Blessings of Budgeting

Since my husband and I began budgeting, we have enjoyed a number of blessings. Here are a few:

A budget ensures we can pay our tithing and other offerings. Several years ago my son and I were in a car accident that demolished our car. Fortunately we were wearing our seat belts and were not injured. That evening as our family was praying to thank Heavenly Father for his protection, we had a strong impression that we had been protected because we had been faithful in paying our tithing.
Money management brings peace of mind by removing many of our financial pressures. There is security in knowing we have done our best to prepare for unexpected expenses and life’s little emergencies.
When troubles come, we can pray for help in faith, knowing we have done all we can do to take care of our financial responsibilities. We have found that faithfully following the counsel to budget has given us confidence to draw upon the powers of heaven during times of need (see D&C 82:10). My husband and I have often felt the guidance of the Holy Ghost in making plans and in working through our financial difficulties. During our son’s recent cancer treatments, there was a big gap between our financial obligations and our income. The Lord opened heaven’s windows and blessed us—usually through the generosity of others—with what we needed to fill that gap.
Budgeting has enabled me to be a full-time homemaker. Just before our first child arrived, I quit my job. We were especially grateful for our budget at that time because it gave us a guide to reducing our spending and opened the way for me to stay home and raise our children.
Sticking to a budget has allowed us to enjoy a higher standard of living. Having a financial plan helped us see many areas where we were wasting money and enabled us to get more of what we really wanted.
Budgeting helps us deepen our understanding of each other and develop our communication skills. Finances are tied into almost every aspect of life. When we discuss our financial goals and plans, we often find ourselves discussing a range of topics, including our relationships with one another and our extended families, childhood experiences and memories, retirement plans, home improvements, vacation plans, temple attendance, challenges and goals relating to my husband’s occupation, and much more.

Our family is grateful for the many blessings we have received from budgeting our money. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read: “All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; … for my commandments are spiritual” (D&C 29:34–35). Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said: “In my judgment, we never will have balance in our lives unless our finances are securely under control” (“Keeping Life’s Demands in Balance,” Ensign, May 1987, 15).

Keeping the temporal law of managing our money has truly brought us spiritual blessings and has helped bring balance into our lives.—Janice Stringham LeFevre, Kaysville, Utah