How Much Should I Save and Tithe Per Month?
February 4, 2025
Is it difficult to find the money to give to your church or other ministries? Does it seem impossible to come up with the money to save for emergencies or other needs? The solution is simple but not necessarily easy.
An Ideal World
Imagine that you could wipe your financial slate clean and draft the perfect cash flow plan. The first outgo category would be generosity. That’s based on the biblical principle to give to the Lord from the first portion of any money you receive: “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the first fruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9, NKJV). The second category would be saving, which is also based on a biblical principle: “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets” (Proverbs 21:20, TLB).
Instead of looking to what’s left over each month to see if there’s any money available to give or save, making giving and saving your first financial priorities is a simple—but again, not necessarily easy— way to make sure that they get funded.
What to Aim For
More specifically, it would be ideal to give at least 10 percent of monthly gross income while devoting at least 15 percent to the combined saving and investing category. Ten percent is the very definition of a “tithe,” which was part of the Old Testament law. It’s where God started the poorest Israelite (see Leviticus 27:30) and it remains a good starting point for biblical generosity today.
There are no such biblical specifics for saving or investing. Fifteen percent is simply a recommendation based on estimates of what it takes to build a healthy financial cushion and invest adequately for future needs.
If you don’t have an emergency fund, devote the full 15 percent to building one. Once you have three to six months’ worth of essential living expenses in savings, redirect most of that money (10 to 12 percent of gross income) to investing while you continue saving three to five percent. This additional savings will be for the replacement of big-ticket items, such as your car or your home’s roof.
The Real World
Please don’t let any of the above discourage you. It describes an ideal scenario. Of course, you can’t just wipe your financial slate clean. You have certain financial obligations already in place.
So, move toward the ideal over time. Using a budget—or a cash flow plan—will be a big help. You’ll find a downloadable cash flow plan form here https://mattaboutmoney.com/resources. It has a “now” column and a “goal” column. Under the “now” column, map out your current situation. Start with your monthly gross income. Then, list all of your outgo categories, starting with giving, saving, and investing. How much of your monthly gross income are you now devoting to those priorities? Then, fill in the numbers for the rest of the categories.
When you’re done with the “now” column, use the “goal” column to create an ideal plan using the recommended cash flow guidelines found at the above link.
The most common roadblock to giving and saving is debt. If that’s true for you, there are ideas for speeding up the process of getting out of debt in the article, Getting Financially Fit.
Give It Time
Giving and saving are two essentials of a financial life that works well, fostering a sense of meaning and peace of mind. If giving 10 percent of your gross income and saving 15 percent seems impossible, start where you can and grow how much you devote to each priority over time.
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Matt Bell is the author of Trusted: Preparing Your Kids for a Lifetime of God-Honoring Money Management. He speaks at churches and conferences throughout the country and writes the MattAboutMoney blog.
This article should not be considered legal, tax, or financial advice. You may wish to consult a tax or financial advisor about your individual financial situation.
