God Help Me Gain and Maintain a Personal Budget

SUMMARY

God grant me His wisdom for personal budgeting and self discipline to use it consistently.

WEAKNESS

One of my greatest weaknesses is that I have not consistently used a personal budget to manage my finances.

I am retired at 64 years old. I have a modest retirement income that barely covers my basic needs.

Over the decades I have attempted to use all kinds of budgeting systems including those that were paper based, software based and online based. I rarely continued what I began for more than 2 or 3 months.

I have come to a season when gaining and maintaining personal budget is essential for three reasons.

REASONS

First, it is just smart to know how to allocate my money. It is better to have a simple and flexible plan to make sure that needs are met and there are no surprises. Planning and preparing ahead financially is good stewardship contrasted to just bumping along and hoping for the best.

Second, I moved into an apartment a month ago from a homeless shelter where I had lived for 3 years. Years before I moved into the homeless shelter I lived in an apartment for decades. But I was terminated from my job of 12 years. I sold or gave away most of my things.

There are many needs and wants that I have listed. My current challenge is to prioritize those lists. I am looking to God by faith make provisions in His timing. So a budget will help me keep the gradual acquisition of those things in perspective. I will be less tempted to make impulse purchases if I stick with the line item for each category.

Third, where I reside now is in a super peaceful senior living apartment complex in a small town. It is an excellent setting to focus on my dream of Christian lessons online. I have an abundance of outlines, rough drafts and some completed lessons. I seek to publish online short videos with worksheets as well as ebooks and ecourses. As I publish more educational modules and grow my email subscription base then that will lead to income streams. I trust that God will motivate people to donate generously. Then I must have a separate budget for the ministry. I would not be a good steward of those funds without learning to apply the basic skills of budgeting.

CONCLUSION

I have consistently given the first fruits of my income into various ministries and churches over the decades. And I will continue to do that until my last day.

Long ago I setup my online budget at Every Dollar www.everydollar.com It is a super simple system. I did not continue with it. I am going back into my free account to update matters. Please pray for me to use Every Dollar consistently.

God has blessed me with a gift card and a check to help equip my apartment. May I use those funds effectively. May I be faithful with what He supplied and wait patiently for the other provisions.

Shalom

Brother John

Running Low on Electricity and Groceries - Please Pray

Running Low on Electricity and Groceries - Please Pray

SUMMARY

I only have a few more days on my prepaid electric bill.

I am running moderately low on groceries.

There are many things on the attached Wish List that I can use to help me equip this apartment. Most of those could be used items from the kitchen or home office, that you have and could ship to me.

I request your prayers for God to guide and provide.

May God guide me to ask the right people in the right ways. And may the Lord prepare them to give generously.

May I have grace, faith and patience during this transition.

You are invited to come visit me anytime.

My address for visiting, mailing and shipping is:

John S. Oliver

1600 W Lake Bardwell Drive #137

Ennis, TX 75119

Here is the Paypal link http://www.freewebs.com/jsohub/give.htm

There are those that dislike sending money online and they can just mail a personal check.

The Wish List includes many items from Amazon so a Gift Card there is always useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-1-US-Email-eGift-Card/dp/B004LLIKVU/

THANKS again for EACH of your prayers that got me this far.

God will not leave me nor forsake me.

What follows are the details that some people like.

INTRODUCTION

It is my belief that some of the people that have been tracking with me for years want to know the stories behind the parts of the Wish List.

There are those that have lots of things in their kitchen and home office that could greatly help me to lay a good foundation. Otherwise I will need to stretch my funds to cover these needs and wants for a long time into the future.

What I have on the Wish List is an abundance of items. If I had lots of money then I would buy them all and not ask for any help.

I have no way to know what others have extras in their possession; so I included all that I will really use.

Some people offered to give me things that I would not use and I said no. I seek to both build up a basic base while also minimizing clutter.

As God provides a ride, I will attend the missional community gathering on Sunday evenings in East Dallas. Some of those in that community mentioned a plan to come visit me the evening of the first Saturday in August, if their calendars will line up.

If you are going to ship anything or bring it here on a visit, then please let me know so that I can use a strikethrough on the Wish List to minimize duplications. If there are duplications then I will give those to a Christian thrift store.

If you are not familiar with shipping things then consider a FedEx store near you https://www.fedex.com/us/index.html They have all the shipping materials right there. The other alternatives are UPS store https://www.theupsstore.com/  or the Post Office https://www.usps.com/welcome.htm

When you ship there is no need to rush anything. Slower is cheaper.

BACKGROUND

By the grace of God, He answered many prayers to get me this far.

I moved into this section 8 apartment 2 weeks ago. I pay a small percent of the rent and the government agency pays the rest.

This is a senior living community for those 55 plus. I am one of the youngest at 64. Most residents are women in their 70s and 80s. Plus there are a few in their 90s. This is super quiet and peaceful which I love. It helps to be online day and night plus pray many times per day.

I had been in a homeless shelter for 3 years. The main dorm for single men held more than 100 men. Most men stayed there for a few days or weeks. There were 3 decent meals and a hot shower. At night some men talked loudly until lights-out at 1030. Lights were on a 5 AM and breakfast was at 530. Lunch was at noon and dinner was at 5 PM. I spent my days at the library using my laptop to go online using their WIFI. That was a wonderful provision for a long season. And I do not miss it at all.

I moved here with a backpack and duffle bag.

Plus my church provided a bed, dresser, table and a few kitchen items.

Thankfully my most basic needs are met

My next income is at the end of the month when I get my social security retirement direct deposit.

I think that some people would like to give money or things if they were asked and knew what I would use.

ELECTRICITY

I just got a courtesy call from the electricity company today to remind me that my prepaid electricity will run out in a few days.

I knew that. But I had been hesitating to send out this message to ask for help. Partly that is due to pride, that I feel ashamed to admit that I am not self reliant. Partly it is due to perfectionism, because I have attached a prioritized Wish List. I wanted to get just right. Partly it is due to my not wanting to bother people to read such a long message and to disrupt their already busy life. But that call was a wake up call to just do it.

On the one hand, I spent more that I had expected to get started here and I underestimated the cost of power. I have used about 35 dollars in 2 weeks. I have been as careful as I could to minimize uses. On the other hand, my retirement funds arrive in the 4th Wednesday that is June 26 this month. I will have a better idea how to estimate my uses.

GROCERIES

I bought what I thought would be a month's worth of groceries. But I was wrong. A few items have run out and I am low on others.

There were some baseline pantry items that I got plus things to equip the kitchen.

During these 2 weeks I have shopped at Brookshires that is going out of business locally as well as Walmart. What I liked the most was the farmer’s market on Saturdays. I greatly value the farm fresh produce and home baked goods at the farmer’s market. As I have more money I will surely spend more from the local people that are super friendly.

In fact one of the vendors is a Mennonite lady that has amazing baked goods. She invited me to come visit her family. I was there last night for a home style meal with their 5 children. I rode the horse of the daughter who also raises adorable puppies for sale.  They have 10 acres in the tiny town of Kemp, Texas.

A new friend took me the 45 minutes to visit the Mennonites and she takes me to the farmer’s market.

I have not yet shopped at HEB but I am sure they have good deals. Here is a link to their email gift card https://www.heb.com/giftcards/egiftcard

Here is the link to the Walmart email gift card where I could buy both groceries and other items https://www.walmart.com/ip/Blue-Box-Walmart-eGift-Card/3223403

CONCUSION

The bottomline is that I now choose humble myself and ask for help.

I am making gradual progress in getting ready online lessons that I hope to start sharing soon.

The long term solution to my barely getting by is to consistently present high value educational modules online. While also wisely promoting them to gain a larger email list of those who like my free things and will eventually pay for my retail things.

I have been investing most of my time to get this ready. I have an abundance of preparations in terms of outlines, rough drafts and partial products. I have preached for many hours and kept those notes. I have given dozens of meditations for Holy Communion the kept those notes. Plus there are lots of online articles and blog posts that I have in archive.

I have spent many dozens of hours here in Ennis just gathering and organizing the titles of those lessons on a giant online mind map. My challenge is to sketch out a system that I will follow in the coming months. Then there will be order and synergies while I share the short videos and short text lessons. Today they are mostly ordered. And then I put my focus on completing the few that will get the ball rolling.

I am also studying from 2 online companies that have helped people like me both get started and later grow their online operations.

Your best prayers are requested to keep this moving forward.  

Shalom

Brother John

972-948-4014

Go here for latest spreadsheet

Short URL

http://bit.ly/Ennis-apt   

Long URL

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QNVE8Bo0lR5rZOayVoeXMHvVR-mvJOHccN6q-CRI8i0/edit?usp=sharing

Financial Needs Coming Due Soon

As a retired Christian I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness the best I can as much as I can.

As I look to being the doer of the Word of God and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit then God guides me into ministry. I have been doing this for decades and taken very little concern for my needs. God has met my modest needs in various ways right on time.

Today I filled out an online application for a man I have known for 2 years that is applying to enter a Christian residential drug rehab. I was a house manager at a sober house for 2 years. And in my opinion Frank is ready for this big step.

Tomorrow I go with Jason to the clinic. He is new to Dallas and he has cerebral palsy. He needs to rest every 2 blocks because his legs are weak. After he gets connected with the charity hospital system of Parkland then he will get a primary care doctor, physical therapy, neurologist, eye doctor and more. Plus after his disability is certified he will gain access to the DART paratransit system. He will call ahead and they will pick him up and take him to doctor appointments, shopping, church and more for a very low cost.

Jason lives in the same homeless shelter where I have been for 3 years. He has gone with me to church twice and likes it. He needs a supportive community and those who will pray for him.

My cash flow has been very thin lately and that has motivated me to get outside my comfort zones to finally put digital resources online that will lead to income streams.

There are a few products that are getting ready to go public.

The first product is Some Prayers and Psalms - Volume 1 that has 7 chapters. I have done all the writing and I have put it on gumroad as PDFs for Pay What You Want  https://gum.co/SPP-Vol-1  

My next step is to make a video for each one that shares my feelings along with the words.

Also on Saturday I will preach again at Mercy House church http://mercyhousedallas.org/ I will continue a sermon series named Remembering God’s Love about the Bible verses and illustrations related to Holy Communion. And I plan to rework that sermon to become another product online as a Pay What You Want.

Meanwhile the door is open for me to move to Ennis using the section 8 housing voucher. I will need to pay for my electricity. My retirement money arrives next Wednesday June 28. The Lord has blessed me with those that helped with the application fee and deposit. I want to wait until Wednesday so that I can start off in the new place paying my own way. The rent is heavily subsidized contrasted to the cost to stay at the homeless shelter.

Meanwhile here are my financial needs.

72 dollars 6 nights at shelter 12 dollars each

65 dollars cell phone with unlimited data so I can go online in the shelter

10 dollars DART day pass 2 days - help Jason and attend church

147 dollars total

More would be nice

Again I request that you pray for God to guide me and provide these needs right on time.

God Provided Rent Money Plus

By the grace of God my need for rent will be met for a good while.

The Lord prompted 3 people to give generously so that I can both pay my rent at the shelter and afford to pay some in advance on the electricity in the apartment in Ennis.

The power must be on when they do the inspection for the section 8 housing. The manager suggested that I set up pay as I go.

My immediate needs are met but there is still pressure to keep moving forward to get my lessons online that will lead to income streams.

Besides the lessons I need to gain the habit of publishing a daily vlog that is a short video about my spiritual pilgrimage. This will both help me to process my many thoughts, feelings, fear, hopes, doubts, aspirations, etc. That will help keep me clear so that I can be consistently creative,

Plus there are those who have been and will be praying for me that will use these to better target their intercessions.

It feels like I am about to burst inside. There are so many lessons in my heart, mind and notes that want to go online. But these internal matters have had them blocked. When I took the 10 day video course I briefly overcame those blocks. I need to go back to that online community and get their support.

I tend to be most creative in the evenings and late night. That is when the lessons want to flow through me. But due to the 8 PM curfew and 1030 PM lights out that flow gets blocked. During that time I take lots of notes that adds to my backlog.

It is not like there is just 1 ebook or 1 ecourse inside of me that wants out. There are several that all want out at the same time. Each one is important and valuable. All are related to biblical Christianity. It will take years for most of these to become fully expressed online.

In order to help me get organized and to help those I will connect with in the future I have begun to create a website that will serve as the central hub for all these many units. The name of the website is Brother John’s Workshop. Pray for me to soon complete the basics of this and publish it online.

Even in writing this long message it is feeling clunky. Now I feels like I must start making short videos instead of these text posts.

I admit that I have a bunch of fears related to rejection. When all this starts to spill out of me it will overcome some people. There will be several kinds of lesson including on prayer, holy communion, theology, Bible basics and more. There will be ways for individuals to opt into any one or several of these. I will segment the list instead of sending it to everyone like these days.

I have been wrestling with a huge internal issue about charging a price for my lessons. Thankfully the Lord has led me to a system that has worked for others called Pay What You Want. And what they have found is that when a sliding scale is offered it leads to more income than a fixed price.

So in conclusion, God has provided me with this window of opportunity. May I leverage this time wisely. Pray for me to get into the healthy habit of publishing a short video vlog daily. That will address me internal matters. Then the creative flow will begin. After that ice breaks there will likely be a bunch of lessons coming online.

After the lessons start to flow online then I am sure they will greatly benefit others who will gladly share them. I will put into place ways for them to subscribe to several email updates. After this initial burst I hope to publish 1 lesson per week for at least 3 different email lists. That will lead to more prayers and more donations.

When I have moved out of the shelter and I can use the evenings and nights for creative expressions then there will be a steady and large flow of new materials online.

I will stop writing now. And I request your best prayers.

Shalom

Brother John

Rent Past Due

My rent is past due at homeless shelter. I owe 36 dollars for the past 3 nights and 12 dollars for tonight. I trust that God will provide again.

Plus I need to find another income stream until next retirement income at the end of this month and beyond.

After the apartment in Ennis passes inspection and I do some more paperwork, then I will be cleared to move in there.

My cost of living will greatly decrease in Ennis thanks to the voucher system.

Illness and helping other homeless men got me behind. Thankfully I am well. And the men are out of crisis mode.

Also a person that has been a generous supporter for years has suddenly dropped out of sight He has not been answering the phone or replying to emails. He has not posted to Facebook for a long time.  He may be very sick or dead. God has used him to help me during times like this for years. Pray for me to connect with Howard, if that is possible.

Now I need to focus on taking care of me and my financial needs.

I have many lessons I will put online this week for donations and later for sale.

May the Jesus Christ anoint and prosper me along this path.

I request your best prayers for God to guide and provide.

Shalom

Housing Delayed

After all the paperwork is submitted then she was told it could take 10 to 30 days before there is an inspection. She said that was too long a wait to keep a vacancy. She is going to call others on the waiting list to fill the unit that I saw.

Darlene said that there is a possibility that a vacancy as soon as July first.

Also my voucher expires on Saturday June 10. I plan to go to the housing authority on Monday June 12 to get yet another extension. My paperwork says that this extension is my final one. So I will need grace and mercy.

She will hold the 300 dollar deposit check in hopes that I might move there.

She said this will take much prayer. I think she wants me to live there. Several times she said I would an asset to that small community. It is like a village of senior citizens.

This housing search has been a mental, emotional and spiritual challenge for these 11 months. Here at the very end all I can do I pray and request prayers.

There is no guarantee that they will grant me another extension.

There is no way to know when there will be another vacancy.

So all I can do is wait and apply myself to my other projects as this unfolds.

THANKS again for each of your prayers.

Shalom

John

Jason’s Doctor Appointment Friday

Friday is a big day for Jason Fudge. I will go with him on his doctor’s appointment at 1230.

What makes this special is that Jason has cerebral palsy and he is homeless. I met him at the shelter where I live. He moved to Dallas very recently from Springfield Pennsylvania. He is 43 year old.

God has used me to provide guidance and encouragement. I went with him to the main charity hospital named Parkland last week. Then they set the appointment for this week.

At this appointment he will get into their system. From that he will get referrals to physical therapy, neurologist, eye doctor, primary care doctor and other services as needed.

Then after this appointment he can qualify for paratransit with DART. That will allow him to move around the city much better. When we went to the hospital the first time he needed to stop and rest about every 2 blocks. He walks with difficulty using a cane or he is in a wheelchair.

I told him that I would be requesting prayers for him. He asked prayers for his legs to become stronger.

May this appointment go smoothly on Friday and may he get all medical help he will need in the future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy

http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/definition