Hope for your financial life and beyond

Man Shall Not Live By Bread Alone

January 30, 2015 by 6 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #74 - “But he [Jesus] answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” - Matthew 4:4

cut, fresh bread “Man shall not live by bread alone.” You may have heard that phrase once in your life and wondered where it came from. Well it was Jesus quoting a passage from the Old Testament of the Bible in response to a pretty serious temptation.

The Bible tells us that before Jesus’ ministry began he went into the wilderness to pray and fast for forty days. After 40 days had passed the Bible says that “the tempter” (i.e. Satan) came to - well, tempt Jesus. And right off the bat Satan hit Jesus with his most pressing need - physical nourishment.

He goaded Jesus by saying,

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Vices Tagged With: , ,

5 Reasons to Shift Charitable Giving Away from the Holidays

January 29, 2015 by 6 Comments

When do you usually conduct your charitable giving? As we see in today’s post, one company learned the holidays might not always be the best time to give.

donate to charityMid-October was plenty early enough to put together a holiday charity drive for a local homeless shelter … right? My co-workers and I thought so. We had dozens of willing hands and a substantial amount of money collected to buy food, gifts, and personal necessities for shelter residents.

Caught Up in the Giving Season

Visions of doing good works danced in our heads. We saw ourselves buying gifts, hauling in food, and serving dinner to shelter residents. We figured that the shelter’s director would do a happy dance when we told her how we wanted to help. How often did donations of this size just drop in her lap?

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A Beginner’s Guide to Health Insurance and the Affordable Care Act

January 28, 2015 by 11 Comments

If you are wondering about the basics of health insurance you’ve come to the right place. Today I’m going to try an exhaust and consolidate all the knowledge I know about health insurance into one post. Yes, it’s going to be long, so if you don’t have time now you may want to bookmark it for later reading.

health insurance claim formOf all the insurances out there, health insurance has become the most highly sought after type of insurance based on its direct application to something very important to us - our health. Nothing gives us more cause for attention than when our bodies are not working properly. The kind of health insurance policy we are able to secure can go a long way in determining what type of care we get and what drugs we are able to get our hands on. Those factors consequently then can have an impact on how healthy we are able to maintain our own bodies.

In recent years health insurance has also been hotly debated within society and government. It’s even found it’s way to the highest court in the land in a landmark decision handed down by the Supreme Court of the United States. The Affordable Care Act (more commonly known as Obamacare) has changed the very structure of the health insurance industry - some would say for good, others would say for bad.

This post is going to outline for you the basics of health insurance. I’ll explain what it is and why it’s a good idea for you to have some form of coverage. I’ll address some terms you need to know when researching plans, what types of plans are out there and how to decide which one is right for you.

For those who are looking for ways to save money on healthcare, good luck. Premiums have increased dramatically and health insurance isn’t as affordable as it used to be. However, there are ways you can reduce the overall cost of the plans and I’ll address some helpful tips in that regard.

This post will conclude with a look at health care reform, how it impacts you and what alternatives are available to traditional healthcare as we know it.

What Is Health Insurance?

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Filed Under: Insurance, Travel & Health Tagged With: , ,

The Best Solution For Those Buried in a Snowdrift of Debt

January 26, 2015 by 17 Comments

In the winter of 2004, we had the fortune/misfortune of visiting my parent’s house in Ohio just before a severe winter storm hit. We had arrived just as the snowfall began and it…just…never…stopped…falling. Snow, snow, snow for two straight days.

van buried in a snow driftBy the time the skies cleared their tiny little town had received over two feet of snow - a kid’s dream but an adult’s nightmare. It had blanketed and buried everything in sight, including our van as you can see by the picture to the right.

Walking through that knee-deep snow I kept thinking to myself, “How will we ever get out of this mess?” It’s not like it’s going to magically melt away. No one in town is going to come rescue us - they have their own snow problems.

In fact, some exacerbated our problem. Thank you snow-plow man for clearing the road and pushing another two feet of snow to our curb.

Even worse, as I started to look at the mountain of snow from different angles the situation seemed even more desperate. At least in the first picture I can still see the van. From this viewpoint hardly anything is visible…

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Filed Under: Debt, Work Tagged With: , , , ,

This One Thing You Lack to Have Treasure In Heaven

January 23, 2015 by 5 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #73 - “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” - Mark 10:21

Follow Me, JesusWe all have things that hold us back.

Things we can’t shake.

Things we don’t want to give up.

Things we love that bring us pleasure.

We’ve crossed a line when our love for and desire for such things keeps us from moving forward (or toward) to better things. We miss out on the prospects for a better future because we are latched onto the passions of the present.

To often the main culprit here is money and our desire for more.

Jesus and a Rich Young Man

One day Jesus was out teaching and a rich young man of some ruling stature came to him. The man knelt before Jesus and asked him a simple question,

“Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series Tagged With: , , ,

Top 7 Ways to Raise a Money Smart Kid

January 22, 2015 by 6 Comments

Being a father of four I appreciate the value of raising money smart kids. Please welcome today Ruby Andrew as she shares with us some important steps parents should be taking with their children.

Financial values and good spending habits are one of the important life skills parents can teach their children. These lessons have a great effect in shaping the financial life aspect of a child.

Indeed, it is imperative for parents to begin teaching their children these financial lessons at an early stage. Here are seven lessons that should be a must for any parent to teach.

Start talking early enough about money

It is really important for a child to understand more about money. What money can buy, where one gets money and how one spends money.

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Filed Under: Kids and Money Tagged With: , , , ,

Not So Obvious Steps If You Want a New Job

January 21, 2015 by 13 Comments

Tired of where you work? Looking for a new job? If so, you are not alone. We have all “been there” at some point in our lives.

help wanted ad in the newspaperIn fact, in 2102 the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a study that tracked the number of jobs people born in the years 1957 to 1964 held from ages 18-46. They found men held an average of 11.4 jobs and women held 10.7 jobs. I can only imagine those numbers will be considerably higher for those born more recently, to whom a mobile and transient culture has become the standard of life.

If you want a new job though, don’t jump the gun. That could be disastrous on many levels, including landing in a spot that’s not a good fit. Instead take your time and go through an evaluation process that covers these six big areas.

Initial Steps to Finding a New Job

The next job is out there waiting for you. But before you land it, slow down and follow these steps:

Determine Your “Why?”

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Filed Under: Career, Work Tagged With: , , , ,

This Is What Makes Dumping Girlfriends and Credit Cards Hard

January 19, 2015 by 24 Comments

Do you remember your first love? I don’t mean that boy or girl you kissed in kindergarten. I mean that first true love…the person with whom you were destined to spend the rest of your life.

songs on a CD I do and when I was with her she seemed perfect in every way. A match made in heaven.

However, it didn’t last. We broke up after a few years, the reasons for which won’t be mentioned here.

But then we got back together a few months later and it was just like old times. It was like we hadn’t missed a beat. And this time things would be different. We were committed to make our relationship last.

Except it didn’t. Again we split after less than a year.

But…

…you know what’s coming next.

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Filed Under: Debt, Inspiration, Relationships Tagged With: , ,

Launching This Year May Lead to Your Greatest Catch

January 16, 2015 by 6 Comments

Hidden Nuggets Series #72 - “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” - Luke 5:4

fisherman casting a netThe shallow, clear blue waters of the Caribbean are so inviting. In them you can wade a great distance from shore and never feel uncomfortable. Every step is sure because you are only in up to your knees and all obstacles can be avoided because you can clearly see the ocean floor.

Were you to wade out into deep waters however, the feeling of security would clearly change.

Deep waters are scary.

They are expansive and wide.

There are unseen objects in the deep.

There is little light to manage the obstacles.

Yet there can be great reward in launching into something big…something challenging…something overwhelming…something fraught with uncertainty.

Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples learned this on one occasion. After a night of fishing without catching a thing, Jesus asked him to launch his boat one more time and let down his net. After some mild complaining, Peter reluctantly obeyed.

The Result of Peter’s Launch

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Filed Under: Hidden Nuggets Series, Inspiration Tagged With: , ,

How Long Do Common Household Items Last?

January 14, 2015 by 29 Comments

Did you have any appliance or household repairs in 2014? One biggie that hit our budget early last year was replacing one of our heating and cooling units. We had to upgrade to a new furnace and air conditioning unit for our upstairs. Needless to say that was pretty expensive.

Since moving to our house over a decade ago we’ve had to purchase:

2 new air conditioning units, 2 new furnaces, a new refrigerator, a new stove, a new dishwasher, a new microwave, a new garbage disposal, a new water heater, a new dryer, 2 new washing machines (bad luck here), 4 new vacuums (we buy cheap ones), 1 new LCD TV, 1 plasma TV, 2 new garage doors (main and basement), 2 new lawnmowers and countless other electronic devices (computers, iDevices, clocks, etc.)

This is the reality of owning a home…all these items will break at some point. When that occurs you will either have to a) do without or b) replace them.

Research on How Long Appliances Last

The issue here is twofold:

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Filed Under: Planning, Saving Tagged With: , ,

How to Make a Record of Your Home Inventory in Case of a Catastrophic Loss

January 12, 2015 by 19 Comments

Recent events surrounding the theft and eventual recovery of our family basketball goal have me thinking more about home security. One issue that presented itself during that incident was that I did not have proof (like a model number or receipt) or identifying marks on the goal that it belonged to me. If I had that proof the police could have pursued the matter more aggressively.

beginning of a house fireDuring the ordeal I had a conversation with a friend of mine who used to be a detective. He mentioned a case he investigated where a man had his entire music collection stolen. Fortunately for him, he had written down the title and artist of every CD in his collection. He gave that list to my friend who, believe it or not, was able to track down the collection. Of course, he was aided in his search by the fact that the not-so-intelligent thief sold the entire collection at once…to one pawn shop.

Wasn’t too hard to link those to events together.

My friend went on to say he has recorded everything of value in their home. In case of a catastrophic loss such as a house fire, he will be able to present a home inventory list to the insurance company showing concrete evidence of what he did own. Of course that won’t help him recover the sentimental items he lost but it will give him a better chance of recouping the fair market value to replace all the consumer products he lost.

So, guess what the kids and I started doing over Christmas break?

Making a Record of Your Home Inventory

We haven’t entirely completed our project but these are the steps we are taking to make a record of the contents of our home:

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Filed Under: Insurance, Real Estate Tagged With: , , ,
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