Is a Financial Crisis Heading You Way?

Did you hear about the FTX crypto currency collapse? I am sure no one reading this will ever experience going from being a billionaire to being penniless overnight. Yet there are many possibilities for each of us to encounter a financial disaster in a lot of different ways.
 
Maybe you are hearing about upcoming layoffs at work. Or maybe you own your own business and are concerned about falling sales, or maybe you just have a vague feeling that your job is not secure.
 
The best way to face a financial crisis is to figure out how to handle it before it occurs, so we recommend creating a “Crisis Budget.” It’s your current spending plan, which has been revised to take into account a potential major upheaval in your family finances.
 
When a crisis occurs we are busy reacting to it.  We are also very emotional about whatever happened.  By creating a crisis budget before a crisis occurs you have time to analyze your current spending and make objective decisions about how to handle a loss of income and the resulting impact to your family finances.
 
Think about what circumstances may trigger a crisis and a resulting financial impact. If both you and your spouse work, a crisis may be that one of you loses your job, or maybe you are retired and your savings is not generating the income you had planned. Or that bonus you were going to use to pay off debt won't be coming this year. 
 
If any of these things happen, you'll be trying to deal with the crisis while also trying to earn some part time income. It’s not a good time to be analyzing your spending and making major decisions about how to change your financial habits. 
 
Think about one or two of the most likely financial changes that could occur in your life then create one or two budgets that will closely match the loss of income. If/when the crisis arises, you will know exactly what to do. Many times you will have some level of knowledge in advance of a job loss, layoff or reduction in pay. If you have prepared a “Crisis Budget” in advance, you will be able to implement the reduced budget as soon as you think that there might be an income issue.
 
Don’t wait until the crisis happens; implement your “crisis budget” at the first sign of trouble!   Being proactive will give you peace of mind, help you feel some level of control and deal with your potential loss of income all at the same time. And if the crisis never occurs the worst that can happen is you will have saved some money.
 
During a time of turmoil, it's easy to become discouraged, but it is just at these times that we need to turn to God for hope. In Hebrews 13:5-6 we hear “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.”  In a time of crisis, turn to the Lord for your strength. Adversity often gives us the opportunity to grow into the people God wants us to be; it gives us the opportunity to learn things we just could not learn any other way.
 
Coming soon ... learn to be content.

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