Money stewardship is a simple idea with a long history: what you earn has been entrusted to you, so you look after it with care. The name Kede comes from the Greek word kēdemonía, which means exactly that kind of guardianship. Read the story behind the name.

Great thinkers across centuries said the same thing in different words. Here are five of them, and what each lesson looks like on an ordinary day.

1. Know the state of what you have

"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." (Proverbs 27:23, King James Version)

A herdsman who never counts his animals will not notice when one goes missing. Money is the same. Money stewardship starts with knowing what came in, what went out and what is left, every day.

In practice: record money in and out as it happens. With the Kede tracker you can type a sentence like "sales 250k, lunch 7k" and it becomes two entries.

2. Watch the small leaks

"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship." (Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth, 1758)

Big purchases get our attention. Small daily costs do not, and they add up: airtime, snacks, transport, fees. Franklin wrote this more than 250 years ago and it is still true.

In practice: look at your spending by category once a week. The categories that surprise you are your leaks.

3. Keep a part of all you earn

"A part of all you earn is yours to keep." (George S. Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon, 1926)

Clason's point is that saving should come first, not from whatever is left at the end of the month. Even a small, steady amount builds up.

In practice: set a savings goal and let Kede work out a weekly amount that fits your real income.

4. Count the cost before you build

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" (Luke 14:28, King James Version)

Good stewards plan before they commit. Rent, school fees and loan payments are towers you already decided to build, so plan them before the money arrives.

In practice: put every bill in a Workplan, pay it bit by bit and see what is left before the due date.

5. Turn knowledge into a definite plan

In Think and Grow Rich (1937), Napoleon Hill returns again and again to one idea: knowledge only becomes useful when it is organised into definite plans and put into action. Wishing is not a plan. A written plan with numbers is.

In practice: write the plan down. A goal with a target, a date and a weekly amount is a definite plan. A bill with a due date and installments is a definite plan.

Faithful in little things

The parable of the talents ends with praise for the servant who was "faithful over a few things". Money stewardship is not about how much you have. It is about how faithfully you look after it.

If you don't know where your money goes, you cannot govern it. If you cannot govern it, you cannot grow it.

Start small this week

Record every shilling that comes in and goes out for seven days.
Find your biggest small leak.
Put your next big bill in a plan.
Set one savings goal, even a small one.

Start free with Kede, your money coach for guarding what is entrusted to you.