My Payments Ate My Savings!

America has no use for Piggy Banks anymore!

America is in the RED!

With a negative savings rate, America is in DESPERATE need of a Total Money Makeover. What will it take? When will people finally understand why saving money is too important to ignore? America needs new priorities, like yesterday! As one of the very many bloggers who blog about money and personal finance, it is my duty to help spread the word. How much do YOU have saved up?

What in the world is keeping us from doing what we know we should?

Is your savings account overflowing with riches? I didn’t think so? Lucky for you, there are answers. Based on our own experience and that of those around us, payments are the biggest hindrance to why Americans don’t save. After all, our payments are often times our entire paycheck. We (society) have payments for credit cards, student loans, furniture, electronics, cars, Christmas, cable television, internet, and some have taken loans out on their pets. All of these payments are the reason we can not save money.

Who is to blame? The company you work for? The school you went to? The Government? Rich people? Prepare yourself for what I am about to say. The answer is none of the above, it is YOU. You have subscribed to normal and you may have not even known it. Society is not a very good example of how we should be saving our money. Society has forgotten what the word priority means. A priority is defined as something highest or higher in importance. Society says that it is more important to impress others. I say that impressing others by going into debt, is a bad priority. Impress them by not living paycheck to paycheck. Impress them with contentment and Financial Peace! Rearrange your priorities if you want to win with money.

A credit card is NOT an Emergency Fund!

Anything that hurts you more than it helps you should not be used as an Emergency Fund. An Emergency Fund is supposed to cushion emergencies not create them. If you continue to use credit cards for emergencies, you will continue to live paycheck to paycheck. Credit cards are not our friends! They only encourage us to spend money that isn’t ours, and they trick us into believing that the interest we pay for the privilege to do so is worth it in the end. Is it? How well are the credit card companies doing? How well are you doing? I think the answer is obvious, don’t you?

Blame the evil rich people!

Dave Ramsey has a very good example of why hating a rich person because they are rich is completely wrong. As if just the fact that someone has lots of money makes them evil. Money is not good or bad, it is AMORAL. It’s the person who handles the money that is either good or bad. Money can be used for good and evil, by rich people as well as poor people. How about using it for good to combat evil? If we all were doing better off financially, wouldn’t we be in a better position to really help those in need? Instead we are conned into believing that the Government can do it for us. We continue to do poorly with our money and then expect an inept Government to bail us out. By the way, doesn’t the Government need a Total Money Makeover? Not to mention a new rule that says to be a Government representative one must complete Financial Peace University training? Dave Ramsey for President?

I’m sure you know who Murphy is!

Murphy is that law that says if it can happen it will. When you are unprepared Murphy will stop by and completely sabotage your life. Just when things seem to be going smoothly, he will come in and destroy your hope. Without an Emergency Fund you are more susceptible to emergencies! When anything happens that you are not prepared for it is an emergency every time. When you are prepared, Murphy stops by because that’s just life, but he doesn’t have the same impact as he once did. Prepare yourself today and tell Murphy to get lost. Having an Emergency Fund is a pretty good way to eliminate some stress too!

What would it be like to have an Emergency Fund?

Day Dream with me for a moment. You have been introduced to a Total Money Makeover and you are prepared. For the first time in your life you have NO DEBT, and you have saved up 3/6 months of expenses. (See diligence does pay off) All of a sudden you hear a crackling sound coming from somewhere in your house. You soon realize that the crackling was not popcorn and has quickly turned into a swooshing sound. Is it raining? Well, in a sense. Your pipes have busted and you just know it is going to cost thousands of dollars to fix it. Your basement is flooded and this is an emergency. What do you do? You calmly walk over to the phone, call a plumber and a clean up crew, and then you grab your checkbook and write a check for the total. No scratching and clawing your way to the next dollar! No borrowing money from family! You didn’t have to pay someone 18% to solve your problem! Instead, you were prepared. Doesn’t it feel GREAT? Congratulations!  (A rainy day fund really does work, especially when it rains!)

Now wake up and go make it happen! Prepare yourself for “unexpected” events by having an EMERGENCY FUND!! Financial Peace feels way better than your current method. Give it a try!