Hope for your financial life and beyond

6 Signs You Are Living Above Your Means

October 9, 2018 by 2 Comments

Let’s face it. We live in a fast paced, consumer friendly, debt-driven society. Spending money has never been easier.

That might be why more than 60% of Americans deal with credit card debt on a daily basis. Access to credit has never been more available to the general public. Unfortunately, it is a main reason why living paycheck-to-paycheck is an unfortunate reality for nearly half of Americans.

However, that reality doesn’t have to be inevitable. Your situation can improve with some quick refinements to your spending habits. I’ve done it before and so can you. You don’t have to live above your means.

It does come down to a simple choice. But first you must be able to recognize that you have a problem. With that in mind, here are a few warning signs you may want to look out for when you’re worried you’re not living within your means.

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: , ,

This Is What Makes Dumping Girlfriends and Credit Cards Hard

January 19, 2015 by 26 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.

breaking up with credit cardsI 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: , ,

Debt Begins When You Swipe a Credit Card

October 13, 2014 by 5 Comments

Today I’m guest posting and commenting at the Debt Free Guys. Join me there by following the link below. I’d love to hear your take on this topic.

credit cardsI often hear people justify their use of credit cards this way, “Well, I pay it off every month so it’s fine.” The implication imbedded in that statement is that they are not really going into debt if they pay the card off at the end of each month. The balance is zero so there is no and never has been any debt.

That mindset could not be more wrong.

Click here to continue reading at the Debt Free Guys…

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Filed Under: Debt Tagged With: ,

Confessing a Really Stupid Money Mistake

July 28, 2014 by 56 Comments

Stupid money mistakes. We all try not to make them. Fortunately I’ve done a decent job of avoiding them in my life.

Longtime readers know I’ve been preaching against debt and the use of credit cards since the early days of this blog. I know some people believe in their use, especially for the reward points they offer. For some reason, we were never able to get credit cards to work in that way. All they created for us was overspending.

stupid moneyDebit cards and cash became our salvation, as we learned to only spend what we earned each month. Taking that step away from credit, coupled with our budgeting efforts were big steps in moving us toward financial freedom. The journey, in the past five years especially, has been a wonderful ride, one that has allowed us to pay off our mortgage earlier than expected.

It would be easy to let my head swell and the buttons on my shirt pop with pride at our financial success. Funny how life has a way of keeping us humble. It did to me this past week when I received a curious and infuriating letter in the mail from Bank of America, informing me of a stupid money  mistake:

The letter read:

“Your above referenced account is currently past due. If you’ve already scheduled a payment, thank you. If not, your current balance is $299.56.”

Pardon me?

My Stupid Money Mistake

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Filed Under: Debt Tagged With: , , ,

When Conventional Wisdom About Money Clashes With Conviction

May 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Today, I’m honored to be a guest contributor at My Money Design. I’ll be sharing how I lost my disciplined spending habits through the use of credit cards and the issues that arose because of that.

In the middle of my problems two things occurred that caused me to rethink what I was doing. In those moments, my new found beliefs came in conflict with my behaviors. What would I do?

To read my post at My Money Design, click here.

Next Post: Why We Don’t Give Our Kids Allowances

Prior Post: Stay the Course: Our Success Happened One Step At A Time

Filed Under: Inspiration, Spending Tagged With: , , , ,

3 Reasons Credit Cards Didn’t Work For Me

December 18, 2012 by 4 Comments

Credit Card TrapTo use credit cards or not? That is the question.

Like most of you, I have placed a good many credit cards in my wallet through the years. I believed what every American hears – that using credit is convenient, it’s safer than carrying cash or debit cards, and there is protection on large purchases. I also figured I needed one for emergencies, and of course to improve my credit score for those all-important car and home loans.

Good people come down on both sides of this question and the purpose of this writing is not to discuss the pros and cons of each position. Rather, I would like to share with you why, after years of using credit cards for EVERY purchase, I just finally decided it wasn’t for me. I just couldn’t get past these three issues in my life.

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Filed Under: Debt Tagged With: , , ,