Filed under: Personal Finance, in the news | Tags: chase, credit cards, low interest rates, msnbc red tape, Personal Finance
I have 3 credit cards. We use 2 of them and pay them off in full each month. I have no problem with people using credit cards, but using credit cards unwisely can lead to severe problems.
The interest rates on 2 of my cards are probably over 20%, but they provide great rewards that we have taken full advantage of by staying in numerous Hampton Inn’s and other Hilton properties absolutely free.
I read an article on MSNBC today about credit card companies changing the terms on cards that really shocked me and wanted to share it.
Basically, a guy named James signed up for a Chase credit card with a 4.99% interest rate guaranteed for the life of the card. The only requirement is to have NO late payments. One late payment and your interest rate will surely get jacked way up. So, James decided to use the “cheap” money to remodel his kitchen and spend $20,000. He planned on paying the minimum each month and paying it off in about 8 years.
First of all, never put $20,000 on a CREDIT CARD for home repairs and plan on paying the minimum to pay it off in 8 years.
It gets worse though. The minimum payment designated by Chase was only 2%. Although Chase promised to never raise the interest rate, they never promised they wouldn’t change the minimum payment. Chase raised the minimum payment from 2% to 5%. That raised his payment from a little less than $300 to over $750. REMEMBER that the low interest rate is only available as long as you never have any late payments. So the chance of James having a late payment just significantly increased which will jack up his interest rate. Then a payment for $750 could easily become $1000 or even more with a 15-20% interest rate. Finally, his credit which was once in the 700’s (it had to be good to qualify for a 20,000 limit on a card) is now in the low 500’s after months of missed payments and an eventual charge off. Now he won’t be able to qualify for a car loan, a mortgage, or another credit card. It’s easy to see how so many people are in the trouble they are in today.
The moral of the story is that credit cards can be a good tool when used properly, but they can completely damage your finances for a very long time when used improperly. Be careful of rates and offers that seem too good to be true. If you treat a credit card as “cash” and only charge what you can pay off when the bill comes, you should never have a problem.
Credit Card companies know what they are doing, and it doesn’t seem fair but so far nobody has been able to stop these unfair practices. So be careful!
Filed under: Personal Finance, in the news | Tags: George David, Marie Douglas-David
I don’t make $53,000 a year, but one lady feels that she can’t survive without getting at least $53,000 per WEEK in her divorce settlement.
You can read the article here.
Basically, this lady spends “$8,000 for travel, $4,000-plus for clothing, $1,500 for restaurants, $1,000 to keep her hair perfect and her skin glowing, $600 for flowers to make the Park Avenue penthouse worth walking into.” She spends this in a SINGLE WEEK!
This just blows my mind.
I wouldn’t wish the Swine Flu on anyone. However, I really can’t understand why people are freaking out so much. The most recent statistics that I found indicated that 141 cases have been confirmed in the US (19 states) and 331 worldwide.
According to another statistic I found, 25-50 million people each year in the US alone are diagnosed with the normal flu with around 1 billion cases of the flu worldwide. So what’s the big deal with 331? I’m no medical expert, so I really can’t understand the big deal here. The numbers just don’t seem to add up to me.
Here’s a good picture I came across today inspiring this pointless blog. I would take the mask with a beard.
Filed under: Christianity, Ramblings, Religion, church, family, in the news, marriage, music, sports
Running/Exercising
- I have been trying to run a lot. It’s depressing how slow I run, but I did a little over a week ago. My feet have pretty much been numb/asleep since then.
- I went to the orthopedic doctor finally after 5 years of numb feet, and was diagnosed with Exertional Compartment Syndrome. I may have some small surgery to correct this, and should be good to go for the rest of my life.
- When I told Ashley about it, she said, “Oh honey, you have a syndrome.”
- I was able to run consistently for about 4 weeks though and lost almost 10 pounds. Running makes a big difference for sure!
News Stories
- An author believes there is “no such thing as virginity.” MSNBC ran an article about this lady and her book. Although I disagree with her 100% on just about everything, there is some truth to her argument. Here is one part I do agree with (at least a little bit.)
So while young women are subject to overt sexual messages every day, they’re simultaneously being taught — by the people who are supposed to care for their personal and moral development, no less — that their only real worth is their virginity and ability to remain “pure.” (Obviously I don’t think that a woman or man should find their only real worth in their virginity and ability to remain pure, but I can see what she’s attempting to say.)
- It is hard to teach moral development in a society that throws sex in your face everywhere you look. I’d love to go into further discussion in some comments with anyone who is interested.
- The story about Miss California finishing second in the Miss USA contest is very upsetting. She answered a question saying she was against gay marriage. Perez Hilton called her a bad name, and all of California has made her out to be the devil. I have a lot of opinions on this, and I could probably write 6 blogs about it, but I won’t.
- Wildfires in SC? Sad that Myrtle Beach is burning like crazy. Hope everyone stays safe and nobody is killed or injured.
Josh Hamilton
- Please, Please, Please go read this story right now! Josh Hamilton was the #1 draft in MLB in 1999. He ended up wasted on cocaine, heroine, and alcohol. He made an amazing comeback and is now playing for the Texas Rangers. He even made the All-Star team last year. He talks extensively about how Jesus rescued him from the life He was living. It is an amazing story of redemption, forgiveness, and God’s love.
Music
- I’ve almost finished learning Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Now I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I can almost play through the whole thing.
- I just purchased the new Jars of Clay album, The Long Fall Back to Earth. It’s amazing how over 10 years later, they have adapted and changed their sound to fit with the times. It sounds like it will be a great album.
- I also purchased Sara Watkins first solo album. She was 1/3 of Nickel Creek. If you don’t download the whole album, listen to “Where Will You Be.”
- Ashley and I are going to see Ray Lamontagne on Friday night. Should be tons of fun. She surprised me with the tickets. Thanks boo!
- I’m trying to sell my Taylor 814ce. Let me know if you know anyone interested!
Finally, Ashley and I are going to spend some time in Brevard/Asheville this weekend. It should be awesome. I hope the weather will be perfect!!! I’ll post some pics/updates when we get back.
You may have read about this earlier this week. If you didn’t, here is the story.
A married couple in Boca Raton, Florida paid $155,000 to have their yellow lab cloned. They are apparently very wealthy, and have given a large amount to the Humane Society, so they had no problem justifying spending this money to clone a dog. Also, they already have 9 dogs!!!
I love this quote from the article. When asked how they would feel if the dog wouldn’t turn out the same way as the first dog, the owner responded,
“We hope so, but we do realize if he’s different we’re not going to love him any less.”
How about this, next time you want to clone a dog, just let me know. I’ve got a dog named Sandy, and I can’t promise he’ll be the same as your last dog, but I promise you won’t love him any less. He’s very loveable, and for $155,000 you can have him!
Filed under: Personal Finance, Ramblings, in the news | Tags: Al Parish, Arthur nadel, Bernie Maddoff, greed, nicholas cosmo, Ponzi Scheme
GREED: the self serving desire for the pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others
For the past few months, there have been numerous stories of greed, and how people have ruined their lives, and the lives of others through greed. I read the news multiple times daily, and have repeatedly seen how this awful economy is bringing people’s greed out into the light.
Need some examples? Ever heard of a Ponzi (Pyramid) Scheme?
1. Bernie Madoff- Accused of operating what could become one of the biggest Ponzi Schemes ever. It appears that he lost over $50 billion. Madoff is a former chairman of the NASDAQ. Madoff, who is Jewish, mainly targeted Charities and Foundations (lots of them were Jewish as well) as a form of Affinity Fraud. He definitely knew what he was doing, and even the good old Baptist’s lost some money.
2. Nicholas Cosmo- In the news today, he is suspected in a $380 million Ponzi Scheme. He has been in trouble with the law since 1997 regarding illegal financial transactions, and has undergone extensive gambling therapy.
3. Arthur Nadel - Also in the news today, accused of being the leader in a $342 million Ponzi Scheme.
4. Al Parish- A professor at Charleston Southern is now in prison for losing over $90 million in a Ponzi Scheme that affected over 600 people.
Unfortunately, there are probably more to come. The crazy thing is that 2 of these stories just hit the news today. As this article states, with the worsening economy, expect more and more people to be accused of operating these types of greedy schemes.
**more on this tomorrow**
Check out this article on Yahoo! Finance
According to the article, Apple will begin selling songs for as cheap as 69 cents per song. Apparently all songs will be sold without copy protection as well. Some songs will still be 99 cents and $1.29, but I love to hear that music is getting cheaper to buy!
Filed under: in the news | Tags: best places to live, colorado springs, columbia south carolina, honolulu hawaii, montana, worst places to live
Who knew that Columbia, South Carolina was rated the 6th worst place to raise a family. Click here if you don’t believe me. There are only 5 worse places to live than Columbia!!
5 Waco, Texas
4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3 Fayetteville, North Carolina
2 Beaumont, Texas
1 Clarksville, Tennessee
The #1 best place to live?? Honolulu, Hawaii. These were the top 10.
1 Honolulu, Hawaii
2 Virginia Beach, Virginia
3 Billings, Montana
4 Columbus, Georgia
5 San Diego, California
6 Des Moines, Iowa
7 Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 Madison, Wisconsin
9 Colorado Springs, Colorado
10 Santa Rosa, California
Billings, Montana sounds interesting doesn’t it?
I love Columbia, and my wife does too. I’ve lived here my whole life except for 4 years in college that I spent in Charleston, but maybe we should move to Honolulu to raise our family. Although, I think I would also like #2, #3, #5, #9, and #10.
Filed under: Christianity, Personal Finance, Ramblings, Religion, in the news | Tags: Bible, foreclosure, Religion, tithing
Somehow I missed this article last month in USA Today.
I like to have some discussions on the blog every now and then, so here’s my question for you.
Would you continue to tithe if you were about to lose your house to foreclosure? If you didn’t tithe, you would be able to make your monthly mortgage payments. If you do tithe, your house gets foreclosed.
This is something I had never thought of before, but I imagine that many people may be having a harder time committing to give to the church due to the financial hardships that are plaguing the world right now.
Do you think that a church should continue to expect someone to tithe if their house is about to be foreclosed, if their car is about to be repo’d?
I’d like to think that when faced with financial hardship, I’d continue to tithe and be faithful in my giving, but I could see where that could be a tough thing to face.
Filed under: Personal Finance, in the news | Tags: bailout, economy, finance, foreclosure, home ownership, housing market
Here’s a stat that I read today.
And even if you pay your mortgage on time, foreclosures will likely hurt you, too. Each time a family is kicked out of a home, there’s collateral damage to the value of nearby homes. The Center for Responsible Lending says that the closest 50 homes lose an average of $3,000 in equity every time there’s a foreclosure. The organization estimates that 40 million families will lose nearly $350 billion in equity due to foreclosure collateral damage during the next five years.
Through some research on this site, I learned that a house about 6 houses down was foreclosed last year. That’s the only one that I know about, but I imagine that there is at least 1 or 2 more in my neighborhood.
I know that most foreclosures could be avoided if people had made wise decisions. However, I do know that some people have been dealt a bad hand, have lost their jobs and can’t get a new job, and therefore, defaulted on their mortgage. For those people, I do feel bad for them. Sometimes we just can’t control the things that happen to us even if we make wise decisions.
So even though the value of my home has declined due to foreclosures and other reasons, I guess I should just be thankful that I have a roof over my head!!
