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. [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 a new camera to start your photography business, 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. [Read more…]

There are very few times as a financial counselor that I’m going to tell you to NOT pay your bills.  In fact, the Bible is very clear that only the wicked borrow and do not repay (Psalm 37:21).  The verse you’ll hear me yell from the mountaintop is Romans 13:8, which begins, “let no debt remain outstanding…”.  But there are times when paying a bill makes no sense.  Let’s spend some time on that thought today. [Read more…]

Having debt is not a sin.  I’ve been accused of demonizing debt and fear-mongering with my statements on debt, but I believe these criticisms are unfounded.  I’ve seen the nasty side of debt and I’m trying to protect you from it.  So if you are happy with your debt and don’t ever believe it will be a struggle for you, please stop reading and save yourself some time.  You only get 24 hours each day and I don’t want to take the 1% of it or so it might take to work through this article and do what it says.  For everyone else, I think today’s article might provide you some useful insight on debt that is rarely discussed.

One of the things I run into regularly in my counseling is someone who truly can’t afford to pay all his/her bills.  Whether it is a one-time deal or an ongoing issue, it is an issue with many of you out there.  Today I’m going to share my thoughts on how you can prioritize your debts so you can avoid some expensive headaches if (when) something goes wrong.  In other words, we’re going to talk about how to make good decisions if something bad happens in your financial situation.  The simplest way to do that is to help you determine some priorities when it comes to your bills.  Who gets paid if there isn’t enough money to go around? [Read more…]

Let me start this post by saying I’m tired.  I can’t express in words how tired and sore I am.  We’ve been at the task of remodeling our house for a bit over six weeks now and I really didn’t think things would take us this long.  We’ve done plumbing, electrical wiring, drywall, painting, trim carpentry, yard work and just about everything else associated with starting a new career as a contractor (by the way, I am currently NOT for hire…I gotta finish my own house before I can do anyone else’s!).  I’ve spent more time wearing a dust mask and crawling around in the attic than I ever wanted (just a side note: it makes an excellent sauna between the hours of 10 am and 8 pm every day).  Along the way, we’ve maintained our status as cheapskates without sacrificing quality and thought it might help those of you who have a few projects around the house of your own if I shared some of the ways we’ve saved money on this “project” we’re finishing up. [Read more…]

We live in a culture that tells us we deserve things.  We deserve to go on vacation because we work hard.  We deserve to eat dessert because we had a salad for lunch.  We deserve to live in a really nice house and drive a really nice car because we put in a lot of hours at the office.  This mindset is what gives us the idea that if we want something we should just go get it.  This is also the mindset that allows rent-to-own and title loan places to thrive.  This mindset is a load of crap.  There, I said it.  The mindset of I deserve is a total load of crap fed to us from thousands of different angles and promulgated (yeah, yeah, I know I just used a college word) by every TV commercial and radio ad you’ll find anywhere.  So what’s the truth?  What do we REALLY deserve?  That’s the topic for another post.  Today, however, I’m going to discuss the dangers of rent-to-own and share a story that has captured my heart for months now and motivated me to help people get (and stay) out of debt. [Read more…]

Last week’s post on change being all about deciding to do it went over well enough that you guys even shared some really great stories about how you’ve used my ramblings to give you some direction.  I’m THRILLED to read those types of comments.  Some of you also asked me for some specific things where this mindset could be applied, so I thought I’d take today to tackle that idea through the idea of being “poor” (financially).

I talk to people nearly every day who are struggling to make ends meet.  Financially, things are tight and there is often little hope of things getting any better.  By their very situation, most would call them poor.  I think that’s wrong.  You may not have any money, but you are not necessarily poor.  Poor is a state of mind.  If you are short on cash, that doesn’t mean you’re poor.  If you are behind on all your bills, that doesn’t mean you’re poor.  If you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, that doesn’t mean you’re poor either.  You’re only poor when you admit defeat, sit down and decide you are poor.  This is a very serious (and bad) place to be.  When you are poor, you stop believing in yourself. When you’re poor, you start looking at others and believing they are evil for having more than you do.  When you’re poor, you decide the government (or the church, the community, your neighbor, etc.) owes you something because you’ve been wronged.  In other words, poor is the decision to give up on succeeding financially.  Rather than make this a political statement, which is something most people want to do because it is an easy out, I will say this: Jesus said the poor will always be around (Matthew 26:11), but it is up to you whether or not you decide to be one of them. [Read more…]

I received a question last week from someone wanting a Biblical response to the concept of lending money.  Since I have made Romans 13:8 (“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…” (NIV)) a bit of a mantra for my counsel on personal finance, it is only fitting that this question would eventually come up.  If I’m telling you to avoid borrowing money as much as possible, then what is my stance on lending money if you are a Christian?  I thought this was an excellent question, and it is one I truly wrestle with because I know people are going to borrow money.  I also know borrowing money in most cases is not a sin.  Having put that out there, what does the Bible say about lending people money?

First, let’s get a couple of foundational things out of the way.  Biblically, a lender becomes master of someone who borrows from them.  This is pretty clear from Proverbs 22:7.  Someone who borrows money is figuratively picking up the chains of debt and the lender is not responsible for their choice to do so (generally speaking).  Having said that, the Bible speaks a LOT about those who are in debt and that they should free themselves from it (see Psalm 37:21, 1 Corinthians 7:23).  The Bible is also pretty clear that co-signing for someone to borrow is a bad plan because co-signing generally means the person wanting to borrow money can’t handle the weight of those chains, even under pretty decent circumstances (see Proverbs 6, Proverbs 11:15, Proverbs 17:18, etc.).  But let’s say someone who is an excellent candidate for a loan (is that an oxymoron?) approaches you and asks to borrow $10,000.  What is your Biblical response, assuming you have the $10,000 to lend? [Read more…]