Flying into good money management

The twin-engine Cherokee 6 had lost one engine shortly after takeoff. Far below I could see the Grand Canyon’s cliffs in sun-bleached pastels. “Buckle your seatbelt—there’s something wrong,” My sister-in-law Kaelene prompted me. The plane turned and then swooped to a surprisingly smooth landing at the Tusayan airport outside of Grand Canyon Village. My brother-in-law Kearlee Ray had proven to be an exceptional pilot under duress.

We were college students. Several of us family and friends had finished finals, so we accepted Kearlee Ray’s offer to be flown to the Grand Canyon for the day in his boss’s small plane. We spent a wonderful day touring the Grand Canyon. After the unexpected landing in the crippled plane, we found our way to a hotel where Kearlee Ray called his boss, and I called my husband Kerry, who had stayed back at the university to finish his difficult finals. Kerry agreed to borrow a bigger car and rescue us. We emptied our pockets to see if we could afford to eat and get a place to sleep while we waited. We pooled what we had, rented one hotel room and crashed—hungry—across the beds and floors waiting for Kerry.

When Kerry arrived in the wee hours of the morning, we piled into the car immediately and headed back to the university seven hours away. When we stopped at a small café and again pooled our money, we had enough to share two meals among seven of us. When we arrived at the university, Kerry—hero that he was that weekend—did well on his finals, and we had a collective sigh of relief over what might have been a tragic event.

I remember on that trip the feeling of being stranded without enough money to get home. I made a decision then to work hard and save carefully so I could meet life’s financial demands. I did not like the feeling of being stranded.

I made another financial decision when my husband was in grad school. We went to presentations from companies who talked about their top wages, and I began to wonder how I would live if I could afford more than the bare essentials. I thought about my parents, who worked hard and retired comfortably, due to their hard work and wise spending habits. I thought about my grandparents who raised their families through the Great Depression. I thought about my great-great-grandparents who left comfort and luxury behind as they traveled by wagon across the continent to the West. I realized that I came from a heritage of people who lived by the mantra “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without,” and that would work for me too.

Consequently, at times my colleagues made fun of my 12-year-old Toyota Corolla, complete with jumper cables because sometimes it wouldn’t start, and the sound of a roaring racecar, because sometimes the muffler came off. I could have bought a new car, but I was “using it up and wearing it out,” true to my moments of decision several years earlier.

Spending money is an emotional decision. If we want to manage our money, we have to manage our desires. An article from Money Magazine, featured on Yahoo Finance on February 7, 2019, identifies some attitudes of savers: they are frugal, confident in financial management, depend on planning and implementing rather than luck, and they have “social Indifference,” meaning “they don’t succumb to social pressure to buy the latest thing.”

Financial advice given by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints include the following suggestions:

First, tithe. Tithing is an ancient law, and the promises of paying tithing are remarkable: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse…and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (KJV Deuteronomy 3:8,10).

Second, avoid consumer debt such as credit card debt and debt for nonessentials. Consumer debt makes you a payer of interest rather than an earner of interest. Debt is an unrelenting master. Also, for necessary debt such as your house, try to get it paid off. If you look at a loan calculator, you will see that when you pay for your house over thirty years, you will pay more than double it’s value in interest.

Third, make and follow a budget. Budgeting allows you to choose your spending. One year I consolidated our year’s spending into a pie chart. I was surprised to see the three big categories were medical expenses, house payment, and food. I looked into finding new medical insurance and saved our family a considerable amount because I had tracked our spending.

Fourth, save for a rainy day and your retirement years. Many financial managers recommend paying yourself in the form of savings when you pay your other bills.

“It’s easier to move your standard of living up than it is to move it down,” a wise college professor told a colleague of mine. Sacrifice is loaded at the front end. If you are willing to spend deliberately today, your tomorrows can be a lot more secure.

Beth Wright loves her family. She enjoys fishing, hiking, music and being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.