Beyond Emergencies: What Else Should I Be Saving For?

Ralph:00:00:00

Okay, you're making progress on that emergency fund, and that's

Ralph:00:00:03

awesome, but what about everything else that cozy home, you've always

Ralph:00:00:08

envisioned that much needed?

Ralph:00:00:11

Family vacation that could heal weary souls or simply the peace of mind in

Ralph:00:00:17

a secure Christ-centered retirement.

Ralph:00:00:21

Saving for the future feels like an impossible mountain.

Ralph:00:00:24

Stealing your sleep and weighing on your spirit.

Ralph:00:00:27

Stick with me 'cause today we're breaking down how to make it happen.

Ralph:00:00:45

Hey there.

Ralph:00:00:45

Welcome back to your Daily, financially Confident Christian.

Ralph:00:00:48

I'm Ralph and it's truly great to be with you again today.

Ralph:00:00:52

This is the show that helps you answer that question, how do I become

Ralph:00:00:55

a financially confident Christian?

Ralph:00:00:58

And we're continuing our series dealing with the stress of money Worries.

Ralph:00:01:02

Now.

Ralph:00:01:03

Yesterday we talked about starting that crucial first layer of financial

Ralph:00:01:06

resilience, that small emergency fund.

Ralph:00:01:10

We discussed building your own what I called arc of assurance, such

Ralph:00:01:14

a vital step in reducing immediate stress from unexpected events.

Ralph:00:01:19

Today we're gonna look beyond just emergencies and start talking about saving

Ralph:00:01:23

for the future, for your future goals, for the things that are important to you.

Ralph:00:01:29

Now maybe the idea of saving for anything else feels completely

Ralph:00:01:32

out of reach right now.

Ralph:00:01:33

Or maybe you're just wondering, where do I even start, Ralph?

Ralph:00:01:39

So let's, let's ask today, beyond emergencies, what

Ralph:00:01:42

else should I be saving for?

Ralph:00:01:44

And more importantly, how do I actually do it?

Ralph:00:01:49

Perhaps you feel like your financial life is this endless sprint, just

Ralph:00:01:53

barely keeping your head above water.

Ralph:00:01:56

You're just trying to survive today, right?

Ralph:00:01:59

The idea of saving for a down payment on a house or a new car, or taking

Ralph:00:02:05

a meaningful family vacation or a retirement that feels like a fantasy

Ralph:00:02:10

something only other people do.

Ralph:00:02:13

And I hear you and I hear you loud and clear.

Ralph:00:02:16

Maybe you're even saying right now, Ralph, I'm just trying to figure out how to

Ralph:00:02:20

pay my bills this week and believe me.

Ralph:00:02:24

I truly understand.

Ralph:00:02:26

I understand that deeply.

Ralph:00:02:27

But here's the powerful truth.

Ralph:00:02:29

We can, and we must begin planning for your financial success even

Ralph:00:02:35

right from where you are now.

Ralph:00:02:38

That gnawing feeling that bigger future goals are forever out of reach,

Ralph:00:02:42

It's a suffocating weight, isn't it?

Ralph:00:02:45

It can lead to a quiet despair, a sense of resignation that slowly steals your

Ralph:00:02:50

peace and leaves you constantly anxious about what's gonna happen tomorrow.

Ralph:00:02:56

Or maybe you are saving a little, but it's all in one big pot, and you keep using it

Ralph:00:03:00

for things that aren't truly emergencies.

Ralph:00:03:03

And then you're feeling frustrated that you're not making real

Ralph:00:03:05

progress towards specific goals.

Ralph:00:03:09

Here's the thing.

Ralph:00:03:11

Planning and saving for the future isn't just good financial sense.

Ralph:00:03:16

It is certainly that, but it's also a practice rooted in biblical wisdom.

Ralph:00:03:21

God's word encourages us to think ahead and be prepared.

Ralph:00:03:25

Look at Proverbs chapter 21, verse 20.

Ralph:00:03:28

It says, in the house of the wise, our stores of choice, food and oil, but

Ralph:00:03:34

a foolish person devours all he gets.

Ralph:00:03:39

Think about that for a second.

Ralph:00:03:42

This first highlights the wisdom of storing up resources instead of

Ralph:00:03:46

immediately consuming everything.

Ralph:00:03:50

Saving for specific future goals is an act of wise, intentional stewardship.

Ralph:00:03:56

aligning your resources today with the priorities and seasons that God may

Ralph:00:04:01

very well have for your life tomorrow.

Ralph:00:04:04

It's about stepping out in faith.

Ralph:00:04:06

It's about being proactive.

Ralph:00:04:08

and it's about trusting God with your future, even as

Ralph:00:04:11

you plan and you work today.

Ralph:00:04:15

This isn't just about money.

Ralph:00:04:17

It's about giving purpose to your resources.

Ralph:00:04:20

It builds a tangible hope in your heart because you're not just drifting, you're

Ralph:00:04:25

actively building towards the beautiful God guided future that he has for you.

Ralph:00:04:30

So what can we do?

Ralph:00:04:33

How do we move from feeling like future goals are out of reach to

Ralph:00:04:36

actively saving for them with purpose?

Ralph:00:04:41

Well, the single essential solution is to identify one or two of those

Ralph:00:04:44

specific non-emergency savings goals, ones that are important to you, and

Ralph:00:04:50

begin allocating consistently small amounts towards them within your

Ralph:00:04:54

budget, keeping those funds separate.

Ralph:00:04:57

This means giving a name and a purpose to the money you save beyond

Ralph:00:05:01

your emergency fund, it makes saving concrete and it makes saving motivating.

Ralph:00:05:07

So, okay, here's your one vital action step for today, specifically focused on

Ralph:00:05:12

starting to save for your future goals.

Ralph:00:05:14

The first step, I want you to identify your goals.

Ralph:00:05:17

Take a moment and just think about one or or two financial

Ralph:00:05:20

goals that are important to you.

Ralph:00:05:22

These are outside of your emergency fund.

Ralph:00:05:26

What's something you genuinely want to save for maybe in the next six months

Ralph:00:05:31

or maybe the next one to five years or, or even longer term, like retirement.

Ralph:00:05:36

And I just wanna encourage you to write these down.

Ralph:00:05:38

Maybe one or two specific goals.

Ralph:00:05:39

For example, maybe for you it's Ralph.

Ralph:00:05:42

I wanna, I wanna save money for a card down payment.

Ralph:00:05:44

Or Ralph.

Ralph:00:05:45

I'd really like to have that family vacation.

Ralph:00:05:47

We haven't had one in years.

Ralph:00:05:50

Maybe for you it's that retirement nest egg, but just write one

Ralph:00:05:54

or two of those things down.

Ralph:00:05:55

The second step, I want you to look at your budget and find

Ralph:00:05:58

a small amount in your budget.

Ralph:00:06:00

Go back to that budget you, that you created, and now that you're

Ralph:00:06:03

working on or you're, you're starting to work on your emergency fund.

Ralph:00:06:06

Find just one small amount for you.

Ralph:00:06:08

It could be $5 or $10 or, or maybe even $25 that you can realistically

Ralph:00:06:14

allocate to one or both of these goals combined for the next pay period.

Ralph:00:06:19

And I want you to remember this, consistency is more important than the

Ralph:00:06:24

amount when you start the third step.

Ralph:00:06:28

I want you to create separate saving spots.

Ralph:00:06:31

Just like with that emergency fund, it's incredibly helpful to keep

Ralph:00:06:34

savings for different goals separate.

Ralph:00:06:36

You could do this by opening separate, savings accounts for those major goals.

Ralph:00:06:41

Many banks let you open multiple online accounts and it's simple, or

Ralph:00:06:45

you can use that, what we call sinking funds feature in a budgeting app, or

Ralph:00:06:48

maybe use a simple spreadsheet to.

Ralph:00:06:51

Earmark those amounts so that you know exactly what each dollar is saved for.

Ralph:00:06:56

You gotta earmark that money.

Ralph:00:06:59

And then the next step, I want you to allocate that first amount, transfer that

Ralph:00:07:02

small amount that you allocated in that second step for those couple things that

Ralph:00:07:06

you decided on into separate accounts or maybe just mentally or digitally

Ralph:00:07:10

earmark it for your chosen goals.

Ralph:00:07:12

And I encourage you to automate this if possible.

Ralph:00:07:17

So now you're asking Ralph.

Ralph:00:07:19

Why does this even help?

Ralph:00:07:20

Why am I bothering doing this?

Ralph:00:07:23

Well, here's what I believe.

Ralph:00:07:24

I believe this single action directly fights that struggle of feeling

Ralph:00:07:28

like future goals are impossible.

Ralph:00:07:31

It breaks them down into small, manageable steps, and it gives your savings purpose.

Ralph:00:07:38

It builds momentum, and it builds hope because you see progress

Ralph:00:07:41

towards something meaningful.

Ralph:00:07:44

Keeping those funds separate, it reduces that stress of accidentally spending money

Ralph:00:07:49

meant for one goal on something else.

Ralph:00:07:54

How about we pray together now?

Ralph:00:07:55

Father God, we just thank you for giving us dreams and giving

Ralph:00:07:59

us desires for the future.

Ralph:00:08:02

And Lord, we confess that saving for those dreams often feels overwhelming.

Ralph:00:08:06

It often feels like it's just out of reach.

Ralph:00:08:10

So please grant us wisdom to identify the goals that you want us to pursue,

Ralph:00:08:15

and Lord, the discipline to save consistently towards those goals.

Ralph:00:08:20

Help us to be wise stewards, Lord, planning for the future seasons of life.

Ralph:00:08:26

And may this act of saving bring us hope and bring us peace.

Ralph:00:08:31

Trusting you will guide our steps and provide us as we

Ralph:00:08:36

plan according to your will.

Ralph:00:08:39

We ask this with confidence.

Ralph:00:08:40

In Jesus' name, Amen.

Ralph:00:08:44

Listen, don't let saving for the future goals feel like a burden.

Ralph:00:08:48

It's time to see it as an opportunity to align your finances with your

Ralph:00:08:51

God given priorities and build a foundation for peace and build a

Ralph:00:08:56

foundation for joy down the road.

Ralph:00:08:59

I wanna just encourage you, take that first step today to

Ralph:00:09:01

identify a goal and just set aside a small amount because listen.

Ralph:00:09:05

You're building a brighter future.

Ralph:00:09:09

If this episode resonated with you, I wanna encourage you to

Ralph:00:09:11

share it with somebody else.

Ralph:00:09:12

Other people can find value in this, and you can find resources and connect

Ralph:00:09:16

with the show at our new website that's financially confident christian.com.

Ralph:00:09:21

And the best part is I've got a special gift for you on your journey today.

Ralph:00:09:25

For the first 100 listeners who go to financially confident

Ralph:00:09:29

christian.com/master, I'm gonna give you a free copy of my book.

Ralph:00:09:33

It's called Mastering Your Finances.

Ralph:00:09:35

Now listen, it's just 47 pages.

Ralph:00:09:37

It's not overwhelming.

Ralph:00:09:39

It's a quick, powerful read, designed as a starting point, just

Ralph:00:09:43

a starting point to help you break that cycle of financial shame.

Ralph:00:09:47

And step into confidence.

Ralph:00:09:49

So again, go to financially confident christian.com/master

Ralph:00:09:53

to get you a free copy today.

Ralph:00:09:55

Now, tomorrow we're gonna be talking about debt.

Ralph:00:09:58

We're gonna talk about how to face it and how to strategize your way to freedom.

Ralph:00:10:02

That's an episode you don't want to miss.

Ralph:00:10:04

So make sure you join me tomorrow and let's all go out there today

Ralph:00:10:07

and be financially confident.

Ralph:00:10:10

Christians, you can do this.

Ralph:00:10:13

I have confidence in you.

Ralph:00:10:15

Have confidence in yourself.

Ralph:00:10:17

Stay financially savvy.

Ralph:00:10:18

God bless you, and you have a great day today.