For many years we have been taught correct principles by representative of the Lord. We would do well to heed their counsel with exactness and to the best of our abilities. We can sincerely pray for help in the areas that we fall short and...seek to do better line upon line.
If we do so, the Lord will help us attain to the stature that he desires for us; which includes both spiritual and financial freedom.
"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."
—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances, Feb. 2007, 1 Pay Tithes and Offerings
Avoid Debt
Use a Budget
Build a Reserve
Teach Family Members
“First, and above and beyond everything else, let us live righteously. …
“Let
us avoid debt as we would avoid a plague; where we are now in debt, let
us get out of debt; if not today, then tomorrow. “Let us straitly and
strictly live within our incomes, and save a little. Pres. Benson
"You
of small means put your money in foodstuffs and wearing apparel, not in
stocks and bonds; you of large means will think you know how to care
for yourselves, but I may venture to suggest that you do not speculate.
Let every head of every household aim to own his own home, free from
mortgage. Let every man who has a garden spot, garden it; every man who
owns a farm, farm it.” (President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., in Conference
Report, Apr. 1937, p. 26.) Read it also here; Pres. Benson
Financial Preparedness
Becoming Provident Providers, Elder Hales, 2009
One for the Money, Elder Marvin J. Ashton, 2007