Steward Like An Ant

The bible has a lot of scriptures about money and being a good steward but there is one about an ant that speaks to me. Proverbs 6:6-8 NIV “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” The ant is disciplined; he knows that he needs to gather what he needs to store up for the future. There is a lesson here from the ants about money: No one has to tell the ant that he needs to prepare for the future; the ant knows to save or set aside what it needs.

While I am not a financial planner, I made a decision a long time ago to be a good steward over what God has given me. I was raised in a household where I received an allowance and I was taught to pay my tithe, save some and spend some. I know that my money should honor God by supporting my local church and charitable organizations, saving some for the future and allocating the rest to bills. Essentially, this is my ant mentality concerning my money.

The disciplined ant

I have learned that a budget is essential to my ant mentality of being disciplined. As a former educator I adopted the phrase,” If you fail to plan, plan to fail.” The discipline that I have for our household finances is made easier by a few things that I do by planning. I view all of our accounts on-line to stay abreast of what is happening. I keep a manual budget in a ledger to keep track of every account balance and what the expenses are so that there are no surprises. I also ensure that my husband and I discuss our finances quarterly to ensure that we are on track. Annually, I meet with a financial planner to ensure that I am meeting the goals of our family.

My budget has a few categories: take home pay, savings/investments, fixed expenses and variable expenses. I list the take home pay for my husband and I, so that I know exactly what is coming in. In the fixed expenses category it includes mortgage payment, insurance, student loans and utilities. These expenses are about 60% of our take home pay. I also have listed the variable expenses such as groceries, extracurricular activities and home improvement. These expenses are about 20% of our take home pay. Also, my budget includes 20% in savings/investments which is what I really want to delve into in a bit.

What is missing from my budget is credit card payments. I use my credit cards sparingly because I am not interested in paying interest rates that exceed my mortgage, car and student loan interest rates. Since I have a mortgage, car and student loan debt that is enough debt for me! I live by the rule that if it is not available in my debit account then I need to save up for it or I can live without it. I know that credit card debt can derail a budget.

The ant concerned about the future
The savings/investments portion of the budget is like the ant because it is concerned about the future. It includes quite a few categories and it equals 20% of our budget. The first category is emergency savings which we use for car repair, home repair and other unexpected expenses. The next category is retirement, my husband and I both contribute pre-tax dollars to our retirement funds at work. We also contribute to a Roth IRA so that we are using some of our after-tax dollars to save for the future. We also have a money market account. The third category is a college fund to pay for future college expenses for my children. The last category is personal savings accounts for my children, my husband and myself so that we have our own play money.

I am serious about planning for our future because I know that if we do not make it a priority, we will be unprepared and possibly be in the workforce longer than we desire. In addition, we could also be dependent upon our children to financially assist us and that does not appeal to me.

The smart ant
The ant is smart because he uses his God given wisdom to be a good steward. I hope that if you are not already budgeting, saving or investing that you make a plan to do so today. You would not want the ant to be smarter with his resources than you are!

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