When Homeownership Becomes an Idol
Wanting a home is a good and ordinary desire. If you cannot imagine a faithful Christian life without owning one, something else has taken hold.
Guides
Guides
37 articles tagged Guides
Can't Stay on Budget in Canada? Pull the Second Lever
Most budgeting advice has one move: cut more. There is a second lever, and my wife and I spent three years of evenings and Saturdays pulling it.
Is It Wrong to Be a Wealthy Christian?
The Bible is full of wealthy people God loved. Here is what Scripture actually says about wealth, money as idol, and what open-handed stewardship looks like.
Christian Personal Finance in Your 30s
The variables multiply fast in your 30s. Here is the financial map for Canadian Christian men navigating mortgages, kids, RRSPs, and the weight of provision.
A Christian Guide to Getting Out of Debt
A practical, Canadian, step-by-step plan for getting out of debt, grounded in what the Bible actually says about money and stewardship.
Should You Buy a Home? A Christian's Guide for Canada
Before the accounts and the offers, the harder question: should you buy at all, and how much house can you actually carry? A pastor works the real numbers.
How Much Emergency Fund Do You Need in Canada?
Three to six months is the baseline, but circumstance moves it. Here is how to size, place, and build an emergency fund without it becoming a second idol.
A Letter to a Young Man's First Job
The decisions you make with your first real paycheque will compound for forty years. This letter is for the man at the beginning of that window.
A Christian Guide to Investing in Canada
You do not need $10,000 or a finance degree to start. Here is how to open a TFSA, buy one fund, and stop waiting, from a pastor who waited too long.
A Letter to the Man Who Feels Behind at 45
A lot of Christian men in their mid-forties carry an anxiety about money they have never said out loud. This letter is for them.
The Most Loving Hour of Paperwork
Estate planning is really about refusing to leave your family with a second tragedy stacked on top of the first.
Money Goals for Each Decade: 20s to 60s, With Real Canadian Numbers
The Statistics Canada net worth, income, RRSP and giving figures for every decade of a man's working life, and the Steward's Map moves that belong to each one.
How to Set Up Your Finances When You Have a Baby in Canada
Nine months is enough time to get the money ready, if you spend it on the right five moves. A Canadian guide for the man about to become a father.
The Steward's Map: The Order Your Money Moves In, for Canadian Christian Men
The Steward's Map: eight money moves in order, from giving first to giving beyond the tithe, with the printable one-page version at the end.
The Canadian Homebuying Process, and What Closing Really Costs
The accounts, the seven steps from pre-approval to keys, and the cash that has to be in certified funds on closing day. The mechanical half of buying a first home in Canada.
How Much Income Should Go to Housing?
The old rule says 30 percent. The bank will let you go far higher. Here is the number that actually leaves room to give, save, and breathe.
Joint vs Separate Accounts: A Three-Option Framework for Christian Couples
Fully separate, the proportional split, or one account with two safety valves: what each setup protects, what it costs, and the one I'd point most couples toward.
The FHSA Explained: Canada's Best Account for First-Time Home Buyers
The FHSA gives you an RRSP deduction going in and a TFSA withdrawal coming out. Here is how it works, and why to open one this week.
What I'd Do First If I Wanted My Wife to Never Have to Work
A thought experiment I keep coming back to: the plan I would run, in order, if I wanted to build a life where my wife never had to work.
Student Debt in Canada: A Christian Guide to Tackling Your Loans
A pastoral, practical plan for Canadian student debt: what you actually owe, the order that pays it off fastest, and why shame gets no vote.
Before Your Parents Help You Buy a House
When your parents offer to help with your down payment, the most honouring thing you can do is ask one question first: what is this actually costing them?
Do You Need a Christian Advisor?
Most Canadian Christian men don't need a financial advisor, faith-aligned or otherwise, and here is the honest case for why.
What's the First $1,000 in Savings For?
Before the TFSA and before the debt avalanche, the first $1,000 has one job: keeping the next small crisis off your credit card.
A Financial Plan for Christian Newlyweds
Nobody hands you a money guide at the reception. Here is what to do in your first year of marriage, in order, without losing your mind or each other.
Christian Personal Finance in Your 20s: A Canadian Guide
Nobody gave me the map either. Here is the actual sequence for a Canadian Christian man in his 20s who wants to start handling money well.
Your Teen's First Summer Job and Money
Your teen's first paycheque is a discipleship moment. What to say before it arrives, plus the paperwork and tax basics he actually needs to know.
The Clergy Residence Deduction in Canada
Most pastors in Canada have never heard of the clergy residence deduction. It exists specifically for them. Here is how it works.
FHSA vs RRSP Home Buyers' Plan: Which Is Better in Canada?
The FHSA wins in almost every case. Here is the plain-English breakdown of both accounts, and the stack strategy that gets you the most out of each.
How to Build a One-Page Financial Plan in Canada
Most men have an intention about money and call it a plan. Here is the one-page version: seven buckets, honest numbers, thirty minutes.
Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest?
Secular sites answer this with math. Christian sites answer it with Proverbs. Dan does both. And the answer is simpler than you think.
HBP Repayment Rules for Canadians
You have 15 years to repay your Home Buyers' Plan withdrawal, the clock probably starts later than you think, and missing a year costs you real tax money.
The RESP Guide for Christian Fathers
The RESP is one of Canada's most underused accounts. The government will match your contributions 20 cents on the dollar. Here is how to start.
What the Bible Says About Compound Interest
I sat with my finger over the confirm button for twenty minutes, on a fifty dollar contribution. Then I spent the next stretch of my life making the opposite mistake.
What My Mutual Funds Licence Never Taught Me About Index Funds
I carried a mutual funds licence and index funds barely came up in training. What the fees actually cost, and what I would tell a man starting this week.
The Insurance That Matters Most
Most Canadian men have life insurance and zero disability coverage. Statistically, that's backwards. Here's what to do about it.
The Money Talk to Have Before Marriage
Most couples who fight about money after marriage never really talked about it before the wedding. Here is the session to have, and how to open it.
Building Resilience on Irregular Income
Standard budgeting advice assumes a steady paycheque. Here's a practical framework for households (ministry, contract, or otherwise) where income moves.
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Most men measure provision by one number. It's the wrong scoreboard. Eight signs you're providing well that have nothing to do with your salary.
What Does the Bible Say About Money?
What does the Bible say about money? A thorough look at what Scripture teaches about wealth, debt, giving, and stewardship for Canadian Christian men.
The Latte Factor: What $6 a Day Becomes
The math on small daily spending is real. The habit cost calculator shows you the 30-year shape of your habits so you can decide with your eyes open.
How to Build a Budget That Survives Real Life
Most budgeting systems require perfection to work, and real life is never perfect. Five steps for a plan that survives, and the posture underneath it.
You Are Not What You Earn
Two lies about work damage men's finances more than bad budgets do. What the Bible says about work and identity, and why it changes how you handle money.
Is Financial Anxiety a Sin?
Matthew 6 says 'do not be anxious.' So when the mortgage renewal arrives and you can't sleep, what do you do with that?