Our blog is titled  life and finances, the reason being is the fact that finances or money touches just about every aspect of our life.  It is very difficult to separate the two because sooner or later the two topics intersect.

A recurring theme that I continue to see in the lives of couples is secrecy about spending money as well as about how much money is being made and or saved.  Sadly, I have also found that if someone is being secretive about money, chances are they are being secretive about other things as well.

Relationships are built on trust.  Without trust it is near impossible to have a true intimate relationship.  This holds true with any relationship but especially between husband and wife.  If one person in the relationship is continually being secretive, about anything, the other person starts to lose trust.  Trust is built on openness and honesty, once it is violated, and many times continually violated it is near impossible to rebuild trust to the level that it was prior to the violation.

Now let me be clear here, I am not talking about secrets like a surprise party or surprise vacation somewhere, I am talking about a consistent behavior of intentional secrecy and that is the bases of this post.

Some people are secretive because they have had their trust violated at some point in their past, we all know that we carry some sort of baggage into relationships.  The key is to take that baggage and open it all up to your spouse so old hurts and trust violations don’t infect your current relationship.  Yes, there is a risk you will be hurt and trust may be violated again by doing so, but by not doing so, they hurt will fester anyway.

Secrecy in couples about money is rampant.  Many times one spouse who handles the bills and the other has no idea what is going on with the money.  In most cases, not all, but most, one spouse knows the other spouse is doing something “funny” with the money but out of fear they do not ask questions or get involved because they are afraid they may lose what they have….this is no way to live in a relationship if you can even call it a relationship.

Let me preface that this isn’t about a healthy couple where one spouse is handling the bills because they are good at it and they do keep the other spouse in the loop of the financial situation of the household, this is about a spouse who intentionally handles the bills to keep the other spouse in the dark of the financial situation.

Secrecy occurs because one spouse is doing something they KNOW is wrong.  Let me repeat, secrecy occurs because one spouse is doing something they know is wrong, they know their partner would not approve.  It may be a bit on the illegal side either in mans law, God’s law…or both.  Actually secrecy is already against God’s law because it is a form of deception, check out the ninth commandment.

There is no good that can come out of secrecy especially when it comes to money (there is no good from any secret behavior in a relationship baring the above disclaimer about a surprise party of something of that sort) but especially when it comes to money.  The person keeping the financial secrets will be found out, sooner or later, and it will hurt the person who has been in the dark.

There was a couple who came to me for money management coaching.  The husband had no clue about the concept of money much less how to manage it.  He took charge of all the bills and for good reason he was keeping his wife in the dark about what was going on.  The way she found out there was a problem was when a sheriff knocked on their door and presented her with a summons to appear in court.  She was being sued by a credit card company for not paying the bill.  A bill that she knew nothing about, a credit card she did NOT open.  Her husband opened a credit card under her name.  He sat across from me and said with a  straight face that he did nothing wrong.  That they were married, and as a married couple they shared everything, he shared her good credit and now she shared his bad credit due to his secret of opening a credit card under his wife’s name.

Folks, regardless of marital status, he broke the law.  He committed fraud by forging her name and her signature to obtain the credit card in her name without her knowledge or permission.  It is called identity theft even if you are stealing it from your one flesh spouse.  Actually most common instances of identity theft is with someone you know or are related to.  Regardless of reasons for doing so, it was a dishonest act, as well as secretive.  His wife found out in the long run from the Sheriff.   In this case she did not file criminal charges nor did the credit card company because the wife agreed to pay the bill.  Sadly, not more than a year later the same thing happened again, the second time she did file charges…a relationship failed in divorce due to secrecy and deceit.

Yes, deceit goes hand in hand with secrecy.  Some think they are not lying if they don’t actually speak the lie, however, there is such a thing as lying by omission.  Secrecy is a form of deception and we all know deception is lying.  It goes back to, if you  are not doing anything wrong, what would be the purpose in being secretive to your spouse?

The reason I am sharing this is to encourage you to be open and honest about your finances to your spouse.   If you can’t, take a good hard look at why you can’t be open and honest.  Why are you being secretive?  Yes, I have heard all the excuses like “well my spouse wouldn’t understand” or “I don’t want to be nagged about my spending habits” or “I make the money, there is no reason for my spouse to know what I am doing with it as long as the bills are being paid.”  The list of excuses I hear goes on and on but you get the jest.  Bottom line ladies and gentlemen if you want your marriage to be successful your must be open and honest with each other.  Yes, there will be times when you will make a mistake.  There will be times when your spouse may get onto you or “nag” you about the financial situation, but the pain of that moment is far less severe  than when the secret comes out in the open and potentially causes a divorce and believe me, the secret ALWAYS comes out sooner or later.

Secrecy destroys trust, when trust is broken, the relationship will struggle from there on out and that environment isn’t good for either party.  Re-exam your life and your actions.  Look at your character, do you represent Christ to your spouse?  If you are ashamed of your actions, which you must be if you are being secretive, why not turn over a new leaf and open yourself up with honesty toward your spouse?  You will be amazed how much smoother your life will flow, as well as how much calmer and more at peace you will feel.

There are some who are secretive because you don’t know how to communicate with your spouse.  Communication and listening take practice to get some help with communication I highly recommend the book  Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs

by Dr. Emerson Eggrichs.  This book will help both husband and wife better understand each other.  If you understand each other you can then better share and communicate what you are doing, there will be no need to keeping a secret because you will know how the other person will respond.  It will help teach you how to live in a relationship the way Christ intended.  It is not focused on money, but it is focused on doing what is right in a marriage with your spouse.

Another fantastic resources is an eBook that has sold over 61,000 copies.  The title is “Save Your Christian Marriage” but that is not to say this book is only for those who are on the path to divorce.  The lessons taught will strengthen marriage regardless of the current state it is in.  It is more than just an eBook, it is a lesson plan on how to be married.  Face it nobody knows how, that is evident by the secrecy in marriages today as well as the divorce rate, this book shares and teaches you how to be a better for yourself so you can be better for your spouse.  If you don’t do anything else that I have mentioned here today, please do this one thing, get this eBook, it will change your marriage, it will eliminate the secrecy and build up trust again.  It will save your marriage, from what you learn in this book you can apply these principles how to live better financially, why?  Because the two of you will now be on the same page together, openly and honestly.

If you want your life to continue on as it is, do nothing else, actually if that is the case chances are you haven’t even read down this far.  But, if you are ready to improve who you are, improve your marriage, save your marriage even if you are not the one being secretive, get the “Save Your Christian Marriage” book today by click here now.  You won’t regret it one bit.  Then after you are done reading the book, and putting some of the lessons into practice, which will be very easy I might add, come back here and comment on this post, share with others how your marriage has improved with openness and honesty.

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Jevlir Caravansary

It’s the American dream to own a home.   However, sometimes that dream turns into a nightmare.

A home is a wonderful thing, it means privacy, independence, to some it means success and status symbol.   But a home is much more than all these things, it is a huge financial commitment and I don’t just mean the mortgage payment.

Buying a home is much more than achieving the American dream, it requires a lot of thought and planning much past the monthly mortgage payment.   First, the average person purchases a home for a better, safer environment for yourself and family not as an investment.  It’s about having your own roof.

Let’s face it, apartment life means you are really coexisting with many other people in the same building, parking your car in a lot full of other cars rather than your own personal garage.  Some people don’t live in an apartment; they are still living at home with parents or relatives.   Not the ideal and not your own roof.

The desire to move out of an apartment or from a relative’s home to achieve a place of their own is the reason most people move.  Yes, they may consider it is best to pay into a mortgage which is an investment in your future rather than paying rent to an apartment which you have no stack in after you leave and I agree with that.

Purchasing a home however is much more than getting your own roof.  It is much more than looking at the numbers and determining you can afford the monthly payment.  It is about realizing the whole picture of home ownership.  Mortgage, insurance, taxes, upgrades, repairs and in some cases home owner association dues.

Many times taxes and insurance are included in your monthly payment as escrow; it is a portion that the mortgage company puts aside and pays for you at the end of the year or when the tax and/or insurance payment is due.  Personally, I prefer to make these payments on my own rather than relying on the mortgage company, but that is personal preference and discipline as I have to make sure I put that money aside each month myself.

So besides the normal home owners insurance you may also need to consider flood insurance, possibly a umbrella policy, neither of which is a part of this post but I will discuss them in future posts.

Once you are in a home, especially if it is your first home you will be very surprised how many other things you will find you need (or want) to make your new house a home.  Anything from major projects like remodeling to small things like new blinds, throw rugs.   Most of the time a new home is much bigger than your previous residence so you will start looking furniture to fill those empty rooms.  Be careful, those furniture stores love to lure you with those “same as cash” credit cards that nine times out of ten will cost you far more than cash.

So you end up buying “stuff” for your new home, stuff that wasn’t in your budget, stuff that now has increased your monthly bills.  Then when you think you have that all under control, the reality of home ownership hits….your hot water heater breaks or the A/C isn’t blowing cold and its 95 degrees out.  Think it can’t happen?  It can, because it’s a house and things in a house break and I guarantee they won’t break when you have an abundance of money, unless of course you are living debt free, but considering 78% of Americans carry credit card debt, chances are you are not living debt free.

Let’s just say nothing breaks for a few years you may have to deal with the weather.  If by chance you are living in a hurricane prone area and you have damage to your home caused by a hurricane you may be thinking, no problem, that is why I have insurance and my deductible is only $500, but in the case of a hurricane, your deductible could be 2% of the value of the insured value of your home.  So for a home that is $180,000, that is a $3,600 deductible.

Why am I sharing all this?  It may sound like I am trying to convince you not to buy a home.  Well, in a way I am.  I want you to think through all the behind the scenes expenses of home ownership, things that your Realtor may not tell you nor will the bank.  The bank is only concerned with your credit, debt to income ratio, not about all the background expenses.

What I recommend is before you even get into the home buying experience, make sure you have a working budget, that is accurate and that you are following for at least three months preferably six months.  You can work your budget simply by putting numbers down on paper or into a basic spreadsheet on your computer.  There is also some very inexpensive budgeting software that actually helps you keep better track of your numbers than paper or a spreadsheet, something like Money Tree, it’s very good & easy to use and best of all, unlike big name software this comes with a full money back guarantee if you don’t like it.

Next after you have your working budget you can then decide if you can truly afford a home along with the additional expenses that come with owning a home.  In my case for example, you know I don’t do anything on credit so that meant some things couldn’t be fixed up right after purchasing.   Such as new windows, I purchased a home that was 30+ years old, there were a lot of things that needed to be upgraded and fixed up.  Some of which I could do right away, things that I had saved for and planned for.  Other things like new windows had to wait.  I didn’t put in new windows until I had been in my home for over a year and it wasn’t until after I put in new windows did I put in new window treatments.  Self control and planning, planning ahead of time.  Did I want new windows and blinds right when I moved in?  You bet, but by waiting, planning and budgeting, I was able to put windows in and new blinds all with cash.

It is when a new home buyer doesn’t properly plan for all the expenses of home purchasing that so many get into financial trouble and then end up coming to me scared and wanting to know what to do because they just received a foreclosure notice.  My goal is to get you thinking about all those expenses before they happen, rather than while they are occurring and you haven’t planned for them and are tracking just how much they are costing you.

One more thing  to consider before purchasing a home  is purchase a home that is far less than what you can actually afford.  I touched on this in my post Live Like You Lost Your Job.    Plan before you purchase your home of the possibility of job loss.  Don’t assume you will continue to have two incomes or that your current income will never go down.  Plan for the worst and hope for the best.  It is far better to be in a home that is very affordable than one that is at the high end of your budget dollars.

As I said, all this is not written to discourage you, but rather to insure that your new home purchase does not become a nightmare and does become living the American dream.

When coaching clients I have always focused on the fact that being in debt is not so much about money but more about behavior.   That it is about 80% behavior and 20% income.

I realized that I was so focused in helping each of you look at your spending behavior as well as how to budget that I never really addressed the other 20% of the equation which is how to increase your income.

We all know the truth, if you can adjust your spending behavior and reduce your debt, you won’t need as much income.  However, you do need a way to sustain life.  After all  as much as I firmly believe that life is not all about money, that we should focus on the important things in life such as family and friends, the fact still remains, we need money to sustain  life and have some fun.

So in addition to teaching you how to manage money, how to adjust behavior I am also going to start offering ideas on how to increase your income.   Beside the fact that we need money to survive,  there is another common theme I have been hearing from my clients as well as family and friends.   Most people would prefer not to work.   Well let me re-phrase that, they would prefer not to work for someone else.   (can I hear an Amen?)

You see, if I can teach you how to manage your money, help you become debt free as well as show you ways to increase your income by working from home, I am solving all the reasons people come to me for help.

All three of these things are equally important, you have to know how to manage money before God will trust you with more money.  You need to get out of debt to relive the pressure and stresses of bill collectors.  But the most important of all these things is being able to be your own boss.  To be able to manage your own time between working for yourself and enjoying the most important things in life, your family.  You will be able to take the same principles you use in managing money and use them in managing your time.  Being your own boss requires a discipline of managing time properly.

The goal is not be go from being obsessed with debt to being obsessed with making money.   The goal is creating a perfect balance in your life between income, and behavior.

The reason I am sharing this today is because I was recently introduced to a program that teaches you how to make money from your home.  No, this is NOT a get rich quick scheme.  Making money isn’t quick, nor will you get rich if you aren’t properly managing what you are making.  I don’t believe in such things nor will I write or encourage such.    This product is a legitimate way to make money on the internet from your home.  I use some of these techniques  myself, that is one reason  way I can provide money management mentoring & coaching to you for free.

Now for a  bit of a disclaimer.  I don’t care for the “sales pitch” type page or even the name of the product, mainly because it sounds cliché and scheme like.   So ignore how it is presented and look at the actually content of the product.

Ok, disclaimers are done, so what is this product?   The product is called  “Affiliate Cash Ultimatum” (remember ignore the scheme like name) but believe this program totally over delivers for the small price.    So what is it?  This program explains in detail how to make money from your home on your computer.  Extra income while still being at home with the family.

Basically it is a way to sell other people’s products.  You don’t have to worry about customer service, you don’t have to worry about trying to collect payments.  You don’t even have to worry about knowing how to market and no you don’t need any technical knowledge or a website.  All you need is a  Clickbank account, which is free and, a niche, meaning a topic  that you are interested in.  Now this is important, you really need to pick a niche that you are passionate about, something you will enjoy talking about even there was no chance of you making money about it.

So I mentioned this program over delivers, here is what you get.  A 110 page  guide that walks you through the process step by step in 3  main sections which I will go into detail below. You also get a  workbook that is laid out in a way that will help you manage your time, set goals for each week and walk you through the  whole process. But the real bonus here is you  get 20 in-depth videos to make this a course with a lot of useful information.   The best part, you don’t have to wait for it to be shipped, you can download it directly to your computer, actually there is even something better than that, it comes with a 60-day money back guarantee so if you don’t think the information is worth the money, just ask for a refund.  Oh, and the price for all this is only $47, well worth it when compared to the amount of information provided as well as the fact that two sales could pay for the whole course.

So back to the three sections that I mentioned guide includes:

Module 1 – Market Research: Choosing Winning Products

The first part of this course teaches you the fastest and easiest ways to find a profitable niche as well as a product that will make you money if you promote it.  The author makes things simple and easy to understand including wise words such as:-

“We’ll get into how to choose your products in a bit; but all you’re doing is simply promoting, or marketing, that product to a wider or different audience than the creator can – for a cut of the profits………..”

You will learn the different methods you can use to promote products and the best ways to target niches that will make you additional money.

Module 2 – Action Steps to Build Your Affiliate Business

This module basically goes over the crucial steps you need to take to become an affiliate marketing master.  It gives you a step by step blueprint on what you should follow and why you should do it the authors way!  It contains very important strategies such as how to build your list and also how squeeze pages will help you get buyers purchasing many products from you in the future.

Module 3 – Techniques To Make You Even More Money

This section shows you ways of getting a lot of traffic to your website (if you have one) and if you are getting a lot of traffic then you will start making money, simple!  It covers all major areas and even if you only used a few of the ways mentioned then you will soon get many visitors viewing your site.

This course contains the complete steps from beginning to end how the author  has built up his affiliate business. It is also great that it shows you how to build an affiliate business without the need to spend money on buying your own domain.  With this course there are no hidden charges, although it does tell you how to use your own domain and auto-responder for maximum effect should you wish to invest.

Not only does this course over deliver with information, but it contains some tips and tricks that I did not know about and will certainly be testing  in the near future.

This course has a lot of information on how to make money online and was written by someone who has proven it works.

So if you are in a situation where you are learning to manage your money, but have so much debt that additional income is needed and taking a second job outside the home isn’t an option, the Affiliate Cash Ultimatum course is an option I can recommend.

Yesterday in “Live Like You Lost Your Job” I talked about living below your means now, before you lose your job.

If you were to lose your job today could you sustain your current lifestyle?   The goal is to get your lifestyle and living expenses in a state that you could survive if you lost your job and ended up getting a new job making much less than you make now.

It is so much easier to make these hard lifestyle changes now while still employed then when you are unemployed.  So let’s begin.

Make sure you have a list of all your expenses.  Write them all down, from tithe, mortgage, insurance, car payments, food, utilities, gas, right down to vending machine expenses.

Now make another list of where you can begin to cut back on your lifestyle.   This is where the hard part comes in.  Keep in mind, many times our lifestyle is more about “want” rather than “need.”  Sure you may want a five bedroom home, but do you need one?  You may want that 2010 Lexus but it is just a car with a purpose of getting you from point “A” to point “B” reliably, there are a lot of $5,000 cars out there that can get you between those two points exactly the same as a $41,000 car.

Cars are a huge money pit.  They lose value the second you drive them off the lot.  A little over two years I purchased a 2001 Ford Explorer for $5,600 cash, still have it, it runs great, has ice cold air.  It isn’t fancy, but it is paid for, gets me where I need to go, it’s reliable and safe.  My point here is a car is a hunk of metal, not an investment or a status symbol.   Look at it another way, the average car payment in America right now is between $380 and $460 per month.  That is each and every month from anywhere between 36 to 60 months, sometimes more.    Even if you buy a used car, say for example my 2001 Ford Explorer, I will NEVER be able to put $380 into it each month in maintenance costs for three to five years….never.  I do put money away each month into savings for repairs.  So if it needed a $3000 repair, I have already saved that money, and still below the normal monthly cost of the average car payment and won’t have that level repair every year.

Many people are truly house poor.  Sure the bank may have approved you for your mortgage, but are you living on the edge right now trying to meet that mortgage payment on top of your other expenses?  If it is tight now, what would it be like if you lost your job.  Live now like you have lost your job, maybe you could downsize your home?

Are you making payments on TV’s or appliances?  Sell them, and buy something smaller and cheaper that is paid for.  Sure the front end washers are nice, but they are more expensive than a top load washer….guess what, both get cloths clean.  Remember, I am only talking about items that aren’t paid for, items that you may have purchased on credit.
Payments for adult children.  Yes, believe it or not, I have many clients who are paying rent, car and insurance payments for their adult children.  STOP!  If your kids are adults, it is time for them to begin to be responsible for their own bills.  After all, if you lose your job, they will have no choice right?

Home equity line of credit….close it.  Start paying it off.  If you keep it open you are leaving the door open to latterly live off your house.  What happens if you lose your job, can’t pay your house payment much less the HELC payment?  Yep, the bank takes the house and now you are jobless and homeless….not so good.

Second mortgage and credit cards.  Stop charging, stop living on credit and loans.  Remember, if you are living on credit, you really can’t afford what you are buying, you are living above your means.  The goal here is to live below your means.  Live like your lost your job now before you lose your job.

Make your budget based on $20,000 less than you bring home right now…..it will not be easy, it will be a life style change, it will take a year or two maybe more.  But in the long run it will be worth it, especially if you lose your job.

If you don’t lose your job, that is great too, because through all this you will be still living below your means, and that extra money, after you have built up 12 months to 18 months in living expenses can go toward paying your house off early.

The ultimate goal is to be debt free, so if you lose your job you can survive on very little.  With no bills and the habit of living below your means you can easily survive on as little at $3600/mo maybe a little less, maybe a little more depending on the number in your family.  But at least you won’t lost your home, cars, or anything else if you lose your job.

One common theme I am getting from my clients as of late is that they have lost their job and now cannot meet their bills.  As you read this you may be in the same situation.

Businesses are cutting back on their expenses and even though the employee is what I consider to be one of the biggest assets of a company, it is also one of their biggest expenses as well.   I have seen employers release individuals who have been with them for 20 years so staff loyalty is not a consideration in these economic times.  Basically if you are working for someone else, there is really no job security.

Consider this, on average it takes one month of job searching for each $10k you make.  So if you make $60,0000/year, it just may take you 6 months or more to find a job.

Here is another consistent fact I see in my coaching, most, not all, but most people are living beyond their means.  So if you make $60,000/year chances are you are living like you are making $65, $70, maybe even $80k or more per year because of the use of credit cards, home equality lines of credit, etc.

What would you do right if you lost your job?  This is a question that very few people ask themselves.  Be serious with yourself and your spouse if married.  What would you do if you lost your job today?  Could you meet your mortgage payments?  Car payments?  Remember, even though you income stops your bills don’t.  You have obligations to continue to meet.

Please don’t sit back and say “I won’t be let go,  losing my job could never happen to me.”  The people who have lost their job most likely said the same thing, that it couldn’t happen to them, and it did.   Now is the time to make changes so you can financially function if you lost your job.

Let’s keep focused on the $60,000/year job.  Chances are you have credit cards, home equity loan or line of credit.  Now is the time to stop spending and start paying off that debt.  If you say you can’t cut back on anything now, how on earth will you live if your income is cut off?  Folks, I see this every day, my clients are devastated with the loss of a job because they didn’t plan for a loss of income.

What I recommend is start living like you make $20,000 less per year than you actually make.  This can be a huge lifestyle change if you are living $20,000 or more over what you currently make.  Think about it, if you make $60,000 but are living like you make $80,000, I am asking you to live like you are making $40,000, that is a $40,000 change in lifestyle.   Oh I know, you think I am being unreasonable,  but remember, you will have to make these changes if you lose your job.  It is much easier to adjust when you still have income coming in.

The loss of a job affects more than your income, it is an emotion hit to your self esteem and confidence.  Make these tough financial decisions now when you are emotionally strong rather than after a job loss when you are emotionally torn down from the job loss.

Please don’t procrastinate; it is easy to put these changes off now because the income is still coming in.  But now is really already too late, it will take most people reading this two years to get to a point where you are living below your means.

Today is the day to start living like you lost your job.

Tomorrow I will write about some of the steps you can take now to begin to live below your means.

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You need money.  Your credit cards are maxed and your family won’t lend you any more.  What do you do?

Well you may think, maybe I can get a loan from one of the online Payday lenders.  That really is not the best idea.

The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning about deceitful Payday lenders.  The BBB has had hundreds of complaints from multiple online payday lenders.   Why, what is so wrong with an online payday lender, after all, it must be legit right?

Well, yes and not.  For one, payday lenders know you are desperate for money so they make it look easy to get money and here is how.  First, they comply with your request for a loan….usually a few hundred dollars.  Unlike a Payday lender store front, the online Payday lenders asked for your bank account so they can deposit your request immediately, then they will deduct a fee and interest on top of the loan payments.  That is where the convenience stops.

Since you gave them your bank account number, they now have card blanch to deduct as much money from your account as they wish.  In most cases you end up paying two to three times the amount of the original loan and those charges are only for the interest, most likely you have only paid $10 or $20 toward the principle of the loan.  Interest rates could be as much as 521%.

Think about it, you borrow $400 and could end up paying $2084.  That is a lot of money for someone who already doesn’t have any money, which you don’t otherwise you wouldn’t be getting a loan from these online sources.

Here is the reality check.  If you are that far in debt, where you are so desperate you are willing to get an online Payday loan you need to rethink your current lifestyle.  It is time to look at your spending habits.   It is time to gain some maturity and say “no” to yourself and your “wants.”

Anyone, with any income can budget and manage their money.  When you are in control of your money rather than your money being in control of you, you will being to find peace rather than financial distress.

If by chance you have already made the mistake of getting an online Payday loan, you may have to close your bank account in order to get them to stop taking money out.  Pay back your original loan amount and learn from your mistake.  Sometimes that won’t even get rid of these companies.  For detailed help on how to get out from under a pay day loan get this no nonsense guide on how to deal with these companies.  Unlike the pay day loan, this guide comes with a 100% money back guarantee so you have nothing more to lose and so much to gain by closing out your pay day loan debt.

Are you in debt?

Are you able to manage money well?

If you answered “yes” to the first question and then “no” to the second question, congratulations you have already taken the first step in improving your life by admitting you have trouble managing money.

People don’t come to me unless they are in debt, most likely in a financial crisis.  Many people, just like you, are looking for a quick way to make more money so you can get out of debt.

So here is my question: What good is a Million dollars if you can’t manage $100 dollars?  You want to make more money, but yet you are having trouble managing what you currently make.   The good news…. I am here to help you with both.  My goal is to teach you how to manage money and how to make more money to manage so you can get out of debt.

Through my years of coaching, teaching and mentoring clients, like you,  how to manage money and get out of debt, there was one huge step that I left out.  It was how to make more money.  You see, I was so focused on coaching people like you how to manage money, that I didn’t coach you on how to make more so you can get out of debt a little quicker.

Oh sure, I made the valid suggestion of getting a second job but as valid as that suggestion was in most circumstances, it really wasn’t practical.

From here on out, not only will I be providing guidance on how to get out of debt and how to manage money, I will also be discussing ways to make additional income, in most cases from home, so you won’t be away from your family.

No, I don’t think life is all about money, but I do believe that if you get your money under control, as well as a good steady stream of income that you are in control of, you will be securing your future, your family’s future and getting out of debt all at the same time.

So where do you start?  First you have to learn how to manage money.  Sure you could hire a coach like me.   However, my services come with a fee and it isn’t cheap.  My goal is to help you get out of debt and help you become successful with money.    I would prefer to do that without charging you hundreds of dollars.

Why would I NOT want you to hire me as a coach?  Because I want you to become debt free, I want to be part of your solution not charge you a lot of money and add to your problem.

Let me ask you, would you rather pay $640 for coaching or $50 for coaching?   If it were me and I’m debt free, I would pick the $50 option (humm maybe that is why I am debt free?!)

So here is the deal, you can get the same type of information I would teach you for a very reasonable fee….one that is 100% refundable if you are not happy with it.   It is The Ultimate Debt Guide! by Scott Stephens.  It is really more than a guide; it is a get out of debt course.

If you want to get out of debt, don’t want to pay the type of fee that I would charge, I encourage you to purchase “The Ultimate Debt Guide” you have 60 days to review it, work the suggestions and if you do not see how if you follow this course you can become debt free, return it for a full refund.  You can’t afford not to give it a try.

The first step you need to do to become debt free is take action, purchase “The Ultimate Debt Guide” and start working the program.  I’ll be honest, just as with my coaching, the processes of becoming debt free will take several months, maybe a year or two, but this program works if you follow the steps, the same type of steps I teach.

You want to be prepared for my upcoming posts on ways to increase your income from home right?   Start your financial transformation now.

As a final note, one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.  If you keep dealing with money the same way today and tomorrow as you did yesterday, you will continue to be in debt.  If you take action today, invest just $50 in “The Ultimate Debt Guide” you have already taken the first step to changing your financial future.   Go ahead, you can do it!

So a friend or even a relative has come to you explaining how they found this great car.  They tell you it has low mileage, ice cold air, runs smooth.  It has new tires, and for a three year old car the price is fantastic.

They go on and on about the car, how it is just what they were looking for.  They ask if you will come take a look at the car, take it for a test drive so you can give them your honest opinion whether or not this car is in good shape and a good deal.

You are flattered that they have such trust in you and are glad to take them up on the offer to help.  You look at the car and even agree it is in great shape and the price isn’t bad and mention that with a little bit of negotiating they price would be perfect.

Now that they have you agreeing with them about the car they mention that they have the down payment, and remind you about that new job they just got five months ago so making the payments will be no problem.  They finish that statement with a “but.”  Even though they have the down payment, and can make the payments, they don’t qualify for a loan and they ask if you would be willing to co-sign for them.   They give you every assurance that they can make the payments and that you would have nothing to worry about.  Can you help them out and just “give them your signature?”

What just happened?  Lets take a look at this.  They have the down payment, and income from a job of five months that will more than cover the monthly payments.  Why would they need a co-signer?  Simple, contrary to the surface indications that they can afford this car, the bank as proof that this person does not make consistent payments.  The bank considers this person too high a risk to lend them money without the guarantee, in the form of a signature, from someone who has a proven track record of making payments.  That way, when your friend or relative misses a payment or two, or three (and they will, otherwise they wouldn’t need the co-signer) the bank can and will count on you to cover the loan.

This concept of co-signing isn’t a new one.  For thousands of years people have been guaranteeing the loans of others and are then stuck holding the bag (paying off the loan)

It’s stupid to guarantee  someone else’s loan. Proverbs 17:18

So if the concept of co-signing or guaranteeing has been something so bad and common that God felt it necessary to put a warning in the Bible about it, it must be a warning we should heed.

It it were me, I would never co-sign a loan, regardless of amount, for anyone.  If co-signing is required that is the banks way of saying “this person can’t manage money, can’t be trusted with this money.”

Are you mean, unloving or not a good friend if you don’t “help out” by co-signing, actually you are just the opposite.  You are a person who is not willing to enable someone else to continue to mis-manage their money.  You are also someone who is following Biblical guidance.

The best help you can give a person in this situation is to sit down with them, help them work out a good budget and teach them how to manage their money.   In the process you can teach them how to save money for the car so they don’t have to rely on a bank for a loan at all.  After all, the best way to buy a good used car is with cash in hand.

Should I get a debt consolidation loan?

This is a question I am asked a lot during my coaching sessions, and today we will look at the answer to that question.

The debt management process begins by taking an inventory (known as a preliminary budget) of your current financial situation.  You first have to figure out exactly what you have coming in (income), and where is it going as it is leaving your account (outgo) before you can make an educated decision about a consolidation loan. I find that most of my clients have no idea where their money is going which makes them think they can’t afford their current payments. Nine times out of ten, this is not the case.

First, you must sit down (if married you must do this together) and write down exactly what you spend each month, and I mean down to the penny. How much is your rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, gas for the cars, eating out, entertainment, etc. Everything you spend money on should be written down, and I mean everything even those dollars you feed into the soda machine everyday has to be accounted for.

From there some tough decisions must be made. You see, money management is not about math, it is about behavior. Let me repeat that, money management is about behavior. When I work with a client, on average, I find between $500 and $700 that is being mis-managed or blown  without a plan each month. Let’s split the difference, an extra $600 a month is $7200 a year, that can pay off a good chunk of debt don’t you think?

How do you find mis-spent money like that? It is all about putting your spending on paper (or in a computer program) so you can see it written down. Most of the time it is in the eating out and entertainment funds. Think about it, if you are spending $350 a month eating out each month and another $200 going to the movies or other entertainment, so let’s say with that you need to add an to your grocery bill.  You still end up saving  $450 a month that you can re-allocate to paying towards debt.

Debt consolidation loans do lower your monthly payments by combining all debt into one payment, which has to be secured with collateral  such as your house, i.e. second mortgage.  But what a debt consolidation loan doesn’t do is teach you discipline to start living within your means. If you don’t learn that lesson, and change your spending habits you will actually charge up additional debt on top of the debt consolidation. Your cards will have no balances on them because you moved all those dollars over to the new loan.

The average person has more debt within two years of consolidation than they did prior to consolidating. Why, because the spending behavior was not changed, then what, a third mortgage? At some point in this behavior pattern you will have no more to mortgage and something will be foreclosed or repossessed….not good.

Debt consolidation is a band-aid fix of lowering monthly payments to give you more money to spend without a plan each month, not teach you how to manage your money and pay off debt. Rather than doing that, I recommend actually fixing the problem which is your spending behavior. Sometimes you can do it alone, many times you need the assistance of a professional, either way, debt consolidation loans is not the answer to solving a cash flow problem.

Many cringe when they here the word budget.  Some think the only other word that starts with “B” that might generate a worse reaction is the word bankruptcy.

I hope to explain that the word “budget” is not a bad word.  It is not a controlling word.  It is not a word meaning “you can’t have.”  I hope to explain that the word budget is a way to take back control.  A word that means freedom.

Merriam-Webster online defines the word Budget in part as: a plan for the coordination of resources and expenditures, the amount of money that is available for, required for, or assigned to a particular purpose.  Basically, it is a plan for saving and spending.

So a budget is nothing more than a plan. A road map for your money. It is a way to spend your money on paper, on purpose before the month begins. Many people don’t work a budget because they don’t want to feel controlled, but without a budget you are controlled…you are controlled by your money.  Wouldn’t you rather control your money?  By making a plan of where your money is going to go, you are taking back control.

Let me ask you, would you rather be controlled by an outside entity such as a credit card company or would you rather take control of your money by making a budget?

A budget should be looked at as freedom, the freedom of you taking back control of your money.  It is you spending your money with intention, giving you the freedom to choose where your money will go, before it is spent. Being pro-active instead of re-active.

Here are some tips on budgeting:

1. Be patient, it will take 3 or 4 months for your budget to start working. Don’t expect that your first month of making a budget will be perfect…It won’t be. As with anything worthwhile, it will take practice before you get the hang of it.
2. On paper, spend every penny before the month begins.
3. Always budget more for groceries than you think you need. This is a gotchya category that many people underfund.
4. If you are married, you need to work together as a team during the budgeting process. This isn’t about giving budget control to one spouse and whipping the other spouse with it. You both may need to loosen up a bit and/or perhaps tighten up a bit. Usually there is one spouse who is a spender, and one who is a saver, this is good as it is a time to compromise with each other. Budgeting with your spouse opens up the communication as well, what an extra bonus.

A good resource for getting started is Dave Ramsey’s book “The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness”

So you see, the word budget is not a bad word, it is a transforming word, a plan, a path to financial freedom.