Today’s the 3rd birthday for Christian Finance Blog! It’s hard to believe it’s been three years already since I started this blog on February 11, 2007. I know I haven’t updated as much as I’d like to lately, but the blog is still not dead. I haven’t had much time to write at all lately, but I definitely have some writing to do.

Thanks for all of you that have stuck with the blog for all these years! I can’t thank you enough. You’re the reason I started this blog! Christian Finance Blog is still alive and kickin’!

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Today the entire world is celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ! Non-Christians and Christians alike are singing about Him this Christmas season. Don’t forget the real reason for the season. And why don’t you tell Jesus “Happy Birthday” today? And maybe even give Him a gift? He gave Himself as a gift to all humanity. Can’t we return the favor by giving our lives to Him? God bless!

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After all the great food, family, and fun today, remember to think about thankfulness. Being thankful is being content with who God made you to be and what God has given you. I’m thankful for my life, for I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Him. I’m thankful to be able to worship a God like ours in a country like ours. I’m thankful for the people in my life who have been there from the beginning. What are you thankful for?

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Do you know what freedom feels like? It’s an amazing feeling! There’s nothing holding you back. Nothing following behind you. Complete freedom. Liberty. Independence. Dependence on God alone and not on debt.

I just sent my final two credit card payments today and I am now completely debt free! There are no words to describe this feeling. Now my income can go to investing, saving, and giving without just funneling it to the banks. Be debt free! Live debt free! There’s nothing like it.

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So I saw an unrecognized number ringing on my cell phone. Normally, I don’t answer unknown numbers, but I didn’t have anything to do at the moment so I answered it. Well, what do you know? It was my credit card company calling to do a customer satisfaction survey. It was about the phone call I made a couple weeks ago when they decided to mess me up.

I wanted to have some fun with it so I said, “sure.” The nice lady on the phone started with, “on a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with the outcome of your previous call?” I thought for a second. Well, they did reverse all the finance charges and the late charge. But then again, they really should have never been that crazy to begin with. I was only a couple days late and I had never been late before in my life.

“Eight,” I replied. She asked a couple more similar questions. “Eight…seven…nine…” I felt that I was treated all right given the circumstances. The next question started the fun. “On the same scale, how likely is it that you would recommend this credit card to family or friends?” I said, “zero,” without hesitation. The CSR sounded flustered. I couldn’t help but smile. That definitely wasn’t the answer she was expecting.

Nervously, she asked, “could I ask what the reason is for your previous answer?” Again, without hesitation, I said, “Dave Ramsey.” She said, “excuse me?” Again I said, “Dave Ramsey.” Short, sweet, and to the point. Silence. I decided to help her out. “He’s an author.” She said, “oh.” I told her, “I’m getting out of debt. In fact the payment is already on the way to pay off this card.” She quickly ended it, “well, thank you for your time and good bye.”

Good bye is right! Good bye to credit card debt! Later this month I’ll be free!

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I know what you’re thinking. What are snakes doing on a Christian Finance blog? Well, there’s a saying that says that if you play with snakes, you’ll get bit. Dave Ramsey even uses it to describe credit cards.

Well, I’ve got a great “bit by snakes” story for you. As many of you know, I’m on schedule to be completely debt free by next month. I’m still on schedule, but I hit a setback a couple days ago.

As many of you also know, I’ve been doing “credit card arbitrage” where I use 0% balance transfers and earn interest on the cash while using the cash to make payments. I don’t do this anymore, but I used a 0% balance transfer to pay off a student loan about a year ago and I made payments to a savings account to have the amount in a year so by the time the 0% was due, I would have the cash to pay it off.

Before last week, I never had a late payment in my life. But I played with snakes and got bit! When I set my online bill payment for the credit card, I looked at the next statement date instead of the payment due date and so the payment was late. When I realized what I’d done, it was too late.

I checked my credit card account online today and almost passed out! My account “went into default” with one late payment and my interest rate shot up to 25.99% even though it was still under the one year 0% special. They also charged me a $39.00 late fee and a finance charge of $89.25!

This really wasn’t a surprise to me since credit card companies can do practically anything they want because their agreements (that you signed when you got the credit card) allow them to. So I decided to give them a call. Sometimes you can get a lot accomplished with one phone call.

To make a long story short, I got the CSR (customer service rep) to waive the finance charges and late fee and also reduce the interest rate from 25.99%! I actually was amazed at how easy it was. All I had to do was ask a few questions about the charges and then simply ask if they could be waived. It took maybe five minutes!

I’m glad I got those fees waived, but I’m still going to pay off the credit card tomorrow. This was too close for comfort and I don’t feel comfortable carrying a balance when I have the cash to pay it off. I will never use credit cards again. Lesson learned. I hope you will learn from my experience. God bless!

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Just opened an Advantage Savings account at Bank of Internet today that’s currently paying an astounding 2.50% (yes, it may not sound high, but it’s one of the highest rates I’ve seen lately). I’ll have a proper review sooner rather than later.

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Happy birthday, America! Yes, today is the day that we celebrate the birth of our great country! We enjoy so many freedoms in this country. Freedom to worship, freedom of speech, the freedom to prosper. But freedom comes with a cost.

Our freedom was paid for by the many men and women who have served and are serving in the military today. Do not take them for granted. We ought to treat our military men and women like royalty.

Just like we have freedom in America, we have freedom in Christ! Freedom from sin, freedom from death, freedom to live how we were born to live. But our spiritual freedom came with a price. Jesus died for our freedom. Jesus died for our lives. As the fireworks are flying, the grills are going, and the family is together, remember that freedom always comes with a cost.

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As you may or may not have heard, GM recently declared bankruptcy this past Monday to become the fourth largest bankruptcy in U.S. business history. The General obviously had way too much debt on the books. Over $172 billion worth!

But what’s the problem? Well, GM should have gone bankrupt much sooner than Monday. It should have gone bankrupt six months ago. But it was unpatriotic to let GM fail. It was un-American to let GM go bankrupt. Too many jobs would be lost. It would send a catastrophic wave throughout the auto industry. But yet it happened. GM went bankrupt.

So why delay the inevitable and spend $20 billion in taxpayer money (and counting) in the process? We might as well call it “Government Motors”. Even after billions in government bailout funds, GM went under. 21,000 jobs will still be lost. Dealers reduced by 2,600. Plants still shut down. What did we get for $20 billion but a poorly-run company which should have failed months ago?

Saturn was sold off to Penske Automotive Group on Friday and Hummer is reportedly being sold to China’s Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company.

Why do I have a feeling that this country is moving towards socialism? Failure needs to be allowed. Without failure, there’s no motivation for success. Without failure, how can we learn from our mistakes?

So what can we learn from the GM bankruptcy? Get out of debt!!! Debt will make you bankrupt. And vote for someone who actually has your best interests in mind. America doesn’t need socialism. It needs a return to the foundations that this country was based on: a faith and trust in God and a free market. Let freedom ring.

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Christian Finance Blog made it to Bible Money Matters Carnival of Top Personal Finance Posts #5! Check out the blog and make sure you vote for the post that made it: Don’t Get Ripped Off Buying a Car.

Edit: Now you can vote right here. Vote for whichever post you like, but keep me in mind.

It’s currently in fifth place so go on and vote!

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This really makes me mad! I have lost respect for most car sales people (yes, there are woman car sales people). I get a phone call on Friday from a younger coworker of mine asking if she could use me as a reference. I asked her “for what” and she said that she needed five references to buy a car.

Now this is a young single mother of two who doesn’t have a car. She took off work and a friend of hers dropped her off with her kids at a car dealership. She had never bought a car before. Bad idea from the start. The salesman could smell the desperation a mile away.

So I asked her a few questions since I knew she was going to get taken. She had no clue. She didn’t know how much the car was, the interest rate of the loan, length of the loan, etc. All she knew was the payment. $289 a month. Oh sure, I can afford that! Classic sales tactic. Focus on the payment rather than the total cost.

She must have asked the salesman these same questions since she didn’t have a clue. I could hear the salesman in the background giving her the answers. The car was $5900. Ok, that’s not too bad. 48 months. Ok, still not too bad. But get this: 23% interest rate! I thought the salesman was kidding at first. Nope. Serious as a heart attack. I could hear him telling her that it would build her credit, that she could trade it in for something else in a year, etc. Well, she just got ripped off. $289 for 48 months comes out to a whopping $13,872. That’s more than two times the original price of the car.

I told her not to sign anything and that I’d pick her up. Despite telling her that she was getting ripped off and that it was a horrible deal, she would not listen. She hung up on me and proceeded to buy the car. I have absolutely no respect for anyone who would take advantage of a young single mother who was so desperate like this coworker of mine. It should be illegal to prey on people like this. But stupid isn’t illegal. And some people learn the hard way.

So here are some tips so you don’t get ripped off:

1. Don’t get car fever or fall in love with a car.
2. Bring someone with you who can be your advocate (at least someone who has experience buying a car).
3. Do some research. A little homework goes a long way.
4. Don’t focus on the payment. Focus on the total cost.
5. Know what you’re signing. The terms, price, payment, interest rate, etc.
6. Bring your own financing. Having options empowers you. If you already have a pre-approved car loan, you can use it or have the dealer try to beat it. Or better yet, just pay cash.
7. Know your rights and maintain your walk-away power. Remember, that if it starts getting high pressure or if you get uncomfortable, walk away. You’ll always have another chance to buy a car. Don’t get sucked into the sales and marketing pitches.

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Hey, I’ve got some great news! Christian Finance Blog is now available on the Amazon Kindle! It’s just another way to read Christian Finance Blog with the convenience of reading it on your Kindle or iPhone (through the Kindle app).

You can subscribe for only $1.99 a month (30% goes to support this blog and the other 70% goes to Amazon). You can try it out with a 14-day free trial. I don’t know anyone that has a Kindle, but I’d sure like to buy one.

It’s just another way to help support this blog besides giving. Thanks for all you do. I wouldn’t be here without you, the reader!

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Stay tuned for an interview with Kristen as well as financial expert Liz Pulliam Weston.

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