$aving $marts

I love the fact that the church focuses a good amount of attention on personal spending habits/ budgeting/ staying out of debt. At first this may seem a bit odd, seeing as money doesn't seem to be directly related to the gospel, but when you take into account the importance of prioritizing (you can't take material items to heaven with you!), not to mention the number of broken marriages as a result of financial troubles, it is easy to see that our modern- day prophets and apostles are inspired when they lay on the advice concerning financial stability. I have grown up with parents who have always been wise and frugal with their money, and I am very grateful for their examples. 

“If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage.” Brigham Young, JD 11:201

 “We encourage you wherever you may live in the world to prepare for adversity by looking to the condition of your finances. We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. … If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts” (All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances).

 “Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.” J. Reuben Clark (in Conference Report, Apr. 1938, 103)

 “If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means. And if there is any one thing that is grinding and discouraging and disheartening, it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet” Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham [1941], 111

 “As part of this general financial caution, we encourage, if necessary, plastic surgery for both husband and wife. This is a very painless operation and it may give you more self-esteem than a new nose job or a tummy tuck. Just cut up your credit cards. Unless you are prepared to use those cards under the strictest of conditions and restraints, you should not use them at all – at least not at 18 percent or 21 percent or 24 percent interest. No convenience known to modern man has so jeopardized the financial stability of a family -especially young struggling families- like the ubiquitous credit card. “Don’t leave home without it?” That’s precisely why he is leaving home.” Jeffrey R. Holland, Some Things We Have Learned Together, BYU Devotional Address, January 1985

 President N. Eldon Tanner (1898–1982) taught: “Those who structure their standard of living to allow a little surplus, control their circumstances. Those who spend a little more than they earn are controlled by their circumstances. They are in bondage” (“Constancy amid Change,”Liahona, Feb. 1982, 46).

 President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught: “Set your houses in order. If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts” (“To the Boys and to the Men,” Liahona, Jan. 1999, 66; October 1998 general conference).

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) taught: “All too often a family's spending is governed more by their yearning than by their earning. They somehow believe that their life will be better if they surround themselves with an abundance of things. All too often all they are left with is avoidable anxiety and distress” (“Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts,” Liahona, May 2004, 42).

 "Get out of debt and keep out of debt, and then you will be financially as well as spiritually free" Joseph F. Smith, Conference October 1903

 "Reasonable debt for the purchase of an affordable home and perhaps for a few other necessary things is acceptable. But from where I sit, I see in a very vivid way the terrible tragedies of many who have unwisely borrowed for things they really do not need." Gordon B. Hinckley, Conference October 1996