The bible contains about 500 verses on prayer and a little less than 500 verses on faith, yet there are over 2,350 verses that address in very practical, specific ways how to earn, save, spend, invest and give money. Two-thirds of the parables deal with money. The Bible has more to say about money than heaven and hell combined, even more to say about money than salvation. The Bible has more to say about money than any other subject except love. 
Biblical financial principles applied yesterday, they apply today, and they will apply tomorrow. His principles apply if you have a little or a lot, if you are single or married, if you are young or young-at-heart. 
Money is like air...you can only do without it for a short time!  1 Timothy 6:10-"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."  Jesus said in Luke 12:15-"Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." 
America has become an anti-family, consumptive, debt-dependent society that has become dependant upon the productivity of other nations-(Made in China).  Our founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they knew the long-term consequences to be paid for excess debt reliance in our nation.....it's sucking more mothers into the work force and away from their children than ever before! 
No generation has a right to contract debts 
greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence."
- George Washington to James Madison 1789 
According to USA Today, the average automobile loan today is for 63 months, with some going as high as 84 months, compared with an average of less than 48 months five years ago -and about 24 months in the 1950s. About 51 million households carry credit-card debt at an average balance of nearly $12,000." that totals $612 billion in total debt for those households!   The average college graduate has a $37,600 school loan to pay back!
Did you know that making the minimum payments on a $3,000 balance carrying an 18% APR will take 431 months (almost 36 years) to pay off and cost you $7,511.74 in interest? WOW! That is what I call prison! And just think, you did it voluntarily! 
The sad truth is that most Americans have been conditioned to believe that debt is a normal part of life. Since the late 1960's (when the credit card was introduced), DEBT has become a product that has been aggressively marketed. Millions of Americans surrender daily to the bait laid in the trap by marketing professionals whose #1 goal is to make you feel good about becoming a slave to debt. For example, most Americans today feel that the only way to purchase an automobile is with debt (payments). The question asked today is not, "Can I buy the item?" but rather, "Can I make the payments?".
Statistics tell us that the average American is spending 10% more than they make each month. With 70% of all Americans living paycheck to paycheck, it is only a matter of time until their debt becomes unmanageable. This voluntary financial demise that results in the lives of those who choose to live beyond their means has resulted in the skyrocketing increases in filings for personal bankruptcy.  Most of us try to get out of debt while we try to maintain the same self-indulgent lifestyle that got us into debt in the first place. Then we wonder why we fail.
Step One: Learn to write down your budget plans
Step Two: Identify your needs, wants and desires
Step 3: Think Before You Buy. 
Pay only with cash or check or debit card. Stop using your credit cards. Try this for one month. You will find you think and plan more--much more. Plus, at the end of the month you will find you will have spent far less than normal for the “normal” things of life. (Credit card companies have statistics to show that you will “normally” spend 34% more if you use credit as compared to cash.) 
Does it reflect your Christian ethics? For example, what magazines, TV, radio, INTERNET, etc., do you allow into your home? Do you even know what is in your home?
• Is this the very best possible price you can get? Are you buying on impulse
Is it a highly depreciative item??? Can you rent or borrow rather than buy? You don’t have to own all that you use or enjoy.
• And finally, does it bring you closer to God? I love to hunt and fish. I know a lot of great fishermen. Most of them try to convince me fish always bite better…on Sunday mornings.
the final two steps of our Debt Free Living God’s Way Action Plan: Avoid Leverage and Practice Saving.
There are 7,000 institutions issuing credit cards (Visa, MasterCard) in the United States, 30,000 different credit card programs (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and Diners Club), 200 million new credit cards issued in 2000 with an average charge per transaction (Visa, MasterCard) of approximately $70.00. 
There are several creative schemes that have been devised to help you turn your equity into debt. One such way is a credit card or a checkbook that is tied to the equity in your house. I have seen home owners use that equity to purchase an automobile!  There is nothing like taking money that is appreciating and purchasing something that goes down in value like a rock. You might ask, "What have I got to lose?" You could lose your house! 
The bait used to attract many people into the home equity trap is that the debt is tax deductible. This deduction allowed by the IRS only applies to the interest portion of the loan and does not justify the cost of the debt. These type of loans have high interest rates that normally fluctuate with the economy.
One of the best ways to lose a friend or strain a relationship is to borrow money from a friend or family member. You would be better off just giving the money to the friend or family member. 
When it comes to co-signing on a loan with a friend or family member, NEVER do it! When you co-sign with someone you are in effect borrowing the money. If your friend or family member defaults on the loan, you are 100% liable. This has the potential of destroying the relationship (Proverb 17:18; 22:26)!
Lenders who market debt consolidation loans normally pay all of your bills off and then let you pay them, plus a fee. This method might decrease the number of checks you write monthly but will in most cases increase the number of months you write the checks. The bait used for this type of loan is "one easy payment"! Debt consolidation does not eliminate the debt, it merely juggles it around. This method of getting out of debt should not be used (even if it is at a lower interest rate) until the spending problem is corrected. 
Opt Out 1-888-5-opt out (67-8688)--Many of the unsolicited mailings you receive can be stopped by simply making a 3 minute phone call.  By making one phone call you can have your name removed for 2 years or permanently removed!

RELATIONSHIPS
Did you know that 90%; of Americans will marry at some point in their lives? 1 Friendship, companionship, love, relationships and marriage are great parts of people's lives. Children and communities benefit when adults are happy and secure in healthy, loving marriages. But good marriages don't just happen. Marriages succeed when couples learn good communication and problem–solving skills.

What, exactly, is the commitment of marriage? It is an agreement that you will take care of each other for life, regardless of life's ups and downs. You will stick it out together through thick and thin. But the commitment of living together isn't like that at all. It is simply a month-to-month rental agreement. As long as you behave yourself and keep me happy, I'll stick around. 
Habits are hard to break, and couples that live together before marriage get into the habit of following their month-to-month rental agreement. In fact, they often decide to marry, not because they are willing to make a lifetime commitment to each other, but because the arrangement has worked out so well that they can't imagine breaking their lease, so to speak. They say the words of the marital agreement, but they still have the terms of their rental agreement in mind. 
Couples who have not lived together before marriage, on the other hand, have not lived under the terms of the month-to-month rental agreement. They begin their relationship assuming that they are in this thing for life, and all their habits usually reflect that commitment. 
But a newly married couple makes a deliberate effort to accommodate each other, because they know their relationship will be for life. They want to build compatibility, not test it
For those who are living together and planning a future marriage...from the evidence of holy scripture and modern day statistics,  unless you break out of the habits that come with living together outside of wedlock, your marriage will be a disaster.