One question I get asked a lot is do I use credit cards now that we’ve changed our financial ways.  It’s a good question in the context of “we were broke and credit cards screwed us…but having credit cards isn’t always a bad thing for everyone…”

It’s a fair question.  Some are curious to know if I am of the Dave Ramsey mentality about credit cards or if I’m ok with them.  Others want to justify their “manageable” balance.  The bottom line is I’m perfectly fine with couples who say they’re comfortable carrying a balance on their credit card, as long as they plan on carrying it for only about 25 days before paying it off.  I don’t agree with Dave that credit cards are an absolutely don’t do, but I do have Dave’s attitude about carrying a balance – it’s stupid.

Personally – Shawna and I even to this day don’t have credit cards.  First of all, we still use cash for our discretionary categories because that is the most surefire way to keep overspending under control (you can’t overspend cash).  Second, we have not seen a credit card rewards program that is any better than our checking account rewards at Perkstreet.  (Cash rewards are my favorite.)

So my answer for people when they ask about credit cards is “If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t use them.”  But for those who are still attached to the rewards and they’re already really good at controlling their spending and paying it off every month – I’m ok with that… as long as they’re being real about it and truly living according to a plan.

 As we strive to reach our goals and dreams we sometimes think as we increase our financial status or level of leadership that we will somehow become less dependent on what others want us to do.  That might be true to an extent, but I believe often times we get this false perception that we will somehow have more control of everything around us than we really do.

For whatever reason Shawna and I love lawyer shows.  We used to watch The Practice religiously.  Now we watch The Good Wife with the same consistency (the crazy thing is the title of the show should be “The Worst Marriage Ever” because the Good Wife’s husband cheated, they separated, and she is in and out of an affair with her boss).  Anyway, in one scene of the show a “partner” at the law firm, Will, made this statement, “It seems no matter how high we go we’re still dancing to someone else’s tune.”

Isn’t that true?  When we’re working a job we’re dancing to the bosses tune.  When we own a business we’re dancing to the customers tune.  Even if we have a ton of money in the bank or investments we’re dancing to the tune of whatever is going on in the economy or government.

I believe no matter how much confidence and control of our life we gain we will still to some degree be dancing to someone else’s tune to maintain what little control we actually have. Ultimately we have to learn that God is the one in control.

Credit card.  Owner finance.  Debt.  Broke.  Run!  These are all the first thoughts that came to my mind when I recently saw an ad promoting layaway at a major retail chain.

It seems it has been a long time since retailers have done a layaway push.  They either haven’t been promoting it or it is a retro service they are bringing back.  Either way the ads remind me of the bike I bought using layaway when I was like 13, and the Nintendo our family bought using layaway when I was like 10.

Of all the terms that came to my mind when I saw that ad “owner finance” is probably the most accurate one because layaway is making payments on something the owner might take back if you stop making payments and you’re out the money you’ve paid, just like an owner financed house or car.

There is a better alternative. It’s called the KNOWN UPCOMING EXPENSES CALCULATOR.  It helps you plan how much to save for Christmas all year long and then pay for stuff without borrowing time or money when Christms arrives.  It might be helpful to start using this tool now so that next Christmas layaway can go back out of style.