Relationships – Crown Financial Ministries New Zealand

Learning from failure

Peter Crawford — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 04:19:09 +0000

Have you ever failed? I mean, really failed?

You know, that sickening feeling when you realize you’ve missed the mark, made a huge mistake, or gone just a little too far? No wonder it’s one of our greatest fears.

I’ve certainly failed. My biggest financial failure was becoming successful in the eyes of the world and a failure as a steward of what God had given me. I got so distracted by my own goals and achievements that I sought after the wrong things. I accumulated worldly wealth instead of true Kingdom riches.

But God isn’t unaware of our mistakes. In fact, 2 Corinthians 12 tells us that in our weaknesses and mess-ups, He’s made even greater. So don’t give up.

Repentance is part of learning from your mistakes.

Come humbly before God to confess your failures and surrender your future. He’s slow to anger and abounding in love. God can always redeem your mistakes for His purpose.

If you have this attitude, you may be able to avoid messing up in the first place! Psalm 37 tells us, “Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.”

If you’re making short- or long-term goals, pray about them and commit them to the Lord. Proverbs says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”

No matter what your failure is, it’s never so bad that God can’t redeem it.

Ask Him to reveal what He wants you to achieve. Abide in Him and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Crown’s online MoneyLife Personal Finance Study is a 10-part course with accompanying videos to guide you through God’s teaching on money

Other courses we have available include:

Debt Free Living online course

Money Dates online course

Do Well 10 Week Small Group Biblical Financial Study (New Zealand edition)

Chuck Bentley, CEO, Crown Financial Ministries International

Helping your children into home ownership

Peter Crawford — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 21:12:25 +0000

It is sometime suggested that home ownership is now only a dream for many people, but Census data shows the rate of home ownership has been increasing since the 2018 Census. In 2023 66 percent of households owned their own home (including those held in a family trust), while 34 percent of households did not own their home. That compares with 64.5 percent of households owning their own home and 35.5 percent of households that did not own their home in 2018.

Over the past 40 years house prices have increased faster than the rate of increase in incomes, but lower mortgage interest rates have helped more people to enter the housing market. Debt-to-income ratios introduced by the Reserve Bank in late 2024 are expected to limit future house price growth.

The introduction of Kiwisaver in 2007 has helped households save enough money to make a reasonable deposit on home and is an important contributor to the increase occurring in home ownership rates among young people.

Government measures to support home ownership are:

1. First Home Loan for buyers with a low deposit. Most home loan lenders require a minimum 20% deposit. With a First Home Loan, you only need a 5% deposit. Kāinga Ora underwrite the loan, this means that bank or lender can accept a 5% deposit when they usually would not be able to. The loans are available to people under a specified income level.

2. Kāinga Whenua Loan for Māori to buy or build on Māori land. The Kāinga Whenua Loan is an opportunity for Māori to build, purchase or relocate a house on Māori land that has shared ownership. The loans are also available for Māori collectives, including land trusts.

3. Tenant home ownership grant for Kāinga Ora tenants. If you’re currently a Kāinga Ora tenant, you may be eligible for a grant to go towards buying the home you’re living in. The tenant home ownership grant is a gift of 10% of the purchase price of selected Kāinga Ora houses up to a maximum of $20,000. Houses in some areas are not available for tenant home ownership.

4. Access to Kiwisaver for people who have previously owned a house. If you have previously owned a house but no longer own a house it may be possible to access your Kiwisaver account. This applies to people who didn’t use Kiwisaver to purchase their previous house. There are other conditions as well.

5. Some low-income households are also able to use the Accommodation Supplement to assist with mortgage payments. You don’t need to be receiving a benefit from the government to apply for the Accommodation Supplement.

It is hard to find any accurate statistics on the degree to which parents are helping their children into home ownership.

The main options for helping children into home ownership are:

1 - Making a Financial Gift

This is a worthwhile option, even if the children have been able to save the 20 percent deposit required.

A few years ago I did the sums for a couple who were buying their first home using a Crown mortgage calculator. We assumed the couple continued with the same weekly payments on their mortgage after receiving a gift to reduce the balance on their mortgage. A $10,000 gift saved the couple $40,000 in interest over the 30-year term of the loan, shortening the time to pay it off. Small gifts to help them top up payments on the mortgage will also have long-term benefits if you don’t have a big amount to gift. Some people are concerned that the amount they can gift is limited but the key limit applies during the period before you need to access residential care for yourself or your spouse. It is best to complete your major gifting well before then.

2 - Interest Free Loan

This will have the biggest financial impact if it is used to help them pay off their loan faster. It is important to have a loan document, even for a loan to your children, and to seek legal advice.

3 - Offset Mortgage

This has a similar benefit to an interest free loan but offers much greater flexibility. As parents, you keep full control over your money.

BNZ and Kiwibank New Zealand offer offset mortgages which allow parents to use their own savings to offset the interest on their children’s mortgages.

There are some benefits over the interest free loan option:

- The money you make available to be linked to the offset loan remains in your control and you can use it at any time. That means it is possible to link your savings and the money in your day-to-day spending account to be offset against the mortgage. It would not be practical to commit the same level of support through an interest free loan
- The offset mortgage option has no establishment cost for you, while a large interest free loan is best provided through a secured mortgage, which involves legal fees. Moving your savings to the same bank as your child is easy.
- Your child is not in debt to you. Being in debt to someone else does influence the relationship between the lender and borrower. With the offset mortgage, the bank sets the repayment terms and monitors that payments are being made, so you don’t need to worry about that.

Any savings accounts linked to an offset mortgage do not receive any interest payments. Banks currently charge a higher interest rate for offset mortgages. That means the weekly payments are higher than for a low interest fixed-term mortgage. However, if the interest on the mortgage is being offset, this speeds up the repayment of the mortgage, since more principal is paid off each week.

So how does the offset mortgage work? If your child has taken out a mortgage for $250,000 and you have a combined amount of $200,000 in your day-to-day spending and savings accounts, the bank charges interest on only $50,000. The following example is based on a 25-year mortgage for $250,000, which has an interest rate of 5.8%.

In the first week of the mortgage, the offset means $223.08 less is paid in interest and $223.08 more principal is paid off compared with the normal principal repayments.

Most parents will not have that much in savings, but even a much smaller amount can make a big difference on how long it takes to pay the mortgage off. If you have only a small amount that you can offset, most of the mortgage can be put into a lower interest fixed-term mortgage and a smaller balance kept on the offset loan.

An offset mortgage also allows your child to have money in a savings account for large one-off expenses, but the balance in their spending and savings accounts is also offset against the mortgage.

Other articles which might be helpful are:

Financially helping your adult children

Advice for life-long singles

Should we borrow for our daughter’s wedding?

How does God’s financial advice compare with the worlds?

Basic business minimums for Christians

Peter Crawford — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 01:18:15 +0000

Basic business minimums for Christians

A business is a tool that can be used by God to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel. In James 1:22 we are told to be “doers” of the Word. A business is the perfect environment for living Christ’s truth.

Purpose of a business

To determine whether a business is being used to serve God, look at the policies governing its day-to-day actions. If Christian owners or managers are truly committed to Jesus Christ and to serving His purposes, the business will be run according to His minimum principles and precepts.

The business should have one overriding purpose: to glorify Him. Each decision—hiring, firing, paying, promoting, and so on—must be made in harmony with God’s written Word, under the direction of His Holy Spirit. No function is more or less important, and each must be done with excellence.

Basic business minimums

Whenever most people think about the basic minimums of Christianity, they generally think of the Ten Commandments. These are the minimums that God said would separate His people from those around them.

In the business environment, the same commandments apply, but there are some other minimums that set apart God’s followers from others in the business world.

These are indicators of whether they are serious about dedicating their businesses to the Lord. These minimums are:

Keep out of unnecessary debt. “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7). It is sometimes necessary to accrue debt, especially when starting new businesses. Borrowing to keep a business going, to fund operating expenses, or to purchase product should be avoided.
There is no tool more effective for evangelism than businesses dedicated to the Lord. Employees can be won by the example of dedicated owners or managers and also suppliers, creditors, and customers. The key is the walk, not the talk.
Disciple others. Discipleship is training Christians to grow stronger in their faith. In businesses, that effort should be directed by the owners or managers to those immediately under their authority. They will then be able to disciple the others under their authority. “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Provide for needs. A business must provide for the needs of the employees, creditors, customers, and owners. That is done by paying salaries, paying for supplies and equipment in a timely fashion, and providing a quality product at a fair price.

If Christian business owners accept meeting needs as a normal part of God’s plan, they will play an effective role in evangelism and discipleship.

Be accountable. All business people need some other Christian or a group of impartial Christians to whom they are accountable and with whom they can discuss major decisions or communicate personal problems or difficulties. “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counsellors they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22).
Provide a quality product at a fair price. Value can be defined as the effective return on a purchase. Low cost does not necessarily represent value. When Christian businesses accept the standard for services and products that the Bible prescribes, the end result will be the best product at the best possible price.
Honour creditors. Creditors include those who have loaned businesses merchandise as well as those who have loaned money. Suppliers are often treated like a no-interest source of operating capital.

If the situation is beyond owners’ or managers’ control, that’s one thing. However, if businesses are simply choosing a cheaper way to operate, they are violating one of God’s minimum principles. “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you” (Proverbs 3:27-28). Continuing to order materials and other supplies when there are already past due bills is deceitful.

Treat people fairly, especially employees and customers. Fairness recognizes that all people are important, regardless of their vocational position. “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). The principle of fairness relates to employees, creditors and customers.

Creditors will be more inclined to listen if they get paid on time and are treated fairly. Customers will be more inclined to listen if businesses give them a good product at a fair price and stand behind their word.

Generate a profit. Any business must be able to make a profit if it is to continue operations. God’s Word says that it is His will for us to prosper (3 John 2). That mean that owners and managers are to work hard and be active participants in God’s plan for their businesses rather than observers.

Conclusion

There is no such thing as a “Christian business.” A business is a legal entity and has no spirit or soul. However, it reflects the values of the principal owners or managers.

Committed Christians need to give their businesses to God, live by His basic minimums for operating businesses, and accept the fact that they are merely managers of His businesses. God becomes the source of everything for their businesses. “I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice, to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill treasuries” (Proverbs 8:20-21).

Other useful resources:

Should I start a business?

Sample business plan

Financial advice for life-long singles

Peter Crawford — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 04:18:18 +0000

The Census by Statistics New Zealand in 2023 identified that 23% of households in New Zealand consisted of one-person. People aged 65 years and over accounted for nearly half of all single person households. The proportion of one-person households has been stable over the past five years, while the proportion of two-family households has been increasing. That’s likely to reflect the decline in housing affordability during that period.

Some singles delay marriage in hopes of getting their finances in order. Others have financial challenges as a result of divorce, death of their spouse, pregnancy outside of marriage, or frivolous lifestyles.

Life-long singles often miss the traditional milestones of buying a home, having children, and long-term financial planning. They must be extra cautious with their income and expenses while fully trusting God.

Financial considerations for life-long singles

Living on one income today in preparation for tomorrow requires wisdom. My advice to singles, young and old, is to learn how to steward money. Handling money from a Biblical point of view will help you to face the future without fear. The Bible suggests:

“Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise for the rest of your life..” (Proverbs 19:20 NLT)

Find trusted advisors who can help you to take a short- and long-term view of finances. Goals must be set, and these principles apply:
Work with joy
Give first
Save second
Spend wisely
Diversify your investments

Good housing decisions are key

Many single people are not able to buy a home due to their inability to qualify for a mortgage because they don’t have enough income to meet the mortgage payments by themselves. In 2018 39.5% of single person households were renting compared with 34.6% of all households. Housing tends to be the largest annual expense for single-person households. Downsizing or relocating can eliminate some of the financial stress.

Rising rents are a problem since they have been increasing in response to high house prices in recent years. However, they haven’t fallen over the past 15 months, even though house prices have fallen. That increase in housing cost relative to your total income means you may need to consider alternative housing options:

If you are living in a large home, it may be necessary to sell and move to a smaller home
Take on a boarder or flatmate. Your property rates, maintenance and heating costs are likely to be less in a smaller home.
If you have a good relationship with your children, there are now more options for adding an additional house on their section without needing to subdivide or adding a self-contained unit onto their existing house.
Co-owning a house with family or a friend is also possible, but seek good legal advice before proceeding with this.
Living near family is important, but there are large variations in the cost of living across New Zealand and also within the same city. Looking at other options may reduce your financial stress.

Prepare for economic turbulence

Inflation and the economic recession are concerns for all of us, single or married. We do not know what the future holds, but we know that economic conditions are always fluctuating. Abiding by Biblical financial principles and making wise choices can cushion the fallout we may experience in the coming months.

In addition, variable expenses should always be closely analysed. Look back over credit card and bank receipts to see how much is being spent on groceries, transport, utilities, and entertainment. Seek discounts, eliminate waste, and make some cost-saving sacrifices. Many people need to find creative ways to reduce their spending. Recording all spending for at least 30 days will help you see where your dollars go. We are facing uncertain economic times, so we need to be extra savvy. Frugality does not mean misery. It can provide freedom!

Financially Helping Your Adult Children

Peter Crawford — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 16:40:40 +0000

It is never too late for parents to begin teaching their children about finances, particularly God’s principles of handling money.

If parents find that their grown children are having financial difficulties, this may be a good opportunity to help them get good counsel. Financially helping your adult children should be contingent on them establishing a workable budget and seeking advice on how implement it.

Parents usually have the greatest motives for helping their children, but financial help sometimes may encourage them to be dependent on the parents rather than on God. If God is trying to teach the children discipline and parents step in, the children may have to go through it all over again.

There is nothing wrong with helping adult children if they are truly in need. If their income is adequate and it is being mismanaged they need to learn how to manage their finances more wisely.

Parents can have a major impact on the fortunes of their children by assisting them with the purchase of a home. Often times the children can make payments a mortgage loan requires, but they have difficulty meeting the down payment and the many costs involved with house purchase.

A way for parents to help their children purchase a home is to give them money toward the deposit. Most banks demand that this help be in the form of a gift, not a loan. Helping your children pay their mortgage off more quickly may save them thousands of dollars and is a great investment opportunity if parents have surplus funds available. Interest rates are higher if the purchaser has less than a 20% deposit.

Parents will however need wisdom and discernment. There is nothing unscriptural about helping adult children purchase homes, but parents have to weigh the personalities, abilities, and attitudes of their children to ensure that they do not spoil the children. It is optimal for every family to have a debt-free home; so, helping adult children purchase a home can be a great blessing to them if it enables them to become debt free more quickly.

It is important to be sure that they are not trying to control their children’s lives. If the adult child is a married daughter, parents should be careful not to usurp her husband’s authority. If stepping in will cause the son-in-law to feel that he is an inadequate provider, then parents may need to back away.

They key to helping our children financially is finding ways of helping them to become financially free, since budget stress can be a major factor in marriage breakdown. While caution is required, financial help now may be much better than a larger inheritance later. Plenty to think and pray about.

There is nothing wrong with helping adult children if they are truly in need. If their income is adequate and it is being mismanaged they need to learn how to manage their finances more wisely.

Managing time with a home business

Peter Crawford — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 01:08:23 +0000

Managing time with a home business

Working at home in a home business provides flexibility and freedom, but discipline is necessary to complete the work required. Proverbs 6:10-11 notes “A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.”

The following ten tips will help with managing a home business.

Start each day by dedicating it to the Lord. Our time each day is given to us by God: “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Before the workday begins, dedicate it to the Lord. Ask Him for guidance and for help in using the time He has given, as He wants and as He sees fit.
Schedule time for business paperwork and accounting. Set aside a certain time each day or week (depending on the size of the home-based business) to do paperwork. This would include filing receipts, invoicing clients, balancing accounts, and paying bills.
Plan time—don’t fragment it. Divide the day into similar things by category. Group all phone calls (mornings are best for phone calls), projects, and errands to be done at the same time. Finish one category before shifting to another.
Be productive—don’t procrastinate. Procrastination is probably one of the primary reasons why goals are not accomplished. By determining when is the most productive time, you can limit procrastination. Strive to work during peak performance periods if it doesn’t conflict with family time or the family routine. Home-based businesses must conform to the family routine, not the reverse.
Establish a routine that is acceptable. Home-based businesses do not have to be limited to a 9-to-5 routine. However some type of routine should be established—one that can maximize production without sacrificing family. You might;
1. commit a certain number of hours per day to the business, or
2. certain full days to the business and take full days off—perhaps working with the business every other day.
Know when to say No! If you commit to friends, projects, or jobs, you must honour those commitments. Before any commitment is made, be sure to determine how that commitment will affect your family, business, deadlines, or other commitments. If accepting the obligation will negatively affect any of these, the answer to the request should be, “No!” Or at the very least, “Not at this time.”
Organize commitments. List all things that need to be accomplished or commitments that have been made. Then list the time that it will take to accomplish or finish each task. Divide the steps necessary to meet each goal or accomplish each task into daily assignments. Maintain these assignments until the project is complete.
Schedule extra time. When making schedules, make sure that there is enough flextime. Pad all appointments and activities with a few extra minutes in anticipation of unforeseen delays or unexpected circumstances.
Evaluate the importance of all meetings and appointments. Many meetings and appointments waste time that can be used for more productive things. Some business can be conducted quickly by phone, online meeting, or e-mail, rather than scheduling a meeting to do it. Don’t hesitate to set a length to meetings and end meetings that become non-productive.
Have family co-operation. Business schedules and routines should not interfere with quality family time, but the family should understand and support an agreed upon business and work schedule. Family time is a priority, but the family needs to understand the value of being a good steward and maintaining good work ethics.

Conclusion

When God provides an opportunity for people to operate a home-based business, they need to organize that business and operate it with the highest level of work ethics if they expect it to be productive.

If God controls the business and if good time management is used there’s more likelihood the home-based business will be successful.

Useful links:

Should I start a business?

Sample Business Plan

Business by the Book

Business by the Book workshop

Business by the Book bible study

Peter Crawford crown@crown.smm.acme.org.nz

Help me get our spending under control

Peter Crawford — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 00:40:43 +0000

Help me get our spending under control

If your spouse is spending too much money, there are some key steps you can take.

Some of the obvious ways to reduce spending include eliminating the big expenses. This might be a car payment or rental/living costs in excess of 40% of your net spendable income. Look at both of those expenses closely, and determine if you need to make any changes. If not, there are some not-so-obvious ways you can save money each month that really add up over time. Cutting what seems like a necessity may seem impossible, but over time, the sacrifice will prove rewarding. Here are a few examples for you to consider.

Do you really need that streaming service?
Do you really need Audible or Spotify? Or can you survive with ads during the free version of Spotify?
How much do you send on eating out?
Can you make your lunch at home and stop buying it each day?
Can you survive with just one car?

Free audiobooks are available via your local library. They have various ways to download eBooks and eAudiobooks onto your computer or device with a library card. Spotify and other small monthly fees that seem insignificant can really add up.

There’s More

Look at your spending with a critical eye. What could you realistically eliminate? What are your real needs? What do you need to reprioritize? Small daily purchases can add up quickly.

Analyse what is spent on subscription services, fast food, coffee, bottled water, shoes, clothes, gym membership and gear, house plants, manicures, pedicures, tattoos, haircuts and colour, lottery tickets, toys for children, etc.

Spending Challenge

Ask your spouse to join you in tracking all of your spending for the next 30 days. When Ann and I did this years ago, we found that recording each dollar spent made us more aware of our actions. We realized that we had some costly habits. Write down your expenses. Don’t leave anything off your list so that you know where your money is really going.

After 30 days, come together and share what you learn. It may only take a few days before a heightened awareness sets in. Prayerfully discuss what you could sacrifice for six months or a year. I suggest you gently educate your spouse on the long-term benefits. Can you agree to get the help of a mentor or come under the accountability of trusted friends? How about planning a reward when reaching your goal? You can likely cut back on your spending 25% by just changing some of your habits.

Reducing spending builds the habit of saving. With the help of automatic payments or direct debits, people learn to live without. The possibilities once you reduce your spending can include:

Building an emergency fund
Paying off debt
Saving for retirement
Giving more generously
Having funds for a move, a business, education, holidays, births, deaths, etc.

We enter marriage with a philosophy of money. Most often, we marry an opposite. The goal is uniting around God’s principles regarding our finances. Pray about how to lovingly communicate with your spouse. Treat him/her with respect and love so you can make progress. My desire is to see God’s people free and marriages united, strong, and thriving. We must recognize the errors in what the world has taught us about finances and have our minds renewed by God’s truth.

Chuck Bentley

Why understanding your money philosophy could save your marriage

Peter Crawford — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 01:28:56 +0000

Why understanding your money philosophy could save your marriage

Ask married people about their financial problems, and you’ll likely hear a list of issues:

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be debt-free”

“I’m sick of living from one week to the next”

“I will never have enough savings to buy a house”

“If my husband (or wife) would stop spending money, we wouldn’t be so stressed all the time”

Common financial issues are;

struggling to get out of overdraft or pay off credit card debt,
making it to the end of the month, or
unable to retire due to a mortgage that has not been paid off.

These concerns stretch across religious, ethnic, and gender differences.

For many, mixing money and marriage is like oil and water…they just don’t go together. Finances are a leading cause for divorce, the delay of marriage, and not getting married at all. Try to find a couple that hasn’t ever disagreed about money.

My marriage was no different. My wife and I spent 21 years of our marriage in disagreement about money. We had arguments, ongoing stress, and made mistakes because I didn’t agree with her and she didn’t agree with me. I was the spender, she was the saver. We loved each other, but were far from being unified when it came to our finances.

So why is it that when it comes to money in marriage, we have such a hard time getting on the same page?

Well, in a word: Philosophy.

If you had told me during those first 21 years of my marriage that my wife and I need to talk about “philosophy” to get on the same page about our money, I would have rolled my eyes and shrugged it off. “Philosophy” was just something stuffy old professors cared about and it didn’t apply to me, my marriage, or my money.

The turning point in our marriage came when my wife lovingly convinced me to join a Crown Financial Ministries Bible study. Talking about my marriage and finances in a group of other people sounded like just about the worst thing I could think of, but I went. And things started to change. One day, my wife gently asked me, “Do you agree with God’s teaching on money?” I said, “Yes. I agree with God.” She then said, “Good! If you agree with God, then I can agree with you!”

We quit competing about our preferences, and started unifying under God’s plan.

See, whether or not we know it, each of us have a philosophy about money. It’s not necessarily some lofty, theological mind-set that sounds like it came out of a university. It’s a compilation of our thoughts, ideas, plans, dreams, concepts, beliefs, and principles that together dictate our actions.

God designed us to act upon what we believe. So if we believe the wrong things about money, we are bound to behave wrongly as well. But, if we believe the right things about God, His plan, and His purpose for our marriage and finances, it will change everything.

Stated another way, the problem is not how much money you make, what’s in your savings account, or the amount of debt you have. Those are your behaviours, which are a result of your beliefs. The problem is the financial lies you believe. Disunity with your spouse occurs because you’re treating the wrong thing. You’re trying to put a band aid on a broken leg, and it’s never going to fix the real problem.

Healing happens when you align your philosophy with one another and Scripture. You and your spouse start speaking the same language. You start prioritising the same things. It’s no longer an attitude of “I’m right, and she’s wrong”. It’s “This is what the Bible says, and we are going to agree to live our lives according to this truth.”

To experience lasting change, we must embrace the truth of a new belief, then to act upon it to change our behaviours.

As it says in Proverbs, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”.

Chuck Bentley

Should we borrow for our daughter’s wedding?

Peter Crawford — Sun, 22 May 2022 03:25:32 +0000

Should we borrow for our daughter’s wedding?

Weddings can be very expensive, with costs amounting to more than $30,000 common in New Zealand. That can be a significant financial burden for parents and some are tempted to borrow against their house to pay for the big day. If that is what you are considering, there are some big questions to think about.

Do your homework to avoid the possible pain and stress of two mortgage payments. Analyse your income and employment situation, and put your pencil to the numbers to determine how much wedding you can afford without debt. Talk this over with your daughter and her fiance.

Does the wedding need to cost $30,000?

When our daughter graduated from university, her education fund was changed to the house deposit/wedding fund. When she got engaged that was a helpful trade-off for her and her fiance to think about. There was pressure to have a big wedding, but they both wanted to buy a house in the future. That got them thinking about how they could have a special wedding without making it more difficult to buy a house.

Some of the areas you can look at to save money are:

Do your research on options for purchasing clothing for the wedding party. What can you borrow? Is a good second hand dress or suit available online? A friend of our daughter’s had recently purchased a cheap new dress online and was very happy with it. The cost was just $80 compared with the $3,000 someone we knew paid for a similar dress made locally.
Ask friends to help you crowdsource flowers or consider whether you need flowers? Are there alternatives to flowers?
Photographs and video costs for the wedding can be very expensive. Are friends available to help out?
Venues can be very expensive to hire and may require you to use their catering for the reception. They are usually more attractive settings than your own church facilities, but how important is that. What is the long-term cost of using an expensive venue?
Are friends willing to volunteer to do the catering or help the caterer to minimise your costs.
Alcohol can be a significant cost. If you choose to have it, you have to decide a limit to how much you are willing to pay. When do the guests at the wedding need to pay if they want to consume more?
Are there other items, such as the wedding cake and bridal vehicles, which family and friends can help with as a practical wedding gift?

When Jesus told a crowd (Luke 14:25-33) to consider the cost of discipleship. He gave an illustration: “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” This diligence and analysis is necessary for every big decision we face in life.

Frugal weddings are nothing to be ashamed of. Years ago, a survey suggested that weddings featuring low costs but a high number of guests produced longer lasting marriages than high cost weddings with fewer guests. That might reflect the level of wider friends and family support before and after the wedding, since many people like to know how they can help out.

Be encouraged and patient. I am not sure how long you have before the big day, but disciplined spending and saving now can help you avoid borrowing. My hope is that this information will help you show the maximum amount of love and support to your daughter and future son-in-law, with the minimal amount of financial stress.

Peter Crawford

How To Live A Fulfilled Life

Peter Crawford — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 21:12:23 +0000

We all want to live a fulfilled life, and seek to achieve it in different ways.

Many try to make lots of money, others want to be famous, some want to have political power, some just want to be left alone and have a quiet place to do their own thing. But all of these fall short of being truly fulfilling. Living a fulfilled life is not achieved through self-fulfilment.

Albert Schweitzer, the famous doctor said, “Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid.”

In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that our fulfilment comes when we are prepared for “works of service”. That is how we attain to the whole measure of fullness of Christ.

So let me ask you, whom are you serving?

Are you serving your husband, your wife, your children, your boss, your family, your neighbour or others in your church? If so, don’t begrudge this as a burden. You are actually blessed. These are opportunities for you to grow and experience the joy and satisfaction of life. Jesus himself said that he did not come to be served but to serve. He fulfilled His purpose on earth in the same way. In fact, when asked who was the greatest among the disciples, Jesus made it clear that was the one who serves.

So today, thank God for all those you are called upon to serve. They are giving you the privilege of being filled to the full measure of Christ. Show appreciation for them. Thank God for them, and serve your heart out. In the end, you will experience true self-fulfilment and the rewards of a life well lived.

Relationships – Crown Financial Ministries New Zealand

Learning from failure

Helping your children into home ownership

The main options for helping children into home ownership are:

1 - Making a Financial Gift

This is a worthwhile option, even if the children have been able to save the 20 percent deposit required.

2 - Interest Free Loan

3 - Offset Mortgage

This has a similar benefit to an interest free loan but offers much greater flexibility. As parents, you keep full control over your money.

Basic business minimums for Christians

Basic business minimums for Christians

A business is a tool that can be used by God to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel. In James 1:22 we are told to be “doers” of the Word. A business is the perfect environment for living Christ’s truth.

Purpose of a business

Basic business minimums

Conclusion

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Financial advice for life-long singles

Financial considerations for life-long singles

Good housing decisions are key

Prepare for economic turbulence

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Financially Helping Your Adult Children

It is never too late for parents to begin teaching their children about finances, particularly God’s principles of handling money.

If parents find that their grown children are having financial difficulties, this may be a good opportunity to help them get good counsel. Financially helping your adult children should be contingent on them establishing a workable budget and seeking advice on how implement it.

There is nothing wrong with helping adult children if they are truly in need. If their income is adequate and it is being mismanaged they need to learn how to manage their finances more wisely.

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Managing time with a home business

Managing time with a home business

Conclusion

Useful links:

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Help me get our spending under control

Help me get our spending under control

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Why understanding your money philosophy could save your marriage

Why understanding your money philosophy could save your marriage

Well, in a word: Philosophy.

We quit competing about our preferences, and started unifying under God’s plan.

To experience lasting change, we must embrace the truth of a new belief, then to act upon it to change our behaviours.

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Should we borrow for our daughter’s wedding?

Should we borrow for our daughter’s wedding?

Some of the areas you can look at to save money are:

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How To Live A Fulfilled Life

We all want to live a fulfilled life, and seek to achieve it in different ways.

Many try to make lots of money, others want to be famous, some want to have political power, some just want to be left alone and have a quiet place to do their own thing. But all of these fall short of being truly fulfilling. Living a fulfilled life is not achieved through self-fulfilment.

Albert Schweitzer, the famous doctor said, “Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid.”

In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that our fulfilment comes when we are prepared for “works of service”. That is how we attain to the whole measure of fullness of Christ.

So let me ask you, whom are you serving?

Filter