Mike Tyson made $400 million and ended up $23 million in debt. A janitor named Ronald Reed made minimum wage his whole career and left $8 million to charity. The difference had nothing to do with income — and everything to do with one rule. That's where this conversation starts.
Linda and I were guests at a church for their "Money Talks" series and the questions were so good we wanted to bring this to the podcast. We walk through the John Wesley framework we based our whole book on (make all you can, save all you can, give all you can — and enjoy it), the one number that tells you whether you're moving forward or backward financially, why net worth is actually the wrong thing to track as a Christian, the "Never 100 Rule" that changed everything for us, the one-category budget that works when every other budget fails, and what happened when we started giving in a way that felt irresponsible but resulted in our mortgage being paid off in three years.
If you enjoyed this, we'd love to send you a free copy of our book — you just cover shipping. It has over 1,000 5-star reviews on Amazon. Grab it at seedtime.com/free.
WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE
Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:
- Why "net worth" is actually the wrong metric for Christians — and what to track instead
- The one number that tells you whether you're moving forward or backward financially right now
- The Never 100 Rule: the single rule that makes all the difference between building wealth and staying stuck
- Why Mike Tyson went broke (and what it has to do with your budget)
- The one-category budget — why it gets 80% of the results of full budgeting with 20% of the effort
- Why willpower-based budgeting always fails — and what to do instead
- The giving account that made generosity actually fun (instead of a guilt trip)
- What Bob and Linda would tell their 19-year-old selves about money
- How to handle money differently when you and your spouse are total opposites
BIBLE VERSES MENTIONED
- 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
- 2 Corinthians 8-9
- Proverbs (referenced as a daily reading practice — one chapter per day)
RESOURCES MENTIONED
DISCLAIMER
Obligatory legal disclaimer: I'm a financial educator, not your financial advisor, investment advisor, tax pro, or lawyer. This channel is for general education, not personalized advice, and nothing here should be taken as a recommendation to buy, sell, or use any specific investment, account, or financial product. I'm just sharing what I'm doing, what I'm learning, and what I find interesting.
Markets can be humbling. Investing involves risk, including the risk of losing money, and my results are personal, may not be typical, and are not guaranteed. Do your own research, use wisdom, and talk with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
Some links are to our resources and some are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That helps keep the lights on around here, so thanks for the support.
