Food and Energy Prices Very High

I have no doubt that we are living in the Biblical last days. Basic necessities are demanding a major portion of our earnings, and that’s already in addition to the government taking as much as it can in taxes and companies trying to squeeze the innocent through fees, hidden charges and fine print. As you can imagine, the rising energy prices are a favorite topic of newscasters seeking to sprinkle fear on its loyal viewers.

But believers in Jesus Christ are not bound to this world’s economy. We know that gold and silver are the Lord’s, for He created all things. We need not live in worry, fear, or anxiety. Check this exhortation out, found in Matthew 6:25-34:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

That exhortation was from Jesus. Yes, God takes care of his children! Have faith, believe, and don’t be ashamed to ask God for wisdom. Seek the Lord, and surely he will provide for your household. For centuries He has taken care of his own little ones.

After checking out the news stories on rising food and oil prices, I knew I had to be more diligent with my finances. I ask God for wisdom because I don’t know very much about managing my finances. What kind of changes have you had to make as the prices of food and gasoline increase?

Financial Receipts and Data Entry To Go

So it’s late night and I pull up to the drive-through window to place an order. The gentleman at the other end asks to take my order. I reply, “Yes, I want a stack of receipts and a whole lotta financial data entry, to go.” The gentleman says, “Okay, your total is….”

Once again I find myself making Financial Accounting this week’s priority project. As you may know, tax season is under way. What you may not know is that I already purchased the tax software to prepare my income tax filings. However, I have to enter about six months of past transactions for 2007 in the finance software. Doing that will help me maximize my deductions in the most accurate and beneficial manner. Entering the huge stack of past transactions is going to take time, perseverance, and lots of movies playing as background noise to keep me from falling asleep.

Make this a great week, God bless!

Signed Up for Visa Rewards

My First Business Account

Ladies and gentlemen, I opened my first business account! It was an exciting experience for me to open my first checking account for my new small business (more on this soon). I enjoyed an excellent customer service experience at the local AmSouth Bank branch here in the beautiful city of Fort Myers. I was treated like a professional and a human being. I was given all the necessary information and all my questions were kindly answered. I give them credit for being the relationship people on the first day. We all know that first impressions are important.

As a bonus for opening a free small business checking account I was given the opportunity to open a free personal checking account. Of course, hardly anything in life is free. As a result, I requested their schedule of fees. Still, choosing to separate my personal and business monies is the first step forward on the road to financial independence. It means business baby!

If you are considering opening a small business checking account, check out AmSouth’s offering. The bank merged with Regions Bank, and hopefully the transition is smooth enough. Thank you AmSouth; here’s to our success!

Quickly Into QuickBooks 2006

Since Friday, I have been doing some learning and research on small business accounting and working with QuickBooks 2006. Before I setup my business through the EasyStep Interview, I’m going to go through the Learning Center and check out their interactive tutorials. I find it so neat that included now are tutorials that help the user become familiar with this expensive accounting software.

I am aware that each year a new version comes out. It is my opinion that the developers would love to have the users “subscribe” each year to the “better, improved” version. However, a company needs to be disciplined enough to say, “No.” I recommend updating every other year or every three years, if need be. It all depends if the developer adds any real new, real useful features; or if they drop support for your current version. Put the money to work for you and buy something else, an asset, not another overvalued expense.

Nevertheless, I do like QuickBooks 2006, especially the new homepage and tutorials. Uncle Sam wants taxes done right and your accounting to be accountable. QuickBooks is the right tool for this and much more.