by Peyton Jones: Once you’ve earned the money, you need to manage it effectively. Bi-vocational ministers can’t afford to have much debt, no pun intended. There are a few more factors to balance in your personal finances so that you don’t get in over your head finanacially.

• Designation – It is important to keep your personal finances, the church’s finances, and your business finances completely separate. Bi-vocationalism does not mean that you rob Peter to feed Paul, or that you dip into funds that your family needs to survive. If you find yourself bailing water in one area of finance, you must resist the temptation to pour resources from one bucket into the other.

• Debt – The most important factor in managing your personal finances is to get out of debt and keep out of it. It’s considered good practice in general to postpone church planting and starting a business if you’re in debt. Debt is the major liability that can tip the scales towards bankruptcy in your personal finances, or that of your business. There are multiple ways to eliminate debt, and remain out by adopting a lifestyle of not living beyond your means. Visit www.daveramsay.com for more information.

• Savings – Many people are so busy paying off credit cards that they don’t have a savings. Once you’re out of debt, it’s considered good practice to have the equivalent of 3-6 months of income stashed away in a savings account. At a bare minimum, you should have 2 months. Managing your finances well also means having money set aside for inevitabilities such as car repairs, or emergencies.
• Taxes – If you’re considering being self-employed, there are other factors to consider. Each of the States have their own tax requirements for a business owners, but you will need to be familiar with them. On the federal level, you will need to pay self-employment taxes in the form of filing quarterly returns. You will need to set a percentage of your income aside to make these payments four times a year.

As you can see, developing an aptitude of financial management involves many moving parts, but navigating them effectively will help to ensure that you are able to effectively sustain and scale the bi-vocational lifestyle.

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Buy Peyton’s newest book “Reaching The Unreached: Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art” over on Amazon.com. You can also download a free chapter and watch a cool trailer for the book HERE or click the image below.