A credit card has become an integral part of our lives. When used wisely, they offer convenience, security, and the opportunity to build a strong credit history. However, irresponsible usage can lead to debt, financial stress, and damaged credit. I want to empower you to harness the power of credit cards and explore practical strategies. By understanding how to manage your spending, make timely payments, and maximize the benefits, you can maintain a healthy financial balance and make the most of your credit card.

Credit cards are important in the modern financial landscape for several reasons:

offers convenience

Credit cards offer a convenient method of payment. They allow you to make purchases online, over the phone, and in person without the need for carrying cash. They are widely accepted by merchants globally, making them a convenient tool for everyday transactions.

gives you financial flexibility

Credit cards provide you with a line of credit that allows you to make purchases and pay for them later. This flexibility is particularly useful when you need to make large purchases or deal with unexpected expenses. Instead of having to save up for a specific purchase, you can use a credit card to buy it immediately and repay the balance over time.

Helps you Build a Credit History

Responsible use of credit cards can help you build a positive credit history. Credit history is an important factor considered by lenders when determining your creditworthiness for future loans, such as a mortgage or car loan. By using a credit card responsibly and making timely payments, you demonstrate your ability to manage credit effectively, which can help you secure better loan terms and interest rates in the future.

Rewards and Benefits

Many credit cards offer rewards programs and benefits to cardholders. These can include cashback, travel rewards, airline miles, discounts, and various insurance coverages. By using a credit card for your regular expenses, you can earn rewards or take advantage of perks provided by the credit card issuer.

Enhanced Security

Credit cards offer more security compared to carrying cash. If your credit card is lost or stolen, you can report it to the issuer, and they can freeze the account to prevent unauthorized transactions. Moreover, credit cards offer fraud protection, which means you are typically not held responsible for fraudulent charges made on your card.

Online Shopping Protection

Credit cards offer an extra layer of protection when making online purchases. If there is an issue with a transaction, such as undelivered goods or fraudulent activity, you can dispute the charge with your credit card company. They will investigate the matter and, if necessary, reverse the transaction, providing you with greater consumer protection.

It’s important to note that while credit cards offer numerous benefits, they also require responsible usage. It’s crucial to manage credit card debt wisely by making timely payments and keeping your balances low to avoid high-interest charges and potential financial difficulties.

Choose the right one

Before obtaining a credit card, it is crucial to research and select the one that best fits your needs. Evaluate various options based on factors such as interest rates, annual fees, rewards programs, and credit limits. Opt for a card with a low-interest rate and no annual fee whenever possible. Consider your spending habits and preferences to determine whether a cash-back, travel, or rewards card is most beneficial for you. Remember to read the fine print and understand the terms and conditions associated with the card before applying.

Set a Realistic Budget

One of the most important aspects of responsible credit card usage is establishing a realistic budget. Track your income and expenses to identify your discretionary income accurately. Allocate funds for necessary expenses such as rent, utilities, and groceries first, and then assign a portion of your discretionary income for credit card payments. Avoid using your credit card for everyday purchases that can be covered with cash or a debit card. By adhering to a budget, you will prevent overspending and ensure that you have sufficient funds to repay your credit card balance in full each month.

Pay Your Balance in Full and On Time

Paying your balance in full and on time is essential to avoid unnecessary interest charges and penalties. Set up automatic payments or reminders to ensure you never miss a due date. If you are unable to pay the full balance, make at least the minimum payment to avoid late fees and damage to your credit score. However, keep in mind that carrying a balance can accumulate interest charges, leading to long-term debt. Strive to pay off your balance entirely each month to maintain financial stability and avoid falling into a cycle of debt.

Monitor Your Spending

Regularly monitoring your credit card statements and transactions is a wise practice. Review your statements to verify charges and identify any fraudulent or unauthorized activities promptly. Utilize mobile apps or online banking services to track your spending in real-time. Categorize your expenses to understand where your money is going and identify areas where you can cut back. By staying vigilant and aware of your spending patterns, you can make informed decisions and keep your credit card usage under control.

Utilize Rewards and Benefits

Many credit cards offer rewards programs, cash-back incentives, or exclusive benefits. Take advantage of these perks by using your credit card for purchases that align with the rewards structure. For example, if your card offers cash back on groceries, use it for your supermarket purchases. However, be mindful not to overspend or make unnecessary purchases solely for the sake of earning rewards. Always evaluate the value of the rewards against any associated fees or interest charges. Furthermore, explore additional benefits provided by your credit card, such as extended warranties, purchase protection, or travel insurance. Understanding and utilizing these perks can enhance the value you derive from your credit card.

Using a credit card wisely requires discipline, planning, and responsible financial management. By selecting the right card, setting a budget, making timely payments, monitoring your spending, and leveraging rewards, you can harness the potential of credit cards without falling into the pitfalls of debt.

The post How to Use a Credit Card Wisely to Build Credit appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Money touches everything. It affects how we sleep, how we eat, how we raise our children, and how we dream about the future. Yet too often, we treat finances like a separate compartment of life, disconnected from faith, family, and well-being.

What if we approached money the way we approach health, looking at the whole picture instead of isolated parts?

In this conversation, Jason Trueman, Portfolio Manager with Cumberland Private Wealth Management, shares why a holistic approach to household finances matters. From buying a quality mattress to investing with discipline, Jason explains how thoughtful spending, long-term vision, and balance can create not just wealth, but freedom and peace of mind.

Welcome to Four Columns, where food, faith, finance, and family are not separate conversations, but part of the same story.

Jason, welcome to Four Columns, a holistic blog on food, faith, finance, and family. Please tell me a little about yourself.

I am a Portfolio Manager with Cumberland Private Wealth Manager. Cumberland is headquartered in Toronto. I work with a talented team in Kingston, Ontario, including a CFP, CA, CPA, and TEP, providing holistic wealth management services for successful Canadian families and business owners.

How did you end up in personal finance?

I graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. I received my CFA charter in 2001. I started my career as an Underwriter with Chubb Insurance. I was recruited by AIG and worked in Bermuda for 7 years before returning to Kingston to raise our young family in 2010.

Give me three tips on how to have a holistic approach to personal finance?

Control your spending by buying things you need and on an average cost basis (i.e. you will spend one-third of your life on a mattress so buy a good one).

Be disciplined with your investing. Buy dominant companies with great management who care about both their customers and their shareholders (these are rare and require work to find).

There is a balance between disciplined spending and enjoying your life; life is short so if you need a trip or a new car or new shoes to enjoy your life then spend the money.

What happens when we live on credit cards and not on our salary?

Credit cards that you pay off in full on a monthly basis and never pay interest on and accumulate rewards are great. When you overspend and pay exorbitant interest living beyond your means then you will suffer from difficult financial decisions and increasing stress.

How important is it to have a budget as part of a holistic approach to our personal finance?

I find long-term goals are helpful in providing meaning to your actions like why am I going to work and saving for my child’s education or retirement. Budgets help keep your life and spending in order; like a calendar and daily to-do lists.

What are some important tips to start saving?

Paying off your higher interest-bearing debt is most important. Taking advantage of government savings programs like RESPs, RRSPs and TFSAs is enormously important as well. Again, buying things you need (healthy food, a quality mattress) instead of buying things you want for status and cost a lot on a per-use basis (the tenth pair of shoes, vacation properties) is critically important.

How do you balance faith, food, finance, and family?

I believe in humanity; if we all do our part to contribute, we collectively accomplish amazing things. If you don’t spend money on healthy food then you’ll pay the price with poor health and physical limitations. Finance is about independence; ideally, a career doing something you enjoy while creating financial freedom to do nothing if you so choose. Raising kind, caring and confident children who find something productive they love to do in life are our number one job as parents.

Can you recommend some great restaurants in Kingston?

Kingston has an enormous array of awesome restaurants – having 35,000 students in the city helps. I prefer local family-owned restaurants such as Tango, Woodenheads, and Harpers.

You manage money for the wealthy, what have you learned from the experience? Do they have a holistic approach?

Success usually requires some form of sacrifice at some stage in their life. For many that mean focusing on academic excellence instead of always finding the nearest party. For others, that means pursuing an idea, a vision, and taking on considerable financial risk, and working excessive hours to make their dream a reality.

How important is food to you?

Food has an enormous impact on how you feel and how you look. Humanity would benefit from healthier eating with lower health care costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and an overall more productive society and cleaner earth.

The post Holistic Approach to Household Finances appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Money and holidays go hand in hand.

There is so much to do. You have to buy gifts, visit family and friends, and bring stuff to each of those visits.

If one is not careful, the bills can pile up, and January can become a scary month. However, it does not have to turn out that way. Have a budget, set up a list, pay cash, do some free stuff for people, volunteer, give your time, do not buy on credit, do not buy last minute, give practical gifts, use coupons or online sales, and have fun.

Enjoy the holidays, rejuvenate and get ready for the new year.

I talk to Hope, who is a blogger at UndertheMedian and we discuss how to stay within a budget and to use your money wisely during the holidays.

Hope, a pleasure to have you onboard and talk about one of my favorite topics, money and household finances. I love your name Hope and please tell my audience a little about you?

My husband, Larry, and I have been married for 31 years and are the proud parents of four sons – age 11-23. I have a degree in Radio and Television, working for a local radio station for 12 years, before leaving the full-time workforce when I had children.

Since then, I’ve provided voiceover talent for such prestigious companies as Pioneer Hybrid International and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I sing the second soprano and have been a featured soloist for the highly-acclaimed Heritage Ensemble, am a frequent and popular speaker at the APACHE Homeschooling convention, civic, and church groups. I teach literature and public speaking in the high school department at Peoria Cooperative Academy. I have written multiple guest posts for websites, including Crystal Paine (Money Saving Mom) and Change Your Finances. Finally, I blog and give tips on living with a spirit of joy and abundance on a shoestring budget.

What is Under the Median all about? Why should we read it? Who is your audience?

When my husband and I married in 1988, we were each making $5 an hour. Three months later, our bank account registered ZERO! We had a choice to make. Would we continue our current spending habits and sink into debt, or look our situation square in the face, embrace delayed gratification, and learn to live within our means?

We chose to take the bull by the horns, set goals, and figure out how to live lean. Four years later, we purchased our first home with a 20% down payment. We paid off our 15-year mortgage in just 5 years. Then, 12 years later, we purchased our current home with cash. We did it all while raising 4 sons on an income that was consistently under the national US median income.

My blog, Under the Median, was born three years ago out of a desire to teach others how to not only cut costs but also to live with a spirit of joy and abundance while doing it! Encouragement and practical advice are huge parts of my blog. Anyone who wants tips on how to live within their means, save money, and create memories without spending money, will enjoy reading my blog.

You talk a lot about budgeting. What is it and why is it important to talk about money?

Some people get very uncomfortable when you begin speaking about budgeting, but, really, they shouldn’t. A budget is a monthly spending plan, giving each dollar that you earn a job to do. It’s not about being in a financial straight jacket. It’s about giving yourself freedom, knowing that you can spend money on that latte, as long as you have budgeted for it. I often tell people that no one is excused from setting short, medium, and long-term goals. In fact, if you make a less-than-average income, written goals are critical to your success.

It is not how much money you make but how much you save. Please comment?

Absolutely! We, personally, live in a neighborhood that is full of people who make several times what we do. My husband works at the local police department and has had captains and sergeants ask him how we bought a home in our neighborhood. We could afford to live here because we had a plan and worked diligently to make it happen. It was a long, hard road to achieve that goal.

Also, you have to remember that “money problems” do not just affect those who make little money. Often, folks who make a higher-than-average income, have never learned the principles of budgeting. You have to approach it as though it is a skill – because it is! The good thing is, anyone can do it! You don’t need a college degree or lots of money to make it happen. Information about how to save money and successfully budget are available for FREE. All you have to do is look for it! I’ve been budgeting for 30 years and I still check out finance books from the library. Why? Because there is always something more that I can learn.

December is the holiday season and stressful for many people with gifts and travel. How can people make it easier by spending the money they have?

I love this question! I teach a 3-pronged holiday strategy.

Be authentic and honest

There is nothing more wonderful than sharing warm moments with family and friends. However, the pressure to attend functions and spend money is very real!  It’s enough to leave you distraught, confused, and emotionally devastated. You can’t do it all – physically, financially, or emotionally. So, don’t try.  Be upfront and honest with every single person who comes to you with a request or an expectation. Answer sincerely and with a smile.

Set realistic expectations and boundaries

Boundaries are HUGE during the holidays, especially when it comes to family dynamics. It’s okay to tell your siblings that you won’t be contributing $100 toward Mom and Dad’s gift this year. Instead, you can afford $50. It’s okay to tell friends that you’d love to meet them for a drink, but you already allocated your restaurant money for the month. Better yet, invite them to your place for a pot luck dinner and then play board games or watch cheesy Christmas movies. It’s okay to set limits on how much you will spend on gifts. When was the last time you opened a gift and said, “Wow!  This is great!  How much did it set you back?”  I would venture to say that never have such crass words come from your lips.  So, it is highly unlikely that any friend or loved one will utter them either.

Create margin and memories

If looking at your December calendar is giving you hives, then do what you need to do to make it manageable. I advise that people pick several days and a pencil in “evening at home”. This gives you emotional permission to take time out to just breathe, read a book, and sip a drink by the light of the Christmas tree. Taking time for self-care is SO important when your schedule is a little wild.

Finally, you must remember that creating meaningful moments does not always mean spending a lot of money. We never had money while raising the boys, but we discovered several annual events, which were free or nearly free. As the boys got older, they told us which ones were most important to them. In fact, when our oldest was home from college for Thanksgiving, all six of us gathered in the living room, and everyone scheduled into their phone, the dates and times of this year’s holiday family events. My boys did not want to miss any of our family traditions!

How are household finances and money different as a single, married, and married with kids?

I remind married couples that they are a team! Just like a football player would never start passing when he was supposed to be blocking or tackling, you can’t go off in your own direction when you are married. Generally, one person in a relationship is a spender and the other is a saver. You need each other to find balance. I am the saver, but I need my husband to periodically say, “We have the money saved for this trip. It’s okay to relax and spend the money.” Conversely, he needs me to tell him, “No, we can’t afford that new big, screen television until next year” Then, I follow up with a timeline. “If we save $100 a month, we should have enough money in six months.”

The other thing you need to take into consideration is your partner’s communication and learning style. Larry is concrete-sequential. He doesn’t like anything that is nebulous. He likes a carefully thought out plan for nearly everything. When I began budgeting, my husband was pretty doubtful that we’d be able to reach any financial goals. Remember, we were both making $5 an hour. I realized that he needed to see my plan in black and white. So, I created a chart, delineating where we were financially now, a preliminary budget plan, and a timeline of when we would reach that first big goal (which was paying cash for a car). His reaction was like night and day! Once he could see that there were a clear path and a plan that we could set in motion, he was “in”!

Being married with kids is a whole new ball game! As parents, we want to give our kids the world. I remind people to think deeply about what really and truly counts in life. We need to develop our children’s character, their work ethic, their compassion for others, and their awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. Your children need your love, affirmation, guidance, and time. None of which will cost you money! We spent a huge amount of time with our boys, deliberately creating moments every week of family bonding and fellowship. My grown sons have thanked us again and again for letting them know that they were loved and cherished.

Having said that, I’m a HUGE proponent of teaching financial principles at an early age. We give our sons an allowance from age 5-14 and it is tied to weekly chores and work. When they turn 14, we have a coming-of-age celebration! They receive special gifts from us, a ceremony, a blessing from my husband, and a party for family and friends. At age 14 we also stop paying them an allowance. Instead, we “invest in their dreams”, matching 50% of the amount that they earn toward their own, personal goals. They must earn their half by working for someone besides us. At age 16, they reach financial independence. We pay for all school-related expenses, healthcare, and food. They get a job, pay for their portion of the car insurance, purchase their own cell phone, and pay for all personal items and expenses. We match the first $2000 that they save toward a car.

Our sons knew very early in life that we would not pay for their college experience. We simply could not do it. They were encouraged to get good grades, participate in extra-curricular activities, and define their strengths and interests. Our oldest son will graduate debt-free in May of 2020, with 2 associate’s degrees and 1 bachelor’s degree. He won several scholarships, including a full-tuition offer to transfer to an amazing, small, private, Christian university. Our second son chose not to attend university. Instead, he is pursuing a career in IT. His passion for all things electronic has been clear since he was very young. Not only does his employer deeply appreciate his work ethic and commitment to the company, but they are also paying for all of his certifications.

I tell single people that they should not “go it alone”. No man (or woman) should be an island.

Get an accountability partner. It’s honestly lonely for someone who is single and is struggling with making ends meet or is deeply in debt. It can be debilitating to feel alone. They need to pick someone who will support their goals, not be afraid to lovingly be honest with them, and give them a sounding board. I mention the ability to call that partner if you are in the mall and that Kate Spade bag is calling your name. They will be able to tell you to put the plastic away and save up for it.

Give me three tips on how we can save money and have a meaningful holiday season?

There are three major steps that I tell people to take to get through the holidays without breaking the bank.

Get accountable. Don’t do Christmas alone and don’t “wing it”!

I will tell you with absolute transparency that the opinions of others have always mattered very much to me.  I love to make people happy and nothing breaks my spirit more than knowing that I have disappointed a friend or family member.  At Christmas, my husband and I spent out of guilt, feeling that we needed to make everyone happy.

It also became clear in a really short order that my annual spending spree had to stop! It was time for intellectual and emotional honesty with one another. We had to negotiate what traditions stayed and which ones needed to be cut. We had to partner together to get through December without a holiday hangover in January.

If you are not married, I highly recommend that you get an accountability partner.  This person should be trustworthy and willing to be firm, but honest with you.

Plan a realistic Christmas budget

One of the mistakes that people make is creating a gift list and then stopping there. First of all, that gift list needs to include how much you intend to spend on each person. Just going to the mall or heading to Amazon will spell certain disaster if you have no idea how much you can reasonably spend.

Secondly, I include everything related to the holidays: gifts, decorations, special dinners, supplies, high-priced ingredients that I don’t generally buy, stocking stuffers, and events like annual plays or musicals. I try to think of everything that may need to be added to my holiday budget and list it.

Shop wisely

Don’t hop on the “whatever is popular” bandwagon. Usually, those items are not only hard to find, but they are also expensive. Remember the Cabbage Patch dolls in the 1980s? There were physical riots trying to grab them off the shelves. Instead, put some thought into items that are meaningful. They should also fit into your budget, of course. You may consider visiting shops that stock lightly used items. Also, pay with cash. When you do, statistically you spend 20% less.

You have been married for three decades and raise four children. Give my readers some tips on being a wife and a mother?

As a mother, I took great pleasure in the challenge to create moments of family bonding for little or no money. For instance, because we had absolutely no money to go out to eat, we took the boys on Friday night picnics. Every Friday, we packed up whatever I had made for supper, a board game, read-aloud book, or some music, and headed off to a local park that overlooked the river. Both of my older sons voted “Friday night picnics” as their absolute favorite memory while growing up.

One of the other important roles of being a mother is being a sounding board for your kids without becoming a helicopter parent. My boys always knew that they could talk to me about anything – and they did! However, they also learned that if they were not looking for solutions, but for sympathy, they would preface the conversation with, “Mom, I just need you to listen”.

Another super important concept I talk about when I speak to parents is allowing your children to be their own person. They are not carbon copies of you. They come with their own set of strengths and weaknesses, their own desires and goals, their own individual bent and calling in life. Our role, as parents, is to help them discover the talents that God has birthed in them and then facilitating a pathway for them to move in that direction.

You talk a lot about your faith in your blog. Walk me through this faith and how has it helped you?

Being Christians has had a huge impact on our view of money. We believe that ultimately God provides for all our needs. We also understand that God has given us our income. We are stewards of it, not only to meet our own needs but also to reach out beyond our own family and impact the lives of others. Many times, when goals seemed insurmountable or stress mounted, my husband and I would take to our knees together and pray for help and for guidance. Having a frame of reference which includes a Divine impartation of strength has been absolutely critical in every area of our lives.

Talk to me about a time you face something really challenging and how you overcame it?

Probably the biggest hurdle we have ever surmounted was paying cash for our home. In the fall of 2008, at 3:30 pm, three of my children had just come inside from playing in the front yard. At that moment, a drug dealer ran through the front yard, closely followed by the police. This was not the first time that chaos had erupted in our neighborhood. Sadly, gunshots and break-ins were becoming all too commonplace. My husband looked at me and wordlessly mouthed, “When can we move?” I did the quickest calculations I had ever done in my life!  Here’s how the situation looked on paper.

We owned our current home.

We had some savings.

My husband made $40,000 a year.

We needed an additional $60,000 to move to a better neighborhood.

We gave ourselves two years to save money. If we couldn’t eat it or wear it, we didn’t buy it. We cut every penny possible from our already tight budget. Every extra dollar that came into the house, went into the “house fund”. We communicated more effectively than we ever had in our married life. We prayed as a family every night and thanked God for making a way where there seemed to be none. We grabbed onto that great, big, nearly impossible goal with both hands and refused to let go!

Twenty months later, we had saved 37% of my husband’s income. In August of 2010, we paid cash for a three-bedroom, two-bath, brick home in a very good neighborhood.

The post Money and Holidays appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Welcome to my series, How To Use Money To Make You Happier.

In the introduction section, I gave some stats and mentioned a few reasons for starting this series.

I am going to break this series into a couple of steps:

1. Introduction
2. Make SMART financial goals
3. Create a budget
   1. Income
   2. Expenses
   3. Needs and wants
4. Debts
   1. Difference between good and bad debt
   2. Pay off debt
   3. Use the credit to your advantage
5. Give to charity

I’m living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart ― E. E. Cummings

You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you ― Dave Ramsey

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery ― Charles Dickens

Introduction

I have spent more than two decades working in the wealth management business. Before that, I used to lend money. As a result of this experience, I volunteered to counsel people on their debt. In conclusion what I learned was that people are drowning in credit cards, personal, consolidation, payday, and mortgage debt.

The whole goal of my blog is to empower you. The reason for this series is how to use the money to make you happier.

What is debt? Is it a monster? Or is it something that if used wisely can help you achieve some goals.

In financial terms, when a bank, credit card company or an enterprise lends money to another person is the creditor. The person who receives the credit or the funds is the debtor. Debt means you owe someone money and credit is when something is given to you in the form of money. A loan is a contract between a debtor and creditor which defines the terms by which the debt will be repaid.

The amount borrowed is called the principal. The amount of time the debtor has to repay the principal is the term. The creditor makes money by charging a fee which is called interest.

Difference Between Good and Bad Debt

The most common personal loans are student loans, car loans, home equity, credit card, mortgage, and payday loans.

These loans are either secured or unsecured. A secured debt is when the creditor asks for collateral in the form of a house. A mortgage is an example of secured debt.

Credit cards and lines of credit where there is no collateral are examples of unsecured debt. The creditor is giving you money based on your income, job history, and credit history. These kinds of loans require minimum payments, carry high interest, and are dangerous.

Unless you inherit money, you have to get into debt either to buy a home, go to school, or to start a business. It is very important to look at what is good and what is bad debt.

If debt increases your net worth and continues to grow in the long run then it is considered good debt. I personally took out a line of credit to do an MBA. That investment has resulted in my income, knowledge, and contacts increasing my net worth. It increased my value as an employee.

I bought a home in 2004 which has tripled in value in 15 years. The mortgage payment was equal to me renting a two-bedroom condominium.

Another good example is when you borrow to buy a good stable business or a well-known franchise.

I personally recommend that you lease a car rather than buying a brand new car. Here is my issue with buying a new car. The depreciation of the car. The decrease in the value of an asset is called depreciation. If you pay $20,000 for a brand new car. As soon as you drive it off the lot, it loses 10% of its value. In a year, it loses 25% of its value. In three years, it is worth less than 46%. Good debt is one that increases your net worth. In buying a new car, you are paying for an asset whose value keeps on going down. If you are self-employed, lease a car.

Bad debt does not increase your net worth or generate income. Bad debts have high-interest rates. Credit card, borrowing to invest in the stock market also called leveraging, payday and cash advances are examples of bad debt.

Pay Off Debt

The best way to pay off your debts is by having a budget. I have already written about keeping track of your expenses and save any surplus. Keep a track of all your monthly debt payments. You also need to be aware of the interest rates on each. The debt with the highest interest rate needs to be paid first.

If you have countless credit card debts, personal loans, and other debt, I strongly recommend getting a consolidation loan. This loan will have a lower interest rate and will be one payment a month. If you have equity in your home, get a home equity loan or add it on to your mortgage.

Use Credit to Your Advantage

Credit can be used to your advantage. I have given examples of how you can use credit to buy a home, get a college education, or start a business.

How about using a credit card which has points or different advantages. If you have the funds in your account, make a major purchase or your groceries on the credit card. Get the points. Invest the funds in a high-interest account for a month. Get the interest on that money. When the time comes to pay the bill, withdraw the funds from the account, and pay the bill. This is a win-win situation. You have got your points, you got interest on the money you deposited and you also paid your entire bill on time.

Conclusion

I taught a course on financial planning for five years. I also volunteered for two non-profit organizations in the area of credit counseling. I noticed that the same people were taking the same course every year because it was free.

There are times when you just have to see a credit counselor. Make sure they are looking out what is best for you and give you a plan.

I also recommend that in some cases you might need professional counseling or to see a life coach. My goal is to empower you to lead a balanced life. You have to have the physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, and psychological areas of your life in balance. There are times you might be compensating by overspending or shopping too much to make up a deficit in other areas of your life.

Here is my call of action. Make sure you have your debts under control. Write to me about how you are faring in this area.

Photo Credits: Alice Pasqual  Ian Espinosa

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