Tag Archive - debt

Debt Week 4: Student Loans STINK

December 5, 2008 in Goals, GOD, Pop-Culture, Productivity with Comments Off

I’ve had more friends feel crushed by student loans than anything. Before and during college, I worked hard to not have to take out any student loans. I just refused to do it. I had a lot of my school paid for with grants, some on a ministry scholarship, and most of the rest my parents took care of. I also worked a full time job AND a part time job when I was in school. BUSY!

Here’s my practical advice on student loans:

If you want to avoid student loans, go after grants and scholarships! This means your GPA needs to be better than average, so you’ll have to work hard at your grades too. Good grades are the best college investment you can make. Students in the top 10% of their classes have many more options.

You could also try attending an affordable local college to get your first few years of required classes done. Then transfer to the school of your dreams if you can pay cash. Going to a community college my first two semesters was one of the best financial decisions I ever made.

Summer plays into student loan debt a lot too. Instead of wasting your summers away, work your tail off! One summer when I was in college I literally worked 80 hours a week. I was a day manager and a night guard at a waterpark. I pretty much ate, slept, and lived there.

But how do you find these grants and scholarships? Google is a good thing. Or, even better, there are some awesome books out there to resource you:

  • The Scholarship Book by Daniel Cassidy
  • Free Money from Colleges and Universities by Laurie Blum
  • Winning Scholarships for College by Marianne Ragins

And last, when it comes to student loans, FOR THE LOVE…DO NOT LIVE ON THEM. It will ruin your life later on. I know it feels good to have money to spend now, but later you will be wishing you didn’t blow that money away on random junk.

Or maybe, college just isn’t for you…but that’s another post for another day. :)

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Debt Week 3: That New Car Smell

December 1, 2008 in Goals, Life Change with 1 Comment

Have you ever bought a new car on credit? They smell. Bad. When you pay cash they can actually smell pretty good.

What I mean is this: If you don’t have the money, you don’t need the car. When BROKE PEOPLE go to purchase a car, they say “how much down and how much per month?” When RICH PEOPLE go to buy a car they ask “how much?” do a little wheeling and dealing, and then they pay CASH for it.

I don’t know about you, but I love the idea of paying myself the amount of a car payment. When we had a car payment, I HATED it! Don’t get me wrong, I love new, sleek, fast cars, but I just can’t stand sending in that check each month for something that doesn’t pay me back in any way!

How many times have you heard “I’ll always have a car payment”?

That’s a load of crud.

A while back, Amber and I sold both of our cars to finish off the last bit of our debt. We hit craigslist and bought older used cars. The windshields are cracked, only some of the automatic locks work, and a couple of times a year, we have to make a repair. But guess what: we aren’t broke anymore. We don’t owe anyone money. And it…feels…goooood!

NORMAL in America when it comes to our finances means broke, living paycheck to paycheck, stressed out and on the verge of a meltdown. And, if that is NORMAL then I want to be a freaking weirdo!

Think about it this way:

  • What if you decided to STOP messing with car payments?
  • What if you invested that old car payment every month instead of giving it away to the bank?
  • What if there was a six-year plan that would put you in free cars for the rest of your life?
  • What if that plan also made you a millionaire?

Dave Ramsey said it this way:

Car payments are the mantra of the middle class. As long as you keep a car payment, you’re going to be mediocre in your finances. It’s just stupid. Avoid that. Pay cash. Save up and pay for whatever you do.
— Dave Ramsey, Radio Show 2007-06-08

Check out this video. Its basic 8th grade math.

Or, here is the version on Dave Ramsey’s website.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Debt Week 2: The Tax on the Poor

November 25, 2008 in Goals, GOD, Life Change with Comments Off

Had a family emergency last night so, today you get this piece from daveramsey.com. Incredible stuff read it!

Perhaps the quickest way to ruin your life is to win the lottery.

Don’t laugh. Lots of people think that instantly coming into a few million dollars means life on easy street, money that will be around forever, and no need for responsibility or work.

The truth is very rarely does it work out like that for a lottery winner. Unfortunately, a new study published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making finds that people who feel poor are more eager to spend money in an attempt to get rich (this is a good “duh” moment). One recent report found that families who make under $12,400 spend about $645 a year on lottery tickets.

Many poor people are fooled by what they think it means to win the lottery. It’s usually the worst thing that could ever happen to someone.

Coming into a quick pile of cash usually means that people will come out of the woodwork looking to get a piece of your pie. Third cousins whom you didn’t even know existed will call and hit you up for money. You’ll get letters in the mail from complete strangers with every sob story imaginable (unemployed, sick children, in a wheelchair, etc.) in an attempt to get sympathy points and money from you. It puts a big target on your back, and most often it takes you out, too.

When you are feeling the money crunch, the last thing you want to do is spend what little money you have on a super-long shot for money. The odds of winning a lottery are literally about 1 in 125 million.

  • You are 66 times more likely to die from a snake bite.
  • You are 2,001 times more likely to die in the electric chair!
  • You are 2,201 times more likely to die from a hornet, wasp or bee sting.
  • You are 1,488,095 times more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the gas station to buy the lottery ticket.

Does all this sound ridiculous? GOOD! It’s supposed to sound that way! Banking on winning the lottery is about as ridiculous as it gets!

Think about this for a second. The less money you have, the more wisely you need to manage it because you don’t have as much room for error. When you make a budget and get out of debt, you have some breathing room. Your budget can get busted when an emergency comes up, but that’s why you save up an emergency fund. The ultimate is when you start investing the money you have. The reason for that is eventually your money will grow to enormous sums because of the power of compound interest.

Forget the lotto. Working hard and saving money is the only surefire way to make money. It works every time —unlike the lotto.

If you have a gambling problem go get some help! Here is a great resource for you: Gambler’s Anonymous.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Debt Week 1: YOU NEED A PLAN

November 24, 2008 in Goals, GOD, The Connection Church with Comments Off

It’s debt week here on the blog. I preached on debt yesterday and really needed about 7 hours to talk. Of course, I only have 30 minutes to preach. So, I decided to offer some additional debt info right here. Tune in tomorrow for more.

You need a plan and you need to WORK IT WORK IT WORK IT if you are ever going to pay off your debt. Saying “Well, I’ll pay my debt off one day” is NOT a plan.

Just a short time ago Amber and I searched far and wide for a plan. What we found was Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. I remember being so mad that we had to pay $99 to take a class on our finances. I was a skeptic. But now that I’ve been through the class and my life has changed for the better, I would recommend that everyone take it. Heck, knowing what I know now, I’d pay $1000 to take the class. I believe in it so much that I think every high school senior should be required to complete FPU.

That won’t ever happen though because Discover, Visa, Mastercard, and all the other creditors out there won’t let it. It would shut them down.

At The Connection Church we have seen FPU change lives, save marriages, and help people pay off TONS of debt. God is using Dave Ramsey and his team in some incredible ways.

FPU covers way more than just debt. Over the course of the class, Dave also explains about:

  • Investments
  • Insurance
  • Retirement
  • Real Estate
  • College Planning
  • Careers
  • Debt Collectors
  • Credit Reports
  • and More!

You need a plan. If you live in the Kyle, Austin, San Marcos, Buda area, be at our first FPU preview tonight! You don’t have to sign up, just show up.

Click here to read more about FPU.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Page 1 of 212»