In my first job as a reporter I worked on a special economics issue for the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph. I was assigned most of the stories that related to home and commercial real estate.

After learning what I could about each source’s subject of expertise and their prognostications for the area’s real estate market in 1977, I asked each for a single word of advice to readers. Without exception, they each said to “buy as much house as you can as soon as you can.”

Just three months out of college I was still thrilled I had a dishwasher in my big, bright two-bedroom apartment and hadn’t even started thinking about a house. But I took the advice to heart, engaged a realtor in my church and he soon found an affordable house not much bigger than the apartment.

Thanks to the GI Bill I could get into the house for just $500, which I borrowed from my father-in-law. My one concern was how we would absorb the $29 increase in difference between rent and house payment. Were we tight? Yes.

But things went well and when we sold the house to move to Nashville, Tenn., the realtors’ advice was proven sound. Looking for a new house and establishing ourselves in a new city, one in which we would likely start raising a family, my wife and I had one big priority on the shopping list: we wanted a house we could afford on my income alone.

That eliminated a lot of beautiful options, but we never said, “Gee, if only we could afford this one.” We never had a sense of deprivation for what our commitment denied us. We were only grateful for what it afforded us — the ability for mom not to have to work to meet our mortgage.

If there is an overwhelming message in this issue (Jan. 3) of the Biblical Recorder from Pedro Rosario, the Crown Financial Ministries regional director, it is that to control debt, we must make choices. To acquire the things that are important to us — whether property, lifestyle, objects or groceries — we must count as rags lesser things.

Only the very rarest among us can make purchases with no nod to a limited income. The rest of us must budget, prioritize, save and wait patiently. Often, by the time we have the money saved, we’ll realize we aren’t all that excited about the item anyway.

That’s why Rosario says individuals and families must establish priorities. If you have priorities — a clearly established sense of what is most important — then denying or delaying some things to enable your priority is really quite simple.

In the example above, our priority was not a purchase, it was a lifestyle. Ken Dychtwald, author of Age Wave, said years ago that the next generation would trade money for time. My generation trades time for money.

But when it comes to maintaining your priorities, don’t trade them for lesser things.

Financial health package
Across three issues of the Biblical Recorder and numerous postings online, the BR staff compiled stories dealing with financial health, budgeting, teaching children about money, stewardship issues, etc. For a complete list, click here.