Saturday Night Live - Radical New Approach on Family Finances

Meet and Greet with Dave Ramsey

It is the night before the LIVE event at the Potter's House in Dallas, Tx. 570 am KLIF radio put together a BBQ dinner for the sponsors. A great time and some really good conversation with Dave and his staff from Nashville. It is going to be an awesome time tomorrow and if you are coming to the event, please stop by my booth to say hello. Can't wait to see you there!

Maxed Out

This news story was broadcast on March 15, 2007. I highly recommend that you go and view the movie in it's entirety. It will give you a perspective on how many people have their fingers in the "consumer lending" pie, how they (Congress, lending institutions, etc.) view their marketing and business practices, and how that affects you - the consumer. You can go to www.maxedoutmovie.com, and watch it online from amazon.com or order the dvd (also check your local video rental store).

I find it interesting that this movie/book/news story was released in 2007, well before the economic distress that our country is currently in. There were warning signs well before the fall of '08. We got into this mess because borrowing money was an easier and faster way to do get what we wanted (whether personal or business), rather than building equity and raising capital the traditional way. I don't understand how the government thinks that borrowing money is going to fix this problem, when borrowing money is why we are in this position to begin with.

The good news is that we are not hopeless! The Lord is still on his throne and in control. We, as consumers (whether personal or business) have a choice to make. Are we going to continue to do "business" the way we have for the past 40 years, or are we going to draw a line in the sand and say "No More!"? We don't have to continue to go into debt to fund our lifestyles (whether personal or business lifestyles). It will be a hard transition to make, but once you get through the hard part, there is peace on the other side. God instructs His people to not go into debt. Read through Proverbs if you need proof. I don't know about you, but I want to handle money God's way (personal and business).

I have drawn a line in the sand. Will you join me?

Are you a fighter or a victim?

I was watching Fox News on Saturday, when a segment came on about a woman that was in $500,000 credit card debt, and the choice that she made to get out of it. You can view that segment here:

http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/21937303/church_guidance.htm#q=out+of+debt

As I was searching the Fox News website looking for the video to share with you, I came across a drastically different tale of debt:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484705,00.html

A father who was in an "insurmountable" amount of debt, and his choice to get out of it.

This blog post has taken a different turn than I originally had thought. I was planning on posting a happy, hope filled message for you this morning, but instead I want to give you the question: Do you have a victim mentality, or do you have a fighter's mentality?

The father in this story was headed to his brother-in-law's house in Kansas with his family, so he had help to get through his situation.

There is always hope! Seek out help when you feel overwhelmed! You are never too far into a money situation that you can't recover from it!

How about another perspective:

How would the situation have looked for this father and his family if they didn't have any debt and an emergency fund when he and his wife had lost their jobs? What if they had made some different choices a few years earlier to take control of their money, instead of the money taking control of them (literally)?