The Parent Wizard: Ten financial principles that will guide you through the Christmas season and throughout your life.

I love the Christmas season and I love the joy it brings through giving. I believe that most of us have desires to help others and give to those we love and that are in need. However, during the Christmas season we also need to be careful how we manage our finances and make sure through sound decisions that we don't spend ourselves into a life of financial struggles.

One of my favorite classes I took while at college was called Family Finances. I loved this class! The textbook we used for this class was called "For Love and Money, How to Share the Same Checkbook and Still Love Each Other." (By Bernard E. Poduska) One of the main concepts I learned from this class is the way we manage our money is usually caused from behavior problems. The author of this book sets up ten financial principles that will help you to better manage your financial life. The ten financial principles with scriptural references are:

Principle 1: Financial problems are usually behavior problems rather than money problems. (Matthew 25:14-18.)

Principle 2: If you continue doing what you have been doing, you will continue getting what you have been getting. (Galatians 6:7.)

Principle 3: Nothing (no thing) is worth risking the relationship for. (1 Timothy 6: 7-11.)

Principle 4: Money spent on things you value usually leads to a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. Money spent on things you don't value usually leads to a feeling of frustration and futility. (Matthew 6:24, 31-22.)

Principle 5: We know the price of everything and the value of nothing. (Matthew 6: 19-21.)

Principle 6: You can never get enough of what you don't need, because what you don't need can never satisfy you. (2 Nephi 9:51.)

Principle 7: Financial freedom is more often the result of decreased spending than of increased income. (Proverbs 21:20.)

Principle 8: Be grateful for what you have. (Ephesians 5:20.)

Principle 9: The best things in life are free. (1 Corinthians 2:12.)

Principle 10: The value of an individual should never be equated with his or her net worth. (Matthew 16:26.)

#ASaviorisBorn

I hope all of you have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!