First, consider your charitable giving. What percentage of your income does this represent? Would you be comfortable sharing this with a close friend, a seminary professor, one of your congregation's lay leaders? Why or why not?

Second, divide the rest of your income and how you spend it into the remaining money pools described in the background section. How do your percentages compare to that of the Gonzales family? What changes do you recognize as worth making for your family's ongoing financial health?

Third, compare your short-term savings as a percent of your annual income. How does this compare with the recommendations in the background section? What would it take for you to build this up? If you have more than you need in short-term savings, what donation might you make? What transfer to a longer-term financial instrument?