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Bob and Linda Lotich have spent the last 15 years helping millions discover true financial freedom with their award-winning blog [SeedTime.com] and SeedTime Money podcast.
Unlike most financial experts, they lead with grace over judgement and focus on creating hope while washing away the shame so many carry with money.
In their new book *Simple Money, Rich Life* they share practical steps to save and earn more money in order to fund your God-given purpose and dreams.
Today we’re going to be chatting about what it looks like to achieve true financial freedom while designing a life of eternal impact. I think that sometimes as Christians, we feel really confused about how we’re actually supposed to feel and think about money, what we’re supposed to do with it and how we’re called to be faithful and glorify God with it. So when Bob and Linda reached out to me and sent me a copy of their book, I was so eager to dig into the wisdom that they had to share about money and let me tell you, it’s so good.
Bob is a financial coach married to Linda, a butterfly chasing high performance spender. I love that their new book is the operating manual that they followed to pay off over $400,000 of debt and reach a personal goal of giving $1 million by the age of 40.
Bob, Linda and I dove right into this topic with a mindset question because as I mentioned, I think most people seem to have a fairly complicated view of how Christians are supposed to think and feel about money. So in other words, they’re not used to thinking about money as simple. But the title of Bob and Linda’s book is, “Simple Money, Rich life. So, how can we begin to think about money in a more simple way and why is this such an important topic for Christians?
Money doesn’t have to be complicated.
Staring off with a little backstory on how the book title came to be, Linda shares that when she and Bob first married 17 years ago, she didn’t want to think about money or finances. She was okay with having Bob just take over and do it because it was confusing and overwhelming to her. Bob, on the other hand, was excited to get in there and create the spreadsheets and all the things. So, over the last 17 years, Bob has worked with Linda to get her more involved in the finances by simplifying things as much as possible.
God gifted Bob with the ability to take complicated things, especially when it comes to money, and boil them down to the most essential parts. Having worked in the financial services and banking industry for years, he mentions that there is this stigma around finances being really complicated when that’s not really the case. You can make it complicated, but it doesn’t need to be in order to be successful financially. But a lot of people are believing that lie and many just give up. And that’s why they wrote their book.
Linda shares that especially for us as Christians, this should not overwhelm our life. If we’ve given our life to the Lord, then what we believe is that He has something for us to do, and for money to take up the entirety of your life, whether it’s worrying about it or trying to come up with a good system, that’s not the only thing that God has for us to do on this earth. And that’s why it’s super important for us as Christians to get a handle on it, and it’s great that we can do that in a simplistic way.
Bob points out that at the end of the day, we can use our money as a tool to advance God’s kingdom. It’s like yes, let’s take care of your family, let’s get out of debt, let’s go on vacation and those are all an important part of this and it’s okay to have those desires. But beyond that, there’s this part where we can participate with God, and co-labor Him with our finances whether it’s supporting different ministries, supporting and encouraging our pastor financially and so many other different things.
I think they hit the nail on the head… Using our money and our finances for God’s glory and to further His kingdom. I think it really all boils down to that and I love that he of gave us permission to let it be simple. Like here’s your permission, ladies, if you’re feeling frustrated and like it’s all too complicated, here’s your permission to let it be simple.
The 4-part Money Motto
I definitely encourage you to go check out their book because Bob and Linda are so good at simplifying and in fact, this next part I’m super excited to dig into because in the book, they boil this all down into four parts. And honestly, this is the best, most simple life-changing wisdom I have ever come across inregards to money. I’m not even kidding. Here are the 4 parts:
-Earn all you can.
-Save all you can.
-Give all you can.
-Enjoy it all.
As we briefly walk through these 4 parts, Bob and Linda shared that these are actually based off of a quote from John Wesley where he said, “I work to earn as much as I possibly can and I work to reduce my expenses as much as I can so that I can give all that I can.” And that was his life motto and how he viewed money and how he operated with it. He saw that he had an opportunity to take the gifts that God had given him, the ability to speak and preach and write, and use those gifts to generate income so that he could give more and fund and finance activities. That quote and process is what has guided Bob and Linda for years. And they added the piece about enjoying it all because the truth is, as Bob mentions, there’s so many people who hate their jobs. They hate the work that they’re doing and so they’re not enjoying it and then there’s so many people who hate anything that has to do with spending smarter or wiser or managing money. They hate all of that. Then there’s plenty of people who hate giving. And so, you can clearly hate all of these facets of your financial life… or you can enjoy each of them. And there’s a way to do this right… with balance and with God, where you can have peace with your money, and you can have joy in each of these three main areas.
I love what he shared on that and I think there are so many money mindsets that I feel like we could go into but I think at the end of the day, it really comes down to being faithful. It’s the parable of the talents. It’s being faithful with our literal talent, with what God has put in us, called, and asked us to do. And using that to the best of our ability to make all we can so that we can give all we can because you know what? It’s very hard to bless other people financially if we are in this space of survival mode financially ourselves. So, I just love the freedom in that and that it’s okay to make money and it’s amazing to give money, and it brings glory to God and honestly, it’s fun and it feels really good. You know, the blessing is always on the other side of obedience and God calls us to give… to give freely, to give cheerfully, to give above and beyond.
Steps to Simplify
For the woman who’s hearing this and thinking, I can do this. I want to do this. I want to step into these four parts, where do you begin?
Bob and Linda had two wisdom-filled tips on this that I just think are so great. The first is to actually pay attention to where your money is going. Bob shared this example of going to a nutritionist and how they will have you keep a food journal where you start writing down every single thing that you eat. And anyone who’s done this exercise knows that the minute you start writing everything down, you instantly eat better. You don’t have to try to eat better, you just eat better just because you’re writing it down and you’re paying attention to exactly what you’re doing. And the fun thing is, is that it’s exactly the same with our money. Once we start paying attention to exactly where we’re spending our money, and not just guessing at the end of the month and trying to remember where we spent, we’re actually paying attention to where everything goes. You just spend less money. It’s just that simple. And there have been all kinds of studies that have proven this to be true.
There are multiple ways you can do this and Bob shares that there are people he knows who have saved literally 50% just by doing this exercise. You can use paper if you want and write everything down. Or you can go the digital route and use a tool like Mint.com or PersonalCapital.com where you can go in there, plug in your information and in about 15 minutes, you’ll be able to look back at the last three months and see exactly how much you spent on groceries or household goods or any number of other categories you might have. There’s so much power in this and it’s such a simple thing to start doing today.
While that’s a super practical tip that can make a difference, Linda added that we can also pray about it and ask the Lord for wisdom. He says in James that anyone who asks for wisdom, He will give it to them. I mean, He’s in the business of answering prayer. What’s so great about the Holy Spirit is He knows what is going to be the best thing for you to start with, the thing that won’t overwhelm you, the thing that will get you excited to keep moving forward and pique your curiosity. And especially if you’re married, praying as a couple is so important. The Lord is just ready and willing to answer our prayers.
These are both such tangible tips! Partnering with the Lord, it’s like one of those things that we should all be doing and it’s such a simple step and it’s the best first step. I think we overlook it, I know I personally am guilty of that. It’s like sometimes we get so focused on the storm, right? Like Peter in the book of Matthew is so focused on the storm that we just begin to sink because we’re focused on the problems when instead, we can shift our focus and shift our thoughts and mind and sight towards the problem solver, the one who can and will and wants to partner with us and show us the way.
I love the exercise that Bob shared and I think it’s so practical and so eye opening to track your money and where it’s going. I teach women to do that with their time…Track your time for 48 hours on the hour and you’re going to be shocked where you are wasting time. It’s the same with this money exercise, you’re going to be shocked where you’re wasting and blowing money.
Giving Cheerfully
So, I want to dig just a little bit deeper into giving and making Kingdom impact. You’ve heard me talk about my husband and I’s story of how we actually walked through bankruptcy early on in our marriage and we learned these hard lessons. One of the things that God showed us is that you need to be giving right off the top, cheerfully, and with trust… trusting that if you give first, then God is going to provide. And He did and He does, and He continues to do that in our lives today. So, I get really fired up about giving, it just simply lights me up.
Bob and Linda were able to give away $1 million by age 40. And they give 40% of their income each year, or the equivalent of their age. So, at 41 now, they give away 41% of their income. How awesome is that? They certainly don’t do it for applause but for them, it’s been a celebration of what God has been able to do. They talk about how they are very much middle class and it’s just never anything they ever dreamed to be able to do. But it’s so much of a testament to what God has done in their lives and what He’s capable of doing in anyone’s life.
We discuss how giving cheerfully is one thing that people struggle with. Let’s be honest, there are times when it’s harder to give. I think that’s okay, too. Bob and Linda talk about a framework they found from Andy Stanley and he says, “Give from a broken heart and a thankful heart.” They give to their local church because they are thankful for it and have been completely impacted by it. And then they give to a cause that is important to them and is making a difference. And when you give towards something that God has put on your heart, chances are, it’s on His heart too. And so it’s easier to give and I think that’s that joyful part that we kind of miss sometimes. It’s okay to enjoy giving. And why not lean into that? Why not take God up on this experience of cheerful giving?
I remember studying through a global leadership summit and Christine Caine was speaking. It was the first time I’d ever seen or heard her speak and she was talking about the A21 Campaign, and they fight to flee women and children from human trafficking. And I remember just standing there, listening to her speak and watching the videos just weeping with my heart 100% broken. There are other areas where we love to give and to be able to bless others as well but kind of our above and beyond thing is the A21 Campaign and just giving to that knowing that they are hands and feet on the ground, that they are rescuing and bringing people to freedom, it just gives me goosebumps. When you find something like that that breaks your heart and you know that it’s the Holy Spirit inside you, like breaking your heart for what breaks His, then you want to give. And it becomes a passion and honestly, just a part of who you are. It’s just what we do and we want to do it because the Lord calls us to do it.
And there’s also an element of sacrificial giving. There’s been times where we’re like, I don’t know how this is going to work out, you know? So, with sacrificial giving, you’re doing it because you’re obeying, right? And I’m telling you what, we have gotten to know the Lord so much better through doing that. It’s like, He shows up in a new way every single time where we’re like, I did not see that coming. I don’t know how that happened. And it’s so exciting because your love just grows deeper and deeper for the Lord out of this thing that you think is a sacrifice to you. But it’s really Him saying, “Can you let me show you who I am and show you more of myself?” The Lord is your provider and someone who loves you and is not just going to leave you hanging. It’s incredibly powerful.
As I closed out my conversation with Bob and Linda, I wanted to shift gears a little bit for a question about what I read in their book about how they travel the US for free, with over 100 free flights and hotel nights in the last year. I love travel and was personally so curious to hear more about this.
Bob shares how it really comes down to credit card points. One of the things that he realized as he started digging into credit cards a bit more is that almost every credit card has some sort of rewards that they offer. But the difference between an average credit cards rewards program and a great one is like 10 or maybe 20 times better in terms of how far those points go and what you can do with them. He did preface this with mentioning the importance of using credit cards responsibility. If you’re carrying a large balance or debt on your cards, this is probably not the best option for you at this time. Bob and Linda have a blog post that dives into this topic a little further and you can find that here. He goes into all the detail of exactly how they’ve done this over the years.
This was such a fun and insightful and wisdom-filled conversation with Bob and Linda. I do want to encourage you to check out the show notes for this podcast episode for some other resources from Bob and Linda and to also share the episode specifically with friends who are really trying to learn and grow in this area.
Until next time, keep on living and loving with great joy!!
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