Steward Your Paycheck: What To Do When You Get Paid — Smart Money Bro

No matter how big your paycheck is, if you don’t steward it properly, you will be broke. Even if racism disappeared tomorrow and Black Americans were able to eliminate every wealth disparity, we’d still need to have discipline with our money.  

Despite being 13.4% of the US population, Black households accounted for [about] 10% of the nation’s total spending on goods and services in 2019. Because Black workers bring home smaller paychecks, they have less money to work with every month, especially after accounting for debt.

— McKinsey & Company Quarterly Report, August 2021

The stereotype says that Black Americans have less wealth because we squander it on name brand stupidity. That’s not always true. According to this same report:

Black households spend a smaller share of their income than White households, although more goes toward the basics. This has not, however, translated into more liquid savings. More money in Black households goes to giving financial support to extended family, servicing higher student debt burdens, and paying higher interest rates on various consumer loans.

Gotta Get Back to Paycheck Basics

So if those basic expenses are still hurting us, along with overextending to family members, then we need disciplined routines to steward our money. Like, military disciplined, folks.

Here’s the ideal:

• There should be a plan—that both you and your spouse discuss together—that outlines how every dollar will be spent
• This plan should be created before the money comes in. Not the day of, and certainly not after
• Creating this plan should start with a prayer asking The Most High to reveal to you how He wants you to manage His money, because it is His money
• Once you know your expenses, have a separate checking account for each bucket. For example, my wife and I have checking accounts for income. All money from our rentals, jobs, company distributions, and anything else goes to that account first. Then, the money is allocated to separate accounts: a grocery account, emergency savings, rainy day savings, vacation savings, projects (my wife likes to do a lot household DIY renovation projects), kids’ activities, etc. It’s like the envelope system, but with bank accounts
• We pay all bills the day the income is deposited. For some bills we have it timed to be paid automatically

This discipline also means we stop looking at the world’s method of building wealth, like getting credit cards and falling into the two-income trap. We have to follow God’s way, which is what our ancestors like John Berry Meachum also encouraged:

• Get back to using our hands, for things like producing food
• Avoid debt and liquor
• Have a skill and be industrious
• Teach your children to do the same

Here’s more specific advice from the Smart Money Bro YouTube channel on the 8 steps you should take every time you get paid.