If your budget keeps falling apart after two weeks, it's probably not your fault.

I used to think I was just bad with money.

Then I realized the budget itself was the problem, not me.

In this episode, Linda and I walk through 10 reasons budgets break and what to do instead.

We cover zero-based budgeting, unrealistic numbers, tracking expenses, and the credit card mistake almost everyone makes.

We also share why building fun into your budget is one of the biggest secrets to actually sticking with it.

And you'll hear how one person cut their spending in half by doing one simple thing.

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.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• The real reason 80% of budgets fail (it's not discipline)
• Why most people who say they budget actually don't
• The one habit that helped someone cut spending by 50% without changing anything else
• The credit card rule Linda and I follow that keeps us out of trouble
• The "gotta have it now" tax you're probably paying every month
• Why a miserable budget is a broken budget
• The Amazon cart trick I use to stop impulse buys

• Real Money Method course
• True Financial Freedom course

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.

We just sold the 100,000th copy of a book I almost didn't write.

Back in school, English was my worst subject.

Teachers basically told me writing wasn't for me.

So when I felt God nudging me to write Simple Money, Rich Life, I pushed back hard.

I even hired someone else to write it for me.

But God kept saying, "You need to write this."

What came next was four years of prayer, a COVID curveball, a publisher who scrapped our whole concept, and an editing process that nearly wrecked us.

Sales started slow.

Then the ad budget got pulled.

I walked around a lake 100 times asking God if it was over.

Then things slowly started to turn.

This is the behind the scenes story of how a book about biblical money, giving, and stewardship reached 100,000 copies sold.

It is really the story of 100,000 answered prayers.

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.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• The reader message that brought us to tears
• Why I almost let someone else write the whole book
• The prayer habit we started before any of this made sense
• The publisher demand that felt like losing an arm
• What Mark Batterson told me that changed how I measure success
• The lowest moment, and the lake I walked around 100 times
• The simple thing we started doing with every book we shipped
• What 100,000 copies really represents

• Hebrews 11:1
• Exodus 4:10
• 1 Corinthians 1:27
• Acts 19:11-12
• Matthew 25:21

• Simple Money, Rich Life
• True Financial Freedom

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.

Most of us have no idea what our retirement money is actually funding.

A few years ago I started wondering if some of mine was supporting things I would never support on purpose.

So in this episode, I answer a question I get all the time.

Should Christians invest in companies that conflict with their faith?

I walk through the two main approaches: biblically responsible investing and buying in to influence a company from the inside.

I share the question I ask before buying any individual stock.

And I reveal the spending blind spot that might matter even more than your portfolio.

Strong believers land on both sides of this one, so we're not going to pretend it's simple.

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.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• The uncomfortable question I finally had to ask about my own investments
• Two completely opposite approaches Christians take (both from strong believers)
• The one question I ask before buying any individual stock
• Why boycotting a stock might matter less than you think
• The everyday habit that funds companies far more than any shareholder does
• The story behind the shirt I'm wearing and the 50 cent wage that inspired it

• Romans 3:23

• 10x Investing course
• Real Money Method course

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.

Most Christians have heard the money advice about tithing and getting out of debt.

But there are money principles in the Bible almost nobody teaches.

And often times they are the ones that change everything for us!!!

So in this episode Linda and I walk through 7 biblical money principles most Christians never hear.

They come straight out of Scripture, a lot of it from Proverbs.

Just so we are clear, these are not just financial tips.

This is an architecture for a financially strong life that honors God.

If you enjoyed this episode, 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.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• The garden lesson behind first fruits giving
• Why willpower fails and automation wins
• The one thing almost nobody actually tracks
• What "the borrower is slave to the lender" really means for you
• The Bible verse that called for diversification thousands of years ago
• Why margin might be the unsung hero of your finances
• The parable that explains why God starts you small
• How to be content and ambitious at the same time

• Proverbs 3:9
• Proverbs 6:6-8
• Proverbs 22:7
• Proverbs 27:23
• Ecclesiastes 11:2
• Luke 14:28
• Matthew 25:14-30
• Luke 19:11-27
• Luke 12:16-21
• Genesis 13:2
• Genesis 41
• Deuteronomy 15
• Haggai 1:9
• Isaiah 55:9
• James 1:22
• Hebrews 4:15
• 2 Corinthians 8:9
• Acts 2:44-45

• Real Money Method
• True Financial Freedom
• Simple Money, Rich Life

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.

She paid cash to deliver two of her babies.

She had no insurance and almost no money.

So Lisa Bevere did it using the stock market.

That is just one of the wild stories she told us.

Today, Lisa and her husband John have given away more than 60 million books in over 150 languages.

But they started out broke, praying about whether they could afford a fax machine.

In this episode, Lisa sits down with Linda and me to talk about marriage, money, and faith.

She shares the moment in the shower that changed her marriage forever.

We talk about why men and women were never meant to be enemies.

She explains the kind of "giving" message that makes her walk out of the room.

And she tells us about the million-dollar gift that fell through, and the surprise that showed up instead.

This one is about biblical stewardship, generosity, marriage, and trusting God as your real source.

• 0:00 Why they'd rather give their money to their kids than the bank
• 15:12 The shower moment that turned John from a boy into a man
• 24:56 The "erase the whiteboard" trick that ends their money fights
• 35:25 How Lisa paid cash to deliver her babies with no insurance
• 37:09 The kind of "giving" message that makes Lisa walk out
• 49:05 The million-dollar pledge that vanished, and what came instead
• 1:13:50 How they raised four sons who love God and handle money well
• 1:20:59 The one message Lisa wants you to take from her book

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• How Lisa paid cash to deliver her babies with no insurance
• The shower moment that changed her marriage
• Why she says men and women were never meant to be enemies
• The kind of "give to get" message that makes her walk out of the room
• What happened when a million-dollar pledge fell through
• How they give away more books than they sell and still aren't broke
• What they did to protect their marriage after watching a pastor fall
• How they raised four sons who love God and handle money well

• Ephesians 3:20
• Ephesians 6:12
• Deuteronomy 8:18
• Malachi 2:14-15
• Malachi 3:16
• Proverbs 21:9
• Proverbs 31:16
• Genesis 26:12
• Matthew 6:26
• 2 Corinthians 9:7
• John 17:21
• 1 Corinthians 15:37-38
• Hebrews 4:15
• Matthew 25:14-30
• Revelation 12:17
• Revelation 21:8
• Psalm 51:7
• Psalm 51:13

• Lisa Bevere's new book The Fight for Female
• Messenger International (John and Lisa Bevere's ministry)
• The Awe of God by John Bevere
• Introduction to the Holy Spirit by John Bevere

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.

>>> First, grab the guide I told you about in this episode: How to become a millionaire even on an average salary

A few years ago we sold off some Tesla stock to pay off our second house. If you run the math on what that stock would be worth now, the result is honestly brutal. But I felt the Lord tell me clearly to do it. And looking back, I think I see exactly why He said what He said.

In this episode Linda and I walk through five biblical investing secrets most Christians have completely missed: the verse Solomon wrote down 3,000 years before a man named Harry Markowitz won a Nobel Prize for the same idea, why God rebuked a servant in Matthew 25 for playing it too safe, the Bible verse that describes Warren Buffett's entire patient-compounding strategy, the move every wealth advisor still preaches that came straight from Joseph in Genesis 41, and the generational vision in Proverbs that reframes a lot of what most Americans get wrong about money and family.

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.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• Why God rebuked a servant in the Bible for NOT investing (and most Christians have missed it)
• The investing principle Solomon wrote down 3,000 years before Wall Street figured it out
• Why "boring" is the actual investing strategy (and the lottery winner stat that proves it)
• The Bible verse that describes Warren Buffett's entire investing strategy
• The Joseph blueprint that every wealth advisor still preaches today
• The "vitamin K on day 8" principle that shows how specific God's instructions really are
• The Tesla stock decision Bob can't undo (and why he is at peace with it anyway)
• Why generational wealth without character is dangerous (and how to do it the other way)

• Matthew 25 (Parable of the Talents)
• Luke 19:23
• Ecclesiastes 11:2
• Proverbs 13:11
• Genesis 41 (Joseph and the seven years)
• Proverbs 13:22

• 10x Investing (use code PODCAST for a discount)
• Grab the guide I told you about in this episode: (How to become a millionaire even on an average salary)

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.

Grab our brand new prayer book here: https://shop.sdti.me/products/30-days-of-prayer-for-your-finances

The first time I prayed a prayer I thought might be selfish, I was 20 years old and brand new in my faith. God said yes. I spent the next seven months refusing to accept the answer because I could not believe He had actually said it. Years later I prayed a different prayer, this one about our mortgage. The answer came back in a way I never would have written. Ten months later the mortgage was gone.

In this episode Linda and I get into the four reasons most Christians do not pray about money (and why all four are wrong), the five categories of prayer most of us have never named, the moment Linda figured out she could unload on God the same way she unloads on me, the prayer Joshua prayed that should reframe how bold we are willing to be, and the comment one woman left on our Instagram about a 'lowercase g' God that I have not been able to shake.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• The four reasons Christians don't pray about money (and why all four are wrong)
• The selfish-feeling prayer Bob fought against for seven months before accepting God's yes
• The five categories of prayer most of us have never named for our finances
• What Joshua's prayer in the Bible has to do with how boldly we should pray
• The Instagram comment about a 'lowercase g' God that has stuck with us
• Why God redirected the mortgage prayer toward tripling our giving instead
• What letting your kids barge into your office reveals about how we are meant to approach God
• The one-sentence prayer challenge to take this week

BIBLE VERSES MENTIONED

• Philippians 4:6
• James 4:2-3
• Joshua 10 (referenced — Joshua praying for the sun to stand still)
• 1 Thessalonians 5:17
• Matthew 6:11
• James 1:5
• James 3:17
• 1 Thessalonians 5:18
• Matthew 6:24
• Psalm 24:1

• 30 Days of Prayer for your Finances
• Simple Money, Rich Life (the book)

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.

The first time I ever heard the word tithing, I watched a guest preacher publicly shame two guys at the altar of a small Florida church for not doing it consistently. They walked back to their seats with their heads down. I never forgot it. Linda has a different shame story — quiet, private, ten years long, all over a single tithe she felt led to give to friends going on a mission trip instead of her local church. Two completely different shame stories, same root system. Both deadly to generosity.

In this episode, we finally do the conversation we've sidestepped for almost two decades. We get into the difference between condemnation and conviction, why we treat tithing the same way we treat Sabbath, and the moment we corrected our giving and got a raise the very next day that exactly covered the gap.

This is not a shame episode. It's not a license episode either. It's where we've actually landed.

And 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.

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• The altar-shaming Bob watched as a brand-new Christian (and what it did to his view of giving)
• The 10-year guilt cycle Linda carried over a single tithe she gave to the "wrong" place
• Why condemnation comes from the enemy and conviction comes from God (and how to tell which is which)
• The Sabbath analogy that finally helped us land somewhere honest
• Why both shame and license are wrong (and what 2 Corinthians 9:7 actually says)
• Where to start if 10% feels impossible right now

• Matthew 7 (referenced — "if your eye causes you to sin")
• Genesis 14 (Abraham and Melchizedek, referenced)
• Genesis 22 (Abraham, "God will provide" / Jehovah Jireh)
• 2 Corinthians 8-9 (referenced as a giving framework)
• 2 Corinthians 9:7
• Galatians 3:13 (referenced — "redeemed from the curse of the law")
• John 8 (the woman caught in adultery, referenced)
• Luke 19 (Zacchaeus, referenced)
• Hebrews (Jesus as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, referenced)

• True Financial Freedom (church curriculum) → seedtime.com/true

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.

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.

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

• 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
• 2 Corinthians 8-9
• Proverbs (referenced as a daily reading practice — one chapter per day)

• Simple Money, Rich Life (the book)
• Assets Under Management free resource

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.

Matt Chandler has been in the room with actual billionaires on multiple occasions — and the way he describes what happens to people who have everything almost everyone else is chasing isn't what most of us would expect. He told us he won't even let some of them bless him. And after 23 years pastoring one of the most affluent suburbs in America, he's seen exactly what the chase actually does to families.

In this conversation, we get into a question Matt says nobody has asked him: what he's actually watched wealth do to people up close. We talk about the upgrade cycle most Christian families never name (and the bigger house Matt and Lauren refused to buy because of it), why the finish line always moves no matter how much you make, the diagnostic he gives for whether money is serving you or you're serving it, and what bad stewardship really does to the peace in your home.

And for more rich teaching on how to become more like Jesus check out his new book Becoming Like Jesus -

Here's a little of what we cover in this episode:

• What Matt has watched wealth do to families over 23 years in Dallas
• The room full of billionaires moment most pastors never talk about
• The bigger house Matt and Lauren almost bought (and the math that decided it)
• "The finish line always moves" — the trap most Christians never name
• The diagnostic Matt uses to spot whether money is serving you
• What bad stewardship actually does to the peace in a home
• How Matt and Lauren built radical generosity into their budget when he made $12,000 a year
• Why budgeting is a spiritual discipline, not a numbers nerd thing

• 1 Corinthians 16:2

• Matt Chandler's Book: Becoming Like Jesus

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.