Budget Busters sporadic throughout year—this total for the year, divided by 12 equals
the amount per month that cannot be spent for categories a and b
2.Follow your monthly budget EACH pay period assigning amounts from the above three
categories
3.Adopt a means to stay on track between paydays (e.g., an “envelope system”)
Chapter 8
How Much Debt Should We Allow?
• Proverb 22.7; I Timothy 6.7
Debt Philosophy
We agree together to purposefully live
below our means, not to pursue material
wants without the money to afford them,
never to use emergency savings for
consumer purchases, and to take on debt
only when it benefits the family’s longterm goals or needs.
Chapter 9
How Do We Decide Which Investments
to Make?
• Hebrews 13.5; Proverbs 28.20-22; Proverbs 13.11;
Ecclesiastes 11.1-2
• A couple gets wealthy by spending less than they make.
• Watch out for “the sure thing” and “you must act now.”
Chapter 10
How Much Should We Give?
• Crosson: It’s critical that couples communicate in the
area of giving just as they do about investments
• God’s Way of Giving
– God gives to us
– We respond to His giving by
• giving thanks
• giving to His work and His workers
• giving to others
Chapter 11
What is Our Strategy for Discussing Money?
• Crosson: “We must not let a temporal tool such as
money disrupt or ruin our God-ordained relationships—
our marriages.” I Peter 3.8-9
• More Crosson: Keys to effectively restoring broken
communication –
– take the time, be persistent, talk out the problem, and
pray together
– Don’t settle for a stalemate
– Never take revenge
Chapter 12