This Lending Tree video of “Stanley Johnson” is humorous, but is representative of the vast majority of Americans. In 2010, the U.S. census bureau reported that U.S. citizens have over $886 billion in credit card debt and that figure was expected to rise to $1.177 trillion in 2011. More specifically, the report states that each card holder had an average credit card debt of $5,100 and this number was projected to reach $6,500 by the end of 2011.(source: www.money-zine.com/Financial-Planning/Debt-Consolidation/Consumer-Debt-Statistics) This is just credit card debt!

Debt is dumb. I have contributed my share to the stupidity; car payments, credit card balances (personal and business), personal loans… all to have a “lifestyle” that I thought might impress my friends, co-workers, or family. Not only was I a slave to the “lenders,” I was also a slave to a job that helped support my debt habit. Once I realized I was a slave, I had to make a change. When you don’t have any debt, you have options. You do not have to continue to do something day after day that you do not enjoy. I think they call that… freedom.

How Do I Get Out of Debt?
My wife and I walked through Debt Snowball Plan, which is Step 2 in the Seven Baby Steps that we teach in Financial Peace University and in personal coaching sessions. Before you start Baby Step 2, you must do the following:

• STOP BORROWING MONEY! – Cut up the credit cards! We talked about Baby Step 1 in a previous post, which is where we put a $1,000 in the bank as quickly as possible to give us some room to handle emergencies.
• PRAY! – Your heavenly Father likes to hear from you every once-in-awhile. I’m sure he’d like to help.
• SELL SOMETHING! – If you haven’t used it in a year, you probably don’t need it. Got a car payment that’s more than your mortgage? Sell the car. Have a garage sell. It is crazy what people will buy on Ebay.
• PUT IN SOME OVERTIME OR GET A PART TIME JOB! – It is only temporary, not forever.
• BABY STEP 2 (THE DEBT SNOWBALL PLAN) – List your debts smallest to largest and attack the smallest first with extra income from the steps above. Continue to pay the minimum payments on the other payments.  Don’t worry about paying off higher interest credit cards or loans first. This is about behavior, not math. Once you kill the smallest debt, apply what you were paying on the smallest debt to the next biggest along with any extra income from getting intense and working the steps above.

Working this plan, most families pay off all of their debt except the mortgage in 18-24 months.

QUESTIONS: Are you slave to debt, or a job you hate that you go to day after day just to make ends meet? Do you have a plan or are you going to keep doing the same dumb things over and over again?

My wife and I were a single-car family for awhile. We were saving money carpooling to work, when “unexpectedly” our old Honda had some major engine issues that needed immediate attention. Since this was our vehicle to and from work, the engine issues became an emergency. No work – No pay! Fortunately we had our emergency fund in place and could immediately take care of the issue without having to go into debt to do so.

“If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.” –Zig Ziglar

Bankrate.com recently polled Americans on their rainy day funds and found that almost a quarter, 24% have an adequate emergency savings fund, almost enough to cover six months worth of expenses. But at the other end of the spectrum you have the other 24% that have nothing, at all. In between, about 44% of Americans have something, but they’re not quite to that six-month expense threshold. And just to underscore the importance of emergency savings, there are over 6 million Americans that have currently been out of work for longer than 6 months.

How Much Money Should Be In A Fully Funded Emergency Fund? Ask yourself, “What would it take for me to live for three to six months if I lost my income?” Your answer to that question is how much you should save. Use this money for emergencies only: incidents that would have a major impact on you and your family. Keep these savings in a money market account. Remember, this stash of money is not an investment; it is insurance you’re paying to yourself, a buffer between you and Murphy.

How Do I Start An Emergency Fund? Creating a fully-funded emergency fund is actually the third step in the the Seven Baby Steps that we teach in Financial Peace University and in personal coaching sessions. To get started you should walk through the first two steps before tackling the fully-funded emergency fund:

• Step 1 – $1,000 in an emergency fund. As quickly as possible put $1,000 in the bank. Cut unnecessary expenses, have a garage sale, etc.
• Step 2 – Pay off all debt except the house utilizing the “debt snowball.” Get intense about putting this debt to bed by cutting expenses, selling things you don’t need… and maybe even a part-time job. We will talk more in upcoming posts about debt and Baby Step 2.

Savings must become a priority of you want to beat debt, build wealth, and win with money.

“In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.” Proverbs 21:20 (NIV)  In other words, wise people save money.

Questions: How would you handle a $5000 emergency if you were faced with it today? Would you be forced to use a credit card and increase your debt?

Why coaching?

My wife Amy and I (Christopher) came into our marriage with debt and a less than stellar history of handling money. Blending families and finances was not easy to navigate, and we made many mistakes along the way. But in 2005, we were introduced to Dave Ramsey – through his radio show and books. After reading The Total Money Makeover, we started talking about money, and we made a decision to change. Shortly thereafter, our church offered Financial Peace University, and we started working the Seven Baby Steps. We had a budget for the first time in our lives, and we were able to set realistic financial goals for our family. We had hope for the first time ever, and our relationships (with each other and with God) were strengthened beyond measure.

Over the past 5 years, we have coordinated many FPU classes in the church / non-profit environments and we also completed Dave Ramsey’s Counselor Training. After going through these processes, we feel that God has called us to teach and coach others how to handle their finances based on biblical principles. We have seen the benefits in our own lives, as well as in the lives of dozens of families that have gone through our FPU classes. We continue to experience a remarkable understanding, confidence, perspective, and peace that comes only from handling money God’s way.

We are truly passionate about helping others understand God’s way of handling money, beating debt, and establishing a go-forward common sense plan for winning with money.

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Do you have Financial Peace?

http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2011/05/25/mark-richt-says-decision-to-sell-lake-hartwell-property-was-christian-motivated/?cxntfid=blogs_uga_sports_blog

In reality, Richt was being a good steward of the wealth God had blessed and entrusted him with, just as Paul had instructed Timothy to tell all of the “rich” folks in Jesus’ time.

Timothy 6:17-19 NLT

Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

It is apparent to me that Mark Richt gets what Paul was trying to say.

Are you a good steward of the time, talents, gifts, and wealth God has blessed you with?

Amy and I had the honor of attending the birthday party for our friend Casey Hope. Great grilled chicken and red velvet birthday cake.

Chicago Dog from GOOD DOG in Chattanooga

http://www.eatatgooddog.com