“Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” — Proverbs 27:23
Lesson
What You Will Learn
- Build a full household zero-based budget with planned giving and saving
- Sort expenses into first-priority needs, obligations, and wants
- Balance an over-budget plan without cutting essentials
- Convert weekly and biweekly amounts to monthly amounts
Lesson Notes
Beyond the Starter Budget
In BTO 103 you built a starter budget. A household budget is fuller: it includes every regular bill, the things you buy only a few times a year, savings goals, giving, and a small amount for enjoyment. The rule stays the same: income minus every planned dollar equals zero.
Zero does not mean broke. It means every dollar has been told where to go before the month begins.
Needs, Obligations, and Wants
Sort every line into three groups:
- First-priority needs: keep you safe, housed, fed, and able to get to work: housing, utilities, food, transportation, a basic phone.
- Obligations: court-ordered payments, supervision fees, child support, and minimum debt payments. Missing these can carry serious consequences.
- Wants: eating out, streaming, new clothes beyond basics, hair and nail extras.
Some items depend on the situation. A phone is a need when supervision or work requires it; the newest phone is a want. When money is short, cut wants first, never a court-ordered payment.
Giving as a Planned Line
Giving belongs in the budget on purpose, not from whatever is left. Write it near the top as an act of trust. The amount is between you and God; a willing heart matters more than the size of the gift (2 Corinthians 8:12).
Worked Example: Denise's Month
Denise's monthly take-home pay is $2,050. (Denise is a composite example.) Her plan: giving $110; rent $850; utilities $90; groceries $325; bus pass $75; phone $40; court-ordered payment $50; debt payment $100; personal care $35; laundry $25; household supplies $30; clothing $30; daughter's visits and gifts $60; emergency savings $100; sinking funds $82; fun and eating out $48.
Total: 110 + 850 + 90 + 325 + 75 + 40 + 50 + 100 + 35 + 25 + 30 + 30 + 60 + 100 + 82 + 48 = $2,050. Income minus plan = $0.
Converting to monthly: weekly amount × 52 ÷ 12; biweekly (every two weeks) amount × 26 ÷ 12. For example, $75 of groceries a week is 75 × 52 ÷ 12 = $325 a month.
Key Terms
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Zero-based budget | A plan where income minus every planned dollar equals zero |
| Obligation | A required payment such as a court order, supervision fee, or child support |
| Want | Something you enjoy but can live without for now |
| Biweekly | Every two weeks: 26 paychecks a year |
In-Class Activities
Need, Obligation, or Want?
Label each N, O, W, or D (depends, and explain): rent; child support; streaming service; bus pass; manicure; restitution payment; groceries; new phone upgrade; laundry; supervision fee; eating out; work boots.
Balance Bianca's Budget
Bianca's take-home is $1,900 a month. (Bianca is a composite example.) Her plan: rent $700, utilities $110, groceries $300, bus $80, phone $55, child support $210, giving $95, savings $75, streaming $25, eating out $120, new shoes $90, hair $70, laundry $30. Total it. By how much is she over? Balance it to zero by cutting wants only.
Assignment: My Household Zero-Based Budget
Build a full zero-based monthly budget for your household after release (sample numbers are fine).
- Start with monthly take-home pay; convert any weekly or biweekly amounts.
- Include every first-priority need, obligation, giving, at least two savings lines, and a small amount for wants.
- Mark each line N, O, or W.
- Show your addition and prove the plan equals zero.
- Write which three lines you would reduce first if income fell by $150.
Graded with the Module Assignment Rubric.
Reflection Journal
Proverbs 27:23 calls us to know the state of our flocks. What would it mean to know exactly where your money goes each month? Does that idea feel freeing or frightening? Write honestly; you do not need to share any personal numbers.
Prayer focus: Ask God for diligence to know the state of your household, and for peace instead of fear when you look at the numbers.
Weekly Reading & Devotions
Telling Your Money Where to Go
Many of us grew up with money that seemed to vanish. It came in on Friday and was gone by Monday, and no one could say exactly where. That pattern is not a character flaw; it is what happens when money has no plan.
A zero-based budget changes the direction. Instead of asking where the money went, you tell it where to go before the month begins. Rent, groceries, giving, savings, and even a little fun each get a job. When income minus the plan equals zero, nothing is left to wander off.
Denise, a composite example, said her first full budget felt strange: “I'd never seen my whole month on one page.” The second month, she caught a phone bill that was higher than she expected and changed plans. By the third month she felt calm on payday for the first time.
Proverbs 27:23 calls us to know the state of our flocks. Knowing is not about shame. It is about freedom, the freedom of a woman who looks at her numbers with God beside her.
Think About It
- What did money feel like in the home you grew up in? ______________________
- Which of your expenses is easiest to forget? ______________________
- Where will giving go in your budget, and why? ______________________
Daily Devotions for Week 2
Know Your Flocks
Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.— Proverbs 27:23 (KJV)
Knowing your numbers is wise care, not a burden.
Reflect: What part of your finances do you avoid looking at?
Pray: Lord, give me courage to look and wisdom to act.
Do: Write down every expense you can remember from a typical month.
Count the Cost
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?— Luke 14:28 (KJV)
Jesus praised the builder who counted before building. Budgeting is sitting down first.
Reflect: What are you building that needs counting?
Pray: Lord, help me count the cost before I commit.
Do: Total one category of your budget carefully.
Diligent Plans
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.— Proverbs 21:5 (KJV)
Haste leads to want; careful plans lead toward enough.
Reflect: Where have hasty decisions cost you?
Pray: Lord, slow me down and make me diligent.
Do: Wait one day before any unplanned purchase this week.
That Which Is Not Bread
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not?— Isaiah 55:2 (KJV)
Some spending never satisfies. God invites us to what truly fills.
Reflect: What spending leaves you empty?
Pray: Lord, satisfy me with what is truly good.
Do: Mark the wants in your budget and choose one to reduce.
A Willing Mind
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.— 2 Corinthians 8:12 (KJV)
God looks at the willing heart, not the size of the gift.
Reflect: What could you give with a willing heart this month?
Pray: Lord, give me a willing and cheerful heart.
Do: Write your giving line in your budget first.
Module Quiz
- 1.
In a zero-based budget, income minus all planned dollars equals:
- 2.
Which should be cut first when money is short?
- 3.
$75 a week converts to how much per month?
- 4.
Giving should only come from whatever is left at the end of the month.
- 5.
Income is $2,000 and planned lines total $1,940. What is left, and what should you do with it?