Let’s Consider : Of financial things
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Several weeks ago, I was writing some notes to use for a future column. I was thinking of financial pressures facing many of us.
Now, as of the past couple of weeks, we are REALLY facing financial problems, both as a nation and as individuals. So I'm using my previous notes, with just a few changes, for this week's "dissertation."
There is much being said these days concerning finances - mortgages, debt, foreclosures, recession, inflation, depression and more. I have a few ideas concerning money that I can share.
"BUT I REALLY WANT..."
Many of the financial problems people face are of their own making, although I am surely not indicting every citizen who might be struggling just now with making ends meet (while the ends keep moving apart ). The age in which we live (and as we've learned recently, even the lending institutions ) encourages us to spend more and more on THINGS - the ads are catchy and bright, the catalogs are beautifully laid out, the descriptions of THINGS are beautifully written, our children are persuading us to buy more THINGS for them - needful or not - and, well, we human beings have a proclivity toward accumulating, yes, THINGS.
Perhaps we ought to cut back on the THINGS we buy that we don't actually need - especially if debt is a problem.
"THE PAYMENTS ARE ONLY..."
We have known people who purchase things, not because they can afford them but, because they WANT them and they think they can afford the PAYMENTS.
One couple we knew were living on disability payments and didn't know how to handle money at all, as far as we could tell.
On one occasion they showed up at our business with a new pickup, grinning from ear to ear. They were so proud of their new vehicle and proceeded to tell us," The payments are only $ (whatever ). "That statement struck me on that day, in a whole new way.
And I realized that they hardly CARED what total price they had signed up for in purchasing the pickup - they only cared that the payments were an amount they thought they could handle. "What about the total cost ? "I wondered. And "How many years will you be making those payments ? "Their answer would probably have been something like," Oh, we'll trade it off before then ! "As if that would erase the debt.
Since that long-ago day, I have heard that statement again and again: "The payments are only... "And I can usually predict that the maker of the statement is bound for financial failure, or certainly some financial stickiness.
"LEARNING TO LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEAN."
This is a lesson not learned, I'm afraid, by a lot of otherwise intelligent and lovely people. Much of this sinkhole I call'living above one's means"is because of pride. We want to show our neighbors, friends and family that we are able to have the best car, the finest home, the biggest boat, or whatever, because of our pridefulness. So we consistently spend more than we make. Let me quickly say this: Pride can catch hold of us, even when we are not overspending. An example is that we can be prideful even of a modest way of living. So there's a balance to be struck, as in all things. But if pride has pulled you into debt, a correction is in order.
"WE ALWAYS PAY AT LEAST THE MINIMU."
One of the TV ads showing folks how to get assistance in getting out of debt shows a guy who is very deep in credit card debt. He's supposed to be a sympathetic-looking fellow, but when those words come out of his mouth - "We always paid at least the minimum" - it nearly sends me into a fit.
Please - what would make an adult think he could "always pay at least the minimum"and EVER climb out of his credit card debt ? This guy would then normally charge more to his card during the next month, then again pay "at least the minimum"and continue on in the same pattern. Yet, he speaks of paying "at least the minimum"as if it were something admirable. My commonsense advice: Quit charging on the card, and pay off MUCH MORE than the minimum for however many months it takes to eliminate the debt.
Then, don't charge more on your credit card account than you can pay off, IN FULL, when the bill comes. Use a credit card for convenience purposes only, pay it off when the bill comes, and thank God for His provision and for the understanding gained to avoid credit card debt.
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