Jeremiah 29:11 encourages us, “For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.”
What is one thing financially that would make you feel your 2015 turned out well? Is it to make more money? Many years we may have made more than the year before, but did we end up better off, or perhaps even deeper in debt? So what happened?
Now come back to the present day… what can be done for a better result in 2015? Let’s first assume there will not be a new home or car purchase made, since in most years that is not the case. The focus to apply wisdom in 2015 should be at your credit card debt. What we first must recognize is how easy it is to expand our debt level with these cards. When you bought a home or car, you knew what the cost was and it basically stayed constant, that is not the case with credit cards.
The biggest dangers with the cards are:
- They can be used almost anywhere for anything
- It is “painless” using them because you are not pulling out money to hand over… just a card
- You are rarely aware just how much you’ve spent until the statement comes in the mail
- It is the most expensive form of borrowing available, so the interest adds onto the debt
Think about those points above… if you were a credit card company isn’t that the ideal way to have it arranged? Let’s make the cards accepted anywhere, a prop for the user since it’s not real currency, only send them their “tab” until a month goes by, and charge them high interest rates and fees. We know from experience the truth of God’s Word in this area, found in Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”
You know that just because you have a credit card limit of XXX dollars, that you do not charge up to that amount, but what your own personal card limit must become is what you can pay back every month – that is the only way to remove yourself from this treadmill the card companies have created. Work at setting up a monthly budget amount for your card that you can pay completely – just like your other fixed bills are. This will take some tweaking to get right but will be so worth it.
The missing piece of wisdom for most households is this… you must become aware of how much you’ve charged in real time – not only once a month when that statement arrives. Try this out right now, take a guess how much you’ve charged on your card since the last statement date. Now check your card’s website to see how much you’ve really spent, I can almost guarantee you that it is higher than your guess was.
Proverbs 27:23-24 instructs us - Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? We probably don’t have flocks and herds, but God is telling us keep in close contact with our finances and resources, this level of attention must include our spending using credit cards. Diligent refers to continuous action, being persevering and careful to your work.
There’s at least 3 ways you can keep yourself up to date on the amount charged:
- Write it down on a notebook, index card or sticky note right with the card when you charge
- Keep track on a personal note sheet on your phone at the time of the charge being made
- Check your credit card’s website at least twice per week
When you are following the amount charged day by day and totaling the amount since the last statement it will help keep you from overspending, because you are keeping a “pulse” on your spending.
If we take the step above, that will set us up to reach one of two goals I challenge you to achieve in 2015
- Pay off your cards totally by the end of this year
- Progressively lower your balance each month throughout the year
Twenty years ago in 1995, my wife Karen and I set out to eliminate our credit card debt (which was in the thousands) at the start of the year. We were a newly married couple and had modest incomes, but by working together in agreement and focusing our efforts on the credit cards we achieved our goal before year’s end. That decision to apply wisdom was the first step in becoming completely debt-free a few years later.
January 2015 can be the point of a great start to your financial future, if you’ll take those steps today.
God bless you and may He show Himself greatly to you,
Paul
