Take a Step Back…Put your Financial Behavior in Check

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Debt is sometimes inevitable, unavoidable, and well a fact of life for many. No matter what your stage of life you may be faced with financial issues. Life can take its toll on your finances; unemployment, an unexpected illness, divorce or a death in the family can send you into a financial tailspin. But sometimes financial issues stem from a cause deeper than the unexpected; the way you think about money. To snap out of bad financial habits it may require some lifestyle and behavioral changes. 10 Financial Principles Dr. Bernard Poduska, author of For Love or Money writes about […] Read more »

Debtors Anonymous

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Do you ever feel out of control when shopping? Most of us have experienced some “temporary insanity” when shopping, but there are times when it’s more than getting caught up in the moment. There are times when shopping becomes a compulsion, like a drug addiction. Sometimes heavy debt is more than just bad decision-making or poor financial literacy. Sometimes it’s a true addiction that needs treatment beyond what a new budget and some baby steps can provide. Here are the signs of compulsive debting. Being unclear about your financial situation. Not knowing account balances, monthly expenses, loan interest rates, fees, […] Read more »

Lessons for Investors from Irene

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Irene and a KFC Cup

Millions of Americans were affected by Irene, whether it was a hurricane or a tropical storm. The debate, for many, seems to center on whether reporters and forecasters “over-hyped” the strength of the storm as it approached the East Coast. The answers to that debate are not relevant but there is one lesson we can learn from the experience of forecasters as they plotted the probable track and strength of Irene. At a very basic level, there are two parts to forecasting hurricanes. The first is performed by computers and this generates a variety of possible tracks and levels of […] Read more »

Financial Lessons for the Kid in All of Us

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While gathering my things after a workout in the locker room of my health club, I noticed a little boy about 3 years old wanting to go look at the scale. Each time he wandered towards the scale, his dad would grab the boy and guide him back to the locker area. The man instructed the boy to stay by him as he finished getting dressed after swimming. The boy would stand near his father for a few seconds, then start walking back towards the scale. The father would again grab him, indicating that the boy could see the scale when he was done getting dressed. This repeated itself several times, each time the boy becoming more insistent that he wanted to see the scale, each time his dad becoming more firm that he stay next to him. Read more »

Where Debt Begins: The Disconnect Between Perception and Reality

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If you are like most people today, you have debt payments challenging your future and creating a drag on your ability to invest. In addition to the financial issues debt creates, it also affects how we feel about ourselves and how we look at the world around us. We may think to ourselves, “what’s wrong with me?” or “where did I go wrong?” To move past these feelings, it might be helpful to consider where it might have all started. Read more »

Understanding Need Versus Want

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Understanding Need Versus Want Understanding a need versus a want is the first step that we should all take when trying to get control of our spending habits and monthly budgets, but it’s often a step we skip. There’s a lot of rationalization in our reasons for spending the way we do and far too little self-introspection. It’s easy to differentiate between need versus want. The definitions are clear and if asked we could all, most likely, tell the difference. Where it gets difficult is in those moments where we’re not really thinking about how much we want something, or […] Read more »

Dessert Before Dinner? Why America Sucks At Managing Money

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Photo Credit: Memory_Freak Have you ever wondered why America sucks at managing money? We’re not exactly a country that’s living off of table scraps ya know. We’re considered by most to be a prosperous nation. That may be true in terms of what we have compared to other countries, but certainly not true in terms of how we manage it. When it comes to the money and financial planning department, most Americans appear to be lacking! In America debt is a WAY OF LIFE! From the Joneses to [insert name of Government Bureaucrat here], America has lost its way. People […] Read more »

Saying “I Can’t” Is Just Like Saying “I Don’t Want To”

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Photo Credit: haydnseek Have you ever said “I can’t?” I have, and you probably have too. What is it that you are really saying when you speak those words? Are you saying you lack the ability to learn, or are you saying you lack the desire to try? I personally feel the phrase “I can’t” is the equivalent of saying “I don’t want to”. If you wanted to do something, wouldn’t you try, and if you didn’t, you couldn’t say I couldn’t, you would have to then say I didn’t? (Tongue twister—I know) 🙂 Unfortunately, many people say I can’t […] Read more »

Martin Luther King Jr Had a Dream – Do You?

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As I had a chance to reflect on one of America’s great historic figures this weekend, I couldn’t help but think of you. Granted, what this man endured had nothing to do with personal finance, but it had everything to do with amazing self-sacrifice, determination, courage and hope. These are all things that are needed when trying to defy overwhelming odds in order to make big changes in your life. On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most inspirational speeches ever, about a dream and a vision he had for America. That dream was inspired […] Read more »

Perfect Example As To Why You Must Have An Emergency Fund

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This is a spontaneous post, brought on by my lingering frustration with how people still manage their money. Hasn’t towering unemployment, record foreclosures, and the looming threat of a double-dip recession (as if there ever was a recovery) taught people anything? For some of us it has, but for others, not so much. That is still better than before we were hit by this recession, BUT I feel I should remind you that we have proven to be a nation plagued by amnesia. As soon as things improve, some of the very same people will go back to their old […] Read more »

Your Financial Mindset Determines Your Ability To Handle Credit Cards

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Have you ever taken a position on credit cards one way or the other? I have, and to only say I was passionate about my position, would be an understatement. Just ask J. Money! I must start out by saying that some of you are going to feel as if I have lost my mind, and the rest of you are just going to be shocked completely about what I am about to say. Not because it doesn’t make sense, but because it is coming from ME. 😀 I am no longer the sworn enemy of credit cards. Yes, you […] Read more »

What’s More Important: Your Financial Behavior or How Much You Make?

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What’s more important to you? It seems people put an incredible amount of thought into how much they make, but is that the smart thing to do? I mean making good money is definitely important, but should we wrongly list it as numero uno? What about behavior? Ignoring that is kind of like trying to disarm a nuclear explosive without ever having built a bomb. It’s going to EXPLODE! In that situation you have two choices; get out of the way, or blow everything up! Handling money without realizing you do not possess the habits necessary to manage it well, […] Read more »

Becoming Debt Free Is 99% Intensity and 1% Basic Math

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Are you trying as hard as you can to be debt free? As many of you know I coordinate and lead Financial Peace University at my church. I’m currently working on the third group of classes, and we just got finished with the very valuable, and highly motivational Dumping Debt lesson. It’s definitely one of my favorite lessons of all time. Dave starts out by giving the history of credit and how it has become such an integrated part of our society in a relatively short amount of time. Thanks to genius marketing, and a changing society with alternative financial […] Read more »

Monkey See, Monkey Don’t!

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MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DON’T   I have said before that Washington is in desperate need of a Total Money Makeover.  If you have been keeping up with current events in Washington then you probably are aware of the current spending proposal to “stimulate” the economy.  If not, then you should be, because your tax dollars are being wasted on a daily basis.  (Nothing new right?)  In fact, your grandchildren are going to be footing the bill.  It’s no wonder that most of America has a hard time managing their money, when they watch “supposedly” intelligent minds in Washington giving them […] Read more »