If you’re anything like thousands of other people out there, you’ve been saving up your hard earned cash for months now in anticipation of finding a great deal on that special item on the biggest shopping day of they year, Black Friday.   Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is the day that traditionally retailers books will go into the black for the year, and when they start making a profit.   If the day turns out anything like years past, it will be a day of deep discounts, mobs of people trying not to be trampled and quite a few disappointed people who just barely missed out on the amazing deal on the 50″ plasma tv.

So how do you make sure that you’re not one of the people missing out?  You need to plan your day with military precision, detailing your battle plan down to the smallest detail.

Plan Out Your Attack

So what do you need to do in order to have a successful shopping trip on Black Friday?  Here’s what I do before I even go to  wait in line for the door-buster deals in the wee early hours of the morning.

• Figure out what you want to buy in advance.  Make a prioritized list:   Don’t go out and buy things you don’t need just because they’re a great deal.  But if your old 20″ tube TV just died on you and you’ve been shopping for a new one, this may be a good time to buy.   Make a list of the things you want or need, and put them in the order that you need or want them.  Don’t buy on impulse.
• Set a spending threshold and don’t go over it:  It can be tempting with all of the amazing deals on Black Friday to buy all sorts of things you don’t need – or didn’t realize you needed until you got to the store.
• Save up cash for the items you’re buying: Because buying things is that much sweeter when you pay in cash!
• Check for Black Friday deals in advance: Often stores will sell certain items at the discounted Black Friday prices in advance of the actual day.  For example, one laptop I was considering buying was at the Black Friday price online, a week in advance.
• Visit the stores in advance so you know where the items are:  At some stores on Black Friday they’ll just open the doors and there will be a mad rush for the most popular doorbuster items.  If you visit the store a day or two before the sale you’ll know just where you need to go to find the item you’re looking for.
• Coordinate a battle plan with a friend:  If you are looking for more than one item,  you may need to find a battle buddy, someone who is willing to wait in line with you and make a b-line for item number 2 on your list before it disappears.  If the other deal you want is at another store, they may have to to go that store for you.  Buy them lunch to thank them for the help!
• Figure out if you’ll need a voucher/ticket to get a deal:  At many stores you have to arrive super early in order to get a voucher to take advantage of the hottest deals.  For example at a Micro Center I went to on Black Friday a few years back, only the first people in line got tickets to buy a deeply discounted TV.  Find out if this is the case at your store, and if so, make sure to get there early.
• Don’t despair if you miss out.  Some of the best deals don’t happen on Black Friday!: If you don’t get the deal you had hoped to get on Black Friday, just remember that some of the best deals people get don’t even happen on this day.  Case in point -  we bought our 50″ plasma TV earlier this year for $580 – and not on Black Friday!   I have yet to see a deal that good for the same or a similar TV on Black Friday!

So make your battle plan early – if you haven’t started already, do it today!

Where Can I Research The Black Friday Deals In Advance?

One of the most important pieces to having a successful Black Friday shopping trip is doing your research in advance.  You need to scour the all the ads, looking for the best deal on the widget you were hoping to buy.

Some of the best places I’ve found to do research for Black Friday include:

• Fat Wallet Black Friday Forum (my favorite)
• Black Friday.net
• Black Friday at GottaDeal
• blackfridayads.com
• Black Friday Ads
• iBlack Friday
• Black Friday Central
• Black Friday at Amazon.com

Another cool resource that I’ve found for finding the deal on exactly what you’re looking for is the Black Friday spreadsheet that someone over at Fat Wallet has put together. It has all the deals in one excel spreadsheet, and you can sort the deals by category, type, brand, price etc. Very helpful if you’re looking for a specific item.

• Black Friday Deals Spreadsheet

Looking to buy several items at one store, but not sure which you should make a b-line for first?  Check out this “most wanted” list from gottadeal.com – it will tell you what some of the most wanted items at each store are – so you can prioritize you list.

• Black Friday Most Wanted Deals

Didn’t Get Your Deal?  Cyber Monday Is On The Way, Don’t Despair!

A lot of times people will find that their deal was just so popular that by the time they show up at 4am all the coupons for that nice TV have already been passed out.   Don’t despair, a lot of times you can find some great deals on the Monday following Thanksgiving, often called “Cyber Monday”.  Check out the sites above, especially FatWallet forums, and you can find some great deals the following week as well.  Or follow my tutorial here on how to save money on the high ticket items you buy:

• How To Get A Deal And Save Money When You’re Buying Electronics Or Other High Ticket Items

More Black Friday Shopping Tips & Commentary

• Holiday Shopping: Tips for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
• Tips For Shopping Black Friday And Cyber Monday
• Holiday Spending Guide for a New Economy (an alternate viewpoint – don’t shop at all!)
• Christmas Shopping – Black Friday , Cyber Monday , and Beyond
• Black Friday 2009 Free Stuff
• Black Friday Holiday Shopping: Just Say No to Coupons, Free Shipping, and Deals
• Black Friday Sales Are Here Again: A Quick History and Some Tips

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Black Friday Shopping Tips: How To Get The Best Deals On The Things On Your List

We’re quickly coming upon one of the busiest spending times of the year, the Christmas season. For too many years I would come up to Christmas and suddenly realize that I had woefully under-prepared for the coming holiday. I never saved up enough money to pay for gifts for my immediate family, friends and relatives. This is a snafu that I easily could have avoided by setting up a specific savings goal for Christmas spending, and then saving for the expense throughout the year.

Automating Savings Goals Means Never Coming Up Short

One thing I’ve learned in the past couple of years since becoming more aware of my finances was that you need to plan for expenses throughout the year, and save for them all year long.  That way you won’t find yourself in a hole when the expense comes due.  You’ll already have the money saved up in cash.

The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves.  Proverbs 14:8

What are some irregular expenses that come up every year, but you don’t pay every month?

• Christmas gifts
• Birthday gifts
• Property taxes
• Automobile registration
• Automobile insurance
• Homeowner’s insurance
• Tuition
• Vacations
• Planned for auto maintenance
• Household item replacement

These are just a few of the expenses that occur infrequently (once, twice or four times/year) that can create problems for families, especially if they forget to plan ahead for them.  What are yours?

Setting Up A Christmas Budget

Earlier in the year my wife and I sit down and decide on a family budget for the year that includes all of our regular, and infrequent expenses, how much we want to spend, and how much we need to budget for those categories each month.  Since we both have pretty large families we usually have a Christmas budget that is $300-400 (at least).

Once we decide on a budget for the year, we determine how much we should save towards that goal for the year.  In this case, we’re planning on spending $400 – which means we’ll need to save somewhere in the neighborhood of about $33 bucks a month.  We set up the goal, and then start saving towards it.

Making Your Savings Goal Even More Automatic With Smarty Pig

My wife and I haven’t had much problem in determining a Christmas budget, or with setting up regular savings goals to make sure we have enough money at Christmas, but I’ve found there is an easier way, a way to make it automatic.

Earlier this year I was introduced by some other bloggers to a bank that makes setting up savings goals a whole lot easier.  That bank is Smarty Pig, a part of West Bank,  a FDIC insured bank (so your money is safe!).   Smarty Pig allows you to set up time specific savings goals within your account, and then will automatically withdraw the amount needed to reach the goal each month .  So for example let’s say you set up a savings goal to save $400 for Christmas gifts by 12/15/2010.  You would then be able to have you money automatically withdrawn each month from your linked account so that when next Christmas rolls around, your $400 in Christmas cash is ready to spend!

Increase Your Savings By Up To 12% Using Cash Boost

Smarty Pig also has something they like to call “cash boost” where if you reach your savings goal you can then receive a cash incentive to use your money towards a certain company’s gift card.  Here’s how they explain it:

Once you’ve reached a savings goal using SmartyPig, you can receive up to a 12% cash boost on your savings by placing it on a retail card like Home Depot, Travelocity or Macy’s. You can even parse out your savings among retail cards, or put only a portion of your saving on a card or cards.

How does our retail card program work? Great question. Let’s say you’ve saved $2,000 and want to put those savings onto a Macy’s gift card for some new furniture. When you select this option, SmartyPig will pay you a cash boost of 12% for an additional $240. That’s the SmartyPig difference!

I’m sure the companies just chalk it up to an advertising expense, but if you’re saving up for a particular purchase, and you can buy it at one of the participating retailers, why not do it this way?

For example my family buys a lot of books for Christmas, and one of the participating retailers is Barnes & Noble.  For us it makes complete sense to save up for that Christmas savings goal, and then put at least a portion of the completed goal into an Barnes & Noble gift card because we can get a cash boost of 5%.  Another part of it we may put onto a Macy’s gift card and get another 12% boost since we get a lot of gifts there for my wife’s family.  If we still have money left over we can do a no fee funds transfer back to our linked account.  Easy peasy.

Conclusion

Setting up savings goals for your infrequent yet regular expenses is a great idea.  It means that you won’t be surprised when a big bill lands in your lap. You’ll have the money ready and available to pay.

Bank accounts like the ones at ING Direct and  Smarty Pig allow you to do just that by allowing you to set up savings goals, and by automating the savings process – forcing you to save for those irregular bills.  With Smarty Pig you can even get your family and friends to contribute to your savings goals through their new social features. ( Just beware of the fees associated with doing that when you pay via credit or debit card.)

I would highly recommend setting up a budget, and making sure to save each and every month for infrequent expenses like Christmas spending.

What do you think of setting up for specific savings goals for infrequent expenses?  Have you done this at your household?  Or do you find yourself surprised when some of these bills arrive? Do you use a  linked and automated savings account like the one from Smarty Pig to help you save throughout the year?

Want to start goal based saving today? Give Smarty Pig a try. <–affiliate link

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Start Saving Up For Infrequent Expenses And Christmas Savings Goals Using Automatic Accounts Like Smarty Pig

A few weeks back now I wrote about how I had opened a high yield savings account with ING Direct because I really liked all of the budgeting features that the account had, it’s increased security and the fact that it had a competitive rate. I am using ING Direct as a budgeting account to save for short term savings goals like yearly insurance bills, saving up for our next car and vacation savings.

Beyond saving for short term savings goals, I also want to find a bank for our 8 month emergency fund where the money will grow at a decent rate of interest, maybe slightly higher than what ING is currently offering. EverBank kept coming up as a decent option, as their rates were consistently among the highest that I could find.

EverBank Background And History

EverBank is a Jacksonville, Florida based company that has roots that stretch all the way back to 1962.   The company’s current incarnation was put together in 1994 when an investor group acquired the Alliance Mortgage Company, and became a significant mortgage originator and servicer.  After forming the First Alliance Bank and then shortly thereafter acquiring the Marine National Bank, in January of 2000 EverBank was founded as a national direct-to-consumer bank.  Read more about EverBank on Wikipedia.

Is Putting My Money With EverBank Safe?

One of the first things you should ask when signing up with a bank is, “Will my money be safe if I bank with this company?”.  With EverBank your money will be safe and sound because the bank is FDIC insured, and has been since October 1st, 1998.   If you deposit your money and the bank goes under, you’ll be fine – as long as you don’t have more deposited than the FDIC insurance will cover.   Currently that amount is $250,000 per depositor.

Features Of An EverBank Yield Pledge Money Market Account

So what are the features of an EverBank account, and why would I want to sign up with them?

• 2.51% rate to start for 3 months,
• High yield 1.77% after introductory period. (One of the highest rates available, in the top 5%)
• FDIC Insurance up to $250,000
• The Ability to Write Checks (3 a month)
• 24/7 phone support plus mobile banking

As you can see the accounts have a lot of features that most other banks have in addition to having a higher rate and a few features (like checks) that others don’t.

Fees And Limits On An Everbank Account

Here are the fees and limits you can expect to see on an Everbank account.

• Minimum opening balance: $1500
• Monthly fee for balances under $5000:  $8.95
• Monthly fee for balances over $5000:  free
• Withdrawals and transfers: 6/month
• Online banking: free

Other Account Options With EverBank

In addition to their offerings in the high yield savings sphere, they also have competitive offerings with their high rates in their high yield checking accounts, CDs and self directed IRAs.

Opening An Account’

Opening an account with EverBank should be a pretty simple process.  On their site they say it is a 5 step process.

Step 1 Choose your account

Step 2 Tell us about yourself – Provide your personal information and confirm your identity

Step 3 Customize your account – Select the options you prefer and your opening balance

Step 4 Review and accept disclosures

Step 5 Finalize your application – Print application, sign signature card and mail them with any other required forms

Conclusion

At the time that I wrote this, EverBank offers some of the highest interest rates in the country and all of their accounts are FDIC insured (to find current updated rates, go here).  Add to that their other solid account options, solid security and 24/7 customer service and you have a solid bank offering.   If you’re looking for a good high yield savings account where you can put your money, I think EverBank should be near the top of your list.  It’s definitely on the top of my list as I continue my search.

Do you have an account with Everbank? If so, let us know your thoughts on their accounts, their customer service, or anything else related to their accounts and offerings.

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


EverBank Bank Review: High Yield Savings Account

Recently, my pastor gave a message about the leading causes of money issues in marriage.  He referred to them as “money minefields” that if not dealt with (or defused) lead to problems in marriage and much of the time divorce.

After listening to the message the second time this past weekend, I think it is one of the most profound messages about money and marriage I’ve heard.  It gets to the root of money problems and identifies the one true solution.   I hope you’ll enjoy what I learned.  You can listen to the actual message here.

The 5 Minefields:  We Need To Defuse Them

1. Meaning of money

Couples should ask themselves what the meaning of money is to them.  Often times we enter into our marriage with different definitions.  Perhaps its security or perhaps money is the freedom to buy something to make you happy.  “If you don’t know what it means to your spouse, you will be talking in foreign languages”, as my pastor said.  It’s important to have this discussion and get on the same page.

2. Gender differences

For most males, their need, when it comes to money, is to provide for their family.  They like to carry this burden.  For most females, their need is to make sure the family is provided for.  The challenge, as mentioned, is when the husband might work longer to provide, but the wife thinks his work is his top priority over family.  The husband sees it just the opposite.  For some husbands, just because they are working hard, it doesn’t mean they love their jobs more than their families.  Obviously, too much work can cause the relationship to suffer.  My pastor said couples must seek the right balance to confront this issue.

3. Priorities

When we enter into marriage, we enter with different priorities for money too.  There is always the question between couples on how they are going to spend their money.  Should we buy, save, invest, give, etc. and in what order?  Where will we give?  On what will we spend our money? If priorities are different; you’re heading for trouble.

4. Debt

According to my pastor, 43% of American families spend more than they earn in any given year. The average family carries $8000 in credit card debt (without car and home loans).  In his words, “American families are going down the tube!”  Buying now and paying later is not a good plan. 

43% of American families spend more than they earn in any given year.

It may seem to be a good plan at the moment, but you often wish you hadn’t signed the 5 year car note with monthly payments that squeeze money out of other important areas of the family budget.  Unfortunately, this is our culture and for those who are avoiding debt, getting out of debt and staying out of debt, they are “swimming upstream.”

5.  Using money as a smoke screen

Sometimes money can just be the symptom to other issues.  For example, an argument may occur about some issue which results in one of the spouses going out and spending out of frustration.  The argument then becomes about carless spending and not the source of the problem which can be a number of things.  Sometimes, money is used to take out frustration or anger on the other spouse and it mask the real problem.  The key is to recognize the root cause and deal with it

Why Does Money Cause Such A Problem?  Why Are Minefields Present?

As we learn in Luke 12:15, “a man’s life doesn’t consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  If we focus on things and put money and material possessions in front of our family and marriage we are heading for disaster.  Greed will sneak into your life and be there before you know it.

a man’s life doesn’t consist in the abundance of his possessions. Luke 12:15

“If you look deep behind greed you will always find fear.”  This was the most profound part of the message for me.  Greed is the symptom.  Fear is the root cause.  The fear drives our focus on money which will separate our relationship.  For example, fear is what causes us to want to have what our neighbors have.  Fear causes us to be concerned about what others will say or think when we say no to spending money on certain things.  Fear causes us to say things to our spouse about money we wish we had never said.

Solution: How Money Can Be A Bond In Your Marriage

1. Recognize that it’s God’s money, not ours. God owns everything (Psalms 24:1).  We must get on the same page with this Biblical principle and believe by faith that only God gives us the ability to work and earn!

2. God has entrusted his money to both in the marriage.  We are to use money as God wants us to use money (1 Corinthians 4: 1-2).  We are to give, save and spend it wisely. Using money as God wants us to will lead to unity in our marriage.  Managing money wisely, with the same values, shared decisions on a shared budget will lead to building a strong marriage.

What are some other money related challenges, or “minefields”couples encounter?  Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Overcoming Money Issues In Marriage

In just a few days the American government will require you to be thankful (at least they will give you one more reason to be thankful – a day off).

What Is Necessary To Be A Truly Thankful Person?

Thankful people focus on what they have, not what they do not have.

At times I reflect on the situation in the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve had everything they needed except for access to one small tree.  It seems as though resisting that tree would be easy – there must have been thousands of other eligible trees.  But, Adam and Eve begin to think about The One Tree (with the help of that slick snake). In that moment, their focus turns from what they have to what they do not have. Ultimately, they think God is withholding something good from them.  They are not thankful for what they have.

Financially, many people have a lot.  But they don’t think about the many things they have.  They think about what other’s have.  They spend most of their lives discontent because they do not have as much as their neighbor.  What a miserable existence.

Thankful people admit they have more than they deserve.

I still don’t know why so many Dave Ramsey callers ask – how are you?  The answer is predictable – “better than I deserve”.  Part of what is appealing about Ramsey is that he is massively successful but does openly say that he does not deserve everything he has.

Some call it luck.  Others call it blessings.  The truth is we all have more than we deserve.

For Christians there is this realization that what we have is a gift of grace.  Everything is a graceful gift from God.  A thankful person allows for a close relationship between grace and economics.  As such, thankful people comfortably admit that God is the source of financial increase.

Thankful people know thankfulness is something we develop.

I have green eyes.  That is part of how I was made.

I learned to to type.  This skill is developed.

Unfortunately, many of us think that we are made thankful.  I disagree.  I believe that we learn to become thankful.  One must first learn to be thankful, and then regardless of what they have they can be thankful.

Therefore, thankfulness is much like the wealth building process.  You will not be rich when you have enough money, but you will be rich when you realize everything you already have.  If you decide to be thankful when you get “x” then probably once you get that item you actually will just want something more.

Thankful people gauge blessings by things other than money.

Money is one way we are blessed as individuals.

There are, however, many, many other ways we are blessed as individuals.

This Thanksgiving your table might have some of the world’s finest garnishments.  The table may be covered with the finest festive spread.  But, if that is the extent of your thankfulness you are missing out on the greatest blessings available.

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred. (Proverbs 15:17 NIV)

If you are surrounded this Thanksgiving by friends and/or family, you are one of the most blessed people in the world.  If you know Jesus and have a relationship with him, joy overflows.  If you have children who honor and respect you – you have much for which to be thankful.

Go ahead.  I dare you.  Take this Thanksgiving to answer what really are the greatest blessings you enjoy? Do those things come from money?

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV)

For what things are you most thankful?

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


4 Ways To Develop A Thankful Heart Before Thanksgiving

The following article is a guest post by David of Your Finances 101. David is a new commenter here on Bible Money Matters and has just published his first book Don’t Be A Mule: A Common-sense Guide to Saving More, Spending Less, and Generating Extra Income in Your Everyday Life which is available at Amazon.

For those of us who have yet to at least adopt some measure of “frugal living” into our current lifestyle, I’d say it’s high time to get going. However, if you’re already at least doing something to improve your personal economy, hats off to you! No matter what steps you’re currently taking, you are at least on the right track.

But something that I have encountered a few times over the past several years has been “the screw up.” The financial “slip up”. It could be a lot of things. Say your son threw away one of your credit card statements, it simply slipped your mind and you forgot to pay it, costing you a good chunk of change in finance charges (true story). Or say you were trying to get too cute with moving your finances around, and didn’t leave enough in your checking account, resulting in $89 in overdraft fees (another true story).

These things do happen and happen to the best of us. The question is: What do We Do About it?

What To Do About Financial Slip-Ups

As a self-proclaimed expert in this area, I have come up with a list of do’s and don’ts for these situations that may keep you from going insane should you ever encounter one of these “mistakes”.

First, see if you can undo the mistake.

Believe it or not, sometimes you can weasel your way out of some of these mistakes. Regarding the overdraft fees I mentioned above, after I realized what happened, I went into my bank and spoke with the bank manger. I explained to him I had been a customer there for 7 years, never had an issue before, explained to him why it happened, etc. He refunded me 50% of the overdraft fees.

Second, do not, I repeat, do not beat yourself up.

After you get over the initial self-loathing, you just cannot continue to beat yourself up about it. What’s done is done and you can’t undo it. Putting yourself through this mental anguish is not productive at all. Give yourself a good scolding as a deterrent, but stay away from beating yourself up. It serves no purpose.

Third, identify why it happened to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Now this is something that sometimes can get lost. My son used to get into our “bills” drawer and one month he threw away the water bill. Well, I forgot to pay it, but with our water company, there are no late fees, so I just had to pay two months at once. However, I didn’t do anything to change the situation. It wasn’t until he threw away a credit card statement that I failed to pay which cost me close to $100 did I actually move the bills to a higher shelf in the house, and also implemented a checklist each month to make sure everything gets paid.

Fourth, forget about it.

If you do make mistake, you need to try to undo it if you can, you need to do something to make sure it doesn’t happen again, and once all is said and done, you have to forget about it. You have to let go. I guess this is similar to the beating up part, but also, you can’t dwell on it. Again, it does you no good. Just get back on track with all of the other good savings things going on in your life, and don’t let that mistake get you down.

Finally, move on.

Yes, in closing, you need to move on. If you’ve turned your financial life around anywhere near to the extent that I have, you have so many other celebrations to think about rather than some little mistake you made that cost you a certain sum of money. Rather, think about all your successes, get back to doing what you know best (saving and spending wisely) and soon, it will seem as though your little “fall from grace” never even happened.

Have you recently had a financial slip up?  How did you handle the situation, and are there things you could have done better? Tell us about it in the comments!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


The Financial “Slip Up” And What To Do When It Happens

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I went on vacation for a week from Canada’s Niagara Falls area, through New England and ending up in Maine. We had a wonderful time, and over the course of the week we took a lot of gorgeous pictures. Today I thought I’d share a few of those pictures before sharing some of the week’s best personal finance reading.

Niagara Falls - Panorama of Horshoe Falls From Canadian Side

Niagara Falls - The American Falls From The Canadian Side

Waterfall In Vermont's Green Mountains

Peter & Maria - Covered Bridge In Woodstock, Vermont

Bass Harbor Lighthouse Near Bar Harbor, Maine

Portland Head Lighthouse, Portland, Maine

Carnivals This Week

• Carnival of Money Stories: A guest post from a friend of the blog was included: “This Blogger Fell Into The FICO Trap, But Saw The Light And Became Debt Free“.
• Carnival of Personal Finance: My list post “The Great Big List Of 75 Budgeting Tools, Finance Softwares And Iphone Money Apps” was chosen as an editor’s pick (also be sure to check out the redesign I helped with at Canadian Finance Blog through my design site at Logos For Websites!

Links Worth Reading This Week

• Reasons Why I Love The In-N-Out Burger
• Do Emerging Market Funds Belong In Your Portfolio?
• Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit May Not Benefit Existing Home Owners
• Things to Know About the Traditional IRA Rules and Limits
• Open Enrollment Health Insurance Options
• Do consumer protection rules go too far?
• Lifestyle Creep And The Self Employed
• 5 Dumb Financial Mistakes Smart People Make
• Stop Worrying About Money
• 10 Tips For Saving Money While Raising Kids
• Are Debit Cards Riskier Than Credit Cards?

Signup Bonuses And Incentives

• Download You Need A Budget Pro budgeting software through this link and Get 10% off using code: biblemoney.  Code expires 11/30/2009.
• Get $25 free in your account when you signup for Lending Club through this link and use code: moneymatters.
• Try out Pocketsmith Calender budgeting software for free through this link.
• Sign up for the Monthly Christian Finance Blog Report and you have a chance to win $25 through Money Help For Christians!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


Sharing Some Photos From Our Trip And Post Roundup

Are you in a financial rut?  Do you need some motivation to get you back on your feet and move forward?  Perhaps you’ve been trying to build and emergency fund this year and emergencies pop up as quickly as you deposit money into your savings account.  Or, perhaps you’ve paid off all your debt and can’t seem to find the drive and motivation required to move onto your next goal.

Pressing onward isn’t easy, but must be done to accomplish your financial goals.   Here are 20 tips to fire up your turbo charger, avoid distractions and stay on track!

20 Tips To Turbo Charge Your Financial Goals

1. Forget what is behind. We’ve all experienced financial blunders and made mistakes.  Stop beating yourself up over them!  You can’t change what is in the past, but you can impact today and tomorrow.
2. Move forward to what is ahead. Know why your blunders and mistakes occurred and make sure you’ve dealt with the root cause.  Next, step forward and take action on fixing the issue, i.e., getting on a plan to get out of debt.
3. Learn from mistakes. Never forget your mistakes and why you made them.  Forgetting mistakes results in repeating them over again.  Were you tempted to purchase something on credit without the cash to purchase?  Did you act on the temptation?  Do you regret it because you’re now making a monthly payment with high interest?  Figure out what caused you to act and get it corrected.
4. Celebrate along the way. As you make progress, learn to take the time to celebrate.  There are many steps and goals along the journey.  It’s a long road, so don’t forget to celebrate the wins and include family and friends.
5. Find a way to give back. As you step forward, some will be a step behind.  Don’t forget what allowed you to move forward and share with others what got you there.  I’ve found that helping others along the way helps learn and become more motivated towards my own journey.
6. Ignore the naysayers. Many will question your methods and ask why.  Dave Ramsey always says that people will think you’re strange and that usually means you’re starting to do things right!  The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter what others think or say.  It’s you underlying values and reasons for the goal that make the difference.
7. Watch the horizon closely. Keep an eye out for things that can pull you off track to achieving your goals.  A car that starts making funny noises, an older washer and dryer can all be things that could be on the edge of costing you money.  If you think about them and can plan for them, you can avoid emergency spending.
8. Educate yourself. Learn from others and best practices.  A great way to learn is to follow some personal finance blogs, or subscribe to a personal finance publication.  I always like to investigate and explore information that is available based on my current goal.
9. Invest the right amount of time. Getting better at playing a sport takes practices.  Improving grades requires studying.  Improving your personal finances takes investment of time in managing your money, but also in learning.  Investing a little bit of time each day adds up to a large return over time.
10. Don’t go at it alone. Make sure you’re using wise counselors along the way.  Even if you’re not in trouble, it’s a good idea to find someone who can hold you accountable to your plan (other than yourself) and provide you counsel based on their experience or area of expertise.
11. Realize when it’s time to go to plan B. Paying off debt is important, but if you sense your job might be in jeopardy pausing debt pay off to further build your emergency fund may be required.  The point is that you need to have a plan, but have the flexibility to change your plan based on circumstances.
12. Reflect often to maintain focus. It doesn’t do any good to lose sight of your plan.  Once your plan for savings or debt reduction is in place, you need to review it often to make sure you’re following it.  Understand things that have caused you to move off track and take corrective action to mitigate the risk of them occurring again in the future.
13. Make sure your visions have goals and your goals have plans. If your vision is to become financially free, determine the goals to get there.  Build a plan to achieve each goal.  If you don’t have any action steps to take to achieve your goal, you’re going to have a hard time taking a step forward.
14. Make it a community affair. When it comes to getting out of debt or overcoming past financial blunders remember there are many people out there trying to do the same thing.  Hello!  We’ve all made mistakes.  Connect with a community of people who are traveling the same road and share the same passion.
15. Find your motivation in God’s word. The Bible is full of financial guidance and financial principles.  There are over 2300 scriptures in the Bible related to finances.  Feel down or lost about your money?  Seek guidance and find peace and security in God’s money design.
16. Don’t talk about it, be about it. Finally, we’ve all spent time talking about everything we need to do.  Stop talking about it and take action.  Talking is great when there is action to follow it up.  Talking without action is just a waste of breath.
17. Take a break. If all you’ve done lately is talk about money and personal finance, drop the subject for a while.  Perhaps you’re burned out and your spouse is too!  You’re spouse will probably appreciate it and it’ll help you rest your mind.  Schedule the time to talk about your next objective when it’s a neutral time, there are no distractions and you can think clearly.
18. Brainstorm a solution. Not sure where to do?  Play a brainstorming game.  Spend 10 minutes writing every single (unfiltered) thought or potential solution to your challenge on sticky notes.  Tip:  find some friends and family to participate along with you.  Put all the stick notes on the wall when time is up and organize them based on what seems realistic and achievable.  Pick the top 2-3 and create action steps associated with them.
19. Listen to others talk about their situation. A few times a week I’ll listen to the Dave Ramsey Show.  Nothing gets me more motivated than hearing people talk about challenges and Dave Ramsey directing them to the right path.  Its powerful hearing so many people talk about how they want to become debt free and overcome their financial struggles.
20. Tell someone else about what you plan to do. There is something about making a public commitment.  It helps us live up to our word and avoid the situation of having to tell someone you didn’t do what you said you were going to do.  So, if you say to your friend you’re going to start a spending plan this month, or get out of debt in one year, be prepared for a follow up question in the near future asking you where you are with your goal!

Now go out there and make it happen!

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


20 Tips To Press Onward Towards Your Financial Goals

With the recent extension of the homebuyers tax credit and expansion to include a current homeowner tax credit, there is probably going to be a lot of people in the market for a new house.  These credits are yet another way people can benefit from economic weakness.  If you are in the market for a new house you might want to question one piece of conventional wisdom.

It is not uncommon to hear real estate agents or other financial professionals advise that you avoid owning the most expensive home on your block.  The theory is that people who are looking for a house that costs $200,000 won’t be looking in a neighborhood where the average house is $180,000.  Therefore, you will not be able to sell the house for what it is worth – $200,000.

2 Reasons Why You Should Buy the Most Expensive House in Your Neighborhood

The Value of the Home Reflects the Purchase Price

Assuming you are not the first owner of the home (who theoretically paid what the home was worth) you should be able to buy the home for less than it is ‘worth’.  Let’s assume that the real estate professionals are right and this particular home would sell for $200,000 if it was in a nicer neighborhood.  Still, you can only sell it for $180,000 in this neighborhood.  This means you have bought a more valuable home for less than is is ‘worth’. So it will not be a loss when you sell a more valuable home for less than it is ‘worth’. While you live in the home you can enjoy what is possibly a bigger house for less money than if you bought it elsewhere.  Sounds good to me.  But what about when you go to resell it?  Yes, when you sell you might get less than ‘it is worth’, but just remember you didn’t pay for what it is ‘worth’ in the first place.

Peer Pressure: Staying Down With the Joneses

If you have ever lived in a community where the Joneses have less than you, you know it is much easier (and financially healthier) to keep down with the Joneses than to try and keep up with them.

A recent Dear Abby column bore the title “Not keeping up with Joneses has hardships.”  A lady from Ohio wrote expressing her concern about trying to keep up with her more affluent neighbors.  Abby wrote back and told the lady to suck it up (I think she used the phrase work on your self-esteem).  A follow-up letter was written by a lady who signed her letter “Gets It”.  She wrote:

I don’t think you fully understand what it’s like to live this way [in a community where you don’t have as much as your neighbors].  We’re the underdogs in a snooty community.  Reevaluating priorities and working on self-esteem are important.  But they do not negate how we feel when our kids ask, “Why don’t we have a yard like everyone else?”  Or when the PTA moms snub us because of where we live.” Wyoming Tribune, Tuesday, July 21, 2009.

Living in a neighborhood you can’t afford (as determined by your budget category percentages) means you will plant more flowers than you can afford, pay a lawn service company more than you have, and buy extra big birthday gifts just to appear wealthy.  For this reason, living in a more expensive home in a cheaper neighborhood could just save you money in the long run. There’s just not so much pressure from the Joneses.

It is much easier and financially healthier to keep down with the Joneses than to try and keep up with them.

If you are going to change how you live, shop, conduct yourself, care for your property, and spend money just because of your neighbors, then you should buy a home in a cheaper neighborhood.  Envy is a very costly vice.  Move to a place where you are at the top (economically) of your neighborhood, not the bottom.  It removes all the pressure to keep up.

Need Proof? Remember the College Days

Remember back when you were a broke college student?  Because I did an 84 hour Master’s Degree those school years lasted about seven years.  In college, when my wife and I were first married we lived in a smoke infested apartment in what we called the “ghetto” (York, Nebraska does not have any official ghettos, but if it did, this would be one!).  The apartment was dysfunctional in many ways.  We were unable to control our own temperature and our oven was too small to hold our pans.  But, being full time students it was what we could afford.  Every Tuesday we would traipse down to Wendy’s for .99 cent all you can eat chili.  The middle class got fries and the upper-class topped up with a coke and fries in addition to the chili.  In that college community no one had money so no one suggested anything extravagant.  That is the value of living in a community with a similar standard of living – the pressure from peers is removed.  I would always rather be a better off person in the midst of the poor than to be the poor person in the midst of the wealthy.

How has your choice of neighborhood impacted your spending?

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


2 Compelling Reasons To Buy The Most Expensive House In Your Neighborhood

If you’re a first time homebuyer and you thought that you might be out of time when it came to getting the $8000 refundable tax credit, think again!  On Friday the Obama administration signed into law the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 which extends the $8000 refundable tax credit through the end of June of 2010.    If you had given up looking for a house, it may be time to restart your search!

$8000 First Time Home-buyer Tax Credit Extended

The new law was agreed upon by Congress last week, and then signed into law by President Obama at the end of the week.   The extension of the tax credit does mean that there are a few changes in the provisions, including higher income limits, age restrictions and limits on home values.

• The credit is available for homes that go under contract by April 30, 2010 and close by June 30, 2010.
• First-time buyers (those who have not owned a home for three years) can continue to claim an $8,000 credit.
• Income limits: $125,000 a year for individuals, $225,000 a year for married couples. (an increase in income limits)
• Homes that cost more than $800,000 aren’t eligible for the credit.
• You must be 18 years old to claim the credit.
• Credit is available for primary residences only (no vacation homes)

$6500 Move-Up Homebuyer Tax Credit Passed

In addition to the first time homebuyer bill being extended, Congress also decided to expand the incentives for homebuyers by allowing some current owners to take part as well. Current homeowners can now buy a new home and receive a $6500 tax credit.  Details of the new incentives here:  $6500 homebuyer tax credit.

What do you think of the tax credit being extended?  Are you relieved because you just missed the deadline before?  Are you upset because you’re against the credits?  Tell us your thoughts on the tax credit extension and expansion in the comments below.

Copyright © Bible Money Matters - please visit biblemoneymatters.com for more great content.


$8000 First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension: Take Advantage Of Incentives Through June 30th, 2010