Vestergaard Financial

The foundation for wise financial management is a budget. A budget is not simply an estimate of income and expenses over a given time period. Instead, a budget is you deciding where your money will go before you spend it. Budgeting is planning what to spend your money on. That is your very first financial step.

Once you have decided where you want your money to go, you need to make sure that’s also where it actually goes. The best way to do that is by tracking your expenses. You can make a plan, but a plan in and of itself will not get you where you want if you don’t execute it.

Step 1: Set a budget – plan where you want your money to go
Step 2: Track your expenses for that time period

James writes that the world plans with the main motive of making money. The grand goal in life is financial gain. The priority is profit.

It is necessary and good for us to make money to support ourselves, our families and help others. But making money and having money cannot be the main aim of our lives.

Instead, no matter the arena or sphere of life, we are to do all things to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). As his creation even the ability to make money is his gift. All we have are his mercies.

Therefore, we should use our gifts and steward our money to his glory.

Here are some numbers that describe the average American household. It does not have to be a description of your situation. There is a way forward for you and your family -- no matter your stage of life!

I thought I had a good understanding of personal finance but when my wife and I moved from Denmark to the United States and had our first child I realized just how little I knew. The memory is still clear in my mind of the day I called my dad and told him how every month more money was going out than coming in. I honestly had little to no idea where the money was going. There were things we knew we wanted to save up for but could not see how we would ever get there.

Our personal finances felt like a dark room with a door that I was terrified to open. Even with a Master’s degree from Copenhagen Business School, I did not know how to achieve the financial freedom my family so desperately needed.

Once the door was opened and the room cleaned and organized, we were able to get an understanding of our spending habits. Only then were we able to envision a financial future and develop a clear plan of how to get there.

You might feel the same as we did. Whether you are experiencing the crushing weight of debt, facing a seemingly unachievable down payment, or maybe at the end of each month you have no idea where your money went and how it was spent.

Let me tell you this: there is hope.

I know there is a way out and a way forward for you because I have experienced it myself.

You can have financial peace and freedom. Our family is still on the way, but we now have clarity in our financial life. I have become a financial coach so that I might help others to experience the same and live a life that glorifies God with their finances.