The Sin of Envy

If you're like me, watching little kids do an Easter egg hunt is a pretty beautiful thing. But I always feel bad for the littlest of the pack.

It always seems so traumatizing to see that little one run for an egg she has her eye on, only to have a bigger kid sweep in and steal it at the last second. Hi, it's Doug Hastings with Moody Radio, and unfortunately this same kind of situation has become a traumatizing reality for families all across the country. Families are out searching and finding their dream home, only to have it pulled away by another hunter at the last second, which is why I'd really like you to meet my friends at United Faith Mortgage. Unfortunately, this faith- focused mortgage team can't scare off the other hunters, but they can very quickly get you pre- approved and make it look as good as possible to sellers. They've specifically made a commitment to this podcast and our listeners to do all they can to help you.

You can find the entire United Faith Mortgage story and especially read how their direct lender advantage can often save your family monthly and lifelong money at unitedfaithmortgage.com. Once upon a time in America, envy was considered bad form and looked down upon, but today in our material society, envy is almost considered a virtue. Hi, I'm Rob West. Advertisers spend billions to convince you that you're not happy with your lot in life, but make no mistake, the Bible still calls envy a sin. We'll talk about that first today, then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live, where biblical wisdom meets today's financial decisions. So let's start with a definition. This one from an evangelical dictionary. Envy is the sin of jealousy over the blessings and achievements of others. Well, that's pretty straightforward and it tells us that the words envy and jealousy are interchangeable. Why then is envy a sin?

Well, first and foremost, because God's word says so in several places, most notably as the 10th commandment in Exodus 2017. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor's. And of course, covet is another word for envy.

Today, our neighbors don't have oxen or donkeys to covet, but we can still envy their new SUV or in-ground pool. Like the sin of pride, envy also leads to many other sins. In James 4, verses 2 and 3, we find you desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. You see, there's a difference between envy and the proper motivation to better one's life.

For one, you're willing to work hard and you're content with what the Lord provides. But with envy, you feel entitled and deprived. You feel that someone, namely God, owes you something. Envy is ugly and destructive. James 3 16 tells us, For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder in every vile practice.

So let's look at some of those vile practices, if you will. Envy rears its ugly head very early in the Bible. In Genesis 4, Cain is jealous of his brother because God looked with favor on Abel's offering, but not his. In verse 8, we read, Now Cain said to his brother Abel, Let's go out to the field. While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. So envy was the cause of the very first murder. It was also envy that made Joseph's brothers feel justified in selling him into slavery in Genesis 37. In verses 23 and 24, we read, So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore.

And they took him and threw him into a pit. Of course, Joseph's brothers would have killed him had Reuben not intervened. We also see the destructive power of envy in two stories from David's life. First, when Saul became jealous of David's fame after he slew Goliath, women sang David's praises. 1 Samuel 18 8 and 9 reads, And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands.

And what more can he have but the kingdom? And Saul eyed David from that day on. Having first become the victim of envy, David later succumbed to it himself by coveting and taking another man's wife, Bathsheba, in 2 Samuel 11. Worse, he sent her husband Uriah to certain death in battle to cover his sin.

In verse 15, David tells Joab, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die. Envy or jealousy is a powerful emotion that we have to always be on our guard against. Proverbs 27 4 warns, Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? So how do you know if envy has taken hold in your life? Well, one way would be to look at your finances. Are you living beyond your means, running up credit card debt to finance a lifestyle that you really can't afford? We used to say this was keeping up with the Joneses.

Now some people call it FOMO, which is an acronym for fear of missing out. You want what others have, and you're willing to go into debt to get it. If you don't get it under control and learn to live on less than you make, well, you're headed for financial disaster. So here's what you can do.

First, pray that the Holy Spirit would give you contentment with what the Lord has provided. And then second, if you need help setting up a budget and finding ways to cut your spending, sign up with one of our volunteer coaches. You can do that at moneywiselive.org.

Just click connect with a coach. Your calls are next 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Money Wise Live, where biblical wisdom meets today's financial decisions. Welcome back to Money Wise Live.

So glad to have you along with us today. We're taking your calls and questions on anything financial. We'd love to hear from you. Here's the number 800-525-7000. We have a number of lines open and, excuse me, we'd love to hear from you on any financial topic, whether it's saving or getting out of debt.

Perhaps it's giving whatever's on your mind today. Here's the number again, 800-525-7000. Our call screener is standing by and we'll look forward to getting you on the program today. Hey, let's take an email.

We don't get time to do these very often, but if you'd like to email us your question, we do try to take a couple of them on the air each day. And this one comes from Sally in Cleveland, and she says simply, how do I strike the right balance between giving and providing for my family? And Sally, this is a great question. I love what the author Paul David Tripp says. He says, you know, when we start with provision, the problem is that we can end up with an endless list of needs and wants that causes us to never get to our giving. And the challenge with that is that the gospel story is a generosity story.

We were created in the ultimate, in the image of the ultimate giver, so I like to say we're most like him when we're giving. So here's what I would do. First, pray, Lord, what lifestyle have you called me to live? How much of your money am I to give? And how much should I keep and spend on my lifestyle and even save for the future? Then whatever that amount is the Lord leads you to give, build that into your plan first, then an amount for savings or debt reduction, and then live on the rest and perhaps set a goal to increase your giving over time so that, you know, as you see increases in pay or you have other sources of income coming in, you can prioritize that with your giving because you've capped your lifestyle.

You've said, I don't need any more. So any additional that comes in in the way of income gives me an opportunity to even increase my giving that much more. So I hope that helps as we strike that balance.

It's something we all have to wrestle through. You know, God's word doesn't tell us what percentage of his provision we should live on. So we've got to begin on our knees and say, Lord, what would you have for me? How much am I to keep? How much am I to give away? And I think as we move through that prayerfully and even think about capping our lifestyle, both in the way of income and our balance sheet, it gives us an opportunity to increase our giving over time.

And here's the secret. That giving is going to break the power of money over your life. To the extent money can have a grip on your life, giving loosens that grip and it's just a lot of fun.

Here's my promise to you. As you experience the joy of giving and generosity, it's only a matter of time before you reorder your finances to do even more. Sally, thank you for your email. If you'd like to send us an email, just send it to questions at moneywise.org. All right, let's head to the phones today, taking your calls and questions on anything financial.

We'll apply the truth of God's word, the principles to whatever you're dealing with in your financial life. Here's the number 800-525-7000. That's 800-525-7000.

We're going to begin today in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Melissa, thank you for your call. How can I help you?

Hi, sure. I have three pieces of property. Two are paid for and one is not. If I go to sell, when I go to sell, should I sell them separately to kind of better the chances of a less capital gain or am I better off bundling them together and selling them that way?

You know, it really doesn't matter. Are they both properties that are not your primary residence? Are they both investment properties? Nope, actually all three of them are my primary residence.

They all join and form one big square. Okay, I would just make sure that when you talk to your tax preparer that you evaluate that to make sure, excuse me, that they are considered one dwelling. Obviously, if they're connected and contiguous, one dwelling and you've lived there two out of the last five years, then you could consider that your domicile. If that's the case and it is considered your domicile for tax purposes, then you have an opportunity to miss the capital gains altogether. Because as an individual, you would have up to $250,000 in gain, not the selling price, that's the profit on your primary residence.

Again, assuming it is your primary residence, you've been there two out of the last five years, if you sold it for half a million and your cost basis was $250,000, all that profit, all that profit, there's no capital gains whatsoever. So that's the opportunity. And then as a married couple, you have a half a million dollars, $500,000 in gain.

So at that point, it wouldn't really matter. Now, when you say you're going to be selling them off in pieces, you know, I think that's again where you've got to determine with a tax professional what's going to be considered your primary residence and what might be considered separate from that. Does that make sense?

It does. All three pieces are homesteaded as one big square. So they are all my primary residence. As far as the capital gain part, yep, I do get that you get the $250,000 free and clear, but there would be more than that, the gain would be more than the $250,000.

Okay. Yeah, so I would just connect with a tax professional, Melissa, just to make sure everything's done properly, especially as you talk about selling it off in pieces. I'd want to make sure that you have some counsel on that to make sure that's done properly.

But whatever portion is considered a capital gain would likely have a 15% capital gains tax, as long as your income is not more than roughly $500,000. But I would get some counsel on it. Sounds like this is a great opportunity to begin selling these off, especially in this red-hot real estate market, and we appreciate your call today. Let's head to Marilyn. Judas, thank you for your call. How can I help you? Hey, thanks for having me on.

Sure. So I am going to just come out and say it. I'm $80,000 in credit card debt, and I just woke up one morning and my head exploded. Just the lifestyle of what you said, living a lifestyle that doesn't fit. I think it happened, to be honest, with the cryptocurrency boom that just recently happened, I made some significant gains, which I did have to pay taxes on, and I just went crazy. I spent a lot of money, opened up credit cards, and now instead of being in the green, I'm actually significantly in the red, and I might actually lose my home. Boy, Judas, I'm so sorry to hear about where you find yourself today. It sounds like you've come to a place in your life where you recognize the error of your way and you're wanting to move forward in a different way.

Is that right? Tell me the conclusions you've come to after going through this. I want to move with God.

I think that I stepped away from God. I was tempted by greed, to tell you the truth. It was simpler when it was just me and my two dogs with no money. Well, that's the paradox of prosperity. The more we have, the more choices we have, the less real freedom we have. The Bible is clear, it's not money is the root of all evil, but the love of money is the root of all evil. That's what it says in the scripture. Greed is something that plagues us all.

Unfortunately, we can try to redeem greed in the name of the American dream, but that's not right. That's not the model we see in scripture. That's not God's heart for us.

In the parable of the sower, when the disciples asked Jesus, what was it that choked out the fruitful return? He said it was the things of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things. That clearly tells me if something Judas is going to compete with God for first position in your life, it's most often going to be money or the things that money can buy.

This is something that plagues us all in our sinful state. The first place is to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. If you've not ever come to a place where you invited him into your life to be your Lord and Savior, to recognize there's nothing you can do in your own power apart from accepting his free gift of eternal life and accepting what he did on the cross by dying and paying the penalty for our sins so that we might have life through him as we're reconciled to the Father through his shed blood, that's the starting point.

If you want to understand that more fully, I direct you to a website NeedHim.org. Once we surrender our lives to Christ, then it's about stewardship. It's about saying, okay, Lord, I'm still a sinner, but I want to be on your path.

I'm going to study the scriptures, and I'm going to be in fellowship with the body of believers so I can grow in an understanding of what it means to follow you. And I'm going to increasingly love the things that you love and hate the things that you hate, and that includes surrendering my financial life to you as well, to say I want to put all of this under the lordship of Christ, and I'm going to leave the ways behind me of greed and trying to fill a hole or a void in my life with the things of this world because we know it doesn't satisfy. You know, King Solomon, who arguably was the wealthiest man who ever lived, he said money doesn't satisfy, and that's from somebody who had it all, monetarily speaking. So if we accept that, we say, okay, what is my abundance? My abundance is that Jesus has adopted me, that God has adopted me into his family through his Son, Jesus Christ. And if we begin there, that's all the abundance we need, and then money becomes a tool to accomplish God's purposes.

So we recognize that God owns it all and we're a manager of his resources. So the question is, once you put all of that under the lordship of Christ and lay the mistakes you've made, just like we all have at the foot of the cross, and say, Jesus, I need you to forgive me, I want to change my ways, I want to pursue you, then at that point we need to make steps forward and you can do only what you can do, but you need to be found faithful, Judas, with what passes through your hands. So where do you go from here? Well, we need to acknowledge the debt that you have and develop a plan to get out of it. I'd call my friends at Christian Credit Counselors at christiancreditcounselors.org. Let's get you on a credit counseling program, get those interest rates down, and then let's create a budget.

They'll actually help you do it so you can live well within your means and then do everything you can to the glory of God. You stay on the line. We're going to talk some more off the air. We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us today on MoneyWise Live.

Delighted to have you along with us today. We've got some phone lines open, taking your calls and questions on anything financial. Here's the number 800-525-7000. We've got about four lines open.

800-525-7000. Boy, a delightful call from Judas. You know, so many of you listening to what he shared I'm sure could find yourself in his shoes, where you got caught up in the things of this world. It's so easy to happen to any of us, and next thing we know, we're in debt and we don't have the ability to pay our bills, and we realize what the Lord meant when he said, you've got to choose. Is it God or mammon?

And, you know, we each have to come to that place. As we talked off the air, he was encouraged about the change that he can make. He's going to reach out to christiancreditcounselors.org, and we're going to send him a copy of the Stewardship Bible with all the money passages highlighted in green, because we all need to be meditating on God's word. If we're struggling with this area of finance, you need to know God's heart related to money, because it's completely different than the world, and it will change your thinking. It will renew your mind as it relates to how you view the things of this world and the material possessions and the money that the Lord entrusts to us.

But when we put it under his Lordship, it changes everything, because now money becomes a tool to accomplish God's purposes. So Judas, all the best to you, my friend, and look forward to hearing the rest of the story when you call us back in the future. Again, phone lines are open 800-525-7000. Tammy is in Illinois.

Hi, Tammy, how can we help you today? Hi, thank you for taking my call. I have some credit card debt and a couple of loans that I want to pay off because they're really affecting my credit. My credit is being affected, and I was wondering, would it make sense to get a credit card and pay off everything and just make one lump sum?

No, I'm not a big fan of that strategy. So you said you have some credit card debt and then some other loans. What are those other loans? I have loans for my personal loan.

Okay, all right. And what is the interest rate on that personal loan? I believe it's like, it's pretty high.

It's like 22%. Wow. Wow. Okay. And that's to an individual? It's through rise credit. I don't know if you've ever heard of them. Okay, I haven't.

But yeah, that's sky high. So we're going to want to take care of that. No, Tammy, here's what I would do. I would tell you the same thing I told Judas is that, you know, I would look to Christian credit counselors first, which is a credit counseling program. Here's the way that works. They're going to work with each of your creditors to determine, as long as the accounts are closed, how much they can reduce the interest rate on these cards and loans. And once they establish the new interest rates and get you on one set monthly payment every month, then you'll build that right into your budget. And because that payment doesn't decrease over time and with the lower interest rates, you should be able to pay this off 80% faster. I don't like going out and taking new credit, starting the balance transfer game.

That in and of itself will further reduce your score. And often it just results in you jumping from one card to the next. You're having to pay usually two to 3% on the front end of the total balance every time you make one of these transfers. And, you know, we've got to solve the problem that got us here in the first place, which is my next point. And that is if you're not living on a balanced budget, we've got to really dial into your spending plan. You've got to know what you're spending every month.

You've got to have a plan to track it and control it. You got to cut all discretionary spending. That's not absolutely necessary because the key to getting out from under this Tammy is to have some margin beyond what you do right now that you can be sending to all of these accounts so that we can get those balances paid off quickly. And then once they're paid off, let's redirect that money into savings, not additional lifestyle. So head on over to christiancreditcounselors.org. Tell them we sent you. They'll set you up on a budget.

They'll evaluate all of your debt, and I think they'll get you going in the right direction. And may the Lord be with you as you navigate this moving forward. Folks, thanks for being along with us.

Much more to come on Money Wise Live. Here's the number, 800-525-7000. We'll be right back.

We're so glad you're joining us today for Money Wise Live. I'm Rob West, taking your calls and questions. We've got some phone lines open. 800-525 is the number to call. 800-525-7000.

Let's head back to the phones in Illinois. Edwin, thank you for your call today. How can I help you, sir?

Hello, Rob. God bless for your ministry. Thank you, sir. And my question is, I want to try to start investing, but I got no clue how to start, you know, 401k and investing in general. Sure, yes. Well, the starting place is to make sure that you've got some other financial priorities taken care of first, Edwin. Let me just ask a couple of questions. Are you living on a budget?

Yes. Okay, and do you have an emergency fund? That would be an amount of money in savings that you could use if you had something unexpected come out of left field. That's correct. I have maybe around 40-45 thousand in savings.

Wow, okay. Yeah, so I think, you know, the goal there, assuming you're not in retirement, would be probably three to six months expenses in that savings account. So let's say you total up your monthly spending and you multiply that by three or up to six, and that would be the amount. I would want that in an online savings account, preferably, where you're earning a little bit of interest.

It's protected, but you can easily transfer it over to your checking if you need it, but it's not too accessible there in kind of your main funding account, so you don't use it inadvertently. Anything beyond that, I would consider surplus, and then I would look to, you know, see if you have any consumer debt. Do you have any credit card debt or other consumer debt? It's minimal credit card debt.

Maybe it's around two thousand. Okay, well I would knock that out first with your savings right away, and again I would go back to making sure that you've addressed the issue that got to that two thousand. Now if that's two thousand that you charge up during the month and then you pay it off in full, that's one thing because those are then budgeted items and you've got the money to pay it off. If that's a balance you're carrying of a couple of grand, there's no reason for that. That's in a, you know, as soon as you pay that off, that's a guaranteed return equal to the interest rate. Let's say the interest rate's on the lower end at fourteen percent.

Well, you're not going to find a fourteen percent return in the stock market, so it makes a lot of sense to pay that off, but I want to make sure that you've addressed any issues that caused that debt, meaning overspending beyond your means, and the only way to do that is to really dial into a spending plan and then have a process to track the flow of money in and out. That's why we created the MoneyWise app so you could use the digital envelope system. You could download that in your app store today, but once you've addressed that, then I think it's, you know, a great idea to start thinking about saving for the future, and if you have a 401k available at work, Edwin, I would start there. Hopefully there's some matching there, and the goal would be over time to get that up to ten to fifteen percent of your take-home pay, just kind of as a rule of thumb, so that you've got a good bit going on a tax-deferred basis into your 401k, and then you would choose among the investment options in the plan. There's going to be a set number of investment choices, mutual funds probably, that you'll pick from. You could use one of the target date funds, which would be very simple, where, you know, you would basically select the fund that has the date that you would expect to retire. So let's say you're going to retire 20 years from now. You would, you know, pick the 2041 fund, and that's going to make sure that you're properly invested from a diversification and an allocation standpoint, so that you've got the lion's share going to stocks and a very small amount going to bonds, because you have plenty of time to be more aggressive, and then as you get closer and closer to retirement, it would get more and more conservative. Or you could choose from among the the various stock mutual funds in the plan, and you may want to ask for some assistance from one of the representatives from the 401k administration company. So that would be my best advice on how you get started, and let me just confirm, you do have a 401k available at work?

I do, I do. Okay, so that would be a salary deferral that comes out of your paycheck, but you got to build that into your spending plan, because as soon as you do that, you're going to get less money every month, you know, that you've got to able to use for your expenses. If you have money left over from that, you know, once you put aside the three to six months expenses, you said you had about $45,000 in savings. An option for that, assuming it's money that's for the long term, meaning for retirement, I would open a Roth IRA, R-O-T-H, and you can put in $6,000 this year. If you have a, if you're married, you could put in another $6,000, and if you're over 50, you guys could add $1,000 to that, but that would give you a place to put some of this excess money that you want to grow for the future, and I would look to the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios or Betterment as a robo-advisor to get you started on that investing. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios or Betterment, you want to open a Roth IRA, make the contribution for the excess beyond the emergency fund, and then you'll get that invested as well. So I hope that hedged in there, gets you started in the right direction. You stay on the line. I'm going to send you a copy of Austin Pryor's book, Sound Mind Investing, the handbook, and I think that'll give you some great insights as well on how you can manage money God's way and invest for the future, and we appreciate your call today. Taking your calls and questions on anything financial, we've got some lines open, 800-525-7000, that's 800-525-7000.

We're going to head next to Illinois. Tyler, thank you for your patience. How can I help you?

Hi, Tyler, are you with us? Yes, definitely. So just a new guy, just getting a credit card, first time having a credit card. What are some principles you think should guide my spending? I was a little apprehensive because I don't want to go into debt at all, but some people are saying it would help my credit score long term.

So what would you say are some good guiding principles? Yeah, I love this, Tyler, that you're thinking about this on the front end because having a healthy respect for credit and the power of unsecured credit is really important, especially as you're starting out in your financial life. Because if you take this ability to spend beyond your means, and that's what a credit card allows you to do, and you exercise that and run up some debt with some expenses that you actually can't pay for, you're going to start heading up debt mountain, I like to call it, and those bills will build up over time.

You'll end up spending a lot in interest. So the absolute essential item for using credit is that you only use it for budgeted items. So you've got to start with a spending plan, you've got to say, okay, what do I have to work with? And then you want to, you know, take out any automatic deduction.

So, you know, health insurance that comes out of your paycheck and, you know, other types of insurance, any retirement contributions, and then what you have left, I want you to add in your giving right up front. And whatever you want to be saving on a monthly basis, let's say you're still building your emergency fund, and then you want to live on the rest, build your budget, you're spending every month based on what's left after those essential items come out. And then with that credit card, you only use that for things that are in the budget, not for things you can't afford that are unbudgeted that you say, well, I'll pay that off, you know, over the next several months, because invariably, that just won't happen. And if you can discipline yourself to do that, Tyler, then you will actually be able to build your credit, because you'll be reported as an on-time payer every month to the credit reports. And that's an essential key to building your credit. Also, the fact that you pay it off every month means you're going to keep your credit utilization at near zero.

That's also going to build your credit score. So I think that's the next step for you is to build that spending plan. And the MoneyWise app can help you do that. In fact, I'd love to give you six months of a pro subscription to our MoneyWise app. So you stay on the line, we'll get your information and get that right out to you. And folks, if you'd like to check out the MoneyWise app, it's in your app store, just search for MoneyWise biblical finance.

Back with your calls and questions after this, 800-525-7000. This is MoneyWise Live. Welcome back to MoneyWise Live.

Delighted to have you along with us today. Hey, if you'd like to connect with one of our MoneyWise coaches, they'd be happy to assist you. These are men and women who have been especially trained as volunteers and as a part of their ministry to walk alongside God's people to help you set up a spending plan, a debt repayment plan, a giving plan, teach you a few things, and help you build your credit score. And if you'd like to connect with one of our MoneyWise coaches, set up a spending plan, a debt repayment plan, a giving plan, teach you a few of these principles we talk about here on MoneyWise Live.

It's very practical. You can do it all virtually over webcams, and they'll walk you through our process to actually begin to track your spending and get that spending plan in place, perhaps for the very first time. It's our MoneyWise coaches. The only cost is we'll ask you to pay $25 for the digital workbook that goes along with it, but all the coaching and the subsequent meetings, absolutely free. It's our ministry to you.

Just head to our website, moneywiselive.org, and click connect with a coach. All right, let's head back to the phones. Barb is in Illinois, and I understand you want to talk about your mortgage.

How can I help you today? Yes, so I'll start with a very, very brief question, and then if you need more information, you can ask me. So I guess in general, if you're going to pay down part of your mortgage, like make extra payments on the principal, does it matter? Do you first have to decide how much longer you're going to be in the house? So, for example, like we're in our early 60s, we're still working. If we think we're going to maybe sell the house in five years versus no, if we decide, on the other hand, to just stay in the house forever, does that make any difference as far as whether or not it's wise to start paying down some of the principal?

No, it really doesn't, Barb. I mean, the only thing that would cause me to say you may not want to do that would just be if there's other more pressing priorities. You had high interest consumer debt, or you didn't have your emergency fund, and therefore you don't have enough liquid capital for the unexpected, and so you wouldn't want to put that on a mortgage that's very illiquid. But apart from having a spending plan and doing some systematic giving and getting your consumer debt under control and having an emergency fund beyond that, and hopefully you're contributing something for the longer term to retirement, then if you have surplus, I love the idea of accelerating your mortgage payoff. Just one extra payment a year, whether you do that at one time or one-twelfth every month, will take a 30-year mortgage and shave, in most cases, about five years off of the mortgage, just one payment a year. So, you know, getting extra going to principal is just less interest you're going to pay. And even if you think you're going to sell this home in five years, you're just going to end up saving the interest on that extra principal for five years, and then secondly, having more equity to pull out of the home to roll into your next property so you can get that one hopefully paid off even quicker. So there's no reason not to prepay the mortgage, assuming you've taken care of those other priorities, even if you plan to move in the next five years.

Did you follow that, though? Yes, and so the answer is yes to all those other very excellent points you raised. I mean, we do have a huge emergency fund. We do, you know, we are giving to the Lord. We are putting a lot into retirement, so yes to all those things. I guess I just thought that if we're going to be selling anytime soon, I thought maybe then it, like, maybe it wouldn't make as much sense, because then we're not going to have all that interest down the road anyway.

But you're saying, well, at least you'd save the interest for the time being. Right, and more. Sure, go ahead. Well, I was just going to say, my other question, too, is does it matter? I've been researching a little bit. I like to try to squeeze, you know, I was raised to be very frugal, so I try to, you know, obviously within the limits of the law, squeeze every penny I can to make it stretch further, which I think is good stewardship. But does it make any difference as far as what time of the month? Like, does it make the most sense if your goal is to save interest on it? Save interest on the mortgage? Do you want to make the extra principal payment right before the payments due, or right after, or some said only do it in the longer months, not the shorter months?

I mean, do you have any opinion as to any of that, the timing of that? No, it really doesn't matter, because here's the thing. I mean, once that's credited to the principal, then when the interest is calculated for the next period, which would be the next month, it's going to be calculated on a lesser amount, because there's less principal outstanding. So I would just send it with your scheduled mortgage payment, however your lender or mortgage servicer wants that cut to come in, just make sure that it's noted the way they want it so that it does in fact go directly to principal, and that shouldn't be difficult. But I would just send it with that scheduled monthly payment, and then as it's applied to the principal, then that's a lesser balance that your next period, which is the next billing cycle, the next month, that's going to be a lesser amount that the interest is charged against. And then back to your previous question, I would say, you know, yes, you're going to save the interest on the next five years while you're still in the home. But what's even more important than that, I think, Barb, is that when you sell it, you're going to get more equity out because you've got a lesser balance than you would if you just stayed on your current amortization schedule. And I assume you're going to buy another home, and hopefully you put all that into the next home, which is going to give you a smaller balance there that you'll prepay, and we're just going to get you out of having a mortgage, whether it's a mortgage on this one or the next one, even quicker. And that's the goal, to be completely debt-free. So just see it as prepaying toward your mortgage that's eventually going to go to your next mortgage to keep that as low as possible. And I hope that helps. Sounds like you're doing a lot of things right, and you really want to honor the Lord with your managing of your money, or his money, and you're doing a great job with it. Thank you for your call. To Austin, Texas.

Regina, how can I help you? Oh yeah, I have about $20,000 in a regular savings account with my credit union. I don't have any auto payment. I use my credit card every month to pay my bills, but I pay the balance in full. I'm contributing to my 401k at work, but only three percent. I have an additional $500 that I can save per month, and just wondering what I should do with their $500. You have an extra $500 a month from your paycheck that you're not spending, is that right? Yeah, that I just add to my savings account. Okay, and do you already have the equivalent of at least three months worth of expenses and savings? I have more.

Okay, great. Yeah, so I'd probably freeze that and then take that $500 and either increase your giving or increase the amount going to that retirement plan. I'd love for you to get that up to 10 percent, ultimately 15 percent of your pay, and at three percent you've still got a good bit of room there. So if you're paying your bills every month, means you're living on a budget, you've got your emergency fund, that's great. Let's try to boost that retirement savings over time, and that $500 a month or $6,000 a year would be a great addition to those retirement contributions. So just tell them to increase the amount they're taking out of your salary deferral, and you'll be glad you did down the road. We appreciate your call today.

Fort Payne, Alabama. Elizabeth, how can I help you? Yes, I was trying to decide. My husband and I started a remodel on our home about five years ago, and then I had some major health problems, and we ran into a lot of bills because our insurance changed and we didn't realize it, and we ended up having to pay a lot of what was going on. So we started doing that instead, and we're now at the point where we were about ready to remodel again, and of course now wood prices have gone up, and a lot of things have changed, and a lot of prices have gone up. And so we were looking at our options, and several people had told us to get a construction loan and just do that for now so that we could go ahead and get it done. But then I was talking to somebody else, and they said to get a HELOC loan so that we could get it over time, and then that way we'd have the loan sitting there, and if we wanted to get it, you know, when lumber prices go down or whatever, we could do that as well. But then I was looking at REFI, and we actually still owe about 20 years on our home because we did it on 30, and we've got our interest rate is at 5.125% at this point. So I was thinking if we could do a REFI and get the money with the REFI and then get a lower interest rate, then we could do it on 15 years. That would cut five more years off of our payments and get it paid that five years faster, and then we could do the remodel as well.

Yes. Well, I like this plan, and I think because your interest rate is where it is and you're planning to do the remodel anyway, and you have a good bit of margin it sounds like in your budget because you're telling me you can afford a 15-year mortgage with a larger balance because you're going to pull money out for the remodel, which tells me you've got, you know, some room in the budget to absorb that. That all makes a lot of sense to me.

I don't like the idea of you taking out the HELOC. Interest rates are going to be headed higher. That's going to have a variable rate associated with it, which means even if it's still pretty low when you pull the money, it could end up being a good bit higher over time.

Lumber prices have been sky high. They've been dropping pretty rapidly, so you may find that you can actually do this sooner than you thought, you know, perhaps a little later than this year because prices are coming down. So I think assuming you've got a good credit score, which I suspect you do, you could probably knock maybe even a couple of points off that interest rate and then reduce your term.

That all makes tons of sense. With the remodel, it sounds like you're going to stay put for a while as long as you're going to plan to be there five to seven years. I think this is a great plan, Elizabeth. Go ahead and pull that money out, and then as soon as you're ready to start the remodel, you've got the funds available there at a low fixed rate.

And, you know, if you've got surplus, you know, now or down the road, you can always prepay that mortgage as quickly as you need to. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. That's exactly what I was thinking, but I think I just needed confirmation. Okay, very good. Well, you're on the right track and you're making some good decisions here. So I appreciate you checking with us and all the best to you as you all make those improvements in the house.

I hope you enjoy it. We appreciate your call. Well, folks, unfortunately we're about out of time, but we covered a lot of ground today. Boy, thinking back to Judas's call where he was just saying, you know, I got caught up in the things of this world and cryptocurrency and I made some money and I felt like I had a lot and then I realized I was living way beyond my means and now I've got $80,000 in debt and I want to do it God's way. And, you know, we're all there to some degree saying, you know what? We want to do it God's way.

Don't let us get caught up in the culture and the comparison trap. Well, we've got to go back to scripture all the time, which is what we do on this program. Thanks for being with us today.

MoneyWise Live is a partnership between Moody Radio and MoneyWise Media. I hope you'll come back and join us tomorrow. I'll be here. We'll look for you then and the Lord bless you. Bye-bye.