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.
Filed under: Christianity, Personal Finance | Tags: balaam, money, numbers 22
Ashley and I have been reading through the Bible chronologicallythis year. I’ve been excited to go through the Bible year by year and see how all of the stories come together, especially in the old testament. I will say that it gets to be difficult when you spend a whole month or two just in Leviticus and numbers and nothing else! My thoughts during most of Leviticus focused on being thankful that Jesus erased the Old Covenant. All of the verses about being clean and unclean are a thing of that past, and we can thank God for that, because that is some confusing stuff.
Today I read the story of Balaam- you know, the story where his donkey talks to him? Israel is traveling through Moab, and the leaders of Moab are fearful of the Israelites. They go to Balaam, and after presenting a large sum of money to him, they ask him to curse the Israelites so that the Moabites can defeat them. After seeking God’s guidance, God tells Balaam, “Do not go with them. You are not to curse these people, for they have been blessed“.
Check out what Balaam says in Numbers 22:18:
Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the command of the LORD my God.
I love what that verse says. There was no amount of money that could persuade Balaam to go against God’s commands. Too often, people (including myself) make decisions that revolve around money.
I want to constantly allow God to lead my life instead of letting money make decisions for me. Easier said than done, but I’m learning.
I read something very interesting today on a blog from a pastor of a 3 year old church plant. They seemed like your normal church plant. It seems that they are growing, reaching the community, having a positive impact, and seeing people come to know Jesus.
However, I read something that raised some red flags in my mind. The church is currently in the middle of a capital campaign to raise money to renovate a building. They have a “big give” Sunday coming up and were challenging people on different ways they could sacrifice to give and help the church reach their goal.
Here is one of the suggestions: some mortgage companies will allow you to defer 1 month’s payment with the recent economic hard times. Why don’t you call your mortgage company, get them to defer your mortgage payment for a month, and then donate that months mortgage payment to the church.
This was obviously just one suggestion, but if I was a pastor, this is a suggestion I would never make. First of all, just because a payment is deferred, it doesn’t always mean you won’t be reported late on your credit report. Some mortgage companies will not report it, but some will. A late mortgage payment, even once, can do a lot of damage to a credit report.
I think it’s very reasonable to challenge your congregation to give up certain things, but I don’t think a mortgage payment is a good idea?
I’d love to know if you agree or disagree.
Filed under: Christianity, Personal Finance | Tags: ghandi, greed, shane claiborne
I read this quote today from a guy named Shane Claiborne in a book called The Irresistible Revolution. I’ve never heard of him before, and looking through some stuff about him today, I’m not sure if I’d agree with everything he says, but this was something I wanted to share.
I’m convinced that God did not mess up and make too many people and not enough stuff. Poverty was created not by God but by you and me, because we have not learned to love our neighbors as ourselves. Gandhi put it well when he said “There is enough for everyone’s need, but there is not enough for everyone’s greed.”
Filed under: Christianity, Personal Finance, Ramblings, lessons from... | Tags: greed
Colossians 3:5
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
I loved the definition of greed that I found yesterday, and I’ll use it again today. Greed is the “self serving desire for the pursuit of money, wealth, power, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others.”
Paul says in Colossians to put to death greed, which is idolatry. Take a look in Genesis 3, and see where Eve’s greediness led her to eat the fruit that was forbidden, and share it with Adam. Greed has been going strong ever since.
How about Jacob deceiving Esau to sell his birthright, or Laban deceiving Jacob after working for 7 years to marry Rachel only to be given Leah instead. In 1 Samuel, Samuel’s sons take bribes and “pervert justice.” Finally, there is the ultimate betrayal when Judas betrays Jesus for twenty pieces of silver. Greed was the driving force in each of those instances.
Exodus 18:21 uses the term “dishonest gain.” I think that best sums up greed in 2 words. Too many people look to make a quick dollar, or strike it rich while doing as little work as possible. The thing about the definition of greed that jumps out me is the fact that greed is denying something to others. When we are greedy, we are taking something from someone else, robbing them of what is rightfully theirs.
In the Ponzi schemes I mentioned yesterday, how many people do you think watched their lives come apart and their life savings disappear? There is already one case of a woman who committed suicide.
Fortunately as believers, we know that our hope lies in Jesus Christ, not the riches of this world. He is our everything, and our hope of glory. All that we have belongs to Him. He created this world. He rules over this world. But as someone in their 20’s who is saving for retirement, I can’t imagine reaching the age of 65 to see all of my life savings wash away. Even though I place my trust in Christ alone, I can’t say it wouldn’t be painful to watch something I’d spent my whole life working for wash away.
Greed isn’t just restricted to money and finances. Greed shows itself in many ways. You can be greedy for attention, hurting others so that you will appear more favorable and receive more attention. Some people are greedy for acceptance. Others are greedy for fame. I’m sure the list goes on and on, but the bottom line is that greed is destructive. It destroys you and all of those around you. Without a doubt I have been guilty of being greedy in countless ways throughout my 26 years life, and I write this to be a reminder for me of what greed is capable of doing in someone’s life.
Any thoughts? What ways have you seen greed be destructive in your life or others?
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**
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!!
