You’ve heard the phrase “Bad Credit, No Credit, No Problem!” countless times, haven’t you? But I bet you never thought I’d agree that it is a true statement, did you? If you have bad credit or no credit, it really is no problem because you don’t need credit to survive.  Your FICO Score does not define you.  You are worth more than the money you can borrow.  Don’t let your existence be like the schoolboy who passes FICO (his beloved sweetheart) a note to ask if she likes him.  We aren’t in elementary school anymore.  As Americans, we have been fed the lie that our self-worth is based on what we do for a living and how much stuff we can accumulate.  Today I’m going to give a sermon encourage you as to why this is simply untrue. I wrote a post about this a while back, but I think there is much more to the discussion.

I want us to dig deeper into why it is or is not important to have good credit (or any credit at all). Beyond having the easy ability to borrow money (which I believe is a bad thing), there are only a few of potentially viable reasons for worrying with your credit score: [Read more…]

Post by Barry Myers

My busiest time of year as a financial counselor is the early spring.  Why? People have overspent at Christmas; they’re anticipating a tax refund and have the New Year’s resolution of avoiding bankruptcy they’re trying to keep. There’s no good reason you can’t enjoy Christmas as a celebration of Christ’s birth (and be generous with gifts while you’re at it) and still maintain budgetary sanity as of 12/26.  Today let’s talk about 5 big Christmas traps and how you can avoid them. [Read more…]

While I must bow to my wife as the true queen of frugality, I’ve learned quite a bit along the way about how to bargain to get the best prices out there on several things.  I’ve bargained on medical bills, cars, appliances, furniture, electronics, advertising, job offers, and a ton of other things too.  While bargaining doesn’t always equal saving money, it should most of the time.  Similarly, if you are bargaining with someone who will have an ongoing relationship with you, it will set a precedent that you expect the best price and save you headache going forward.  So what are some of the best ways to get a bargain?  Here are a few tried-and-true methods:

• Remember that the first number loses – If you are interesting in buying something, make the person selling give you the price instead of providing them an offer.  If you start with a number, they’re of course going to go higher.  If you let them offer a number, you can either take it or offer lower.  If you give the number first, you lose.  Let me explain.  When I was getting ready to purchase a car several years ago, I had cash in hand, but my budget was VERY limited.  The asking price for the little car I liked was $5,995.  They offered it to me at $5,000.  I countered with $3,400 and ultimately got it for $3,800.  I would have never dreamed I would have gotten the car (worth about $5,000) for that little and so if I’d made a reasonable offer, I would have offered $4,500 and probably paid $4,800. My guess is that forcing them to make me the offer saved me $1,000 or so. [Read more…]

I never tire of seeing you guys meet your goals.  As a financial counselor, I thrive on seeing people who have lost hope gain a new insight and ability to beat their debt.  I love watching a family who has no clue what’s going on with their money decide to change and start to take control of their finances.  I am energized by the man or woman who realizes it is more important to be debt free and have money in the bank than it is to have lots of unnecessary stuff.  But the one question that I’m constantly asked is HOW?  How do you accomplish freedom from debt?  How do you save up and pay cash for a car?  How do you go to college and avoid student loans?  Almost no one asks why – they already know the why.  So let’s talk about the how. [Read more…]

Post by Barry Myers

The banking industry has gotten a bad reputation, and it is mostly for good reason.  If you choose the wrong bank, you’ll pay ridiculous fees and get very little in return.  But that’s not how it ought to be.  While I’ll stand up and bash a misbehaving bank right along with you, I want to spend a few minutes sharing five ways you can get the best out of your bank – or how you can evaluate your banking options with other companies if you aren’t so in love with the bank you’ve got now.

1. How safe is my money?  Banks are probably THE SAFEST place to put your money.  You may not earn a lot of interest, but your money is pretty darn safe.  In the U.S., the government guarantees up to $250,000 through the FDIC (banks) and NCUA (credit unions).  So while you might be tempted to keep it under your mattress, your cash is a heck of a lot safer in your local bank. [Read more…]

Post by Barry Myers

Before we get started, notice the title of this post.  This is why I personally don’t invest in gold.  If you’re all about it and want to talk about all the money you’ve made in the last ten years or so in gold, wear it out.  I don’t own any gold (save my wedding band) and don’t intend to go buy a bunch (any) of it anytime soon.  That being said, I wanted to write this post in response to all the hype in the thousands of ads and storefronts that have popped up touting the value of gold as a great investment (and questions from you guys about why we don’t invest in it).  So here are some reasons I think gold investing makes no sense. Having said that, some gold investment companies offer genuine and attracting offers which can also help people make more money in future. [Read more…]

There is an old saying that goes something like this: “you have to spend money to make money.”  I talk to people nearly every day that are in the situation of trying to make some extra money or start/grow a business and in doing so, they believe they have to “invest” a lot of money in equipment, advertising, etc. to make it work.  This is often a bad idea that leads to unnecessary stress, debt, higher risk of failure and possibly even bankruptcy.  So before you go out and buy a new computer to build that website or perth vending machines for extra income, I want to give some thoughts on ways you can truly make something from nothing and how you can grow your income without risking so much.

Since you’re here, I’ll use Humorous Homemaking for my examples.  By the way, most of what I’ll write applies to small personal businesses, but if you’re thinking of trying to make a little money from any endeavor, these principles will apply. In addition, if you want to utilize subscriptions for your business’ growth, then it’s wise for you to take a look at other aspects as well, such as the packaging for subscription boxes. [Read more…]